Bush's loss of flying status should have spurred probe

[Lorien]

Bush's loss of flying status should have spurred probe


By Walter V. Robinson and Francie Latour, Globe Staff, 2/12/2004
President Bush's August 1972 suspension from flight status in the Texas Air National Guard -- triggered by his failure to take a required annual flight physical -- should have prompted an investigation by his commander, a written acknowledgement by Bush, and perhaps a written report to senior Air Force officials, according to Air Force regulations in effect at the time.



Bush, who was a fighter-interceptor pilot assigned to the Texas Air National Guard, last flew in April 1972 -- just before the missed physical and 30 months before his flight commitment ended. He also did not attend National Guard training for several months that year and was permitted to cut short his military commitment a year later in 1973.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan, for the second day in a row, refused yesterday to answer questions about Bush's failure to take the physical and appeared to retreat from Bush's promise Sunday to make public all of his military records. Asked at a midday press briefing if all of Bush's records would be released, McClellan said, "We'd have to see if there is any new information in that."

More: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/02/12/bushs_loss_of_flying_status_should_have_spurred_probe/

[theorist]

1. How much did it cost to train him?

I'm sure all the records exist to answer this question. (Including the price of Poppy's trip to pin medals on the little tyke.)

This may be seen as payback for Clinton, but we have finally succeeded in playing by their rules.

[proud patriot]

4. I read in an earlier article that it cost $1million to train him

:grr:

[NNN0LHI]

12. And that was a million dollars when a brand new Cadillac cost 3000 bucks

[POed_Ex_Repub]

2. This would be the perfect time for a CIA leak wouldn't it? n/t

[Jersey Devil]

19. LOL, I like the way you think

Indeed it would, and well earned.

[TXDemGal]

3. Walter Robinson's on the case

again. Do we know for a fact that a mandatory drug testing requirement had been added to flight physicals right around the time Smirk failed to complete his? Just wondering....

[Matilda]

9. Random drug testing was introduced by the Pentagon in April 1972,

and Bush missed his medical in August that year. So....could've
been the reason. Or one of the reasons.

[LiberalFighter]

31. He didn't want to risk being tested.

[dusty64]

5. Kick!

There is a LOT of things about chimp's past that SHOULD have been probed but instead got buried. I hope ALL of it is revealed.

[leetrisck]

6. bush brought all this on himself with his stunt

on the carrier. The Democrats didn't bring this up - bush created this with his phony "flight suit." Also, another eason for it to come to the forefront is that military are going AWOL and they are being prosecuted for it. There are several stories out about this.

[UpInArms]

7. I find it very "coincidental"

that * was possibly arrested for cocaine in 1972 - disappeared from his NG duty in 1972 - worked in a community program in Houston in 1972 - and refused a medical exam in 1972.

A probe of those activities might show information on his capabilities to lie, cheat, steal from the taxpayers and in turn show that he is currently incapable of telling the facts about himself and his motives.

[Gman]

14. This has been my question ever since I read FS

4 years ago.

Allegedly Karl Rove is the one that spilled the info about the cocaine conviction to Hatfield.

[UpInArms]

16. so where is James R. Bath

now?

Wouldn't he be able to answer some of these questions?

[AZCat]

28. Check this link...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1106153&mesg_id=1106153

Lots of stuff on Bath here

[Norquist Nemesis]

8. Instead of looking for people in his unit

maybe they should check with criminals in lockup during that time.

[Gin]

10. They set the new rules of the game with Clinton....now We are playing

their game and it isn't making the fools happy.

[Norquist Nemesis]

18. You're right! Did you see the McClellan press briefing?

Yesterday, one of the reporters quoted BushI campaign tactics against Clinton to McLellan and asked if he would define that as "trolling for trash". It was a riot!!!

[Lorien]

20. Didn't McClellan reply with something

lame like "well, that's to be expected right before an election, but we're nine months out now". :wtf:

[Norquist Nemesis]

21. Don't recall exactly, but basically he ignored it

and just redirected back to the present "trolling for trash". (Forget that past, we don't acknowledge past mistakes type of thing)

edit to add:
Here's what he said:
Q Scott, you used some pretty tough language this morning about those who are saying that the President has not answered all of the questions about the National Guard. You accused them of gutter politics and trolling for trash. As you know, back in the '92 campaign, then Governor Clinton's Vietnam-era history came up. And near the end of the campaign, then President Bush, this President's father, in a speech used the words "Slick Willie," talking about Governor Clinton then, and talked about the controversy, that the Governor had promised to release all his draft records, but had not. And he said, "He ought to level with the American people on the draft." He referred again to the records controversy, and he said, "He ought to level on these kinds of things." Is that trolling for trash?

