The escalating battle of words and documents over George Bush’s National Guard record and John Kerry’s Vietnam War record ignore the much more important question: What the hell difference does it make whether either candidate has any “military experience”?

Let’s assume for a moment, in the face of all the evidence, the George Bush did in fact serve a full hitch in the Texas Air National Guard. What does the ability to do a smart salute, make his bed, and fly a plane have to do with running a country? Actually, we already have the answer in Bush’s record. The answer: absolutely nothing. Bush the vet has proven inept at managing the economy, inept at providing leadership of the country (if leadership means anything, it means getting everyone to pull together, and he’s only pulled the country apart at the seams), and inept at organizing and running a war.

As for Kerry, we should be asking not whether or not his chest full of medals was earned, and whether he exhibited genuine courage under fire, but what being captain of a little 50-foot motorboat has to do with running a country. Again the answer has to be nothing.

For the rest of this column, please go (at no charge) to This Can't Be Happening! .

i think ... i dunno... but i think... that military experience definitely makes a difference and automatocally boosts up the candidate's qualification... i am not saying that military experience is REQUIRED or NEEDED to be a president... but it is esstential and important to have some sort of... if not very much... idea what its like being in military... because the president is the commander-in-chief of the military which is the highest position in the military and it also means that the president would have the final say in the military decisions... now how can anyone expect a non-experienced commander-in-cheif to make the best decision and how can the citizens trust his decision ? ... yeah yeah hes te president.. the entire country choose him.. ofcourse he's right... but see he's a human which means the he has the natural right to make a mistake.. doesnt mean if hes a president or someone whose job doesnt really matter... no offense...

so u go for a job interview.. and ur employer asks u if u have advance experience.... u dont but the other dude whose applying for the same job @ same time for the same position apparently has worked before in a similiar firm at a similiar position... who do you think is more likely to get the job... neglecting other probelms.. basing our deicision only on the factor: experience... yeah thats what i thought too... for the slow ones: the other dude will get the job!

so u prepare a fantastic resume... with all ur lil nice dandy degrees and all the 7623695652 years of college n everything... but when it comes to the "Experience" part of the resume... its blank... @ the same time this other dude doesnt quite have the same top level education as u do.. but hes got experience... advanced training and good repute... honey, ur resume is going in trash... my experience says so...

remember the last time u visited ur guidance counselor.. in high school? yeah ok so some of u mite not have in years.. and some of u mite go like.. CRAP i have to see him/her for blah reason.. and some of them mite go like... huh? but... i tend to keep it all up to datre and going .. i visited mine today... no matter how much u hate them... they are rite!... so well i am very much involved in sports and extra curricular.. rite now the rusume and records my counselor has look really look... only it needs a better SAT score on there... anyway... so i went to him today .. and he told me how well done i'm doing @ school and maintaing a 4.0 and being active in all this other junk.. and then he gave me an example..

i, an asian female, applying to john hopkins ,my dream college, which my current SAT score... 1200 *cough* and all these sports and service hours and extra curricular and good recommendations and 4.0's and other junk... AND at the same time a white girl applying to the same college w/ a 4.0 and a 1600 SAT score... WHO WINS? yes i know i do!

so, getting back to the point... ofcourse military experience matters! what bush did mite be totally awful in kerrys views.. kerry mite have taken everything easily cuz he knows and understand the complications of the war.. the money spent and the life taken... bceause he has EXPERIENCED it himself.. i am sure he is not all that inhuman who would go like.. "yeah 30 years ago i gave defended u ... now u defend me".. ofcourse not! or i hope not... he would not want the same thing to happen again which bush mite not understand fully cuz he hasnt experienced it...

if i didnt study of a test doesnt mean that next year when my brother takes the same class and takes the same test... i'd telll him not to study... and neither would i pull out my old test and be like.. here cheat... but i would definitely tell him to focus on the stuff i have regretted...

who doesnt the point can directly talk to me.. this will be interesting!!

btw, i am 16 and a junior @ ERHS, greenbelt MD