Serious questions remain about Bush's service despite the CBS mea culpa

[bigtree]

CNN reports that the president says there are serious questions that remain to be answered. LOL! There are questions alright, but not about CBS, who did what any reputable news organization should do: Follow the story to the end, no matter if that end kills the original report.

The 'questions' that still need answering are the ones that made the memos so believable in the first place. I fully expect these questions to snap back on Bush as he trumpets the CBS mistake.

1.Why has Bush sidestepped questions about why medical records that Bush would have had to have maintained during his service could not be produced? Why Did Bush Miss His Medical Exam In 1972? Where Are The Complete Results Of The Required Investigation Into Bush’s Absence From The Exam?

Para 2-29m, AFM 35-13: “When a Rated Officer Fails To Accomplish a Medical Examination Prescribed by AFM 160-1…(1)The local commander who has authority to convene a Flying Evaluation Board will direct an investigation as to why the individual failed to accomplish the medical examination. After reviewing the findings of the investigation, the local commander may convene a Flying Evaluation Board or forward through command channels a detailed report of the circumstances which resulted in the officer’s failure to accomplish a medical examination, along with a recommendation that the suspension be removed. (2) The individual’s major command will forward the report along with the command recommendation to USAFMPC/DPMAJD, Randolph AFB TX 78148 for final determination.” (Para 2-29m, AFM 35-)

2. Why did Bush claim that no additional records to document his service in the Texas Air National Guard existed when documents are still dribbled out whenever it suits thier campaign? Simply and directly, how many more documents are being held back and why doesn't the President of the United States, the Commander in Chief, do what is necessary to effect the release of ALL of the documents relating to his service, especially in the wake of their denials and revelations of more documents to come.

3. During the Vietnam War, Guard units were rarely called up, and “the Reserves and the Guard acquired reputations as draft havens for relatively affluent young white men,” the Air National Guard says in a history posted on its Web site. (http://www.ang.af.mil/history/Forging.asp ) Bush Has Said He Used No Special Treatment To Get Into The Guard. How Does He Explain The Fact That He Jumped Ahead Of 150 Applicants Despite Low Pilot Aptitude Scores? “There may be no evidence, but I did report,” Bush said on “Meet the Press.” “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been honorably discharged.”

4. Why was Bush allowed to end Guard duty six months early to attend Harvard? Bush said he had “worked it out with the military". Where are the records related to that?

5. Why did Bush specifically request to not be sent overseas for duty? On Bush’s application to the 147th Fighter Group at Ellington Air Force Base in Texas, Bush was asked what his “Area Assignment Preferences” were. Bush checked the box beside “Do Not Volunteer” for overseas duty.

6.Why does the White House say Bush was on base when Bush’s superiors had filed a report saying he was gone for a whole year?

Bush’s superior officers William D. Harris Jr. and Jerry B. Killian, wrote on his yearly evaluation form, “Lt. Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of report,” and that a “civilian occupation made it necessary for him to move to Montgomery, Alabama. He cleared this base on 15 May 1972 and has been performing equivalent training in a non flying status with the 187 Tac Recon Gp, Dannelly ANG Base, Alabama.”

But the pay records that the White House released to prove that Bush was not absent said Bush was paid on May 2, 1973, the very day his superiors reported that “Lt. Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of report.”

Bush's superior officer, Rufus G. Martin, says he would have known if Bush had reported for duty. He signed a report on Bush’s evaluation, saying Bush was “Not rated for the period 1 May 72 through 30 April 73.

”Boston Globe: “Retired colonel Martin, the unit's former administrative officer, said he too thought Bush had been in Alabama for that entire year. Harris and Killian, he said, would have known if Bush returned to duty at Ellington.” (Boston Globe, 5/23/00)

Here are some key stories:

-Bush's Guard Attendance Is Questioned and Defended, Jo Thomas, the New York Times, Nov. 3, 2000. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/03/politics/03GUAR.html?ex=1075870800&en=73ad0132ca541c34&ei=5070

-2 Democrats: Bush Let Guard Down; Gore Surrogates Revive Issue of Apparent Laxity in Candidate's Military Service, George Lardner Jr. and Howard Kurtz, The Washington Post, Nov. 3, 2000.
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4291-2000Nov2.html

-Records of Bush's Ala. Military Duty Can't Be Found, Wayne Slater, Dallas Morning News, June 26, 2000.
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59151-2000Jun25.html

