Ex-officer: Bush file's details caused concern

[seemslikeadream]

As Texas Gov. George W. Bush prepared to run for president in the late 1990's, top ranking Texas National Guard officers and Bush advisors discussed ways to limit the release of potentially embarrassing details from Bush's military records, a former senior officer of the Texas Guard said Wednesday

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-02-11-bush-guard-usat_x.htm

[kskiska]

1. Link doesn't work

I get a "document not found" message

[seemslikeadream]

2. Thanks

fixed it. The story's out there now!

[grytpype]

3. TINFOIL HATS ON!!!!!!

[DemoTex]

8. Ham radio field day?

-.-. --.-, -.-. --.-

-.. .

-.- ----. ... - .-.

K9STR

Mac

[sendero]

61. I don't

... see any coax coming out of the back of those things, looks like a PA system. But I hafta admit, it looks like field day :)

[joeunderdog]

78. Has the RW decided on a regime change back home?

This would NOT be happening if they didn't want it to happen. There is no new info about the AWOL Chimp here. What's new is that the press has been told to use it against him.

Here's my theory, based on the premise that the reporters are the long arm of the RW and create the news rather than report it:

Bush's popularity numbers have been consistently and grossly inflated to make good use of the "everyone loves a winner" thing.

Before the primaries, Dean was made to look like a more popular candidate than he ever really was. He looked beatable to Repugs, so they promoted the "grassroots" angle and gave him excessive coverage. They figured voters would love the underdog schtick and pile on.

Dean was never really the voter favorite and people voted for the "electable candidate" Kerry. Dem voters and Independents made incredibly strong statements at the primaries and the RW knew that everyone really does hate Bush and that re-election was in doubt.

Now, in order for them to get a Repub in office, Shrub has to go before November.

Hello, AWOLGate.

Anyone else smell a rat?

[Tinoire]

4. Worked for me... Here's a snippet:

The nature of what was blacked out in Bush's records is important because certain legal problems, such as drug or alcohol violations, could have been a basis for denying an applicant entry into the Guard or pilot training. Admission to the Guard and to pilot school was highly competitive at that time, the height of the Vietnam War.

The National Guard cited privacy as the reason for blacking out answers. The full, unmarked records have never been released. Bartlett did not respond Wednesday to a request to release the records with nothing blacked out, which Bush could do as the subject of the records.

Burkett says that the state Guard commander, Maj. Gen. Daniel James III, discussed "cleansing" Bush's military files of embarrassing or incriminating documents in the summer of 1997. At the time, Burkett was a lieutenant colonel and a chief adviser to James. He says he was just outside James' open office door when his boss discussed the records on a speakerphone with Joe Allbaugh, who was then Gov. Bush's chief of staff.

[Old and In the Way]

27. Joe Albaugh gets around, too.

Head of FEMA in NYC on 9/10. Just a coincidence, I'm sure.

[hang a left]

51. Hmmmmmmm very interesting.

Seems to me the powers that be are throwing POSOTUS under the bus. People are crawlin' out of the woodwork. I don't think that this is necessarily good news. It appears all the groundwork has been laid, for the destruction of the good ole US of A, doesn't it. Wonder who they have chosen to finish us off?

edit cuz a forgot a t

[RamboLiberal]

5. Wow this is Fun

Amazing how we knew all this for the last 4 years, but only now are the media whore awakening.

[seemslikeadream]

6. The story is in two other papers now

Denton Record Chronicle and News 8 Austin TX

[jburton]

10. Is it in all the Belo papers?

Denton RC & Dallas Morning News covered it. What other papers does Belo own? I'll dig around.

[Cooley Hurd]

7. Does this mean TWO officers are now on record...

...stating they were privy to the files being "cleansed" in the late 90's? Burkett being one and now an unidentified TANG officer being the second...

<snip from the same story>
A second former Texas Guard official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, was told by a participant that commanders and Bush advisers were particularly worried about mentions in the records of arrests of Bush before he joined the National Guard in 1968, the second official said.
</snip>

Sounds like AWOL isn't the real story anymore - it's his arrest record! Even better!

[Peachhead22]

16. Or even better...

...the coverup of all of it. The original infraction will hurt a politician. A coverup will destroy them.

[Catshrink]

60. It wasn't the blow job, it was lying about it....

Dang this sounds familiar!

[cryofan]

67. so bush lied to the press about his pre-Guard arrest record?

Yes, that is a coverup that just might bring him down!
So what we would need is the unredacted Guard application listing his arrest record. Is that available, or was the original redacted by the scouring crew?

