I am going to play Devil's advocate about Bush's "guard duties"

[question everything]

I don't think that it really matters how he got that assignment and how he served. Just like his frat boy days, his drunkenness, his drugs, etc. No, not because, as my spouse comments "he found god," but because, really, most people don't care about events from 30 years ago, that can be labeled as "youthful indiscretion."

In that case, you may reply - how about Kerry's Vietnam days? That's because the whole convention was dedicated to his service. Because we chose him during the primaries as the one who could beat Bush because he has a military background.

I think that his service in Vietnam is important in showing his character - and we heard a lot about "character" during the 2000 elections - his courage, his leadership, and his commitment to service.

Yes, I think that his campaign should have responded immediately to the swifters' attacks by simply saying: I did serve in Vietnam while your boys played hookey back home. And then immediately to change the subject to the area where the issues matter.

I have seen and heard enough politicians who successfully maneuver a question or an attack into advantage for them and the Kerry campaign had, still has and will have plenty of opportunity to do so.

So, yes, touch on the Vietnam service but just as a reference point and immediately move to what Kerry has been saying recently: the W stands for wrong. But I think that Bush's guards days are really a non-issue for most voters.

* * * *

Spouse added that at least Clinton did not claim to have "found god" after the Monica's affair. And I observed that Bush mocked Carla Fay Tucker who claimed to have found god and happily sent her to death...

[Cha]

1. We'll see won't we.

If bush's lyin' about boasting that he was in the National Guard and sending soldiers to die in "war" based on Huge Lies will go over with the Swing Voters.

[demnan]

2. Oh but it does matter

It matters because of the attacks on Kerry and the potential psychic damage done to anyone who lived through this era. Every attack on Kerry needs to be answered, every attack needs to be throughly kicked in the ass.

[Cocoa]

3. it blows apart his image

obliterates the independent cowboy, reveals the spoiled boy of privilege, especially when old photos are published, like one was on page 1 of today's Chicago Tribune.

It exposes the hypocrisy of his education policies, "no social promotion" and "soft bigotry of low expectations" and his stance against affirmative action.

[tomfodw]

5. Actually, who would know better than him?

about how bad social promotion and affirmative action are?

"I'm a perfect example, folks, of why we should never give anyone anything they didn't work for, earn, and deserve. I'm a complete, lifelong fuckup who never worked a day in his life, never earned anything and don't deserve anything. But because of affirmative action for fat rich stupid white boys, I'm president of the United States! Don't let what happened to me every happen to anyone else!"

[gratuitous]

4. "The whole convention was dedicated to his service"?

Well, I certainly saw a candidate whose personal resume includes decorated service. But I didn't see a "whole convention dedicated" to that service. I saw many speakers talk about the Democratic vision for the future (Barak Obama) and the problems our nation faces. I heard a candidate talk about his proposals and hopes, while touching on his background not only as a veteran, but also as a prosecuting attorney and a U.S. Senator, someone whose life has been given in service to the country.

I've heard from the Republican side that Kerry's service record was the centerpiece of the convention, but from where I sit, that appears to be partisan sniping. My theory is that the sniping is based on the fact that their ticket has exactly zero minutes of combat experience between Bush and Cheney, and they're embarrassed to be running against a man of such indisputable accomplishment.

[Cha]

6. It's on the front of Army Times!

"Records show Bush was suspended from flying status

By Pete Yost

The suspension came as Bush was trying to arrange a transfer to non-flying status with a unit in Alabama so he could work on a political campaign there.

A memo written a year later referred to one military official “pushing to sugar coat” Bush’s evaluation.

“On this date I ordered that 1st Lt. Bush be suspended from flight status due to failure to perform to USAF/TexANG standards and failure to meet annual physical examination ... as ordered,” says an Aug. 1, 1972 memo by Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, who is now dead.

The same memo notes that Bush was trying to transfer to non-flying status out of state and recommends that the Texas unit fill his flying slot “with a more seasoned pilot from the list of qualified Vietnam pilots that have rotated.”



more @..
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-344686.php

[Zorra]

7. BU$H IS A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR. He is a danger to all Americans.

Bu$h is morally unfit to lead this country. He lied about his service in the National Guard and has been trying to cover up his lies for years. He lied us into war. Lies roll off of Bu$h's tongue as naturally as water flows downhill. It's his nature. He's a lying POS.

And this makes him really, really dangerous to the well being of every American.

Bush defends Guard record,
disputes report of missing duty
By Walter V. Robinson, Globe Staff | May 24, 2000

Texas Governor George W. Bush insisted yesterday that he fulfilled his military obligation and disputed parts of a Boston Globe report that there is no evidence that he appeared for duty for a year just before his 1973 discharge from the Texas Air National Guard.

