The missing records

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

What are the odds? News organizations file suit for access to records of President George W. Bush's military service, wait six months for an answer and then -- right before the political conventions kick off the president's re-election campaign -- the Pentagon reports: Oops, they were destroyed. Don't you hate it when that happens?

A Pentagon spokesman said the payroll records of numerous service members, including former Lt. G.W. Bush of the Texas Air National Guard, had accidentally been ... destroyed. ...

In May 1972, Mr. Bush moved from Houston to Alabama to work on a political campaign. There is some dispute over whether he fulfilled his military obligations while there. The payroll records could have cleared it up.

Somewhere, Rose Mary Woods is smiling.