George W. Bush Was AWOL, But What's "Truth" Got to Do With It?

[eridani]

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/33189-focus-george-w-bush-was-awol-but-whatsqtruthq-got-to-do-with-it

Two things are undeniably true about the Bush-AWOL story. One is that its collapse exemplified the Bush magic that somehow imbued him with the aura of competence, intelligence, and leadership and made him oddly invulnerable to obvious criticism — think “The Emperor’s New Clothes” — until it all came crashing down after Hurricane Katrina.

The other truth is that Bush was undeniably a shirker, and smugly AWOL from his safe, cushy National Guard gig at a time when thousands of young men his age were being sent to their slaughter in Vietnam.

That had been clear ever since Walter Robinson, the editor of the Spotlight investigative team at the Boston Globe, extensively reported out the story in May 2000, piecing together an article from available military records that has never been definitively challenged.

The Washington Post in 1999 had raised questions of favoritism and joining the Guard to avoid dangerous duty in Vietnam. But it was the Globe that introduced the missing AWOL year.

Possibly because the Globe had out-reported its bigger colleagues, the story didn’t get picked up by the elite national outlets. When Democrats tried to bring it up again on the eve of the election, the New York Times pooh-poohed it under an instant classic of false-equivalence headline: “Bush’s Guard Attendance Is Questioned and Defended.” A “review of records by the New York Times indicated that some of those concerns may be unfounded,” the story said.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post castigated Democrats for their “11th-hour attempt to exploit a dormant issue.” The Post acknowledged the truth — “It is safe to say that Bush did very light duty in his last two years in the Guard and that his superiors made it easy for him” — but waved it off as an irrelevance.

[LakeVermilion]

1. But the WP felt no shame in enabling the Republicans to "Swift Boat" John Kerry.

Kerry actually was engaged in combat in Viet Nam, while Bush was "serving" locally

[MADem]

3. Oh, now, now--Bush was bravely defending the Rio Grande against alien incursions on our southern

flank!!

for the irony - impaired .....

[ProfessorGAC]

4. You Forgot To Mention . . .

. . .he was doing so in an obsolete fighter jet! So, i sure hope the incursion didn't include the mexican air force.

[Snobblevitch]

2. My response to this topic is to ignore it. We don't want an interest into

President Clinton on the same topic.

[hobbit709]

5. Clinton didn't go AWOL.

[Vinca]

6. Clinton was honest about it, Bush wasn't.

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. Oh really?

[BillZBubb]

9. Bullshit false analogy.

Typical right wing false equivalency.

Clinton was against the war and got out of it by whatever method he could. Bush supposedly was for the war and yet avoided serving in it using his family's powerful connections.

[TexasProgresive]

10. Apples and avocados

Clinton avoided military service with perhaps quasi-legal methods while Bush was sworn into service with a minimum 6 year obligation. Both used political connections Clinton to completely avoid military service and Bush to get a rare slot in the 147th Fighter Group. That is where the similarities end.

I enlisted in the 147th after a 12 months on an 18th month waiting list. It was shortened because some dropped off, maybe drafted or got back in school or enlisted. As I was 1-A I signed up did basic training at Lackland AFB and avionics at Keesler AFB. I can remember seeing Bush in the break room with the other pilots but nothing much more. You must understand they were a very restricted "jet set." I moved to another state and requested a discharge to finish my obligation in another guard unit. After 2 years I was discharged from that unit and returned to Texas and the 247th. That is the procedure. Bush did not follow it. You don't do some sort of TDY with another unit and you are required to complete your duty obligation. While Clinton was a draft dodger Bush is AWOL and a deserter. One of the really funny things is Bush managed to disappear his records including Laura's and his Texas criminal records by having the state issue them new driver's license numbers.

Back to Bush:
Bush enlisted as an enlisted man and was given another plum slot-pilot training which elevated him directly into officer ranks mysteriously without attending Officer Training School. He attended basic flying school and returned to Ellington Field to qualify on the F-102 Delta Dart.
http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail-page-2.asp?aircraft_id=157

This delta wing interceptor was a scary plane to fly. I really don't think Bush ever qualified to fly the 102. He probably flew in the TF-102, a 2 seat trainer but I just can't see him solo in the 102. Regardless of this his excuse for not returning to duty at Ellington was the planes had changed to the higher performance F-101 Voodoo.
http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail-page-2.asp?aircraft_id=73
All the other 102 pilots at Ellington qualified on the 101. They were excited about getting to fly this one oh wonder plane, but not Bush. This is my reasoning that he was never fully qualified and credit to him being a craven coward. He is the only pilot I ever knew of who didn't want to fly. They all fight tooth and nail to keep their ticket.

[B Calm]

7. I can't wait to see Truth.