Friday, May 02, 2003
Bush our Hero
Watching Bush in a flight suit makes me physically ill. How he can compare himself to those who bravely serve in the military, is amazing to me. It makes a mockery of the armed services. Here is a US President who sends thousands of American men and women in harm’s way. a duty he ducked while he was under oath to fight for his country
Bush has often bragged about his service record, but through the freedom of information act, his actual service record is very different than what has been presented during his campaign efforts for public service.
According to the Washington Post, Bush was 12 days away from losing his student deferment and the Vietnam war was going hot and heavy then. Hundreds of kids were being killed every week. A lot of students were trying to find ways of getting out of the draft. Some went to Canada, some would actually maim themselves to avoid getting drafted. A lot of kids joined the National Guard right away. It was a "primo" alternative to actually serving in a shooting war. The waiting list to get into the guard was extremely long for that same reason. They easily got their quota of men. Many waited quite a while to even get a chance to qualify. A lot of them did not make it. The list for fresh bodies needed in the war was shorter than the list for a National Guard spots. The list of people waiting to get into the Air Guard was much longer than all others.
Two weeks before Georgie was to graduate from Yale, George Walker Bush stepped into the offices of the Texas Air National Guard at Ellington Field outside Houston and announced that he wanted to sign up for pilot training
George's father was a congressman from Houston at the time, so it was no problem getting him to the front of the line. He received what some called "Special Consideration". Newsweek reported on July 9, 2000 that the Bush campaign "launched a secretive research operation designed to scour all records relating to his Vietnam-era service" during preparation for Bush's 1998 re-election campaign. They paid "hard-nosed Dallas lawyer named Harriet Miers" $19,000 to review the records. According to Newsweek, one result of her work was to deflect charges that former Texas House Speaker Ben Barnes helped Bush get into the Texas Air National Guard despite low qualifications and a long waiting list. Barnes was later forced to testify under oath that he helped Bush.
Back at the ranch, George went to Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts to take the Air Force Officers Qualification Test He scored 25 percent on a "pilot aptitude" test and 50 percent for navigator aptitude . It was the lowest acceptable grade. Bush was sworn in as an airman the same day he applied. His commander, was Col. Walter B. "Buck" Staudt of the 147th Fighter Group. George agreed to spend almost two years in flight training and another four years in part-time service.
In late November, Bush was sent to Moody Air Force Base outside Valdosta, Ga., for a year-long undergraduate flight school. In the middle of his training, President Richard M. Nixon sent a plane down to fetch him for an introductory date with his older daughter Tricia, according to fellow trainee Joseph A. Chaney. It did not lead to another date. She must have been uggggggly. Rep. Bush wound up giving the commencement speech.
According to reports by the Boston Globe, Bush stopped flying only 22 months later in April 1972. He was subsequently grounded from flight on August 1, 1972 because he "failed to accomplish his annual physical." There is no mention of the grounding in Bush's biography. Imagine that! When questioned by the press, Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett has offered several different reasons for this grounding. Initially Bartlett said that Bush could not get to Houston for his physical, but this was proved wrong when it was shown that Bush could have visited flight surgeons stationed in Alabama. Bartlett then said the F-102 fighter that Bush was trained to fly was removed from service, but this was proved wrong when it was shown that the F-102 remained in service in Bush's unit for two more years. The smart money was on the speculation, that Bush skipped his annual physical in 1972 because the Pentagon that year imposed random drug testing for the first time, and Bush feared he would fail the exam. Bush has admitted drinking heavily at the time, and has refused to deny using cocaine before 1974. Similar allegations have been reported in the Times of London and the New York Post. More "Special Consideration"??
In May 1972, with two years to go on his six-year commitment to the Guard, Bush moved to Alabama to work on a Senate campaign. He asked if he could do his Guard duty there. This son-of-a-congressman and fighter pilot won permission to do "equivalent training" at a unit that had no aircraft and no pilots. The national Air Reserve office then disallowed this transfer. For months, Bush did nothing for the Guard. In September 1972, he won permission to train with a unit in Montgomery. But the commander of the unit and his administrative officer told the Boston Globe that they had no recollection of Bush ever reporting for duty. And when Bush returned to Texas after the November election, he did not return to his unit for months, according to his military records. His annual performance report, dated May 2, 1973, noted he had "not been observed at this unit" for the past year. In May, June and July of that year, he did pull 36 days of duty. And then, as he was on his way to Harvard Business School, he received permission to end his Guard service early. Even More "Special Consideraton"???
