The real scandal in the Bush National Guard story is the message that he sends to current members of the Guard who are being asked to follow regulations in a time of war. If Bush would just say, "I shouldn't have done it, I regret it and I am lucky that I didn't get in trouble", then the problem would go away. He simply should have stuck to "When I was young and foolish, I was young and foolish."
Is this case, the real scandal isn't the original action (which was a long time ago) or even the cover-up (which is bad enough) but the current justification.
A reporter (or Kerry, "rhetorically", in a debate) should ask Bush:
"You say it is OK that you decided not to fly anymore and therefore OK that you skipped your required physical exam and thereore OK that you missed required drills for months at a time. As Commander-in-Chief, is it OK if current members of the Guard follow your example?"