NY Post (Murdoch): Bush's "Accuser" Had Breakdowns

[grasswire]

Here comes the slime, folks:

http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/30241.htm

September 13, 2004 -- The principal source for the "60 Minutes" story claiming President Bush failed to take a required physical to maintain his Vietnam-era flight status reportedly was a disgruntled former officer who suffered two nervous breakdowns.
The man, Bill Burkett, claims he was present at Texas Guard Headquarters in 1997, when Joe Allbaugh — an aide to Bush, who was by then governor — ordered the records "sanitized" to protect his boss, Newsweek magazine said.

Allbaugh called that story "absolute garbage." And White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett said Burkett is a "discredited source."

If Burkett is lying, the magazine suggests a possible motive: In 1998, he got sick on a National Guard mission to Panama and later suffered two nervous breakdowns.

[whirlygigspin]

1. Bill Burkett does not exist

-and he likes to wear "girly" shoes.

[Knurled99]

2. Typical disinformation

Their engine is in full speed, churning out delusional answers to every accusation. The news and thus the public-at-large tend to eat these kinds of things up.

[DemBones DemBones]

3. It's a non-issue since it's documented in

TANG records that Bush* failed to take his flight physical. He has even "explained" it by saying (through Bartlett or maybe Ari Flesicher -- this was in 2000) that he couldn't take the physical because he was in Alabama and his doctor was in Houston.
(A totally lame excuse since flight physicals are done by military doctors, and military doctors can be found where there are military bases.) That explanation was an acknowledgement that he didn't take the physical.

[Sugarbleus]

4. LOL...First someone called Dan Rather the Taliban, now they

say the whistle blowers are INSANE? How conveeeeeeeenient

Damn, I wish I had started a "Journal" of all the things this admin has blamed on others or blasphemed. A few days ago, I read in here a piece about Venezuela being pissed on(threatened sanctions) by Bush. Bush claiming it was because they were trafficking in the sex industry. Stupid Wheorge, he already used that one on Castro in banning travel to that Island earlier this year. :eyes:

[luaneryder]

14. Dan Rather

HEZBOLLLAH! * machine machinations.

[Swamp Rat]

5. Rupert Murdoch has sex with ugly alien lizards.

Pox on your house for eternity!

[calimary]

29. No, Rupert did not have sex with ugly alien lizards. His mother did.

Sins of the father. There they are - in blood-red in your photo.

[freeplessinseattle]

6. wtf? how is that motive?

are they questioning his mental health, implying he's delusional? or maybe that he's getting revenge at the cause of his "nervous breakdowns"? that is so freaking ignorant and insensitive to people with mental health issues, implying that they can't be trusted. what the heck is a "nervous breakdown" anyway, there was no DSM definition at the time and none now, except maybe within the realm of PTSD or manic depression. So what, Bush is a psychopath, doesn't that frighten anyone?

[bluestateguy]

7. Uh huh

Maybe the NY Post can ask Vice Presidential nominee Dick Gephardt for a comment. :eyes:

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

8. *snort*

Good one. :thumbsup:

[The Magistrate]

34. Hallo, Dear!

You were up late....

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[Flammable Materials]

9. Holy shit, we ARE in the USSA, aren't we?

"If you oppose Glorious Leader, or attempt to criticize him in any way, then you are obviously mentally unstable."

[Disturbed]

10. Don't believe the facts...

believe the dirt that the Neo Fascists throw.

This isn't Hardball. It's Rollerball with spikes. The Kerry team better get in the game.

[Judi Lynn]

11. Someone posted a Newsweek story with the breakdowns mentioned

as being related to an illness he suffered:

A principal source for CBS's story was Bill Burkett, a disgruntled former Guard officer who lives in Baird, Texas, who says he was present at Guard headquarters in Austin in 1997, when a top aide to the then Governor Bush ordered records sanitized to protect the Boss. Other Guard officials disputed Burkett's account, and the Bush aide involved, Joe Allbaugh, called it "absolute garbage." Burkett may have a motive to make trouble for the powers that be. In 1998, he grew gravely ill on a Guard mission to Panama, causing him to be hospitalized, and he suffered two nervous breakdowns. He unsuccessfully sued for medical expenses.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5974040/site/newsweek/

As you can see, there would be no reason for the guy to be so bitter because of something which happened in 1998 that he'd try to bamboozle _Bush. That's just STUPID. The illness, the breakdowns, and _Bush are actually unrelated.

