2/11 AWOL HOT! Michael Moore goes for the jugular!

[grasswire]

An OPEN LETTER from Michael Moore, sent to his mailing list and to Bush:

An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush



February 11, 2004 (67th anniversary of the Great Flint Sit-Down Strike)

Dear Mr. Bush,

Thank you for providing the illegible Xeroxed partial payroll sheets (or whatever they were) yesterday covering a few of your days in the National Guard. Now we know that, not only didn't you complete your tour of duty, you were actually paid for work you never did. Did you cash those checks? Wouldn't that be, um, illegal?

Watching the press aggressively demand the truth from your press secretary -- and refusing to accept the deceit, the dodging, and the cover-up -- was a sight to behold, something we really haven't seen since you took office (to watch or listen to the entire press conference, or to read the full transcript, go here).

More than one reporter pointed out that those pieces of paper your press secretary waved at them yesterday mean nothing. Even if they aren't forged documents, getting paid does not necessarily mean you showed up to do your duties. As retired Army Col. Dan Smith, a 26-year veteran, told the AP:



"Pay records don't mean anything except that you're in or you're out," said Smith. "It doesn't necessarily reflect what duty you've actually performed because pay records simply record your unit of assignment and then all of your pay and benefits per pay period."

Mr. Bush, this issue is not going to go away -- and I think yesterday's actions just dug you into a deeper hole. You're probably wondering why the heck this story won't just die. You probably thought that after I brought it up last month and then got slammed by Peter Jennings for uttering the "d" word, the whole matter would just disappear as fast as bag of blow being thrown out the window of a speeding car on a deserted Maine highway.

But your "desertion" didn't go away -- and here's the reason why. You have sent countless numbers of our sons and daughters in the National Guard to their deaths in the last 11 months. You did this while misleading their parents and the nation with bogus lies about weapons of mass destruction and scary phony Saddam ties to al Qaeda. You sent them off to a never-ending war so that your benefactors at Halliburton and the oil companies could line their pockets. And then you had the audacity to prance around in a soldier's uniform on an aircraft carrier proclaiming "Mission Accomplished" -- while the cameras from your re-election campaign ad agency rolled.

THAT is what makes this whole business of you being AWOL so despicable, and makes the grief-stricken relatives want to turn away from you in disgust. The reason your skipping-out on your enlistment didn't matter in the 2000 election was because we were not at war. Being stuck in a deadly, daily quagmire now in 2004 makes your military history-fiction and your fly-boy costume VERY relevant.

You still have not answered the questions surrounding your National Guard "service." Let me repeat them as simply as I can for you (all of them based on the investigative work of the Associated Press and the Boston Globe):

1. How were you able to jump ahead of 500 other applicants to get into the Texas Air National Guard, thus guaranteeing you would not have to go to Vietnam? What calls did your father (who was then a United States Congressman representing Texas) make on your behalf for you to get this assignment?

2. Why were you grounded (not allowed to fly) after you either failed your physical or failed to take it in July 1972? Was there a reason you were afraid to take the physical? Or, did you take it and not pass it? If so, why didn't you pass it? Was it the urine test? The records show that, after the Guard spent years and lots of money training you to be a pilot, you never flew for the rest of your time in the Guard. Why?

3. Can you produce one person who can verify that he served with you in the Guard during the year that your Texas commanders said you did not show up? Why have you failed to bring forth anyone who served with you in the Guard while you were in Alabama? Why hasn't ONE SINGLE PERSON come forward?

4. Can you tell us what you did when you claim to have shown up in Alabama for Guard duty? What were you duties? You were grounded, so what did they have you do instead?

5. Where are the sign-up sheets that would have your name and service number on them for each weekend you showed up? Aaron Brown on CNN told us how, when he was in the reserves, he had to sign in each time he reported, and his guest from the Washington Post said, that's right, and there would be "four copies of that record" in the files of various agencies. Will you ask those agencies to release those records?

6. If you were in fact paid for that time when you apparently went AWOL, will you authorize the IRS to release your 1972-73 tax returns?



7. How did you get an honorable discharge? What strings were pulled? Who called who?

Look, I'm sorry to have put you through all this. I was just goofing around when I made that comment about wanting to see a debate between the general and the deserter. I had no idea that it would lead to this. And there you were, having to suffer through Tim Russert on Sunday, saying weird things like "I'm a war president!" I guess you believe that, or you want us to believe that. Americans have never voted out a Commander-in-Chief during a war. I guess that's what you're hoping for. You need the war.