The records suggest Bush skipped out on the Guard for about a year. (And during that time he had failed to submit to an annual physical and lost his flight status.) A campaign spokesperson said Bush recalled doing duty in Alabama and "coming back to Houston and doing duty." But Bush never provided any real proof he had. Asked by a reporter if he remembered what work he had done in Alabama, he said, "No, I really don't."
A fair assumption was that he had gamed the system and avoided a year of service, before wiggling out of the Guard nearly a year before his time was up. It looked as if he had served four, not six years. The Boston Globe obtained copies of Bush's military records and discovered that he had stopped flying during his final 18 months of service in 1972 and 1973. More curious, the records showed Bush had not reported for Guard duty during a long stretch of that period.
Say, it isn't so! Our leader was AWOL! I wonder why he was not prosecuted under military law? I think the phrase "SPECIAL CONSIDERATION" has a lot to do with it.
When he enlisted in the Texas Air Guard, Bush had signed a pledge stating he would complete his pilot training and then "return to my unit and fulfill my obligation to the utmost of my ability." Instead, he received flight training--at the government's expense--and then cut out on his unit. According to National Guard guidelines "He had not been faithful to the Guard". " The bottom line is that George W. Bush lied and ducked out of his committment to the Armed Services.
So, we can surmise that he is lier, and a coward, two outstanding qualities for a "chicken hawk politician"
Bush took a solemn oath while the United States was waging war in Indochina to serve his country in the Texas Air National Guard. He did not honor that oath, He ran away, using his father to cover his chicken hawk ass.
Bush looked quite heroic hopping out of that plane dressed in a flight suit and striding across the flight deck. I am sure we will see him in that flight suit until the November election. What imagery. The problem is that the image is obviously distorted when you know him to be a lier and a coward. I can forgive him being a lier. He is a politician, but why does he have to soil the uniform of brave men and women.
This wasn't just a campaign stunt? Was it? Bush wouldn't waste taxpayer money and exploit the death of thousands of Iraqis and the 128 American lives, for crass political advantage. Sure, And Georgie boy really did serve honorably in the Guard.
Sources Cited:
Washington Post
Boston Globe
Newsweek
Times of London
The New York Post
Watching Bush in a flight suit makes me physically ill. How he can compare himself to those who bravely serve in the military, is amazing to me. It makes a mockery of the armed services. Here is a US President who sends thousands of American men and women in harm’s way. a duty he ducked while he was under oath to fight for his country
Bush has often bragged about his service record, but through the freedom of information act, his actual service record is very different than what has been presented during his campaign efforts for public service.
According to the Washington Post, Bush was 12 days away from losing his student deferment and the Vietnam war was going hot and heavy then. Hundreds of kids were being killed every week. A lot of students were trying to find ways of getting out of the draft. Some went to Canada, some would actually maim themselves to avoid getting drafted. A lot of kids joined the National Guard right away. It was a "primo" alternative to actually serving in a shooting war. The waiting list to get into the guard was extremely long for that same reason. They easily got their quota of men. Many waited quite a while to even get a chance to qualify. A lot of them did not make it. The list for fresh bodies needed in the war was shorter than the list for a National Guard spots. The list of people waiting to get into the Air Guard was much longer than all others.
Two weeks before Georgie was to graduate from Yale, George Walker Bush stepped into the offices of the Texas Air National Guard at Ellington Field outside Houston and announced that he wanted to sign up for pilot training
George's father was a congressman from Houston at the time, so it was no problem getting him to the front of the line. He received what some called "Special Consideration". Newsweek reported on July 9, 2000 that the Bush campaign "launched a secretive research operation designed to scour all records relating to his Vietnam-era service" during preparation for Bush's 1998 re-election campaign. They paid "hard-nosed Dallas lawyer named Harriet Miers" $19,000 to review the records. According to Newsweek, one result of her work was to deflect charges that former Texas House Speaker Ben Barnes helped Bush get into the Texas Air National Guard despite low qualifications and a long waiting list. Barnes was later forced to testify under oath that he helped Bush.
Back at the ranch, George went to Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts to take the Air Force Officers Qualification Test He scored 25 percent on a "pilot aptitude" test and 50 percent for navigator aptitude . It was the lowest acceptable grade. Bush was sworn in as an airman the same day he applied. His commander, was Col. Walter B. "Buck" Staudt of the 147th Fighter Group. George agreed to spend almost two years in flight training and another four years in part-time service.