[Say_What]

9. Related: Bush moved to Alabama unit without Air Force permission

Drip, drip, drip...

<clips>
NEW YORK - (KRT) - George W. Bush left his Texas Air National Guard assignment and moved to Alabama in 1972 even though the Air Force denied his request for a transfer, according to his military records.

In fact, Bush did not even ask for an official transfer until nine days after he moved to Alabama in May 1972.

The Air Force quickly rejected Bush's request, saying the fighter pilot was "ineligible" to move to the Alabama unit Bush wanted - a squadron of postal handlers.

Nevertheless, Bush stayed in Alabama until his Texas commanders finally gave him written authorization five months later to train there.

The controversy over Bush's Vietnam War-era record - and Democratic charges that he was AWOL - has prodded records documenting his service into public scrutiny. While they suggest he complied with the requirements of the time, they also show long absences from duty and that he was suspended from flying.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/7932511.htm

[Peachhead22]

19. Wow!

Now we're back to desertion!

[Stephanie]

39. "a squadron of postal handlers"

This is so damn FUNNY.

After all this time, and THIS is the straw that will finally break his back?

[SoCalDem]

52. Someone needs to do a photoshop of him in a camouflaged

mail truck :):):)

flight suit and all :):):)

[4dsc]

62. I wondered when someone would point that out

now lets hope someone in the press ASKED the same question..

Who can we email about this???

[WatchWhatISay]

11. Been wondering when Bill Burkett's name was going to surface

and figured that it would have to come up pretty soon. I use to be part of an email group back in 2002 call Democrats of Texas (DOT) where Mr. Burkett posted and I had heard and partially understood some of this, knew he had an important story to tell, but my poor memory is not very reliable, so I didn't want to bring up a bunch of half baked stuff.

I think he also has posted an/some article(s) about this on onlinejournal.com before, so I'll check there to see if I can find more.

Unfortunately, I do not still have access to those old emails, at least I dont think I do.

Watch any story to which he is tied. I think there is fire here.

[Cooley Hurd]

21. Check Calpundit's blog - he's been talking to Burkett...

http://www.calpundit.com/

He says he's going to post a transcript of a conversation he had w/ him today.

[NJCher]

47. I'll bet Saddam's snickering over the irony

This is from the Calpundit blog:

DENTAL RECORDS....This is starting to get comical. Now the White House is releasing Bush's dental records:

Bush's staff provided copies of a one-page record of a dental exam, complete with drawings of the president's teeth, that showed he was at Dannelly Air National Guard base in Montgomery, Ala., on Jan. 6, 1973.

The document is the first definitive evidence that Bush showed up at a base of the Alabama National Guard during a period of about 11 months, from May 1972 to May 1973, for which it was unclear how the president had fulfilled his military service.

Open wide, georgie-boy. Time we put a flashlight down your gullet.




Cher

[spotbird]

80. That's one of the days he "reported" according to the "payroll"

records released by the WH. Incredible that they thought no one would notice that the duty he preformed on one of his brave days of duty was to visit the dentist.

Now that I think about it going to the dentist does take more courage then I thought the Chimp had, from the looks of him now he doesn't do it too often.

[DoYouEverWonder]

58. Your memory is not so bad

Last May Lt. Col. Bill Burkett wrote the following article for Online Journal about his experiences with Bu$hCo and Bu$h's scrubbed records. He didn't just crawl out of the woodwork, he has been very actively trying to get his story out to the world for quite awile now.


http://www.onlinejournal.com/bush/031903Burkett/031903burkett.html

What do you say?

By Bill Burkett
Online Journal Contributing Writer

March 19, 2003—I've sat in total grief for the past three years, watching the institutions of America being spent as if they were lottery winnings.

I don't want to say it, "But I told you so."

In January of 1998 and what seems like a full lifetime ago, I was stricken by a deadly case of meningoencephalitis. I was returning from a short duty trip to Panama as a team chief to inspect the hand over of Ft. Clayton to the Panamanians. I had been 'loaned' from the senior staff and state planning officer of the Texas National Guard to the Department of the Army for a series of these special projects after angering George W. Bush by refusing to falsify readiness information and reports; confronting a fraudulent funding scheme which kept 'ghost' soldiers on the books for additional funding, and refusing to alter official personnel records .

George W. Bush and his lieutenants were mad. They ordered that I not be accessed to emergency medical care services, healthcare benefits I earned by my official duty; and I was withheld from medical care for 154 days before I was withdrawn from Texas responsibility by the Department of the Army, by order of the White House.



The following link is an interview that he did with Pacifica radio last May. Scroll down to the third item to listen to Burkett's story:


http://archive.webactive.com/pacifica/peacewatch/peace20030506.html

Story: FORMER TEXAS ARMY NATIONAL GUARD LT. COL. BILL BURKETT ON BUSH THE "CHICKEN HAWK"

Today the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln returned to port in Everett, Washington after being deployed for ten months. President Bush addressed the nation regarding the end of hostilities in Iraq from the deck of the Abraham Lincoln last week. For some veterans, the sight of George W. Bush landing on the aircraft carrier was a sore point.

Although Bush's autobiography states he was a fighter pilot, his military record show that through a disciplinary action, he lost his flying privileges and never served in combat. Last week, Peace Watch spoke with 28 year Army veteran Lt. Colonel Bill Burkett who shares some little known facts about how president select Bush came to be in the Texas National Guard.

[pinniped]

12. Does this appear in the "print" edition?

Look at the chimp, things never change. Up was always down in his world. Chimp's even sitting in the cockpit backwards!

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

13. "Don't call me at home again"

"I'll call your publisher and sue you."

That is, perhaps, one of the most damaging statements I have heard yet.

That, ladies and germs, is one shit-scared individual. Betcha we can all guess why he is scared.

[Norquist Nemesis]

29. My thoughts exactly

when I read that. This has the potential to not only bring down Bush II but I as well!

[Ernesto]

14. DRIP, DRIP ON

Is this drama or what?..... We (DUers) all know that the chimp is a pretender to the office. Because of this fact, there is a sweet satisfaction that only the likes of us are entitled to savor......

[burrowowl]

15. Hmmm!

Trolling for trash, as in trolling for fish.
Wonder what kind of trash the nets will pick up or they are afraid will pick up. Bet there is a lot of trash given the trashy pResident.

[TacticalPeek]

17. "Bush is not food. Bush is not food."

:silly:

[seemslikeadream]

18. 5 more papers!!

Dayton Daily News OH
NewsMax.com
News Journal TX
Rocky Mount Telegram NC
Billings Gazette MT

[Oilwellian]

23. Hot damn!

Newsmax! Ahahahahahaha! Can you imagine the Freeper response?? Do we dare peek? YOU do it! ROFLMAO! :D

[seemslikeadream]

24. I'm not going to do it

You do it! :toast: There's plenty of other papers to look at!

Fort Worth Star Telegram TX
ABC News
Duluth News Tribune MN
Macon Telegraph GA
Wilkes Barre Weekender PA
Centre Daily Times PA
Belleville News Democrat IL
Aberdeen American News
Wichita Eagle KS

[Oilwellian]

25. Weeeee!

The dam is breaking!

[seemslikeadream]

Wanta have another beer?

Lets :toast: to Australia! I feel like I've done a little of the blue flake myself tonight

[MIMStigator]

20. WHOA..........he's COOKED

they tried to say burkett is a kook now they have a second witness

[seemslikeadream]

22. It's Canada turn

CJAD Canada
CBC News Canada

and the UK

Guardian

[Say_What]

26. "I got these documents before the White House did,"

<clips>

Lt. Bush Not So Memorable

"I got these documents before the White House did," Bob Fertik was saying yesterday afternoon from his command center in Jackson Heights.

Three years before, but who's counting?

Fertik's command center is a converted maid's room, just beyond the washer-dryer, in an apartment he and his wife share on 80th Street. It's the New York office of the activist Web site democrats.com - and quite a dangerous place it is.

"The White House is trying to say these documents prove Bush was never AWOL from the National Guard," Fertik said when I pulled him away from his computer screen. "What they prove is that Bush still isn't telling the truth."

I turn to Fertik at times like these, invigorating moments when professional politicians are forced to pay attention to knowledgeable and passionate citizens. And I promise you, they are paying attention now.

more...

[TacticalPeek]

28. JeezusH Keerist!

Wildfire!

Its at WaPo, too, and a WaPo reporter, Lois Romano, has recapped it twice in the last hour on CNN HN. Her punchline? WH sez now no more docs released, just 'attendance related'.

To withhold documents at this point in this kind of a story is like painting a target on your forehead. Rove must be cracking.

[murielm99]

33. I think they are hoping

that this story will turn on the Dems. People will be sickened by the slandering of their precious shrub, and will support him. Maybe that is how Rove's mind is working.

This worked when the L.A. paper came out, late in the recall election, with stories about Ah-nold groping women. It made some voters sympathetic to Ahnold.

I don't think this will work for them, though. This story has been around for a long time. Some people are okay with the Ah-nold groping stories. After all, these are only women complaining.

I think it is serious to grope women. But many people will see messing with the military and their records, and lying about it as much more serious. This is not to imply that I have no respect for the military. My husband and father are both veterans.

[reprobate]

64. The WH is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

They said they would release records, but they can't release the records because they destroyed the records that would show the emperor was a criminal and shouldn't have been admitted to the guard in the first place.

So the media will demand the records that * said he would release on national tv, but the WH cant release them, so the media will accuse them of a cover up, which is what will really bring him down.

That's a three point goal.

[spotbird]

82. They could clear much of this up with tax returns.

They are still floating around somewhere, they are saved for Social Security etc.

The White House lies.

[starroute]

92. Tax records wouldn't show much at this point

They've already released records showing W got credit for 6 days of service in 1972. If the tax forms showed the same thing, we'd be no further along. We still wouldn't know where he's supposed to have done this service and whether he actually showed up for it.

What's really needed are the disciplinary records. Had W lied about his arrests prior to 1968? What happened when he failed to take the flight physical? What was his status during the first five months he was in Alabama without having received permission to be there? Was there a drug offense in late 1972, resulting in his 1973 stint at PULL, and how is that reflected in his military records?

Stuff like that -- which is presumably what they scrubbed in 1997 and/or are sitting on now.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Say_What]

31. American Gulf War Veterans Association Comments (Uh oh)

<clips>

....Joyce Riley, spokesperson of The American Gulf War Veterans Association
revealed on air in a two hour "white paper" report yesterday, Feb.4 ,
2004 , on The Power Hour radio show, (www.thepowerhour.com) that George
W. Bush's military records indicate that he was not present for his
entire six year required service to the military. Even more shocking and
significant is that he did, in fact, deny a direct order, during time of
war, and was suspended from flying. The debate may rage on the major
networks about whether or not he was AWOL, however the documentation
exists and is available at http://users.cis.net/coldfeet/document.htm
Riley, who has also been a testifying expert in medical malpractice
trials for fifteen years states: "There is no question he is guilty of
major military crimes and should be held accountable. The military
records confirm these accusations. No matter how many of his "buddies"
they "pull out of a hat" to say he was present, the records speak for
themselves. Thousands of veterans, from Atomic Veterans, Vietnam War,
Project Shad, and Gulf War I have been denied compensation because the
V.A. and Department of Defense state that their "records" don't prove
exposure to chemicals, biological agents, experimental vaccines and
depleted uranium. ( www.gulfwarvets.com/ao.html ), Project Shad and
Gulf War victims now suffer and cannot prove their records exist.
(www.projectshad.org.) Mr. Bush's records do prove without a doubt
that he denied a direct order during time of war, and this, by
definition is Treason.

The AGWVA will provide FOX NEWS, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and BBC with copies of these documents by contacting this organization. The millions of
prior service personnel who served proudly will be outraged when they
read what the present Commander in Chief is guilty of -and is not
being held accountable for. Innocent troops that are simply protecting
their health and their families from the anthrax vaccine are being court
martialed. How can the President stand before them when he is guilty of
so much worse? Full reports on the military records of George W. Bush
will be available at: www.gulfwarvets.com and www.thepowerhour.com.

more...

[Kool Kitty]

32. You know, they can say what they will about

Wes Clark and Michael Moore's endorsement of him, but do you think that if everyone in the media hadn't jumped on Michael Moore bringing this up in a campaign speech, that they wouldn't even have had to worry about it. I mean, it was touched on ever-so-slightly before the 2000 elections, but the story basically died a fast media death. It's funny, the media and the RNC got all loud and stupid about this, thinking that everyone in the nation would be shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you that anyone would dare to bring this up about the vaunted Commander-in-Chief. Especially now, with soldiers in the field and all of that. I bet that they could kick themselves for screaming about it, because it certainly blew up in their smug little faces. It is a joy to see.

[murielm99]

34. I have always wondered if Jennings was

playing devil's advocate. Did he really want the story out there? Was that the only way he could get it out there?

I think Jennings is s smug bastard, but I don't know anything about his politics. Does anyone here know?

[0rganism]

38. I think Jennings is too smart not to know what would happen

By taking a backhanded approach, he covered his ass and gave Clark an easy way out. It's slick, maybe even Clinton-style slick.

[Stephanie]

45. We may never know. Seems very shrewd, in retrospect.

At the time I was furious with him. We may never know. It's a mystery.

