More Lies Exposed by the Kos
WHITE HOUSE LIED (again) TO AP, NATION.
by Kos
published by Daily Kos
Bush AWOL
For the past several months, the White House has claimed it had released all relevant documents pertaining to Bush's military records in response to the Associated Press' Freedom of Information Act request for the materials. Well, at one point they claimed a fire had destroyed a good many of the records, but dogged persistance by the AP's lawyers turned up most of the disputed docs. But not all. Amongst the documents the White House swore up and down didn't exist -- two documents released hours after tonight's 60 Minutes report. The White House released memos Wednesday night saying that George W. Bush was suspended from flying fighter jets for failing to meet standards of the Texas Air National Guard. Oops. Busted. So what goods did 60 Minutes have on Bush? * A memo ordering Bush to take a physical * A memo discussing "options of how Bush can get out of coming to drill from now through November." And that due to other commitments "he may not have time." * A document suspending Bush for "failure to perform to U.S. Air Force/Texas Air National Guard standards and for failure to take his annual physical as ordered." * A memo from Bush's squadron commander where "he is being pressured by higher-ups to give the young pilot a favorable yearly evaluation; to, in effect, sugarcoat his review. He refuses, saying, 'I'm having trouble running interference and doing my job.'" And while Republicans are working to discredit Ben Barnes, who admitted to pulling strings to get rich-boy Bush into the guard (at the expense of some poor shlub who was instead sent to Vietnam in his place), the records are much tougher to fight off. For example, the Bush campaign has argued that Bush didn't need to report for the physical, since he was no longer on flight status. The document ordering him to report for the physical directly contradicts their excuses. Meanwhile, the flight suspension was ordered for more than just missing the physical, but for 'failure to perform to (USAF/TexANG) standards." Larry Korb, an assistant Secretary of Defense under President Reagan has reviewed the Mr. Bush's record and believes he did not fulfill his contract. "Essentially, Bush gamed the system to avoid serving his country the way that most of his contemporaries had to," Korb said. It's time for Bush's backers to admit reality -- their Golden Boy shirked his duty to his nation. These slime dare question Kerry's Vietnam heroism, while their own boy was playing pool volleyball with "ambitious secretaries". And let's not forget that Bush was supposed to finish out his Guard duty when he took off for Harvard business school. He claimed he "worked things out with the military". But the Boston Globe exposed that lie Wednesday morning: "On July 30, 1973, shortly before he moved from Houston to Cambridge, Bush signed a document that declared, ''It is my responsibility to locate and be assigned to another Reserve forces unit or mobilization augmentation position. If I fail to do so, I am subject to involuntary order to active duty for up to 24 months... " Under Guard regulations, Bush had 60 days to locate a new unit." But Bush never signed up with a Boston-area unit. In 1999, Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett told the Washington Post that Bush finished his six-year commitment at a Boston area Air Force Reserve unit after he left Houston. Not so, Bartlett now concedes. ''I must have misspoke," Bartlett, who is now the White House communications director, said in a recent interview [...] The Ben Barnes thing is subject to debate, and partisans will line up on the obvious sides (like they have with the Swift Boat Liars). But the official documents uncovered by 60 Minutes (despite the White House's attempt to cover them up)? There's no way to spin those away. The facts are there in black and white.
by Kos
published by Daily Kos
Bush AWOL
For the past several months, the White House has claimed it had released all relevant documents pertaining to Bush's military records in response to the Associated Press' Freedom of Information Act request for the materials. Well, at one point they claimed a fire had destroyed a good many of the records, but dogged persistance by the AP's lawyers turned up most of the disputed docs. But not all. Amongst the documents the White House swore up and down didn't exist -- two documents released hours after tonight's 60 Minutes report. The White House released memos Wednesday night saying that George W. Bush was suspended from flying fighter jets for failing to meet standards of the Texas Air National Guard. Oops. Busted. So what goods did 60 Minutes have on Bush? * A memo ordering Bush to take a physical * A memo discussing "options of how Bush can get out of coming to drill from now through November." And that due to other commitments "he may not have time." * A document suspending Bush for "failure to perform to U.S. Air Force/Texas Air National Guard standards and for failure to take his annual physical as ordered." * A memo from Bush's squadron commander where "he is being pressured by higher-ups to give the young pilot a favorable yearly evaluation; to, in effect, sugarcoat his review. He refuses, saying, 'I'm having trouble running interference and doing my job.'" And while Republicans are working to discredit Ben Barnes, who admitted to pulling strings to get rich-boy Bush into the guard (at the expense of some poor shlub who was instead sent to Vietnam in his place), the records are much tougher to fight off. For example, the Bush campaign has argued that Bush didn't need to report for the physical, since he was no longer on flight status. The document ordering him to report for the physical directly contradicts their excuses. Meanwhile, the flight suspension was ordered for more than just missing the physical, but for 'failure to perform to (USAF/TexANG) standards." Larry Korb, an assistant Secretary of Defense under President Reagan has reviewed the Mr. Bush's record and believes he did not fulfill his contract. "Essentially, Bush gamed the system to avoid serving his country the way that most of his contemporaries had to," Korb said. It's time for Bush's backers to admit reality -- their Golden Boy shirked his duty to his nation. These slime dare question Kerry's Vietnam heroism, while their own boy was playing pool volleyball with "ambitious secretaries". And let's not forget that Bush was supposed to finish out his Guard duty when he took off for Harvard business school. He claimed he "worked things out with the military". But the Boston Globe exposed that lie Wednesday morning: "On July 30, 1973, shortly before he moved from Houston to Cambridge, Bush signed a document that declared, ''It is my responsibility to locate and be assigned to another Reserve forces unit or mobilization augmentation position. If I fail to do so, I am subject to involuntary order to active duty for up to 24 months... " Under Guard regulations, Bush had 60 days to locate a new unit." But Bush never signed up with a Boston-area unit. In 1999, Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett told the Washington Post that Bush finished his six-year commitment at a Boston area Air Force Reserve unit after he left Houston. Not so, Bartlett now concedes. ''I must have misspoke," Bartlett, who is now the White House communications director, said in a recent interview [...] The Ben Barnes thing is subject to debate, and partisans will line up on the obvious sides (like they have with the Swift Boat Liars). But the official documents uncovered by 60 Minutes (despite the White House's attempt to cover them up)? There's no way to spin those away. The facts are there in black and white.
posted by BLONDIE at 10:00 AM
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