Alright! I'll take the que from Kerry! "In the radio interview, Kerry said he will not discuss questions about President Bush's service in the National Guard. "It's not my record to comment on. I'm not going to pay any attention to it," he told Imus. " Let's get to the real issues! 3 million jobs lost Health care spiraling out of control Education $500 billion deficit The PATRIOT act oh yeah...and US foreign policy out!
It's at 2 million net jobs lost right now, officially. But I think Kerry's right. The way to win this election is to show 1. What Bush is doing wrong now as President, and 2. How Kerry can make it better. I'm much more concerned about the economy right now than what happened 32 years ago in Alabama, even if Bush is lying about it now.
It's important to focus on actual policy issues as well, but it's a mistake to move the spotlight away from glaring problems with Bush as a person. And as this thread has demonstrated there are some very simple issues with Bush's personal history that his defenders cannot address. These defenders never responded directly to the question about Bush's reason for missing his physical(s) because they know there is not a satisfactory answer, so they have to try and conflate this issue with other accusations about drug use, etc. where the facts are in dispute.
I agree. There are some here who have said that character is an issue in itself when talking about Presidential politics. It's also important when one of the reasons that people voted for Bush was not because of his stance on the economy, budgetary concerns, etc. but because they wanted to restore 'integrity' to the whitehouse. If they voted for Bush because they believe he is an honest stand up guy, then those issues are brought into play, and thus the national guard debate.
except i did, and you've attempted to obfuscate it. read the quoted section of the wash times letter to the editor again.
He he, 32 years ago in Alabama I was being conceived... he he.... wait a minute... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
btw, i welcome a debate on the issues, which is why i started the issues threads. to date, this thread, the commies thread and the drudge thread, which all deal more or less with the same set of issues have between them about 265 posts. the economy issues thread just 18. pathetic, really.
WASHINGTON — President Bush ordered the release of all of his Vietnam-era military records Friday to counter Democrats' suggestions that he shirked his duty in the Texas Air National Guard (search). Hundreds of pages of documents detailed Bush's service in the Guard in Texas and his temporary duty in Alabama while working on a political campaign there in the early 1970s. Democrats have questioned whether Bush ever showed up for duty in Alabama. "The president felt everything should be made available to the public," the White House press secretary said. "There were some who sought to leave a wrong impression that there was something to hide when there is not." Bush's service record has been an issue in each of his presidential campaigns and resurfaced this year when Terry McAuliffe (search), chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Bush had been AWOL -- absent without leave -- during his time in Alabama. Democrats hope to capitalize on the issue and undermine Bush's election strength on national security issues by contrasting his service in the Guard, where he was a pilot who did not see combat, with that of Sen. John Kerry, the decorated Vietnam War veteran who is the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Bush enlisted in the Texas Air National Guard at Ellington Air Force Base on May 27, 1968. The last day he was paid for Guard duty was July 30, 1973. He was placed on inactive Guard duty six months before his commitment at his request because he was starting Harvard Business School. He was honorably discharged. While he performed most of his service in Texas, Bush transferred to an Alabama guard unit in 1972 because he was working as the political director for the Senate campaign of Winton Blount, a Bush family friend. White House officials say Bush recalls serving both in Texas and Alabama. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the White House provided a dental record and payroll information from his file. The pay records show Bush, who was a 1st lieutenant, was paid for 25 days of service between May 1972 and May 1973, the year Democrats have been questioning. The pay records, however, do not say what Bush did to receive pay, or where he did it.
It's not pathetic, it's political discussion, debate, argument... whatever you like. Some of the best threads, and I'm not saying this one qualifies... beats me, but some of the best threads started out innocuous enough and then morphed into something interesting, or entertaining, or stimulating, or something hard to quantify. I appreciate your attempt to have threads on particular topics, but don't be surprised or upset if much of that same give and take on those same subjects ends up all over the place. It's just how things frequently turn out here. Haven't you noticed? Oh, and on topic , I think whether or not Bush has lied about his past does speak to his character and fitness for the office. And if it can be proved, without a doubt, that he has skeletons in his closet of legitimate concern... why shouldn't it be an issue? What concerns me is that Democrats make sure not to give Bush a "free" attack issue if that issue is not nailed down. Not an issue like this. I've seen him and Rove (or Rove and him, to be more accurate) do the same sort of muddying of the waters too many times. His record as President is plenty to defeat him on.