But we don't. And our troops in the National Guard don't either. I know you see the writing on the wall, so why not come clean now? We are a forgiving people, and though you will not be returned to White House, you will find us grateful for a little bit of truth. Answer our questions, apologize to the nation, and bring our kids home.

Yours,

Michael Moore

[republicansarewhores]

1. Heh heh heh....

The shit's finally hitting the fan on this one. And Shrub thought he would weasel past it again. Guess the aircraft carrier stunt wasn't such a great idea anyway ;-)

RAW

[grasswire]

2. please kick this one over night...

...so the morning crew can get a good laugh.

[Tripper11]

19. Welcome to DU republicansarewhores

:hi:

[BrotherBuzz]

3. Ouch!

I like it!

[Judi Lynn]

4. Great Moore form! Made a printout to share in the morning. Thank you. n/t

[nofurylike]

5. YAY, Michael!! constantly!! n/t

[nomatrix]

6. Thanks for your letter, Michael

Some might say, Dean gave the Dems a voice. I say, nay.
You give us the courage to speak up, not a candiate for political gain, but as an american, who deserves truthful answers.
You gave the media the courage to drill for the truth. No one should let this administration off the hook. If this is considered honorable service in the guard, then everyone should be brought home immediately.

Thanks for the link!

[Skidmore]

7. Now is the time

to pound away on that cowardly little punk. We need to get at the truth. Go, Michael!!

[Az]

8. Wow

That is near perfection. Oh, Kick.

[Terwilliger]

25. kick

[maddezmom]

9. great letter

sending it to everyone I know. This isn't going away this time pResident bush*.

[Bhaisahab]

10. hey can u give us a link to this pleej?

[parasim]

11. Try his website...

http://www.michaelmoore.com/

[Another Bill C.]

12. Another question

Why does the recently produced record show the AFR as the originator. Bush was in the Texas Air National Guard and not the Air Force Reserve.

Where was this AFR unit located and what did Bush do to earn the points they gave him credit for?

[Vickers]

13. Local paper headline: "Bush's Guard records leave questions"

Wow, just a few days ago everybody was saying "Why won't the mainstream press touch this?" and now it's on the front page.

teeheehee!

God bless Michael Moore and Wesley Clark!

[acmavm]

14. The thing that really amazes me is that this was a non-issue in the

2000 election. Of course we didn't think that the jackass would be leading us into never-ending war, but the information was out there for all to read. And I do remember it having been mentioned a few times. Too bad no one took the time to check this scheming failure out on everything then. We wouldn't be in this mess now.

[NewJeffCT]

20. 2000 McCain & Gore

Both told their staffs not to bring up the issue, if I recall.

[zanana]

23. It WAS an issue for many, but...

The media played it down. It's really a wonder that Bush had to spend so much on his 2000 campaign; it seemed to me that the media was campaigning for him, anyway. It's different this time, I guess. We'll see.

[geniph]

35. There were a lot of us trying to get attention paid to this in 2000

but everyone wrote us off, either because "who cares, he won't win anyway, he's an idiot" or "we're tired of all the negative stuff after all the anti-Clinton propaganda." :wtf:

Deja vu all over again!!!

[Killarney]

15. Go Mike!

[Enraged_Ape]

16. Love him or hate him...

and I, for the record, LOVE Michael Moore, he was the one that (with Wesley Clark and Peter Jennings) put this issue on the very front burner, where it is now roars with a beautiful light.

I love this letter. Hits the little twirp even harder while he's cowering on the ropes. That's just what a good boxer should do.

[Snappy]

18. Thanks to Mike Moore

He writes cool letters, books and produces kick-ass movies. Am lookin' forward to his next one.

[wellstone_democrat]

17. one more question:

why did someone who was "given" his first rank (usually only physicians were advanced on completion of basic training) not manage to get the "gimme" Captaincy before that "honorable" discharge? What's up with that Mr.-"Honorable Service"? Seriously, that hints, to those of us aware of the military in those times, at definite "problems" in Mr. Bush's service.

[Mari333]

21. Right on. n/t

[CRK7376]

22. Great Letter!

Makes me proud to have been a Guardsman for 4 years....I've also got over 20 years in the Active side of the military and the Reserves. I too remember signing in at drills and getting little flimsy slips of paper showing I served that weekend drill. But I still have most of my little white slips we received after signing in at drill. My problem with this is you don't get paid for not showing up or performing in some capacity. