Prince Hal vs. King Henry

In the course of the past week an odd double standard has emerged in
the presidential campaign. Every sentence and gesture of the young John
Kerry has been scrutinized -- and often deliberately misinterpreted --
for signs of insincerity, self-promotion, lack of patriotism and
fledgling Francophilia.

The sentences and gestures of the young George W. Bush, on the other
hand, remain shrouded in obscurity. You don't build a record if you
don't show up, and that's exactly what Bush did during the Vietnam War.

The Republicans have subjected Kerry's time in Vietnam to the kind of
going-over normally accorded war criminals. Did he really deserve that
third Purple Heart? How big, exactly, was that piece of shrapnel that
had to be removed from his left arm?

We could, I suppose, ask an equivalent question of Bush, but only if
they awarded Purple Hearts for paper cuts incurred in the campaign
headquarters of the Republican Senate candidate for whom Bush worked
during the year he was supposed to be serving with the Air National
Guard...