The Globe report, based upon extensive records of his service and interviews with former Guard officials, disclosed that Bush, who was a fighter pilot, ceased flying in April 1972 - 18 months before his discharge in October, 1973.

In May 1972, the Globe found, Bush moved to Alabama to work in a political campaign. But there is no record that he ever appeared for duty at the Alabama Guard unit where he was slated for duty. The unit's commander at the time, retired General William Turnipseed, said Bush did not appear for duty there.

"I read the comments from the guy who said he doesn't remember me being there, but I remember being there," Bush said of Turnipseed's remarks, the AP reported.

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/bush/articles/2000/05/24/bush_defends_guard_record_disputes_report_of_missing_duty/

DNC Chairman: George W. Bush Lied or He Has Severe Memory Loss

McAuliffe and General "Tony" McPeak held a conference call today to highlight the new information about Bush's Guard service. The new documents were released because of a lawsuit by the Associated Press and highlighted in an article published this morning by the Boston Globe.

"For years, Bush has been claiming he met his obligations ," McAuliffe said. "George W. Bush has either lied or he has severe memory loss."

General McPeak, who led the Air Force in the first Gulf War and who supported Bush in 2000, said, "At a minimum, the President and his spokesmen have not been candid with the American people."

"It goes to the credibility of George W. Bush, to the credibility of the Commander-in-Chief," said McAuliffe. "Bush's activities 35 years ago goes to his credibility today -- Bush mislead us about weapons of mass destruction, about the deficit, about fulling funding Leave No Child Behind, about fixing the healthcare system. George W. Bush has not been truthful from the start."

http://www.buzzflash.com/alerts/04/09/ale04047.html

[lunarboy13]

8. Bush calls himself a "war president"...

And that makes his own military service even more relevant. He has waged--and continues to wage-- a war in Afghanistan that most of us support. He has also led us into a pre-emptive war in Iraq that most of us are against. In Iraq, over 1000 U.S. lives have been lost, over 6,000 wounded -- there are thousands more Iraqi dead. This is a war that has our nation divided. The last time this nation was so divided over a war was, of course, Vietnam. Bush supported the Vietnam War, yet he had strings pulled so he would not have to fight in it. Kerry questioned the war before he went, yet went to fight anyway. He returned with a clear understanding of just how wrong the war was and began to rebel against it. Kerry understands war and violent conflict. He knows what if feels like to be shot and he knows what it feels like to have to kill another human being on the battlefield.

Really, it's a question of character. Bush being for a war he was happy to have others fight in his stead is not what I would call a "youthful indiscretion". It is a character flaw inherent in most people in the current administration.

[mbali]

9. The issue is not simply whether Bush served . . .

The real issue is that Bush has continually shirked his duties, "gamed" the system and then relied upon others to clean up his mess. If he had only done that back in the day, but reformed his ways, no problem. But he has continued to engage in this behavior and even conducts his presidency in exactly this model, and has jeopardized the country's economic and national security as a result.

THAT's why it's relevant.

[BurtWorm]

10. The Bushists have made his character their major selling point.

So if it makes sense for the Republicans to attack Kerry's war record because he's made it his major selling point, then it makes sense that Bush is attacked over character issues. How Bush got into the Guard, what he did in it, and how he got out of it speaks volumes about his character. He's had people look the other way and indulge his weaknesses his whole life. Why should we indulge him now? More to the point, why should we indulge the lie that he has no weaknesses, that he's just a regular guy, when his history makes clear he's anything but regular and is almost nothing without his weaknesses.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

11. Survey SEZ!...............

you're wrong http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3096434/

[Bandit]

12. Why do you suggest that Character is only important for Kerry?

I think the way Bush* performed his duties or not is quite telling of his Character. He chose to disobey an order to take a required Flight Physical. He also signed a paper saying he would fulfill his obligation of service. He was obligated to continue flying after the state of Texas spent half a million dollars on his training. I think all of this goes to show Character. Not to mention the partying and drug usage at all. He lied on official documents and that goes to Character. What do you suppose he would do to a National Guardsman today that did what Bush* did. I would suggest he would send that person to prison.

[question everything]

13. Yes, character is important. I guess I would like to see a continuous lin

of Bush's lack of character, deceit and selfishness. I have never bothered to follow his biography too close; I have a sensitive stomach. Thus, we have his cavalier attitude about his military service, and we have reports about his drunkenness and drugs during his college days, right? Can we show a continuous line of such lack of character? Do we even know where he stood about the war in Vietnam? I think that his handlers have been trying to show him as being a bad boy who later found Laura (and god) and who mended his ways and boy, do we, Americans, love the sinners who confessed their sin!