BWAHHAHAHAHA: Bush put himself in danger at Texas Air Nat. Guard - LTTE

[LynneSin]

http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/opinion/letters/08222004.html

This has to be the MOST precious excuse ever for George W. Bush

:eyes:

Bush was in danger during flight training

I find it interesting that when doubts are raised about John Kerry's service by veterans, the biased liberal media cry foul. But when the president is viciously maligned by Hollywood liberals and called a liar by Democrat politicians, it seems to be OK.

Liberals maligned George W. Bush for his Air National Guard service because he didn't serve in Vietnam. In learning to fly a jet fighter he placed himself in danger every time he strapped that jet fighter to his bottom. Bush spent more time in a life- threatening situation flying at 500 mph over three years than Kerry did in four months in Vietnam.

Both were released from active duty short of their original term, but that sort of thing was common in those days. Bush, however, did not shame fellow veterans the way Kerry did. I wonder why Kerry, still a reserve officer when he made those outrageous claims about war crimes, was not cited under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. There was a time when such actions were considered sedition.

Gee Whiz, this has to be the most outrageous letter I've ever seen. I mean how many enemy planes were trying to shoot down Bush's plane while he was flying over TEXAS

:eyes:

[soothsayer]

1. I'm sure anyone who knew the prick would have tried to shoot him down

"Friendly fire"

[BootinUp]

3. LOL n/t

[shaolinmonkey]

2. They've got a point. It's dangerous to fly when you're drunk. eom.

[Magrittes Pipe]

4. Well, he must have put his CAREER in danger, anyway.

After all, no coked-up drunk who goes AWOL from his Guard unit could ever grow up to be presid....

Fuck.

[Spinzonner]

5. Well, one reason they wouldnt have prosecuted him is

that they would have had to open files and conduct investigations that would probably have proven the statements right.

I don't think the brass or the adminsitration wanted to go there ...

[billybob537]

6. "Bush did not shame fellow veterans"???

What would he be able to say, "someone had too much to drink at the Officers Club!", Having NO COMBAT experience, no Viet Nam expierence, WHAT COULD the COWARD in CHIEF say to embarass anyone but himself? Poor miserable COWARD an Honorable man would have nothing to do with you!

[LynneSin]

7. BTW - Just fired off this reply letter to the Wilmington News Journal:

On Saturday, August 22nd, a reader wrote to the editor about Bush's danger he face at the Texas Air National Guard. The writer wrote: "In learning to fly a jet fighter he placed himself in danger every time he strapped that jet fighter to his bottom. Bush spent more time in a life- threatening situation flying at 500 mph over three years than Kerry did in four months in Vietnam. "

I'm curious - how many enemy planes were flying over Texas shooting at Bush's plane while he was flying it? I didn't realize what a dangerous combatant zone it was in the state of Texas. I guess the reader will next claim that Bush was under deep secret cover when Bush transferred to the Alabama National Guard and that's why there is hardly any record of Bush showing up for service.

The basic facts are simple: Kerry volunteered and served in Vietnam. Bush used his family influence to get out of going to Vietnam and into the Texas Air National Guard. Since the Bush administration and their supporters know they can't compete when it comes to military records, the Bush Regime does what it knows best - smear and question Kerry's military record. They're quite experienced at this since this is the exact type of smear tactics they used against former Vietnam POW John McCain in the 2000 Republican South Carolina Primary and Triple Amputee/Vietnam Vet Max Cleland during his re-election campaign for Senate in Georgia. Both McCain & Cleland served their country in Vietnam and yet their opponents smeared their records in order to steal a victory.

If Bush is qualified to be president, then he should campaign on what he has done the past 3 years. Instead he would rather allow his cronies to run smear campaigns for him instead.

[gandalf]

18. Good letter. Lets hope the editor

can deal with irony.

[LynneSin]

21. I'm not sure if they'll print it

but in general our LTTE's run to the left of the spectrum. Usually once a week they post all their pro-Bush spew just to get it out of their system and say they post from both sides.

:D

[LynneSin]

38. Editorial board just called - my letter should be in the paper in the next

2 days

[demnan]

8. Well, flying military planes is a dangerous task

I won't dispute that. But it's also probably lots of fun and I'll bet Bush treated it just about as seriously as anything else he did at that stage of his life.

My question is, why are people now so defensive about Bush's military record? Who are they trying to convince, themselves?

[RobertSeattle]

9. I heard that "excuse" on RW Radio since 2000

To his credit, not one Viet Cong snuck into Alabama under Bush's watch.

[KurtNYC]

10. Is there any evidence Bush ever flew a plane?

Putting aside the rediculous argument that requesting duty in Nam on a Swift Boat and going looking for the enemy every day is equal to learning to fly an outdated jet in Texas.

Just how many hour did Bush log with that jet fighter "strapped to his bottom" (?!) Has Bush ever held a pilot's license? Bush can't even ride a horse, what are the chance he could fly a complex aircraft?