Anyone who dares not praise the obnoxious pResident can expect to get an all out attack on him any way possible at all. All they could find on this guy was an illness which led to temporary complications. Nice try, _{Bush buttheads.}

[Philostopher]

26. Good point. You'd think if he blamed anyone

for something that happened in 1998, when he was in Panama, it would be Bill Clinton. Clinton was, after all, the nominal CIC in 1998, right? So, if his illness, subsequent litigation and failure of that litigation was a driving force in his saying something disingenuous about somebody to damage them politically, why wouldn't he have been more likely to show up and shoot off his mouth during the Clinton impeachment?

[Karenina]

31. Burkett has been COMPLETELY open

about his health problems.

What do you say?

By Bill Burkett
Online Journal Contributing Writer

http://onlinejournal.com/Commentary/031903Burkett/031903burkett.html

March 19, 2003—I've sat in total grief for the past three years, watching the institutions of America being spent as if they were lottery winnings.

I don't want to say it, "But I told you so."

In January of 1998 and what seems like a full lifetime ago, I was stricken by a deadly case of meningoencephalitis. I was returning from a short duty trip to Panama as a team chief to inspect the hand over of Ft. Clayton to the Panamanians. I had been 'loaned' from the senior staff and state planning officer of the Texas National Guard to the Department of the Army for a series of these special projects after angering George W. Bush by refusing to falsify readiness information and reports; confronting a fraudulent funding scheme which kept 'ghost' soldiers on the books for additional funding, and refusing to alter official personnel records .

George W. Bush and his lieutenants were mad. They ordered that I not be accessed to emergency medical care services, healthcare benefits I earned by my official duty; and I was withheld from medical care for 154 days before I was withdrawn from Texas responsibility by the Department of the Army, by order of the White House.

I was a pawn then caught in a struggle for right and wrong, but also caught within a political struggle between a man who would do anything to be 'king' of America and an institution of laws that we knew as America.

For five years, I have fought my battles around two fronts; the personal retaliation that was waged against me and the individual organizational unlawful acts and practices waged against our institutions...

[July]

12. Uh-huh, kill the messenger, change the subject.

And the press falls for it every time.

[Judi Lynn]

15. Isn't that the truth?

You'd believe a child unable to keep a single thought any longer than that to be flakey. Impaired. Ditzy.

All the distractions seem far more interesting to them than the actual story itself, although they fall far short when examined.

[tom_paine]

19. As often as the Soviets fell for it.

And as grotesquely.

[TahitiNut]

33. The NYPost is hardly the "press" in any legitimate sense.

The Reich Wing propaganda machine is working full-time on this one. They've thrown more specious shit on the wall than any time since ... WMD? They've totally abdicated any association with fact, objectivity, or truth. They really don't care. All they need do is raise a shit-storm the size of Ivan and the sheeple swallow the media diarrhea mixed with Kook-Aid. (Yes, "Kook-Aid".)

[biftonnorton]

13. This Just In: Batboy Served With Bush In Guard Unit!!!

;)

[farmbo]

16. Yawn... typical Rovian smear campaign

eom

[LizW]

17. Jesus, can't they get a new smear?

The "mental illness" thing is just sooooooo tired. It's not even creative. I was expecting a really juicy smear for this guy, and all he gets is the same old "crazy" thing that EVERYONE gets! The only thing lamer is the "Well, you're FAT" rejoinder they used against Michael Moore. :eyes:

[Must_B_Free]

18. Oh - it all doesn't matter then....

you see those documents should have been destroyed - this fellow just didn't do that because he's "unstable". Any sane person would have destroyed the documents like they were ordered to.

now run along...

[robbedvoter]

20. He and Richard Clarke kill puppies...Albaugh meanwhile is the Funeral

Homes guy - the one W committed perjury for - highly credible source.

[dogtag]

21. There's a grain of truth to

the "private doctor in Houston" story. I don't doubt that Fearless Leader tried to get Col. Jerry Killian to agree to the use of a personal doctor to do his physical. I'm sure there was a BushCo doc who would happily fudge the drug test. How cool would it be for another CYA memo to pup up describing a call from phony fighter pilot with this scenario?

[OctOct1]

22. I saw him on TV

I saw Bill Burkett in TV a long time ago. At least 4 to 6 months ago.
I can't even remember who did the interview.
They pretty much picked him to pieces, but Bill still came out strong.
I remember him being very believable.
He remembers details about being in the office and seeing things tossed in the trash.
Of course he had to describe were he was in the office and how far away from the trash can he was and they tried to pick a part weather he could have actually seen the papers in the trash from were he was ect.ect...
They wanted to know why he did not do anything then?
What was on the papers?
what were they hiding??

