Last night, Wesley Clark got a lot of flack from the fair and balanced pundits at Fox News following the New Hampshire debate cosponsored by the network. Their criticism stemmed from Clark’s resistance to denounce supporter Michael Moore’s assertion that George W. Bush was a deserter. Instead Clark maintained his stance that the charges have been bandied about by others over the past few years and whether they’re true or not, he doesn’t plan to focus on the past when he takes Bush on in November.

As a voter, I was more than satisfied with Clark’s answer. After all, it’s his job to beat Bush, not defend him. Moreover, Bush’s military record is something that has indeed been disputed, and as long as it remains unclear whether the President was a deserter or not, no one should feel obligated to state without question one way or the other. Sean Hannity might have realized this if he hadn’t spent the bulk of the time following the debate drooling all over Joe Lieberman’s phallus.

Anyway, just because Wes Clark has the dignity to not delve into Bush’s disputed service with the Air National Guard, doesn’t mean I do.

First, these are Bush’s actual military records.

Next, this is an article written by Iowa farmer Marty Heldt, the man who originally requested the records via the Freedom of Information Act.

This is a piece by a former Air National Guardsman that claims “[p]ilot George W. Bush did not simply “give up flying” with two years left to fly, as has been reported. Instead, Bush was suspended and grounded, very possibly as a direct or indirect result of substance abuse.”

Finally, this is a 2000 Salon article about the whole fiasco:

The officer Bush was supposed to report to, Lt. Col. William Turnipseed, says he never saw Bush. Bush swears he was there. “Governor Bush specifically remembers pulling duty in Montgomery and respectfully disagrees with the colonel,” Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett told George Magazine.

Those rapscallions over at Yankee Pot Roast showed why they’re still around and Haypenny’s not with their own “ultimate” issue yesterday. Huzzah!

In other Haypenny news, Elizabeth Spiers at The Kicker posted a really cool thingy, and the site’s demise received no buzz from the FOWs despite a nice send off from Grambo. Win some, lose some.

Also, The Filthy Celebrity Imposter has finally returned. Gross.

Avid readers of The City of Floating Blogs are more than well aware of my tendency to run hot and cold for Michael Moore. Well, today I’m running hot after reading Moore’s endorsement of Wesley Clark, my candidate of choice. Aside from the kind-of-silly and definitely-alarmist claim that Bush will without a doubt reinstate the draft if given a second term, Moore’s reasons for voting for Clark along with his defenses of the criticims aimed at the General are all pretty dead-on. You can read the email yourself at Left Pedal.

Don’t get me wrong, Michael Moore is still a huge dork.

It’s time to put the “Men Only” sign back on the door to the White House.

Carol Mosely Braun has dropped out of the running for the Democratic nomination to back Howard Dean, sending a clear message to American voters that both African-Americans and women just can’t compete white guys with weird smiles.

When asked if this was a sign that Braun might be a possible choice for his running mate should he get the nomination, Dean responded, “Just because I consider Black women one of my vices, doesn’t mean I’d consider a Black woman for my vice president.” The candidate then chuckled uncomfortably and added, “this seems maybe a little too irreverent for The City of Floating Blogs.”

I love that when it’s something like NASA and 15 billion dollars (budget) it’s only 1%, but if it’s PBS and NEA, we hear about the (combined) less-than-$500-million as though it’s some unreasonable amount of money.

More on President Bush’s plan for the first non-hoaxed lunar mission at WWKAD?