[frylock]

23. Bush really flying in a Cessna 172 in 1976

NOT LONG AFTER Reisner's delicate trip to Midland, Bush banged on the door of Susie and Don Evans on an otherwise placid Sunday afternoon and suggested to Don that they head out to the airport and spend a few bucks for a spin over the desiccated Permian Basin in a single-engine Cessna. Susie Evans, who had gone to elementary school with Bush, was a longtime Midland presence, and when she had been dating her future husband in Houston, she had frequently stayed at the Bush house. She had moved back to Midland, and after she had heard that Bush was back in town, she and her husband had frequently invited him over.

Her husband Don Evans... Willard... was a short, fastidious, narrow-faced oilman in his early thirties who was poised to assume control of the Tom Brown Company, one of the legendary older names in the West Texas patch. Bush had begun spending more time at the Evanses' apartment in the Windsor Courts, drinking cocktails with them and leaving his laundry for Susie to do. Bush liked Evans's politics, he liked that they were about the same age and that both of them had recent MBAs. He liked the fact that Evans's old man had landed on the beach at Normandy during World War II.

Evans said he'd love to go flying. At the airport he watched Bush stare at the controls, at the panel, and he realized that Bush-though not admitting it-had no idea how to fly the thing properly. After finally figuring out how to launch the plane, Bush pushed the Cessna hard down the runway. Evans screamed, "Give it some gas!" The Cessna's warning system was blinking and crackling. Bush tried to lift his craft fast, almost as if he were piloting a jet back in the Texas Air National Guard. The plane wobbled into the air, and the unsubtle maneuvering threatened to shove it into a stall. Now the rented plane was rattling in the sky over Midland.

The endless petrochemical complexes, all the aluminum and steel and smoke stacks that pockmark the Permian Basin, were spiking up just below the aircraft. Bush nervously turned to Evans, put his hand on his knee and blurted in his self-mocking West Texas way, "Okay, Evvie, I’ve got it under control."

After more seemingly endless moments, he somehow got control of the plane again. He aimed the aircraft down, and the landing was as shaky and brutal as the takeoff. The plane careened off the runway and onto the desert. Evans sighed in relief. Then an unbelieving Evans braced himself as Bush suddenly and unexpectedly spun the plane and bounced back along the runway. Evans stared at Bush. He could see the fear and panic flooding his face. Bush pressed on. Evans had no idea why Bush wanted to go again. The plane wobbled uncertainly back into the West Texas skies, and Bush turned to Evans. "Hey," said Bush airily, as if he had just had an original, amusing idea, "let's fly around Midland."

The men began cracking up. Bush brought the Cessna back to the airport. It was the last time he flew a plane. Evans would be one of the three people at Bush's side in almost every public venture for the twenty-three years.

http://www.seanet.com/~johnco/bush102.htm

[Lisa]

34. there's one terrible pilot, as W might say!

(sorry, couldn't resist)


If dangerous tasks in the military, as opposed to being under fire in combat, are the criterion for saying somebody is being heroic -- I'd like to give major props to the National Guard personnel who (statistically, anyway) faced a higher casualty rate than Bush's unit when they were driving to and from their assignments, using heavy equipment, working in disaster areas, etc.!

[GOPisEvil]

11. I'd like to commend George W. Bush.

During his tenure in the Texas Air National Guard, not a single North Vietnamese plane attacked the state of Texas, nor were any TANG planes lost in combat with same.

[LynneSin]

12. You live in a safer state because of folks like George W. Bush

:eyes:

[KurtNYC]

13. Texas Souffle

How dangerous was Bush while in the TANG?

Here is what he did to the home of a 68-year-old widow when he stayed in Alabama:

"He was just a rich kid who had no respect for other people's possessions," said Mary Smith, whose family found damaged walls, broken furnishings and a chandelier destroyed after Bush left the house. A bill sent to collect the damages went unpaid, the family said.

This was obviously valuable experience for what he planned to do to the country years later.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1077963426278660.xml

[Torgo Johnson]

14. He put himself in danger because...

he never could learn to fly the damn plane.

[LynneSin]

15. Speaking of agitator - damn ugly avatar you have there

:eyes:

[Torgo Johnson]

19. I stole it from her...

when she started to talk crap about me on the thread below.

:evilgrin:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=1570126



Edit: I got sick of looking at her and decided to change my avatar to someone who may possibly even more repulsive than Michelle Malkin.

[Bertha Venation]

16. "every time he strapped that jet fighter to his bottom" -- ???

What a lame way to say "took off in a jet."

And: the last time I heard an ass called a "bottom" was when I asked my mother why the doctor had to take my temperature that way. :eyes:

[trof]

25. Common parlance amongst us jocks.

"Gotta go. Time to go strap that hog to my ass again."
Kind of a 'in' joke, like the only thing that kept the damn thing flying was your sheer wll power alone. The plane just came along because it was strapped to you.
;-)

[Bertha Venation]

27. Hmm... okay. Didn't know that. But the letter-writer chose "bottom" --

why not "rear end?" "backside?" "butt?"

Bottom just seems so childish. IMO, it's a word for children and for extreme blue noses.

[lolly]

32. True--

But it does give us a silly image.

I'm picturing AWOL with some toy airplane stuck to his butt, trying to fly. Like those pictures Bartcop posts of him acting like a cranky toddler.

[ProfessorGAC]

17. Apparently, All My Commerical Flights Make Me A Hero Too

If flying is that dangerous, why do we have over a million take offs and landing between crashes in the United States. I've been on a plane so many times, i must have faced more danger than either Bush or Kerry.

Also, i think most pilots would agree that trainer jets are, by defintion, easier to fly. It takes the building of skill before someone can handle a Mach 2 fighter with the glide characteristics of a rock. So, the T jets are easier to fly so people can learn without killing themselves. They're not test pilots. They're STUDENT pilots.

Last thing: Getting shot at in a war zone with mortar and rocket fire nearby is equal to flying in a plane? Like i said, is flying a plane really that dangerous?
The Professor

[Philostopher]

22. Good point, Professor.

Twenty years ago, anybody who contracted 'deceleration trauma' in the Air Force was considered a careless hotshot who didn't have any respect for the equipment, not a hero. Military jets are some of the most thoroughly researched and tested planes flying on the planet. Only on rare occasion is a crash caused by anything other than pilot error, when a military jet gets smeared over the landscape.

Test pilots were the ones who took their lives into their hands. You want to canonize somebody for flying for the military? John Glenn is your hero -- he was a test pilot, I believe. He actually got into planes that might crash because they were dangerous. Bush* never got into a plane that hadn't had millions of dollars of testing and research to guarantee it would do what he told it to do.

[Downtown Hound]

20. Wow, judging by this logic, I'm a battle-hardened veteran

because every time I get in my car I put myself in danger. Driving a car is actually more dangerous than flying a plane, so man, I display uncommon valor for our country every damn day.

[Jim__]

24. Another bush lie: all danger is equal

From another thread (LTTE):

To say that John Kerry or any of us were on that river to intentionally collect Purple Hearts really does every soldier and sailor, past and present, a disservice. We were going up those rivers (with an ongoing casualty rate of 86 percent at the time) on the orders of the same people who approved of Kerry's medals and who are now joining in the attacks against Kerry. Unbelievable.

86% casualty rate. What was the casualty rate among student pilots in TANR?

[Ganja Ninja]

28. I certainly wouldn't want to fly with Bush at the controls.

I wouldn't feel safe with him as my wing man either. It's a scary thought no matter how you look at it.

[LynneSin]

29. Maybe those who flew planes with Bush deserve a medal or something

"For Bravery by surviving despite having a drunken cokehead flying one of the planes in your group"

[Bridget Burke]

35. Consider the fate of Bush Sr's crew....

It's a good thing he was placed in a single-seater.

And--was his absence ignored just because of his Dad's influence, or because he was judged useless?

[truthspeaker]

26. Alcohol abuse can be deadly!

Bush risked his life every day!

[Surf Cowboy]

30. Why are you surprised? The only smart thing ever to come out

of Delaware is I-95, for crying out loud.

[LynneSin]

31. HEY BUDDY - WATCH WHAT YER SAYING

:grr:

LynneSin
Citizen of Delaware since 2001

PS - one of the owners of DU is also a Delaware Native

[Surf Cowboy]

33. Unless you're only 3 years old, I take it you're from somewhere else.

REJOICE!!

[GingerSnaps]

36. "Chicken Little" put himself into danger?

Now that's a stretch .................... LOL!

[pbg]

37. By that standard...

...every damn commercial airline pilot in the country is a war hero!

[LynneSin]

39. Kick: The News-Journal called to confirm I wrote the letter

and will be publishing it probably tomorrow

:bounce:

Oh, here's the letter I wrote back:

On Saturday, August 22nd, a reader wrote to the editor about Bush's danger he face at the Texas Air National Guard. The writer wrote: "In learning to fly a jet fighter he placed himself in danger every time he strapped that jet fighter to his bottom. Bush spent more time in a life- threatening situation flying at 500 mph over three years than Kerry did in four months in Vietnam. "

I'm curious - how many enemy planes were flying over Texas shooting at Bush's plane while he was flying it? I didn't realize what a dangerous combatant zone it was in the state of Texas. I guess the reader will next claim that Bush was under deep secret cover when Bush transferred to the Alabama National Guard and that's why there is hardly any record of Bush showing up for service.

The basic facts are simple: Kerry volunteered and served in Vietnam. Bush used his family influence to get out of going to Vietnam and into the Texas Air National Guard. Since the Bush administration and their supporters know they can't compete when it comes to military records, the Bush Regime does what it knows best - smear and question Kerry's military record. They're quite experienced at this since this is the exact type of smear tactics they used against former Vietnam POW John McCain in the 2000 Republican South Carolina Primary and Triple Amputee/Vietnam Vet Max Cleland during his re-election campaign for Senate in Georgia. Both McCain & Cleland served their country in Vietnam and yet their opponents smeared their records in order to steal a victory.

If Bush is qualified to be president, then he should campaign on what he has done the past 3 years. Instead he would rather allow his cronies to run smear campaigns for him instead.