KERRY'S ROPE-A-DOPE ON HIS RECORD?

Two days after his Meet the Press appearance got some people buzzing as to why he hadn't released his full military record, John Kerry has done just that:

Aides to Senator John Kerry's presidential campaign said on Tuesday that they would release all of his military records, including evaluations by his Navy commanders, a day after the campaign had refused to make the documents public.

Mr. Kerry won a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts in Vietnam.

The Boston Globe raised questions last week about the circumstances of his first Purple Heart. Mr. Kerry said on "Meet the Press" on NBC on Sunday that his military records were available for reporters to review at his campaign headquarters here. But when a reporter for The Globe showed up on Monday morning, the campaign withheld several documents, including evaluations by Mr. Kerry's commanders and some medical records.

(...)

A senior adviser to Mr. Kerry, Michael Meehan, said the campaign was releasing all the documents because Mr. Kerry was "running on his military record, not from his military record."

Mr. Meehan gave The New York Times documents that certify Mr. Kerry's three Purple Hearts for combat injuries. The documents included details of the wounds that led to his second and third Purple Hearts. Mr. Meehan said no after-action report had been found for the first Purple Heart, awarded, according to the certificate, "for wounds received in action on Dec. 2, 1968." In lieu of that report, Mr. Meehan offered a "Sick Call Treatment Record" from Mr. Kerry's personal medical files with these handwritten notes from someone who treated to him on Dec. 3, 1968, at the naval support center at Cam Ranh Bay:

"Shrapnel in left arm above elbow. Shrapnel removed and appl bacitracin dressing. Ret to Duty."

That's shrapnel, not pretzels, fyi. But in all seriousness, looks like this worked out in Kerry's distinct favor. He made a couple of ambiguous statements about the status of his military service record, everyone buzzes, people like Drudge and Insty crow about his "hypocrisy", etc. Half a news-cycle later, he releases everything. Now, like a venus flytrap luring unsuspecting insects into its deadly leafish structure (I need some remedial botany), he's got everyone asking about his military record, and those purple hearts and silver stars* are going to give off quite a lot of glare. * - Of course, Kerry's service record is not a breakfast cereal, but you get the point.

Sure, Bush-apologists and try and go after him for being some kind of hypocrite, but they're too late: Kerry's made his service the issue, and he did it quickly. Bush went more than a week from his Russert appearance to releasing his records. And when Bush did release his records, he sure didn't have any Silver Stars or Purple Hearts to point to. Though he probably did have Lucky Charms for breakfast.

So was this Kerry's plan all along, to rope-a-dope, Ali-style, bringing the Foreman-esque media and right wing in for the kill? Who knows. If it was, then they're smarter than I thought.

UPDATE: "I request duty in Vietnam"

2ND UPDATE: Tbogg keeps score.