[NJCher]

50. bingo

OK, first about Jennings' politics--for a time the right really hated him and had a major e-mail campaign going to get him fired. I think it was not too long after shrub stole the office. It seems it was Inauguration related. I'm trying to think of the incident that started it but it's not coming to me. This doesn't prove his politics, just that he's stated some things that have had them burning.

I saw him make that remark and was aghast. I recall my reaction--just shock that he would make a statement that was so "stand by your president." It was over the top. Now it makes sense. It was actually very clever and I think we can trace a lot of the guard revelations right back to that one remark.

Oh man, for somebody who hardle ever watches television, I'm so glad I was tuned in at that particular moment. It was "defining."


Cher

[roscoeroscoe]

66. you're right

however the whole issue turns out, and it certainly seems like the pot is boiling real good, jennings cleverly brought it up in a way that set the admin and its allies up. they thought their supporters could do the usual trick and shout it down, frame the issue. but there's too much dirt there, and it's coming out in a way that's very damaging. it's a classic story for the major media.

[JoFerret]

72. I think Jennings

knew EXACTLY what he was doing. It was a disingenuous and allowed him to remain unscathed. All of which is just fine by me )given the climate of cowardly journalism, vicious attacks on anyone who dares, and the press in the habit of being the Rovian strong arm.)

[0rganism]

37. Wes Clark's candidacy accomplished that much, at least

It's a shame Clark didn't get more voter support, but I'll be damned if Clark and Moore haven't done more to stymie the bush cabal in a month than anyone else has in three long sad years. Whatever else will be said about Clark, this is one political battle in which he can claim a clear victory.

[Ripley]

93. I agree...he knew his association with Moore would come up

and then the "deserter" remark by Moore would come up. Clark handled it well in that debate...making it a free speech issue.

I'm sorry to see him go, he brought a lot of class to the race.

[seemslikeadream]

35. NEW YORK TIMES BABY

Move to Screen Bush File in 90's Is Reported

By Ralph Blumenthal

.....Ms. Hughes, who left the White House in 2002, did not return a call

[TacticalPeek]

40. linkee?

Reading all possible versions is good for my circulation.

:)

[Stephanie]

42. It's VERY good. I'm very HAPPY. - NY Times story below V

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/12/national/12TEXA.html

Move to Screen Bush File in 90's Is Reported
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL

Published: February 12, 2004

HOUSTON, Feb. 11 — A retired lieutenant colonel in the Texas National Guard complained to a member of the Texas Senate in 1998 that aides to Gov. George W. Bush improperly screened Mr. Bush's National Guard files in a search for information that could embarrass the governor in future elections.

The retired officer, Bill Burkett, said in the letter to Senator Gonzalo Barrientos, a Democrat from Austin, that Dan Bartlett, then a senior aide to Governor Bush and now White House communications director, and Gen. Daniel James, then the head of the Texas National Guard, reviewed the file to "make sure nothing will embarrass the governor during his re-election campaign."

<snip to END>

The other Guard officer who Mr. Burkett says was with him the day he saw General Scribner going though the records, George Conn, declined in an e-mail message to comment on Mr. Burkett's statements. But Mr. Conn, a former chief warrant officer for the Texas Guard and now a civilian on duty with American forces in Europe, said: "I know LTC Bill Burkett and served with him several years ago in the Texas Army National Guard. I believe him to be honest and forthright. He `calls things like he sees them.' "

A retired officer, Lt. Col. Dennis Adams, said Mr. Burkett told him of the incidents shortly after they happened. "We talked about them several different times," said Mr. Adams, who spent 15 years in the Texas Guard and 12 years on active duty in the Army. He now works for the Texas Department of Public Safety as a security officer guarding the state Capitol.

[kskiska]

81. "Ms. Hughes, who left the White House in 2002, did not return a call. "

Nurse Rached must have tossed and turned last night, and Scottie must be crapping his pants in anticipation of today's press conference.

[yellowcanine]

94. Ok It's not the "crime", it's the cover-up

Bush's National Guard service may or may not have involved law breaking. But at the very least, by now it should be apparent to everyone that something happened that was potentially a political problem for Bush. Furthermore, Bush minions took steps to conceal the problem and may have destroyed official records. It is fair to characterize this as a cover-up and it is also fair to ask what Bush knew about it at the time and what he knows now, as the cover-up continues. In other words, what did the President know and when did he know it. (Howard Baker, the nation will be forever grateful to you for that pithy summary of the problem of presidential cover-ups). Uh, Mr. Bush, I believe that is a ball in your court.

