The information is correct

Lt. Col. Jerry Killian's secretary came forward to say that she did not type those memos, which does not rule out Killian typing them himself or his secretary being on sick leave on those days. Anyway, the most important statement from her:

"I did not type those, no, but the information in them is correct," she said.

Now we can put those hours of wasted time on fonts and spacing to rest and begin to discuss the allegations contained within. Bush failed to fulfill his duty then, as he has failed to uphold his duty now. He has lost jobs, lost a thousand live needlessly, lost honor and respect... he's just plain lost.

I just read an article where someone said "it's Bush's mess, he should clean it up." Where have you heard Bush offer to get a broom and dustpan, or seen him mopping up all that has gone wrong in the last four years? If a child knocks over the cookie jar and breaks it, do you ask him to clean it up? If a drunk drives his car over a cliff, do you get him to go and clean up his mess? If you get lead the wrong way by a guy who thinks he knows where he is going, do you continue to let him lead?

People, please. I beg of you. Use your heads for a change rather than chanting whatever right wing slogan gets thrown your way. Think about what you are saying. If you really feel we are better off now with Bush in charge, then you should choose him. But if you'd rather vote for the guy with a plan to help us out of the economic mess we are in, to fix the health care mess, and to get us out of Iraq, there's a man named John Kerry you should take a look at. He's not asking for your money, just for your vote.
He can't do it without you. Go take a look. Make history with him.

*ADDENDUM* Nicholas Kristoff, on the memos:

It's pretty clear that Mr. Bush got into the Guard because of his name but did a fine job in his first few years. "He was rock-solid as a pilot," Dean Roome, a pilot in the same unit who was briefly Mr. Bush's roommate, told me. Mr. Roome adds that Mr. Bush inquired in 1970 about the possibility of transferring to Vietnam but was turned down - and, if so, that's a credit to him.

Then, in 1972, something went badly wrong. My hunch is that Mr. Bush went through personal difficulties that he's embarrassed to talk about today. In addition, Mr. Roome suggests that changes at the Texas air base were making it more difficult for junior pilots, so sometimes Mr. Bush's only chance to fly was as a target for student pilots - not the most thrilling duty.

For whatever reason, Mr. Bush's performance ratings deteriorated, he skipped his flight physical, he stopped flying military planes forever, he transferred to Alabama, and he did not report to certain drills there as ordered. The pilots I interviewed who were in Alabama then are pretty sure that Mr. Bush was a no-show at required drills.

The next year Mr. Bush skipped off to Harvard Business School. He still had almost another year in the Guard he had promised to serve, but he drifted away, after taxpayers had spent $1 million training him, and he never entirely fulfilled his obligations.

More than three decades later, that shouldn't be a big deal. What worries me more is the lack of honesty today about that past - and the way Mr. Bush is hurling stones without the self-awareness to realize that he's living in a glass house.