AWOL Bush?

“Some time ago (I can’t find the thread now) Nigal challenged the “Bush AWOL from Guard” story and I posted a few of the Boston Globe stories from 2000 to buttress the claim. I wasn’t aware that there was more to the story and it still remains unresolved to this day. In the interest of being ‘fair and balanced’ I want to post this link to the Daily Howler. Scroll down a little to “TIMES AWOL”.”

“More links at www.washingtonpost.com”

“I guess Nigal couldn't find any of that at www.iwannahavebushsbaby.com”

“There's lots more on the infamous 'torn document' at http://www.calpundit.com/archives/003189.html.”

“From salon: Bush supporters routinely cite the president's honorable discharge as the ultimate proof that there was nothing unbecoming about his military service.

But experts say that citation does not wipe away the questions. "An honorable discharge does not indicate a flawless record," says Grant Lattin, a military law attorney in Washington and a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who served as a judge advocate, or JAG officer. "Somebody could have missed a year's worth of Guard drills and still end up with an honorable discharge." That's because of the extraordinary leeway local commanders within the Guard are given over these types of issues. Lattin notes that the Guard "is obviously very political, even more so than other military institutions, and is subject to political influence."

<snip>
If Bush wanted to resolve the questions about his National Guard service, he could do so very easily. If he simply agreed to release the contents of his military personnel records jacket, the Guard could make public all his discharge papers, including pay records and total retirement points, which experts say would shed the best light on where Bush was, or was not, during the time in question between 1972 and 1973.”

“Somehow I don't think there's much chance of that.”

“Is this discussion differentiating between mentally and physically AWOL? Of simply out-to-lunch?”

“RESUME
GEORGE W. BUSH
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20520
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
Law Enforcement:
I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for
driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty,
paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for
30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost" and
is not available.

Military:
I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I
refused to take a drug test or answer any questions
about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National
Guard, I was able to avoid
combat duty in Vietnam.

College:
I graduated from Yale University with a low C average.
I was a cheerleader.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE:
I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career
in the oil business in Midland, Texas, in 1975.
I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil
in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I
sold all my stock. I bought the Texas Rangers baseball
team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money.
With the help of my father and our friends in the
oil industry (including Enron CEO Ken Lay), I was
elected governor of Texas.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS
* I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and
oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in
the Union. During my tenure, Houston replaced Los
Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America.
* I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the
tune of billions in borrowed money.
* I set the record for the most executions by any
governor in American history.
With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father's appointments to the Supreme\Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000
votes.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT:
* I am the first President in U.S. history to enter
office with a criminal record.
* I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing
cost of over one billion dollars per week.
* I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted
the U.S. Treasury.
* I shattered the record for the largest annual
deficit in U.S. history.
* I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.
* I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.
* I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in
the history of the U.S. stock market. In my first year
in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs
and that trend continues every month.
* I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My
"poorest millionaire," Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron
oil tanker named after her.
I set the record for most campaign fund-raising
trips by a U.S. President.
* I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.
* My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of
my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the
largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron.
* My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S.Supreme Court during my election decision.
* I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton
against investigation or prosecution. More time and
money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky
affair than has been spent investigating one of the
biggest corporate rip- offs in history.
* I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S.
history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed. I presided
over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.
* I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.
* I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history.
* I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the
largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.
* I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history.
* I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.
* I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law.
* I refused to allow inspector's access to U.S.
"prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused
to abide by the Geneva Convention.
* I am the first President in history to refuse United
Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S.
election).
* I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of
television.
* I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.
* I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. after the
World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later
made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the
largest failure of diplomacy in world history.
* I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public
venues (15 million people), shattering the record for
protests against any person in the history of mankind.
* I am the first President in U.S. history to order an
unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community.
* I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families -- in wartime.
* In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our
reasons for attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on
our British friends.
* I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.
* I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a WMD.
* I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden [sic] to justice.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES:
* All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are
now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view.
* All records of SEC investigations into my insider
trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
* All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my
Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for
public review.”

“He didn't really follow up with the tough questions he's known for, but Russert did a pretty good job. He did get Bush to agree to releasing his file. We'll see how they squirm out of that one.

transcript
RUSSERT: When allegations were made about John McCain or Wesley Clark on their military records, they opened up their entire files. Would you agree to do that?

BUSH: Yes. Listen, these files have been -- I mean, people have been looking for these files for a long period of time, trust me, and starting in the 1994 campaign for governor. And I can assure you in the year 2000 people were looking for those files, as well. Probably you were.

And absolutely, I mean, I...

RUSSERT: But you will allow pay stubs, tax records, anything to show that you were serving during that period?

BUSH: Yes. If we still have them, but I -- you know, the records are kept in Colorado, as I understand, and they scoured the records.”

