Missing cartoon's meaning
As someone who has always enjoyed John Corso's quick wit, I was surprised that he either didn't get the point or took offense at Gary Trudeau (Doonesbury) having his cartoon president express doubts about his own military service record when compared to that of General Wes Clark because "the Guard is a joke."
Trudeau's reference was to the fact that George W. Bush used his family connections to leapfrog over a number of other candidates and get a coveted Texas Air National Guard appointment - thereby avoiding the draft and Vietnam - but then never bothered to report for duty. It was Bush that Trudeau was mocking (and quite rightly so), not the Guard.
Those who truly honor the Guard (and I have no reason to believe that Trudeau isn't one of them) save their indignation for a president who masquerades in a flight jacket and sends others into harm's way that he himself took some pains to avoid as a young man of military age.
David C. Crosby
Juneau