NEWSWEEK: Bill Burkett is a source of the 60 Minutes II documents

[johnfunk]

NEWSWEEK: A Principal Source for Network`s Bush National Guard Story Was Disgruntled Former Guard Officer
Sunday September 12, 11:22 am ET
Kerry Campaign Setting Up 'Oppo' Squad Whose Mission Will Be 'Message, Debate Prep, Attack, Attack'

NEW YORK, Sept. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- A principal source for the CBS story about President Bush's National Guard duty 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 then Governor Bush ordered records sanitized to protect the Boss, Newsweek reports in the current issue. Typed memos from the early '70s suggesting officers were pressured to give Bush special treatment and "sugarcoat" increasingly negative evaluations were a central part of the CBS report.

ON EDIT: Newsweek story is live at http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040912/nysu007_1.html

[troublemaker]

1. Just for the record, it doesn't say anywhere in the piece that Burkett was

the source of the documents. Really... read what it specifically says. I am not saying he wasn't, but it is merely implied in the linked piece.

[KittyWampus]

2. It Also Gives NO Indication Why Burkett Would've Been "Disgruntled"

other than the fact that he might say something negative about the Bush Crime Family.

[Cha]

3. Bill Burkett has been working on this story

for a long time.

"February 12, 2004
AN INTERVIEW WITH BILL BURKETT....As promised earlier, here's the interview with former Lt. Colonel Bill Burkett regarding his charges that George Bush's National Guard files in Texas were "cleansed" back in 1997. This is not the entire enchilada, but it includes most of the interview directly relevant to the charges.

I'm posting this for two reasons. First, since Burkett's story has already been picked up by the mainstream media I think it's valuable to hear an extended interview with him that allows you to decide for yourself if his charges are credible — especially since there are some less than flattering moments that may hurt as well as help his story. As with any verbatim transcript, it can be a little hard to follow in places, but it's worth plowing through the whole thing if you're really interested in all this."


More @..
http://www.calpundit.com/archives/003249.html

Also there is a story about why Bill Burkett would be rightfully, "disgruntled", imv..I will try and find it.

[Cha]

6. More on Bill Burkett

"Does Burkett have a track record of telling the truth?

In 1997 Burkett discovered that there were "ghost soldiers" in the Texas Guard, soldiers who were still carried on the rolls even though they never showed up for drill and weren't being paid. He tried unsuccessfully to blow the whistle on this and stop the practice.

In late 2001, Dave Moniz and Jim Drinkard of USA Today finished a lengthy investigation into the problem of ghost soldiers nationwide and published a 3-part story about it. Moniz told me that everything Burkett had told him had checked out and that several other people with no axe to grind find Burkett to be believable as well.

In addition to Moniz, Jim Moore, a longtime Texas reporter who has interviewed Burkett extensively for a forthcoming book, emailed me that he found Burkett "immensely credible."

Does Burkett have an axe to grind?

This is the weakest link in Burkett's story: he has a huge axe to grind, and so do the people who have corroborated his story."



More @
http://www.calpundit.com/archives/003280.html

[grasswire]

5. Burkett was unhappy with the TANG

....under Governor Bush. I believe he claims they denied his medical claims or something like that.

I must also say that this does NOT state that Burkett is the source of the documents. This is disinformation.

[WiseMen]

4. Real Story: Mike Whouley, installed at DNC, will have attack squad to work

under him. That's the story. Much rests on this group.

[peacetalksforall]

7. What the heck does Burkett have to do with the Massachusetts docs?