Exclusive Interview: Ben Barnes

[seemslikeadream]

CBS) Wed., Sept. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT
Correspondent Dan Rather talks exclusively to former Texas House Speaker and Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, a Democrat, about the role Barnes says he played in getting President George W. Bush into the Texas Air National Guard -- and why he now regrets it.

Rather's exclusive interview will be broadcast Wednesday, Sept. 8, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

more
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1999/05/24/60II/main48284.shtml

[Cocoa]

1. Peter Jennings will be upset

he doesn't like people talking about these "unfounded" allegations.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. I think the allegations are about to be "founded".

Deal with it, Peter.

[yellowcanine]

9. Yep - First hand testimony "founds" them, I believe. Particularly

testimony from someone who has no axe to grind, which is more than you can say for the swifties.

[Jack from Charlotte]

10. Remember, Bush got in The Guard just 12 days before he to be drafted

which many are unware of. I've got a link on that somewhere around here.

12 days before his army draft induction someone jumped him to the top of the wait list.

[seemslikeadream]

2. President blew off the duties

(September 07, 2004 -- 09:24 PM EDT // link // print)
CBS has now gone live with its online promo for the Ben Barnes interview that is running tomorrow evening. But, as I noted earlier, that's not what the headline will be after the segment runs.

The big news won't be how Bush got into the Guard but how he blew off his duties once he got there. Again, new documents -- stuff that is clear and straightforward and apparently puts beyond any debate or doubt that the now-President blew off the duties that he said, as recently as this year, that he fulfilled.

-- Josh Marshall
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com

[leftchick]

3. thanks for posting that seems....

I can't wait! :)

[Judi Lynn]

16. Love that photo! He doesn't look like a flying ace THERE, does he?

He looks like he's just flooded the damned thing!

[Jack Rabbit]

5. Both points are important

The sordid tale of Bush getting into the National Guard with the help of powerful family friends and his blowing off his duties is emblematic of weak points of American democracy. Bush has become a focal point for the way in which the American upper class betrays democratic principles.

Bush is not the only "chickenhawk" in his administration. Cheney, Wolfowitz, Feith and many others also avoided active military service while defending government action in Vietnam as a necessary expedient in the fight against Communism. As far as these people are concerned, wars are to be fought by kids from ghettos and barrios while the children of privilege are to study at Yale in preparation to sending the next generation of poor Americans to fight and die in wars that prove to be strategically unnecessary and of benefit only to war profiteers.

[Eloriel]

6. Good point, and it comes at a good time --

just when we've reached the "1,000 death" tipping point. Recall that before the war, polls showed that Americans could support the upcoming war IF it didn't take more than 1000 American deaths.

[seemslikeadream]

7. Missing in Action

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Published: September 8, 2004

Another particularly credible witness is Leonard Walls, a retired Air Force colonel who was then a full-time pilot instructor at the base. "I was there pretty much every day," he said, adding: "I never saw him, and I was there continually from July 1972 to July 1974." Mr. Walls, who describes himself as nonpolitical, added, "If he had been there more than once, I would have seen him."

The sheer volume of missing documents, and missing recollections, strongly suggests to me that Mr. Bush blew off his Guard obligations. It's not fair to say Mr. Bush deserted. My sense is that he (like some others at the time) neglected his National Guard obligations, did the bare minimum to avoid serious trouble and was finally let off by commanders who considered him a headache but felt it wasn't worth the hassle to punish him.

"The record clearly and convincingly proves he did not fulfill the obligations he incurred when he enlisted in the Air National Guard," writes Gerald Lechliter, a retired Army colonel who has made the most meticulous examination I've seen of Mr. Bush's records (I've posted the full 32-page analysis here). Mr. Lechliter adds that Mr. Bush received unauthorized or fraudulent payments that breached National Guard rules, according to the documents that the White House itself released.

Does this disqualify Mr. Bush from being commander in chief? No. But it should disqualify the Bush campaign from sliming the military service of a rival who still carries shrapnel from Vietnam in his thigh.

more
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/08/opinion/08kristof.html

[seemslikeadream]

8. Ben Barnes top fund raiser for Scot McCullen's mom!

heard on Al Franklin show

[seemslikeadream]

11. Memo from McAuliffe Regarding RNC Smear Machine Attacking Ben Barnes

Memo from McAuliffe Regarding RNC Smear Machine Attacking Ben Barnes
To: Interested Parties
From: Terry McAuliffe
Re: The RNC Smear Machine Takes Aim at Ben Barnes

Every time someone stands up to tell the truth about George Bush and the Republicans, the Republican smear machine roars into action. Their attacks on Ben Barnes are no different. Their smears, however, do not erase the truth we will hear tonight.

Tonight, Ben Barnes, former Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives and Texas Lieutenant Governor, will appear on '60 Minutes II' to discuss his role in getting George W. Bush into the National Guard.

Ben Barnes's Statements are Well Documented

Mr. Barnes has discussed his role in getting George W. Bush into the National Guard publicly — and even under oath — on at least two other occasions in the past 6 years.

In 1998, then-Governor Bush's campaign manager and current Commerce Secretary Don Evans sought out Barnes to hear his story about his role in getting Bush into the National Guard. Bush spokesman Dan Barlett said Evans sought Barnes out primarily to knock down a rumor that the senior Bush had directly solicited Barnes's help. According to Bartlett, Evans reported back to Governor Bush Barnes's assurance that no one in the Bush family directly asked him for help.


http://www.democrats.org/news/200409080004.html

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Fleshdancer]

14. He was Speaker of the TX House at the time

Here's the link to the 60 Minutes transcript for more info:


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/08/60II/main642060.shtml

[Judi Lynn]

15. Thanks for pointing this out!

It's good to know when the next visitor shows up claiming Barnes' story is bogus since he was Lt. Governor at a different time than the time in question when W was eased into the Champagne Brigade.

Just tell them "Speaker of the House, thank you!" They really think no one will know, apparently.

Real DU'ers often know their stuff.

Thanks, and thanks some more! Wooo HOOOOOOOOOO.

[TexasBushwhacker]

12. Who got bumped to the bottom of the TANG waiting list?

I would love to know that. Who was pushed to the bottom of the TANG waiting list and ended up being drafted and dodging bullets because Georgie boy got put on the top of the list?