[Danieljay]

36. Noted in his daily journal, and told two other officers....

"In Burkett's account, Allbaugh told James that Bush's press secretary, Karen Hughes, was preparing a biography and needed information on Bush's military service."

"In an interview, Burkett said he recalled Allbaugh's words: "We certainly don't want anything that is embarrassing in there." Burkett said he immediately told two other officers about the conversation and noted it in a daily journal he kept. The two officers, George Conn and Dennis Adams, confirmed to USA TODAY in 2002 that Burkett told them of the conversation within days."


I can hardly contain myself...this is just too damn good! Doing my happy dance!

[grasswire]

43. dayum

Here it is:

"Burkett said he immediately told two other officers about the conversation and noted it in a daily journal he kept. The two officers, George Conn and Dennis Adams, confirmed to USA TODAY in 2002 that Burkett told them of the conversation within days."

[Stephanie]

44. also in the NY Times story

confirmation -

[Stephanie]

41. seemslikeadream is right! I am sitting here CACKLING

I cannot believe this is finally happening!

I think it was the prancing on the deck of the Lincoln that did it. What a little schmuck.

[BadGimp]

46. 2 words come to mind

Death Knell

pardon if the spellin is off :)

BadGimp

[Stephanie]

49. I think you've got it

Right now people are saying "What else is he lying about?"

And sure enough, we have investigations into Plame, 9/11 and Iraq Intel about to hit the headlines.

These guys messed up big time.

First of all, they put their money on a Chimp.

[snippy]

69. "Right now people are saying "What else is he lying about?" " Exactly.

This is a theme that will play all the way to November. And Bush will lie many, many more times between now and November. If the voters who do not follow politics begin to laugh at Bush's constant, incessant and compulsive lying, he is done.

[NJCher]

53. unmitigated arrogance to pull that TopGun stunt when they knew his records

OK, another irony. Icarus flew too close to the sun. Chimpy just pranced on the deck of an Air Force carrier and burned his wings.

Hubris, hubris, hubris.


Cher

[tridim]

54. By the time the campaign ads come out

with him prancing around in his codpiece, his AWOL status will be common knowledge. I'll bet you a dollar the flyboy ads were thrown in the incinerator tonight.

[proud patriot]

48. wheeeeeeeeeeeeee !

James Hatfield shall be vindicated :bounce:

[nolabels]

55. I still think there is lot more to this story , setting him up and ......

Anyway the convenient timing of his death should give pause

http://www.barbelith.com/cgi-bin/articles/00000058.shtml

On the 20th July last year, 43 year old James H. Hatfield, journalist and author of 'Fortunate Son', a biography of George W. Bush, was found dead in his hotel room in Springdale, Arkansas, the victim of apparent suicide. Hatfield's story is tied to the book he wrote and, through it to the career of the President. Hatfield, a writer with a somewhat chequered past, wrote a biography of George W Bush, while Dubya was still Governor of Texas. Amongst a host of bald and shocking facts about him it contained the allegation that in 1972 Bush senior had arranged for a Texas judge to have his son's conviction for possession of cocaine expunged from the records, in return for which Junior performed works of public service. This last was already documented; the fact that he worked for a while in the early seventies in an outreach centre for teenagers in one of Dallas' poorest districts has often been touted by republican publicists eager to round off some of their leader's corners. Needless to say, it stands out like a sore thumb.

The cocaine charge is the most sensational allegation contained in Hatfield's book, but it's hardly the most disturbing. From engineering the seizure of other people's property under eminent domain laws for use by his Texas Rangers baseball team, to the millions he made in dubious insider stock swaps, to his peripheral connections to the BCCI scandal, Fortunate Son is a catalogue of sins. It is a portrait of a man who routinely uses political connections to further his business interests, and likewise uses his business connections to further his political career; to quote one of Jenny Holzer's truisms, "Abuse of power comes as no surprise".
(snip)
(snip)
To preserve their anonymity, Hatfield left his sources for the drug story unattributed. It was an omission that was to cost him a great deal. After the story of Dubya's partying past broke on news website www.salon.com (it is important to note that Hatfield was not the first to make the allegation), his editors at St. Martins Press insisted that he include it in his book. The book was effectively already written and ready for the press at this point. According to Mark Crispin Miller, Professor of Media Studies at New York University, they instructed him to "put the story in a special afterword for maximum effect, pushing him to make the prose more lurid". After publication, amid a media firestorm and threats of possible lawsuits from the Bush campaign, St. Martin's press pressured Hatfield to reveal the identity of his confidential sources. He refused.

