question about Barnes

[malatesta1137]

Ben Barnes said he got the chimp off the hoof when he was Texas Lt. Gov. but Repugs are now saying he is a liar because he was actually speaker of the house when Bush started serving (as if that could possibly leave the deserter of the hook).

But which is which?

[Fridays Child]

1. Some biographical data...

Ben Barnes was once a considered a rising-star in Texas politics after becoming a state representative at age 21. He remained a prominent political leader during the 1960s and 1970s.

Elected to the Texas House of Representatives when he was in his early 20's, he went on to become the youngest house speaker in Texas history. Barnes did not limit his involvement to just Texas politics.

He was a member of President Johnson’s Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, U.S. representative to the NATO Conference in 1967, and United Nations Representative to Geneva, Switzerland, in 1968.

In 1969, Barnes was elected lieutenant governor of Texas and served from 1969 to 1973.

http://www.klru.org/texasmonthlytalks/archives/barnes/bio.asp

[malatesta1137]

8. thanks Mary

[Fridays Child]

2. And from a deposition...

In 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.

http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/2004_archives/000236.html

[Fridays Child]

4. Here's the ABC News blurb from today...

DALLAS Aug. 28, 2004 — Former Texas House Speaker Ben Barnes said he is "more ashamed at myself than I've ever been" because he helped President Bush and the sons of other wealthy families get into the Texas National Guard so they could avoid serving in Vietnam.
"I got a young man named George W. Bush into the National Guard ... and I'm not necessarily proud of that, but I did it," Barnes, a Democrat, said in a video clip recorded May 27 before a group of John Kerry supporters in Austin.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040828_945.html

I don't see where he said that he got B*sh a guard slot while he was the lt. gov. of Texas. Sounds like it's just more right wing disinformation, designed to undermine the truth.

[malatesta1137]

9. this Houston Chronicle article

says:

"I got a young man named George W. Bush into the National Guard when I was lieutenant governor of Texas, and I'm not necessarily proud of that, but I did it," Barnes said. Barnes actually was Texas House speaker when Bush entered the Guard.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/politics/2764455

Some Repugs on other sites are calling Barnes a liar for that. Pathetic.

[Eloriel]

3. There are two Barnes -- one was Gov. of GA until 2002

when he and Max Cleland were defeated in the first statewide use of Diebold electronic voting machines in GA.

You need to specify which "Barnes" you're talking about in your subject line, not just the body of your OP.

[malatesta1137]

7. my post

is clearly referring to Barnes, former Texas. Lt. Gov.

[Nordic]

5. For the GOP this will never be about Bush

but about everybody else.

Just like the election is now all about Kerry's service.

And the media falls for it. Lets them set the terms.

Disgusting

[karlrschneider]

6. I don't know the details, but in TX the Speaker is more powerful than Gov

..

[Gingergal]

10. What ended Ben Barnes was a scandal that he was not

a part of called the Sharpstown scandal. Everyone got voted out--even the innocent ones. That was the end of his political career. He became a lobbyist. He has remained an active Democrat and a very important fundraiser for the Democratic party. He must know that the bushies will be gunning for him now.


<http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/SS/mqs1.html>