Please show me where in this section it gives Bush's reason for missing his physical. Referring over and over again to a source that doesn't answer the question is not an answer. First, there is no instance of Lt. Bush disobeying lawful orders in reporting for a physical, as none would be given. This asserts that Bush did not disobey an order. It does not explain why he missed the physical. Pilots are scheduled for their annual flight physicals in their birth month during that month's weekend drill assembly -- the only time the clinic is open. In the Reserves, it is not uncommon to miss this deadline by a month or so for a variety of reasons: The clinic is closed that month for special training; the individual is out of town on civilian business; etc. This is a statement about National Guard Policy. It does not explain why he missed the physical. Are you saying he did not miss his physical and wasn't grounded for this?
I'm sorry -- I wasn't going to post again in this thread. But Mulder, that made my week. So now we can really close the case. Bush missed a few meetings or what have you because he was having a hot affair with Mulder's mom. Sorry Mulder... but hey, make sure you get some sliver of that family pie!
OK, apparently the one guy who said he saw Bush forget to make sure his lies matched the records - he said he saw Bush at times that Bush was not paid for, and more times than Bush was paid for as well.
WOW! the guy that started it all because he said "he couldn't remember seeing bush" has Alzheimer's! http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/17932.htm -- BUSH'S GUARD 'ACCUSER' ADMITS FAULTY MEMORY By DEBORAH ORIN February 15, 2004 -- Serious doubts have been raised about the stories of two key Alabama National Guard figures who questioned whether President Bush showed up for weekend duty there in the early 1970s. Retired Brig. Gen. William Turnipseed, the 187th's Tactical Reconnaissance Group's former commander, recanted his statement that he couldn't remember if Bush reported for duty, now saying his memory is faulty because he's in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease. And The Boston Globe, which took the lead in challenging Bush's Guard service, reported serious doubts about the account given by one of Bush's prime accusers. Turnipseed reversed gear after retired Lt. Col. John "Bill" Calhoun went public to say he remembered Bush well, and that in fact it was Turnipseed, then a colonel, who introduced Bush to him. "Col. Turnipseed brought [Bush] in when he first came to me. I just know that he saw him there," Calhoun told The Post. Turnipseed said he regards Calhoun as trustworthy and believes he'd remember it correctly. Calhoun's ex-wife, Patsy Burks, said she remembers her husband talking about Bush back in the 1970s when he switched from the Texas Air National Guard to Alabama, where he was working on a political campaign for family friend, Winton "Red" Blount. Another Alabama Guardsman, Joe LeFevers, told The Birmingham News earlier this week that he remembers seeing Bush on the Alabama base. Retired Lt. Col. Bill Burkett had claimed he heard Bush aides talking about having his Guard records scrubbed and saw it happen. But the Globe reported Thursday that Burkett's corroborating witness, former Chief Warrant Officer George O. Conn, disputes virtually every point in Burkett's account.
Apparently, the full documents released by the administration have a bad case of Alzheimer's also. Oh, and Bush's roomie from those years -- he's got it too, in a bad way. That roomie sure has an imaginative case, saying that our president went through a very difficult period. I'm sorry, basso, but I think we can stick with the documents now that they've mercifully been released. We could keep listening to various people say "I remember him!" "Well, I sure don't!" but it doesn't get us anywhere. I don't even care that the records have such big holes, and I don't care about his "service" record inherently. I just wish he'd released the records in 2000 when people first asked about it.
That's the same man used in an article that was linked the other day, that said that Bush wasn't required to attend any drills in Alabama at all. That he merely told Bush the drill times in case he wanted to attend.