Next, the Dallas Morning News happened to suddenly receive confidential information on Hatfield's criminal past. Hatfield denied the allegations, claiming that they had confused him with another person of the same name. He returned home to Arkansas, to find camera crews camped out outside his home. The truth soon surfaced. Hatfield had been convicted in 1988 of paying a hit-man $5,000 to murder his former boss with a car bomb, and subsequently served five years in a penitentiary. The intended victim had escaped unharmed. Hatfield had been guilty of the crime; he had paid for it with five years of his life, and had since successfully reinvented himself as an author. But the contents of his book were now all but forgotten, as inquiries into Bush's drug history were diverted into stories about Hatfield's life. Less than a week after publication 70,000 copies of Fortunate Son were withdrawn and destroyed, despite the fact that the book was at #8 on Amazon's Top 100 within 72 hours of its publication and #30 on The New York Times hardcover non-fiction list. St. Martins Press promised to turn it into "furnace fodder".
(snip)

[Piperay]

56. This sounds like

it just might have legs. :-)

[Judi Lynn]

57. Say bye-bye to the pResident

Wouldn't it stand to reason this would be a two-fer, as in NO run later for the Presidency for Jeb?



What about you? Will you miss them?

[NewsTalk]

90. Let's not get ahead of ourselves

I don't want us all to be like the wide receiver who turns and starts running downfield before he actually has the ball in his hands. Let's not start dancing on *'s grave yet. There's still work to do to keep this on the front burner and tie it in to the Commander-in-Thief's extensive record of lies and abdication of responsibility. Lots of time to party later -- lots of work to do now.

[leftchick]

59. HELLOOOO.... I Want to Know What the "Records of Arrests" have

in them....

<A second former Texas Guard official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, was told by a participant that commanders and Bush advisers were particularly worried about mentions in the records of arrests of Bush before he joined the National Guard in 1968, the second official said.>

I am betting those arrests had a lot worse crimes than possesion of Blow. This is the first time I have seen a reference to MORE than one offense before 1968! Anyone?!?

[seemslikeadream]

63. It wasn't a dream, it wasn't a dream!

seemslikeadream but it wasn't a dream!

30 more papers this morning :nuke:

[Enraged_Ape]

65. I really hope the Dems use that carrier stunt in their campaign ads

I remember being so irate when that bastard trotted out in his stuffed fighter pilot costume. But more and more, this misbegotten photo op is looking like a gift from the Goddess herself.

Their pride is their own undoing, every time. I would have thought these good Christians would have learned from the story of Lucifer.

[reprobate]

68. Now's the time to write those LTTE's demanding his resignation.

Let's get it in front of the media and maybe the resignation thing will catch fire.

No, he won't resign. But it will ruin any hope of his reselection.

[Jersey Devil]

70. Note James, the "cleanser", promoted by W to NG command nationally

I have a queasy feeling.

[DoYouEverWonder]

71. This story is finally bigger than Janet Jackson's tit

The chimp is going down.

However, don't want to burst anyone's bubble. But it's going to be a rough ride. And the chimp has done a lot of damage. The real war has just begun.

[Gin]

73. "Arrests"....plural....how many times was he arrested?

gin

[leftchick]

75. I agree Gin... ArrestSSSSS!!

This story is Soooo much bigger than I ever imagined. I wonder if there are any arresting officers willing to talk....

[underpants]

74. In USA Today!?!??!? Now THAT is mainstream

too mainstrem for my tastes but the article itself states that it went widely unreported in 2000.

This is turning into a can of worms now. Not only is his acceptance going to be looked at by many people but now questions about his arrests and covering that up will too. Oh George....that's the music playing.....they want you to face it.

[Jersey Devil]

76. and New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/12/national/12TEXA.html

[RedEarth]

77. Keep the heat on this

lousy piece of shit. Maybe now, even more of the media will start to question how corrupt this admin is.

[seemslikeadream]

98. Well they're talking about it on Crossfire

and it's in over 150 news sources as of this afternoon.

goggle Bill Burkett

[Terran]

79. This is REALLY telling (from the USA Today piece):

The WH calls Burkett's allegations of overhearing a conversation about cleaning up Bush's ANG records a "lie," and YET:

In an interview, Burkett said he recalled Allbaugh's words: "We certainly don't want anything that is embarrassing in there." Burkett said he immediately told two other officers about the conversation and noted it in a daily journal he kept. The two officers, George Conn and Dennis Adams, confirmed to USA TODAY in 2002 that Burkett told them of the conversation within days.