“Stop being too nice to this snake, I mean shrub. He has done some things even worse than you credit him for, like his decision to murder babies in Texas so that ultra-rich oil tycoons could get even richer. Yes, shrub is a baby-killer. He allowed tens of thousands of children to have no health insurance so that oilmen could get a tax break, even though Texas just had to spend the money to sign up the children, and the Federal Gov't was going to provide the insurance. It is a fact beyond dispute that children with no insurance die at a greater rate than those with insurance. So shrub murdered babies for a pennies-on-the-dollar tax break for the rich. He should be executed for murder, not impeached.”

“Thanks Violin! HooWeee!!!”

“Soft would be a must to appear on even that show.”

“I bet those records have been "lost".”

“Records get "lost" all the time. That's why it's a good idea to ask for EVERYTHING in writing & keep copies.”

“I made sure that I watched the complete interview. If the president tells me that he has something to say, I try to make sure that I listen.
1. His case for the war in Iraq still sounds very weak.
2. His military carreer is still in question.
3. He stumbled a lot, making him look like he was trying to hide something.
That's my take on it.”

“IMO, he's never been anything that is remotely comparable to a stateman. His speaking skills are hardly anything to write home about. And,now, he is finding himself, for the first time since 9/11, losing that 'teflon coating'. So, it is no surprise to me that he is coming off that way. I think that he did the interview to try and keep the image that he is still that 'regular guy/compassionate conservative/honest ma' image that he has gotten over with for the past 3 years. Of spurse, he's got some things he'd love to sweep under the carpet. But, now that it is surfacing, Rove has his work cut out for him. "How can I save George W. Bush from election defeat and try to keep his image intact as this political season heats up?"”

“He's gonna have a hard time proving that he didn't go AWOL. The fallback comment is always, "Well, I received an honorable discharge". It's gonna take more than that.”

“Russert should have asked him why he failed to take his physical examination, thus failing to be certified as a pilot.”

“don't worry, folks...the Year of the Monkey is to the rescue. it means political upheaval and change in leadership! it's true, i read it on the internet. Bush is like SO gone!”

“Ha!

I heard in an email sent to Cafferty on CNN.... some guy said he was a Vet and was wondering Why didn't anyone who was in Bush's unit step in to back up their old buddy?”

“His daddy can't help now!!”

“It's like Bush is falling down a 60 degree slope, in brand new gortex XCR pants and jacket, and just lost his ice axe. Self Arrest is out of the question.”

“That's why he is going into the "fetal" posture.”

“I see the morons are getting rowdy!”

“U.U. Where have you been?”

“Right here!”

“Strange how there's a little smile on Bush's face, everytime he mentioned WMD.”

“W smirks more than he should. I don't think it serves him while talking about WMD's. IMO”

“calpundit has the full version of the infamous 'torn document' on his site!

It appears that the points are for the Air Reserve Force meaning that Bush was relieved of his obligation after missing drills, blowing off his physical and transferred to ARF as a disciplinary measure.

I guess he’d better release his records like he promised to Russert so he can clear this whole thing up. Unless of course he’s hiding something even worse…”

“Uh... why does he need to release his records... They're not secret, you can get them from the National Guard archives if you like.”

“Personnel records are available under the FOI Act?

Hmmm, I wonder why the Boston Globe had trouble?”

“did an in depth review of the record... Kind of hard to do if you can't get it.”

“"Assessing Bush's military service three decades later is no easy task: Some of his superiors are no longer alive. Others declined to comment, or, understandably, cannot recall details about Bush's comings and goings. And as Bush has risen in public life over the last several years, Texas military officials have put many of his records off-limits and heavily redacted many other pages, ostensibly because of privacy rules."

--Boston Globe”

“The contents of one's military personnel records jacket are classified. Bush could authorize their release - like his father, Gore, Kerry and others have done.”

“Who gives a #&%!$. Bush is a religious nutsoid ninny. But the Bush Admin stepped up with some brass balls with their foreign policy. Unfortunately none of them had the forsight to shake up the intel community, but oh well. No thinking person believed the war was over NBCs in the first place.”

“Shake up the INTEL community? They did what they always do, given the budget cuts & extreme decrease in HUMIT. It was Cheney down there every chance he got to twist / distort every little piece of info to his own needs. INTEL puts their heart, soul & lives into this country only to be distorted & belittled by this administration.”

“I don't think it was this admin. that made all the cuts in the intelligence budget and started relying more on SIGINT. Not saying it was Clinton, but I don't think it was Bush.”

“Don't make excuses for that punk little cowboy creep.”

“It's not an excuse if he didn't make the cuts, tiger.”

“A tragic fire on Monday destroyed the personal library of President George W. Bush. Both of his books have been lost.

