Are You Kidding Me?

A partisan news service, the Associated Press, is going to bat for John Kerry:

Documents that should have been written to explain gaps in President Bush's Texas Air National Guard service are missing from the military records released about his service in 1972 and 1973, according to regulations and outside experts. ...

Challenging the government's declaration that no more documents exist, the AP identified five categories of records that should have been generated after Bush skipped his pilot's physical and missed five months of training.

Reporter Matt Kelley does mention attacks on Kerry's record — admitting, it seems to me, that his reportage is meant as return fire — but he manages to do so without citing a single specific accusation. Check out the editorializing:

Democrat John Kerry commanded a Navy Swift boat in Vietnam and was awarded five medals, including a Silver Star. But his heroism has been challenged in ads by some veterans who support Bush.

You know, it's almost getting boring to highlight these things. Maybe the growing public discontent with news services offers a partial explanation for AP reporters' hearing people boo everywhere they go.