Tom Maguire’s skeptical given that he’s conspicuously failed to mention it until now, but I’ll take Barry at his word simply because there’s no way to prove he’s lying — a point which didn’t give a moment’s pause to our nutroots betters in their hot pursuit of the shocking truth behind McCain’s cross-in-the-dirt story a few weeks ago. (The shocking truth: Two other POWs remember Maverick talking about it in the early 70s.) I trust Sullivan will be taking a breather from his 24-hour Palin baby watch to track down the facts behind this dubious, politically self-aggrandizing personal anecdote. As for the e-mails I’m getting pointing out that he couldn’t have registered for the selective service in 1979 because it wasn’t reinstated until 1980, yes, that’s true — he simply spaced on the date. His registration went through in September of the following year.

That’s the first clip. Below that you’ll find The One floating the argument that there is indeed a candidate trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in Iraq — and it ain’t him. Which, in fairness, earns him an extra smidgen of respect from me just for having the sheer balls to attempt it. Even Ace, who can pop out a 5,000-thousand-word rant effortlessly, is left well-nigh speechless at the thought of Captain Withdrawal accusing someone else of fumbling the ball out of bounds on the way to the end zone. A golden moment.

Update: “Vote for Barack Obama — It is only due to bad timing he didn’t get to kill livestock, cut off ears, ravage villages, blow up bodies, and behave in a fashion reminiscent of Jenjhis Khan.”

Update (Ed): I’m not terribly skeptical of this, for the simple reason that I did much the same thing as Obama.  I looked into enrolling in the Air Force ROTC in 1980, after graduating from high school and being unsure of what I wanted to do in college.  In fact, I had an offer for a non-scholarship position that I just needed to have my parents co-sign (I was 17), but in the end I decided against it.  The AFROTC was only being offered at a college 50 miles away from the one I attended, and the commute between the two discouraged me from going.  I regret that decision to this day; I think it would have been very beneficial to me in many ways.

I’m pretty sure that many people thought about doing the same thing at about the same time, and deciding against it.  I’m not going to judge Obama for not enlisting or pursuing the ROTC path.