A presidential spokesman said the President was devastated as he had not finished coloring the second one.”

“Tee Hee Hee”

“Hmmm.... 36 days straight would make up for two weeks of camp plus 11 months of weekends... Basically a whole year of Guard service(?)”

“It sounds like the pay records raise as many questions as they settle, especially since Richard Cohen said in yesterday’s WaPo that he got paid for guard duty during Vietnam and received an honorable discharge even though he shirked his duty.



In his interview with Russert, Bush said “I wouldn't denigrate service to the Guard…What I don't like is when people say serving in the Guard is -- may not be a true service.”

However, there is a history of the Guard on the Air National Guard website. In it they say that during the Vietnam era, “The Reserves and the Guard acquired reputations as draft havens for relatively affluent young white men.””

“I'm not impressed by his pay records, obviously if he got credit he got paid. People who have no show jobs due to favoritism still get paid, still get credited for work. Actually, realizing he got paid ups the ante - if he didn't do the work, he was defrauding the taxpayer.

What impresses me is that his superiors never saw him. No one has come forward to say, they trained with him or worked with him. I'll bet someone is working on bending elbows to find someone who will say they worked with him - the fact that no guard buddy from Alabama has surfaced yet - speaks loudly.”

“Yes very loudly - there is no doubt in my mind that his family couldn't have "worked out" his service obligation. The fact that Bush and his people have allowed this to drag out to this point without coming up with something a little more convincing than old pay records is troublesome.”

“He’s really turned it into an issue by being so evasive and secretive. I worked with an attorney who had an undergraduate degree in engineering. I noted that he had an unusual background and he told me that he really went into engineering because that gave him a better chance of avoiding the draft. An honest straightforward answer. Why Bush didn’t put this one to bed with a similar admission years ago is beyond me.”

“From the Russert interview:

RUSSERT: But you will allow pay stubs, tax records, anything to show that you were serving during that period?

BUSH: Yes. If we still have them, but I -- you know, the records are kept in Colorado, as I understand, and they scoured the records.




From The Dallas Morning News:

Retired National Guard Lt. Col. Bill Burkett said Tuesday that in 1997, then-Gov. Bush's chief of staff, Joe Allbaugh, told the National Guard chief to get the Bush file and make certain "there's not anything there that will embarrass the governor."

Col. Burkett said that a few days later at Camp Mabry in Austin, he saw Mr. Bush's file and documents from it discarded in a trash can. He said he recognized the documents as retirement point summaries and pay forms.”

“USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — As Texas Gov. George W. Bush prepared to run for president in the late 1990s, top-ranking Texas National Guard officers and Bush advisers discussed ways to limit the release of potentially embarrassing details from Bush's military records, a former senior officer of the Texas Guard said Wednesday.

A second former Texas Guard official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, was told by a participant that commanders and Bush advisers were particularly worried about mentions in the records of arrests of Bush before he joined the National Guard in 1968, the second official said.

<snip>
Two forms in Bush's publicly released military files — his enlistment application and a background check — contain blacked-out entries in response to questions about arrests or convictions. Bush acknowledged in biographies published in 1999 that he was arrested twice before he enlisted in the Air National Guard: once for stealing a wreath and another time for rowdiness at a Yale-Princeton football game.

The nature of what was blacked out in Bush's records is important because certain legal problems, such as drug or alcohol violations, could have been a basis for denying an applicant entry into the Guard or pilot training. Admission to the Guard and to pilot school was highly competitive at that time, the height of the Vietnam War.

The National Guard cited privacy as the reason for blacking out answers. The full, unmarked records have never been released. Bartlett did not respond Wednesday to a request to release the records with nothing blacked out, which Bush could do as the subject of the records.

<snip>
In an interview that aired Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press... Host Tim Russert asked, "Would you authorize the release of everything to settle this?" Bush replied, "Yes, absolutely."
<snip>”

“Anybody else catch Col. Burkett (formerly of the Texas Air Guard) on Hardball just now? He sounded pretty convincing to me.

He says he overheard Joe Allebaugh (former head of FEMA and Bush's then campaign manager) telling the folks at the Guard "to make sure there wasn't anything embarassing" in Bush's records back during the Texas Governor's race. Ten days later, he said he saw a stack of Bush's records in the trash.... He said looked at them... fitness reports... pay records...

Of course there are supposed to be copies on microfilm in Colorado and St. Louis.... Didn't Russert ask if 'everything' should be released --- and didn't Bush reply 'absolutely'? (I don't think the dentist appointment stuff is going to cut it.)

This pretty much somes up what Burkett said. It's pretty strange that it's getting so much play now. Why no serious follow-up then?


The inside of the White House must resemble a disturbed ant hill right about now.”