tealboy03 wrote:"The media is going to look into it with Bush because they looked into it with Kerry."
Are you serious? 60 Minutes, whom I was speaking of directly, has done zero to investigate the claims of the swiftees, but have done 4-count em-4 of these little "investigative pieces" on Bush's National Guard record over the last 5 years.
It's not just 60 Minutes looking into this stuff. There are lots of other news organizations (that covered both topics) that are also going into this. 60 Minutes got an exclusive with Barnes, and so they went with it. So what? Is 60 Minutes now part of the vast liberal media conspiracy? I'm pretty sure they've done pieces that don't show Democrats in a flattering light as well.
They don't look into anything about Kerry-everything the man says is taken as fact, which means they're required to have a short memory. This stupid topic was laid to rest 5 years ago.
Well, you can be unhappy with 60 Minutes. But the reason they're reporting this is because it's a story now. This topic was laid to rest five years ago? New documents have come to light that shed information on the topic, and they show that Bush's service was less than satisfactory. A summary:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archiv ... 004656.php
NATIONAL GUARD SMOKING GUN?....As you know, 60 Minutes is running a segment tonight that features Ben Barnes explaining how he pulled strings to get George Bush into the National Guard in 1968. But the segment also features something else: new documents from the personal files of Col. Jerry Killian, Bush's squadron commander. According to CBS News, here's a summary of the four new documents they've uncovered:
* A direct order to Bush to take a physical examination in 1972. Physical exams are an annual requirement for pilots.
* A 1972 memo that refers to a phone call from Bush in which he and Killian "discussed options of how Bush can get out of coming to drill from now through November" because "he may not have time." This was presumably in preparation for Bush's departure for Alabama that year, but is nonetheless damning since there's no reason that working on a Senate campaign should have prevented him from showing up for drills one weekend per month.
* A 1972 order grounding Bush. This order refers not just to Bush's failure to take a physical, but also to "failure to perform to (USAF/TexANG) standards."
* A 1973 memo titled "CYA" in which Killian talks about being pressured to give Bush a favorable yearly evaluation. He refuses, saying, "I'm having trouble running interference and doing my job."
This story is a perfect demonstration of the difference between the Swift Boat controversy and the National Guard controversy. Both are tales from long ago and both are related to Vietnam, but the documentary evidence in the two cases is like night and day. In the Swift Boat case, practically every new piece of documentary evidence indicates that Kerry's accusers are lying. Conversely, in the National Guard case, practically every new piece of documentary evidence provides additional confirmation that the charges against Bush are true.
In fact, these four memos are pretty close to a smoking gun, since it's now clear that (a) Bush was directly ordered to take a physical in 1972 and refused, and (b) he plainly failed to perform up to National Guard standards, but that (c) he was nonetheless saved from a failing evaluation thanks to high-level pressure.
How has this story been laid to rest?
JackB1:
1. The "guy" you're talking about is a Kerry contributor, for one, and as is par for the course, apparently, is contradicting everything else he has said under oath in the past about it. Under oath, he stated that no one had any contact with him about getting W anything. On more than one occasion. The guy's a liar, one way or the other, same as Kerry.
I think you've got your stories wrong. Here's an article about Barnes' testimony, under oath, in 1999.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/US_election_r ... 17,00.html
n a written statement under oath presented on Monday, Ben Barnes, a former speaker of the Texas state legislature, said that in 1968 he asked the head of the Texan Air National Guard, General James Rose, to give the young Mr Bush a place on a pilot-training programme, automatically excusing him from the draft.
......
In his deposition, Mr Barnes said he had been asked to intervene by a Bush family friend, Sid Adger, but he did not know whether George Bush Sr, then a congressman, knew about the request. The former president said recently that he was "almost positive" that he had never discussed the matter with Adger, who died three years ago, and never asked for help. Rose died in 1993.
How has Barnes' story changed?
2.who's service was more noble?! Who the hell cares?? What you or I think about that has absolutely no bearing on the presidential election, so drop it.
How many posts did you make in the Swift Vet thread about Kerry and Vietnam? And now, when people start digging up stuff about your guys, it's that this "has absolutely no bearing on the presidential election".
5. If Kerry didn't bring up the National Guard thing, then Terry McAuliffe sure did. I heard him blathering about it this morning.
He probably was. But if the Swift Vet stuff was fair game, then so is this. And as opposed to the Swift Vet claims, it seems like most of the documentary evidence supports claims that Bush shirked his duties in the National Guard.
