Is John Kerry the Stupidest Politician Alive?

All signs point to yes. The Boston Globe is reporting that Kerry has released his full military records to them, and that there is no new information to speak of. Quote:

The lack of any substantive new material about Kerry's military career in the documents raises the question of why Kerry refused for so long to waive privacy restrictions. An earlier release of the full record might have helped his campaign because it contains a number of reports lauding his service. Indeed, one of the first actions of the group that came to be known as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth was to call on Kerry to sign a privacy waiver and release all of his military and medical records.

But Kerry refused, even though it turned out that the records included commendations from some of the same veterans who were criticizing him.

This raises the excellent question of why Kerry would be so stubborn and obstinate regarding the signing of Form SF-180. Why didn't he release the records during Campaign 2004, when it might have made a difference? I'll followup with other reactions later (hat tip to Ryan James - and it looks like the clock may have to go!)...

UPDATE 8:14 a.m. central: Thanks to the lovely and talented Michelle Malkin for the link, as well as the lovely and talented Lorie Byrd, and the - well, let's just say the talented Jon Henke and Erick Erickson. A lot of people are playing up the academic angle, and just take a look at the photos here!...

UPDATE 2 10:04 a.m. central: During the campaign, you may remember, there was a fuss about Bush having a higher IQ than JFK II; now we find out he had higher grades, too. If this is REALLY the reason Kerry didn't release the records, then he is even stupider than his grades would indicate. To lessen his chance of winning the presidency because he didn't want his bad grades to come out - what, was he afraid Tee-RAY-za wouldn't fund the Spring Break fling if she found out? Come on...

UPDATE 3 11:38 a.m. central: PoliPundit has taken down his clock, and I'm following suit. It's been a grand and glorious ride, but don't despair; with Kerry, the next fiasco is always a mere headline away...

UPDATE 4 12:38 p.m. central: Most typical MSM headline of the day: Bush, Kerry Had Similar Grades...guess it's too difficult to say Bush's grades were better for some folks...amazing!...

UPDATE 5 7:59 p.m. central: And thanks to Wizbang for the link, too...true story: last time I had a big hit day, my Blogger template screwed up and ate my Sitemeter, and I missed counting a ton of traffic. Today, my Blogger template screwed up and ate my Sitemeter, and I missed counting a ton of traffic. Number of non-high-traffic days my Blogger template has ate my Sitemeter: 0. Nonbloggers will shrug their shoulders; fellow bloggers will either say, wow, that sucks, or cry me a river, at least you have some high traffic days!...