MR. McCLELLAN: John, we released documents showing that the President fulfilled his duties. Some people are calling on us to release documents. The documents spell out that the President fulfilled his duties. I think that you expect the garbage can to be thrown at you in the 11th hour of a campaign, but not nine months before election day. And I certainly hope that this level of discourse is not a reflection of what the American people can expect from the Democratic Party over the duration of the campaign. :puke:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040211-3.html

[Lorien]

25. That was the one!

Pot, meet kettle!

[Nihil]

13. 30-odd years is a long time ...

... i.e., plenty of time for a drug addict (or pusher) to have OD'd,
for a drinking partner to have died in a DUI crash, or for any other
petty criminal to have been shot resisting arrest/in a feud/drive-by.

It's even long enough for a fellow pilot to have had a training
accident (or a reminder that these things can happen to all sorts of
good people and their families if their memory is too good).

Of course, this can easily be explained by statistics and coincidence.
So can the deaths of the members of units involved with the Jessica
Lynch operation. And the microbiologists. And the Raytheon people.
And the investigative reporters. And ...

Nihil

[NewYorkerfromMass]

17. or court employees who may have been aware

dammit we need the Maine DWI guy again!

[proud patriot]

22. Interesting ... I hadn't thought of that

It's easier to prove where someone was , rather than
where they weren't .

I think looking into Jails and such would be a great
place to start .

Also in 2002 bush was in Alaska on his way to Asia
when he said he lived in alaska for a period of time .
When was he living in Alaska was it during the time in question?

[SoCalDem]

33. The Alaska story

State GOP delegates cast votes for Bush
Alaska's delegation to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia has cast its votes for Texas Governor George Bush to be the party's presidential nominee. Bush needs 1,034 delegates to secure the Republican presidential nomination. For the first time, the ceremonial roll call is being spread out over several nights. The chair of the Alaska delegation, Reverend Jerry Prevo, announced to the convention last night that Alaska was unanimously casting its 23 votes -- "for the first president who lived in Alaska, the next president of the United States, George W. Bush." Bush lived in Alaska briefly in 1974 while working for an airline in Fairbanks.

http://tinyurl.com/24ugo

[LiberalFighter]

32. Would there be anything in the newspapers at that time for drug arrests?

Or any type of arrest?

[enough]

11. Georgie "lost interest in flying"

snip>

Weaver said it is entirely possible that Killian -- who, according to Bush's biography was also a friend -- concluded that Bush had lost interest in flying, at a time when Weaver said there were numerous active duty pilots with combat experience eager to get flying billets in Guard units.

Weaver, after looking over Bush's light duty load between May 1972 and May 1973, said he doubted that Bush would have been proficient enough to return to the F-102 cockpit. "I would not have let him near the airplane," Weaver said. If there was evidence that Bush's interest in the Guard had waned, Weaver said, then it would have been acceptable for Bush's commanders to "cut their losses" and grant him an early release rather than retain a guard pilot who could no longer fly.

snip>

I wonder how many of our military in Iraq have "lost interest" by this time.

Great article. This is the issue that cannot be fudged with dental records.

[RedEarth]

15. Great!!!!!!........let's nail

this lying SOB. George.......you lied and people died.

[IndianaGreen]

23. Problem is that Bush flew the F-102 which was already obsolete

Pilots may lose their flight status when there are not enough cockpits to go around, and are assigned to administrative duties.

The question is: what administrative duties did Bush get after he lost his flight status?

[Snazzy]

29. F-102 was apparently retired over seas

It was still in service for protecting the US airspace in at least through '72, from what I read about the crazy '72 hijacking and his AWOL defender Campenni yesterday:

http://tinyurl.com/2g3ov

[LynneSin]

We're not allowed to ask the questions

They'll give us the answers to the questions that we're SUPPOSE to be asking.

Get with the program

:eyes:

[bamademo]

24. See this link

...for an idea of what he was doing in Alabama.

http://www.southerner.net/blog/awolbush.html

[0007]

27. Excellent!

It appears the roof is caving in on junior and the crime cabal he fronts.

[democrank]

26. But, but.....

You mean Bush wasn`t really a hero pilot, he just played one on TV?

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[Thor_MN]

34. One thing I've wondered does "Failed to achieve" mean

that * didn't

A. Take his physical

B. Pass his physical

C. Was high on coke DURING his physical


??????