So...if it's a lie, Burkett had to have the foresight to lie about it seven years ago...to two other people...and write it down in his journal. Wow, this guy is really thorough!

[0007]

83. ....and this Opera has another hour to play.

What else is junior lying about? Hell, we haven't even got to the daddy lies yet! How about the Fucking community service in 1972? Was it with "The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Houston's Third Ward, or was it with Project P.U.L.L.?"

And what was junior doing community service again for? What was daddy's role again? ... Please speak up, I can barely hear YOU?

The name of the Opera? Perhaps, it could be called, "The Requiem of a Selected President"

Can't wait for the book, "Bush's War for Re-election" by James Moore, a former Texas television reporter and co-author of "Bush's Brain."

What a fantastic Opera.

[Bridget Burke]

84. It's not over until......

We see Ma Bush in this role:



(Sorry for any damage to your mind's eye.)

[Oilwellian]

95. Oh man!

You KILLED my vision of her as Ma Barker!

[0007]

100. LOL!!

[TXlib]

85. heh heh

I especially like the bit where McClellen said those seeking additional details on Bush's records are "trolling for trash for political gain," and engaging in "gutter politics."

The republicans NEVER do that...

:eyes:

[NewYorkerfromMass]

86. trolling for "trash"?

well yeah... they threw it in there and now we gotta get it back out.

[seemslikeadream]

87. How funny is that

"trolling for trash". That's exactly where they threw bushs' records we had to look in the trash can.

Imus was talking to Nora ODonnald this morning and she read the story. Imus said "THIS DOES NOT LOOK GOOD" and went on to defend Kerry saying it was trash to put up a picture of Kerry with Jane Fonda.

Now I'm going to donate to DU and get my star back! Isn't this story the best reason. Please anyone that hasn't contributed join me.

[Jose Diablo]

97. Yep, spirew-nixon remix

Next we have Ole' John Henry pickin' up the Plame spike and drivin' it through the heart of neo-con (Perle, Feith, Wolf, Rummy and certainly not least, crash cart). One side of the RW eats the other side.

Stay in your seats folks, the performance isn't over.

[Aries]

88. It would be great if the James Bath "dot" is connected

The Coincidences Keep On Coming
Thursday, 8 January 2004, 10:27 am
Column: Ian Gurney

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0401/S00021.htm

...Sure enough, the document relates that George W Bush was, on the 1st. August 1972, suspended from flying. The reason for the suspension was a failure to accomplish an annual medical examination.

Just below the documentation of Bush's suspension is another notice of suspension from flying of a major in the Texas Air National Guard. It reads as follows:- Verbal orders of the Commander on 1st. September 1972 suspending Major James R Bath, Texas Air National Guard, HQ 147 Fighter Group, Ellington Air Force Base, Houston, Texas from flying status. Reason for suspension: Failure to accomplish an annual medical examination.

Nothing unusual in that, apart from one thing. I remembered writing an article I posted on Rense.com on the 19th. December 2001 documenting the profitable symbiosis between BioPort, the US anthrax vaccine manufacturer, the bin Laden family and their investments in the Carlyle Group, one of America's most successful investment companies.

http://www.rense.com/general18/prp.htm

In paragraph 14 of the article I describe how the Bush family first became associated with the bin Ladens:-

"The story behind the Carlyle Group and the links between George Bush Sr. and the bin Ladens is interesting to say the least. Let's start at the beginning. In the 1970's, Salem Bin Laden, the eldest of Osama Bin Laden's 55 brothers and sisters, invested heavily in George H. W. Bush's first business venture, Arbusto Energy. Salem became Bush's business partner through James Bath, a close friend of the future American president. Salem appointed Bath as his representative in Houston, Texas.

It was Bath who invested $50,000 in Bush's company Arbusto and also bought Houston Gulf Airport on behalf of Osama's elder brother."....

[Catherine Vincent]

89. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL!:-)

[onecitizen]

91. I am sooooooo loving this.......

I remember reading the article about Burkett a long time ago too. I hope he is soon vindicated after all they did to him.

[seemslikeadream]

96. 104 papers have reported this story so far today!

Can I buy everyone a beer? Or is it too early in the morning to start drinking?

:toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast::toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast::toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast::toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast::toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast::toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast::toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast::toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast::toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast:

[seemslikeadream]

99. Just one more time

Burkett was just on Hardball. Great job!

and 149 hits on goggle