Text 1870, 127 rader
Skriven 2004-09-08 17:06:52 av BOB SAKOWSKI (1:123/140)
Ärende: Presnit nitwit & TANG
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A buzzflash.com news alert.

September 8, 2004

What’s New in the Bush/National Guard Story?

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

From the DNC:

New stories broke today about Bush’s record in the Texas Air National Guard
during Vietnam. Key facts were revealed, including:

The AP uncovered two dozen additional records relating to Bush’s Guard
service, despite Bush’s frequent claims to have released all of the
documents.

A new independent analysis shows Bush did not fulfill his required duty in
the Guard, putting himself at risk for call up to active duty, and
contradicting previous Bush claims.

An officer in the Alabama National Guard has come forward, saying he
specifically looked for, but never found, Bush while he was supposed to be
reporting for duty in Alabama.

“He broke his contract with the United States government -- without any
adverse consequences. And the Texas Air National Guard was complicit in
allowing this to happen…He was a pilot. It cost the government a million
dollars to train him to fly. So he should have been held to an even higher
standard.ö
-- Army Colonel Gerald A. Lechliter [Boston Globe, 9/8/04]

“It appears that no one wanted to hold him accountable.ö
-- retired Major General Paul A. Weaver Jr., who retired in 2002 as the
Pentagon’s director of the Air National Guard. [Boston Globe, 9/8/04]

1) New Records Uncovered

AP Uncovers More Bush Records. According to the Associated Press, “The
Pentagon and Bush’s campaign have claimed for months that all records
detailing his fighter pilot career have been made public, but defense
officials said they found two dozen new records detailing his training and
flight logs after The Associated Press filed a lawsuit and crafted new
requests under the public records law.ö [AP, 9/7/04]

Records Show Bush’s Rank in Guard Class and Flight Logs. According to
records obtained by the AP, Bush “was ranked in the middle of his Air
National Guard class and flew more than 336 hours in a fighter jet before
letting his pilot status lapse and missing a key readiness drill, according
to his flight records belatedly uncovered Tuesday under the Freedom of
Information Act.ö [AP, 9/7/04]

2) New Study Shows Bush Didn’t Meet Requirements

In 1973, Bush Signed Document That He Would Sign Up With New Unit; But He
Never Did. According to the Boston Globe, “On July 30, 1973, shortly before
he moved from Houston to Cambridge, Bush signed a document that declared,
‘It is my responsibility to locate and be assigned to another Reserve
forces unit or mobilization augmentation position. If I fail to do so, I am
subject to involuntary order to active duty for up to 24 months...’ Under
Guard regulations, Bush had 60 days to locate a new unit. But Bush never
signed up with a Boston-area unit.ö [Boston Globe, 9/8/04]

In 1968, Bush Signed Document That State He Wouldn’t Miss Duty; But He Did.
According to the Boston Globe “On May 27, 1968, Bush signed a ‘statement of
understanding’ pledging to achieve ‘satisfactory participation’ that
included attendance at 24 days of annual weekend duty - usually involving
two weekend days each month - and 15 days of annual active duty. ‘I
understand that I may be ordered to active duty for a period not to exceed
24 months for unsatisfactory participation,’ the statement reads. Yet Bush,
a fighter-interceptor pilot, performed no service at all for one six-month
period in 1972 and for another period of almost three months in 1973, the
records show.ö [Boston Globe, 9/8/04]

WH Spokesman Bartlett Concedes He “Misspoke.ö “In 1999, Bush spokesman Dan
Bartlett told the Washington Post that Bush finished his six-year
commitment at a Boston area Air Force Reserve unit after he left Houston.
Not so, Bartlett now concedes. ‘I must have misspoke,’ Bartlett, who is now
the White House communications director, said in a recent interview.ö
[Boston Globe, 9/8/04]

[Comment from Bob]
Is "misspoke" a conservative synonym for lied?
[End comment]

FLASHBACK: In 1999, Bartlett Said Bush Transferred to Reserve Unit in Boston.
To start at Harvard, Bush needed early release from Guard duty in Texas, and he
got it easily, about eight months short of a full six years. A Bush spokesman,
Dan Bartlett, said early departures were quite common and, in Bush’s case,
appropriate because his unit had phased out the F-102s. Bush was transferred to
a reserve unit in Boston for the rest of his time, Bartlett noted. [Washington
Post, 7/28/99]

3)Alabama Guard Member Testifies to Bush’s Absence

Alabama Guardsman Was Looking For Bush in ‘72; Never Saw Him. “I’m sure I
would have seen him,ö former Alabama Guardsman Bob Mintz said of Bush.
“It’s a small unit, and you couldn’t go in or out without being seen. It
was too close a space.ö There were only 25 to 30 pilots there, and Mr. Bush
- a U.N. ambassador’s son who had dated Tricia Nixon - would have been
particularly memorable. Mintz served in the military from 1959 to 1984.
[Kristof, New York Times, 9/8/04]

“Mr. Mintz says he had heard that Mr. Bush - described as a young Texas
pilot with political influence - had transferred to the base. He heard that
Mr. Bush was also a bachelor, so he was looking forward to partying
together. He’s confident that he’d remember if Mr. Bush had shown up.ö
[Kristof, New York Times, 9/8/04]

Flight Instructor At Alabama Base Didn’t See Bush. Leonard Walls, a retired
Air Force colonel who was then a full-time pilot instructor at Dannelly Air
National Guard Base in Montgomery. “I was there pretty much every day,ö he
said, adding: “I never saw him, and I was there continually from July 1972
to July 1974.ö Mr. Walls, who describes himself as nonpolitical, added, “If
he had been there more than once, I would have seen him.ö [Kristof, New
York Times, 9/8/04]

[end]

Hmmm, The AP report, 60 minutes tonight, Kitty Kelly in 10 days, sure seems
like the feces is about to hit the fan for preznit nitwit and the media
just doesn't seem inclined to ignore the stories as they did in 2000.

Must really begin to suck to be a conservative.

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