All AWOL all the time

[From Reuters]

Jimmy Walker has been showing up at Wesley Clark rallies in New Hampshire, wearing the above uniform. (The back view is here.) The patches read "1st Chicken Hawk Wing" and "Chicken Hawk in Chief." The helmet and back of the jacket read "AWOL."

Anyone get the feeling this issue isn't going away soon?

Mind you, there are far more important issues that need to be raised regarding George W. Bush (more on that soon). But this particular point has some potency, if for no other reason than that Republicans are intent on depicting Democrats as weak on defense and national security, while wrapping themselves in the flag and impugning the patriotism of liberals questioning the conduct of the "war on terror." Moreover, for anyone who remembers the viciousness of the attacks on Bill Clinton for his relation to the military, it really exposes Republicans' gross hypocrisy.

In the meantime, Verities has similarly examined the matter and has concluded (as did I, for many of the same reasons) that the FactCheck.org "debunking" was wholly inadequate, and that Peter Jennings' behavior at last week's debate was simply a journalistic travesty.

Verities also points out that the main reason to keep addressing the issue is that the GOP has made it clear it intends to attack Clark on the point.

Meanwhile, J. Bradford Delong has also weighed in, concluding that while "deserter" probably doesn't apply, AWOL certainly does. (For reasons outlined previously -- specifically, the definition of desertion in the UCMJ and its description of "the intent to avoid a certain service or shirk a certain duty" -- I'm not so certain of the former, but wholly agree with the latter.)

Indeed, the corollary to the current defense of Bush, it's worth noting, seems to concede that "AWOL" is the preferred description of the current White House occupant. For that matter, the point seems largely irrefutable. Not that any of the defenders seem willing to say so.

In any event, I'm hoping that all the fact-deprived conservatives out there up in arms about Michael Moore's use of the term "deserter" to describe Bush will henceforth abjure the use of the terms "draft dodger" and "perjurer" -- both legal terms referring to specific crimes, though they too enjoy more generic use -- to describe Bill Clinton, and denounce anyone who does so.

But I won't hold my breath.