The Ben Barnes Blackout
Even with new video of the Texas pol saying he's "ashamed" of helping President Bush get his National Guard slot, the story gets little play from the media.
By Eric Boehlert
Faced with fresh news in the ongoing debate about the presidential candidates’ military service during the Vietnam War, the media blinked this weekend, doing its collective best to ignore an embarrassing new revelation by the prominent Texas politician who says he landed President Bush a coveted pilot spot in the Texas Air National Guard during the height of the Vietnam War, and is now "ashamed" of his actions.
The explosive comments from a central player in the National Guard drama -- captured on video and available online -- have received just cursory coverage in the mainstream media since it was brought to light on Friday. The shoulder-shrugging response stands in stark contrast to the media orgy that’s greeted the hollow, secondhand allegations made about John Kerry’s Vietnam service by the Republican-financed Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which has yet to make a single factual allegation stick about the circumstances surrounding Kerry’s five war medals.