NYT: The Presidents Guard Service

[Beetwasher]

If President Bush thought that his release of selected payroll and service records would quell the growing controversy over whether he ducked some of his required service in the Air National Guard three decades ago, he is clearly mistaken. The payroll records released yesterday document that he performed no guard duties at all for more than half a year in 1972 and raise questions about how he could be credited with at least 14 days of duty during subsequent periods when his superior officers in two units said they had not seen him.

--snip--

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/11/opinion/11WED1.html

Their idiotic stunt in releasing the documents yesterday totally backfired...

[walkon]

1. Preemptive strike?

I wondered why the Bush people would come out with anything on this. They have lied and kept secrets for so long and, mostly, it has not damaged them. I can only surmise that they knew someone would be coming out with documents and they moved to release something so they would appear to be forthcoming and helpful while getting the upper hand on the spin machine - by the time the damaging documents hit they will repeat the mantra "old news" + "partisan politics". Just a guess based on the typical MO of this bunch.

[KoKo]

2. OMG! Editorial calls him a "swashbuckling pilot!" Here's the quote:

"It bears on presidential character because the president has continually rejected claims that there was anything amiss about his Guard performance during the Alabama period. Mr. Bush himself also made the issue of military service fair game by posturing as a swashbuckling pilot when welcoming a carrier home from Iraq. Now, the president needs to make a fuller explanation of how he spent his last two years in the Guard.

[MoonAndSun]

3. NYTimes; why didn't you write about this in 2000??

They knew there were questions but they did nothing. They are as much to blame as bush* for the condition this country is in and also they have blood on their hands about Iraq, also.

[Skittles]

4. the press has been as AWOL as Bush ever was

they have blood on their hands too