Willie Bush

I've noted on multiple occasions -- most recently a few days ago -- that, on issues of character, Bushy Boy inhabits roughly the same moral universe as his vilified predecessor. E.J. Dionne notes another similarity: Verbal slipperiness.

But a guy who is supposed to be so frank and direct turns remarkably Clintonian where the National Guard issue is concerned. "I met my requirements and was honorably discharged" is Bush's stock answer, which does old Bill proud. And am I the only person exasperated by a double standard that treated everything Bill Clinton ever did in his life ("I didn't inhale") as fair game but now insists that we shouldn't sully ourselves with any inconvenient questions about Bush's past?

Despite his weariness at dealing with issues from the Nixon years, Dionne seeks to frame Bush's National Guard service as the character issue it rightly is. And given Rove's desire to make character the central issue of the campaign, it's reasonable to ask why George "You Know Where I Stand" Bush can't answer several simple questions about his Guard service.