The caveat emperor

Boston Globe reports At this point it comes as no surprise. John Kerry is releasing all his military records -- but then again, he isn't. During an interview yesterday with Globe editorial writers and columnists, the former Democratic presidential nominee was asked if had signed Form SF 180, authorizing the Department of Defense to grant access to all his military records. ''I have signed it," Kerry said. Then, he added that his staff was ''still going through it" and ''very, very shortly, you will have a chance to see it."

The devil is usually in the details. With Kerry, it's also in the dodges and digressions. After the interview, Kerry's communications director, David Wade, was asked to clarify when Kerry signed SF 180 and when public access would be granted. Kerry drifted over to join the conversation, immediately raising the confusion level. He did not answer the question of when he signed the form or when the entire record will be made public.

Several e-mails later, Wade conveyed the following information: On Friday, May 20, Kerry obtained a copy of Form 180 and signed it. ''The next step is to send it to the Navy, which will happen in the next few days. The Navy will then send out the records," e-mailed Wade. Kerry first said he would sign Form 180 when pressed by Tim Russert during a Jan. 30 appearance on ''Meet the Press."

Six months after Kerry's loss to George W. Bush, it feels somewhat gratuitous to point out how hard it can be to get a clear, straight answer from Kerry on this and other matters. But as long as the Massachusetts senator is thinking about another presidential run, the candor gap remains on the table, because he puts it there."

Michelle Malkin blogged Last summer, "Unfit for Command" author John O'Neill said if Kerry signed SF-180, reporters or anyone else could obtain all of Kerry's military records from DoD. "If he executes Standard Form 180, he would no longer be the gatekeeper, the gatekeeper would be the U.S. military," he told the Washington Times.... Ed Morrissey says that even after signing the SF 180 form, Kerry need not release his military records to the public. Either O'Neill was right or Morrissey is right, but not both. I'm sure the blogosphere will quickly figure it out.

David blogged Oh, and what is this about his staff ''still going through it"? Surely he cannot mean the SF-180 he was asked about? The darned thing is only 3 pages long! He must have a staff of illiterate cretins, if that is the "it" he signed. Which "it" refers to the SF-180 and which "it" refers to his military records—if either one refers to either set of documents

Captain Ed: blogged It may be the end of summer before any records are produced ... and it could be a cold day in Hell before all or any of it gets released to the media. In fact, Kerry could argue that signing it was all he agreed to do. When, he could say, did I commit to sending it to the Navy? You FOOLS! Mwa-HAHAHAHA! All kidding aside, Kerry only agreed to sign off on the SF-180. He didn't agree to release every document that results from that request. The SF-180 will only release the information to Kerry, who can then cull the material for anything embarrassing before making it public. Vennochi herself appears to think that this may wind up being Kerry's stance after he sees the files. We'll see. Somehow, with Kerry's track record, I suspect he'll find a rhetorical loophole he's left to allow him off the hook once the file arrives from the Navy.

It took 113 days to get to this point. How long till we see the results? What is the chance that Hell will freeze over?