I remember him being believable, but thinking there was no evidence and only his word. In this world, a mans word is not evidence enough, so I kinda put it out of my mind.
There has to someone that can back him up, but they are probably already on the Bushco payroll???

[trueblew]

24. Hardball

I saw this guy on Hardball. He was not discredited at all on Hardball.

[Fridays Child]

25. When he first brought the information forward, his credibility was...

...attested to by other NG brass. Whoever they were, they need to back him up again.

[joefree1]

23. ALERT: This belongs in LBBYJ

Latest Breaking Bushit Yellow Journalism

[geek tragedy]

27. If Newsweek said this, AND it is true.

This is bad, bad news.

Regardless of the truth. This guy probably is honest and clear-headed.

But people are seriously underestimating the right-wing slime machine. Nervous breakdown? Dear lord, they'll bury him with that. Look how they were able to smear CBS and John Kerry.

[Buck2004]

35. This is really bad

You would have thought the Kerry campaign could have done a better job on those forgeries.............now we are all cooked for another 4 years. Misery.

[geek tragedy]

39. What would you like on your Tombstone?

[Lerkfish]

43. welcome to DU

enjoy your visit! :)

[geek tragedy]

45. You mean "I hope you ENJOYED your visit."

;)

[johnfunk]

28. I wonder if Kitty Kelley talks at all about Laura's rumored problems...

... with depression.

They make a patriotic, by-the-books officer like Burkett a target -- it's time to pull out ALL of their dirty laundry.

Besides, I'd trust a veteran who dealt with his problems (Burkett) over one who never went into treatment for his own chemical dependency (the Bush Boy).

[kskiska]

38. Bar Bush has had problems with depression

when her kids were growing up, and she's talked about it. Could it be she's a little unbalanced and we should disregard everything she says?

Larry King transcript
(snip)

BUSH: …But, you know, you're talking about the depression I had.

I really -- it was stupid of me, Larry. I'm glad now I...

KING: What do you mean it's stupid? You can't control it.

BUSH: No, but I could've gotten help, but I was too sort of proud to get help. And when George -- he was the only person I told. I didn't tell Andy Stewart (ph), my closest friend in the world; I didn't tell anybody.

KING: What's depression like?

BUSH: Awful, painful and it really physically hurts.

KING: It's been described that no news is good news -- that nothing can please you when you're in it.

BUSH: Well, it wasn't, maybe, quite that bad. I mean, I faked beautifully -- I mean, I faked through it.

KING: Mike Wallace worked every day with it.

BUSH: He did?

KING: Yes, every day; endured.

BUSH: Well God bless him because it's just a terrible thing to have. And you...

KING: How did you lick it?

BUSH: I don't know, but George just held me and he would suggest, you know, why don't you go to a doctor; and then I'd think, he thinks I'm crazy!

I only cried at night, when I could just keep him awake. And I mean it was terrible. But, having said that, I was the right age -- menopause, my children were gone for the first time. It was a job I couldn't share, and we'd had such fun in China and the U.N., and I loved all that; being part of his life and the Republican National Committee.

And all of a sudden all that sort of -- but it was really the physical thing. And the doctor could have helped me and I was too stupid to go.

KING: And drugs could have helped.

BUSH: Yes; but I just didn't want to tell anyone. I mean, I was ashamed of it. My code was, you think about other people, stop thinking about -- obviously you're thinking about yourself. That just isn't true.

I mean, I worked hard at the Washington home every day, I gave slide programs of China, George took me abroad with him on trips; I did a lot of things.

KING: But inside...

BUSH: I just hurt; but I'm over it. I was sad to read in the "USA Today," though that it recurs to people; and I said, not me, big boy.

(end of snip)

http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0101/28/lklw.00.html


As for Burkett, maybe we should wait to hear Dr. Krauthammer's diagnosis.

[FormerOstrich]

30. Why was he unsuccessful

in his attempt to recover medical expenses? I bet ten to one it's because they said he was just fine....no problems...no claim....

Therefore: No problems...

[dave29]

32. And what did Bush have before he was born again??

just curious

[wrate]

36. I expect the freepers who are unable to put two and two together and

unwilling to read the stories beyond the first two lines to believe this NY post crap.

[truth2power]

37. ad hominem

Attacking the person instead of the argument itself.