-One-Year Gap in Bush's National Guard Duty, Walter V. Robinson, the Boston Globe, May 23, 2000.
http://web.archive.org/web/20000619121358/www.boston.com/news/politics/campaign2000/news/One_year_gap_in_Bush_s_Guard_duty+.shtml

-At Height of Vietnam, Bush Picks Guard, George Lardner Jr. and Lois Romano, The Washington Post, July 28, 1999.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/bush072899.htm

-In His Own Words: 'I, Like Others, Became Disillusioned,' Interview with Bush, The Washington Post, July 28, 1999.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/bushtext072899.htm

Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040210-3.html

Sites with relevant info:

http://awolbush.com /

http://www.democrats.com/display.cfm?id=165

http://www.dailyhowler.com/index.shtml

http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2004_01_25_dneiwert_archive.html#107509814210417564

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh012804.shtml

I'm reposting this from yesterday, bolstered by today's E.J. Dionne article. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002041285_dionne21.html

[livetohike]

1. Exactly right!

Those are still the issues and I hope CBS and others keep pushing it.

Expose the true character and leadership qualities of this wimp.

[MsTryska]

2. I really don't think CBS people are happy right now....

I was watchignt he Early Show this monring and the look on Harry's face when he reported on the WH comments on the Dan's apology...he had this look of revulsion on his face.


I hope CBS newspeople circle the wagons and starting giving us a true fair and balanced view.

[DrFunkenstein]

3. Nicely Put Together

Great job!

[bigtree]

4. Tnks

Didya see Dionne's article? I'm gratified that he sees the relevance of this story, even though others want to move on.

[bigtree]

5. .

:kick:

[KingofRock]

6. Even if you could convince every voter of this,

Most of them would not care. Does this not sink in. He is the Commander in Chief. THAT is the military record people care about and its a miserable one. We need to get over his guard service. Just because the Swift vets are taking shots at Kerry doesn't mean we need to go back in time as well. At very best it can only help a little. Stick to the issues of today.

[bigtree]

7. We'll get over it as soon as the press gets over the Rather mistake

Didya notice how they, and the White House hacks, are using the Rather mea culpa as a means to absolve Bush of his lies on these issues, and in turn, portray the Kerry camp as the ones without credibility. We shouldn't allow the media to turn the Bush lies into a hit on the Kerry camp. These questions go to the heart of Bush's credibility but they are about more than that. Bush disrespected the military in his youth by leaving the sacrifice to others as he skipped off to dabble in politics. We know the consequences of that war in which he and Cheney refused to serve. Yet both did nothing to oppose that war. Now Bush is president and he has committed our troops to a quagmire in Iraq and he has disregarded the consequences for those who make the ultimate sacrifices, 1000 dead, 7000 maimed. He refuses to attend even one funeral, he sends them into battle unprepared, with no plan to get them out of there, and has sent record numbers of our Guard and Reserve into his manufactured war with little regard for the impact on their lives, their families, or their fortunes. In fact, he seems to be committing our soldiers to a continuous world war of U.S. domination. That all stems from his ignorance, his indifference to the sacrifices soldiers make for our country. That comes from his original indifference, his original disrespect for the sacrifices of our troops.

This is more than relevant. It points up Bush's hypocricy and cheapening of our soldier's sacrifices that he uses to further his own political ambitions, as he did in his youth. And he refuses to own up to either.

[bigtree]

8. from today's article by E.J. Dionne

Oh, I can hear the groaning: "But why are we still talking about Vietnam?" A fair question that has several compelling answers.

First, except for John McCain, Republicans were conspicuously happy to have a front group spread untruths about John Kerry's Vietnam service in August and watch as the misleading claims were amplified by the supposedly liberal media. The Vietnam era was relevant as long as it could be used to raise character questions about Kerry. But as soon as the questioning turned to Bush's character, we were supposed to call the whole thing off. Why? Because the media were supposed to question Kerry's character, but not Bush's.

I'm as weary as you are that our politics veer away from what matters — Iraq, terrorism, health care, jobs — and get sidetracked into personal issues manufactured by political consultants and ideological zealots. But the Bush campaign has made clear it wants this election to focus primarily on character and leadership. If character is the issue, the president's life, past and present, matters just as much as John Kerry's.

Dan Rather has answered his critics. Now it is Bush's turn.