In late November, Bush was sent to Moody Air Force Base outside Valdosta, Ga., for a year-long undergraduate flight school. In the middle of his training, President Richard M. Nixon sent a plane down to fetch him for an introductory date with his older daughter Tricia, according to fellow trainee Joseph A. Chaney. It did not lead to another date. She must have been uggggggly. Rep. Bush wound up giving the commencement speech.
According to reports by the Boston Globe, Bush stopped flying only 22 months later in April 1972. He was subsequently grounded from flight on August 1, 1972 because he "failed to accomplish his annual physical." There is no mention of the grounding in Bush's biography. Imagine that! When questioned by the press, Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett has offered several different reasons for this grounding. Initially Bartlett said that Bush could not get to Houston for his physical, but this was proved wrong when it was shown that Bush could have visited flight surgeons stationed in Alabama. Bartlett then said the F-102 fighter that Bush was trained to fly was removed from service, but this was proved wrong when it was shown that the F-102 remained in service in Bush's unit for two more years. The smart money was on the speculation, that Bush skipped his annual physical in 1972 because the Pentagon that year imposed random drug testing for the first time, and Bush feared he would fail the exam. Bush has admitted drinking heavily at the time, and has refused to deny using cocaine before 1974. Similar allegations have been reported in the Times of London and the New York Post. More "Special Consideration"??
In May 1972, with two years to go on his six-year commitment to the Guard, Bush moved to Alabama to work on a Senate campaign. He asked if he could do his Guard duty there. This son-of-a-congressman and fighter pilot won permission to do "equivalent training" at a unit that had no aircraft and no pilots. The national Air Reserve office then disallowed this transfer. For months, Bush did nothing for the Guard. In September 1972, he won permission to train with a unit in Montgomery. But the commander of the unit and his administrative officer told the Boston Globe that they had no recollection of Bush ever reporting for duty. And when Bush returned to Texas after the November election, he did not return to his unit for months, according to his military records. His annual performance report, dated May 2, 1973, noted he had "not been observed at this unit" for the past year. In May, June and July of that year, he did pull 36 days of duty. And then, as he was on his way to Harvard Business School, he received permission to end his Guard service early. Even More "Special Consideraton"???
The records suggest Bush skipped out on the Guard for about a year. (And during that time he had failed to submit to an annual physical and lost his flight status.) A campaign spokesperson said Bush recalled doing duty in Alabama and "coming back to Houston and doing duty." But Bush never provided any real proof he had. Asked by a reporter if he remembered what work he had done in Alabama, he said, "No, I really don't."
A fair assumption was that he had gamed the system and avoided a year of service, before wiggling out of the Guard nearly a year before his time was up. It looked as if he had served four, not six years. The Boston Globe obtained copies of Bush's military records and discovered that he had stopped flying during his final 18 months of service in 1972 and 1973. More curious, the records showed Bush had not reported for Guard duty during a long stretch of that period.
Say, it isn't so! Our leader was AWOL! I wonder why he was not prosecuted under military law? I think the phrase "SPECIAL CONSIDERATION" has a lot to do with it.
When he enlisted in the Texas Air Guard, Bush had signed a pledge stating he would complete his pilot training and then "return to my unit and fulfill my obligation to the utmost of my ability." Instead, he received flight training--at the government's expense--and then cut out on his unit. According to National Guard guidelines "He had not been faithful to the Guard". " The bottom line is that George W. Bush lied and ducked out of his committment to the Armed Services.
So, we can surmise that he is lier, and a coward, two outstanding qualities for a "chicken hawk politician"
Bush took a solemn oath while the United States was waging war in Indochina to serve his country in the Texas Air National Guard. He did not honor that oath, He ran away, using his father to cover his chicken hawk ass.
Bush looked quite heroic hopping out of that plane dressed in a flight suit and striding across the flight deck. I am sure we will see him in that flight suit until the November election. What imagery. The problem is that the image is obviously distorted when you know him to be a lier and a coward. I can forgive him being a lier. He is a politician, but why does he have to soil the uniform of brave men and women.
This wasn't just a campaign stunt? Was it? Bush wouldn't waste taxpayer money and exploit the death of thousands of Iraqis and the 128 American lives, for crass political advantage. Sure, And Georgie boy really did serve honorably in the Guard.
Sources Cited:
Washington Post
Boston Globe
Newsweek
Times of London
The New York Post
# posted by Thomas @ 12:51 AM 