This tells me all I need to know about Mr. Burkett. He must be telling the truth if they're starting this sh*t! :silly:

[struggle4progress]

40. Joe Allbaugh

Who Is Joe Allbaugh?
Timothy Noah
Posted Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2000, at 2:52 PM PT
<snip> Allbaugh is George W. Bush's campaign manager. It is often said that the Bush campaign is run by a troika of aides, two of whom--spokeswoman Karen Hughes and strategist Karl Rove--are well known to the public. The third member is the press-shy Allbaugh. Actually, if you want to get complicated, there's also a fourth person, campaign chairman Don Evans, whose role might be likened to that of Charlie in Charlie's Angels. <snip>

http://slate.msn.com/id/1006388/


Published on Monday, March 22, 2004 by CommonDreams.org
Company With Ties To VP Cheney's Energy Task Force Faces Criminal Indictment For Gaming California Electricity Market
by Jason Leopold

<snip> Reliant, along with Entergy and TXU, two other major electricity corporations based in Texas, hired Diane Allbaugh as a lobbyist. Allbaugh is the wife of Joe Allbaugh, “the only member of Bush’s so-called iron triangle of trusted Texas cohorts to have served on the energy task force” and a director of the Federal Energy Management Agency, according to an Aug. 26, 2001 report in the Los Angeles Times.

Reliant, TXU and Entergy each paid Diane Allbaugh $20,000 for consulting work during the last three months of 2000, according to her January 2001 financial disclosure report. It’s unclear whether she lobbied the energy task force on behalf of Reliant, TXU and Entergy, which would have certainly been a conflict-on-interest, but her husband, Joe Allbaugh, “has participated in task force talks with a direct bearing on the energy companies' interests generally, such as environmental rules for power plants and electricity deregulation--a specialty of his wife's,” the Times reported.

“At least twice, Joe Allbaugh was privy to updates from (Bush) economic advisor Lawrence Lindsey (a former member of Enron’s advisory board) on California's malfunctioning market, where Reliant stands accused by the state of overcharging,” the Times reported. <snip>

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0322-11.htm


<edit:>
September 30, 2003
Edwards assails Bush ties to Iraq consulting firm
From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

<snip>

New Bridge Strategies, on its Web site, says it will "seek to expedite the creation of free and fair markets and new economic growth in Iraq, consistent with the policies of the Bush administration."

The firm is headed by Joe Allbaugh, Bush's campaign manager in 2000 and director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency until March. Other directors include Edward Rogers Jr., vice chairman, and Lanny Griffith. Both were assistants to the first President Bush and now are closely linked to the White House.

"This is an administration of the insiders, by the insiders and for the insiders. This is just further evidence of it," Edwards, a senator from North Carolina, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "Vice President Cheney's Halliburton has more than $2 billion in Iraq reconstruction contracts and we now find out that Bush's campaign manager, Joe Allbaugh, who just left government, has set up a business to procure business contracts on Iraq."

http://www.topdog04.com/000433.html

[Joanne98]

41. At least he didn't KILL himself......

Like james Hatfield and Mark Lombardi did.

The war on the Bush bastards will last decades or until justice is served. Whichever comes first....

[Oilwellian]

44. No, but refusing him medical help is attempted murder

From Karenina's post:

I had been 'loaned' from the senior staff and state planning officer of the Texas National Guard to the Department of the Army for a series of these special projects after angering George W. Bush by refusing to falsify readiness information and reports; confronting a fraudulent funding scheme which kept 'ghost' soldiers on the books for additional funding, and refusing to alter official personnel records .

George W. Bush and his lieutenants were mad. They ordered that I not be accessed to emergency medical care services, health care benefits I earned by my official duty; and I was withheld from medical care for 154 days before I was withdrawn from Texas responsibility by the Department of the Army, by order of the White House.

I would love to know more about this. Is this what the Bush crime family considers support for our veterans?

[struggle4progress]

42. <snip> White House spokesman Dan Bartlett said the documents ...

... White House spokesman Dan Bartlett said the documents were in Killian's files ... "I can't explain why that wouldn't be in his record, but they were found in Jerry Killian's personal records," White House communications director Dan Bartlett told CBS's 60 Minutes II, which first obtained the memos.

Bartlett did not dispute the documents' authenticity. Killian's signatures on the memos match those on many of Bush's publicly released records. <snip>

Posted 9/9/2004 12:29 AM Updated 9/9/2004 1:14 PM
Guard commander's memos criticize Bush
By Dave Moniz and Jim Drinkard, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-09-09-bush-guard-memos_x.htm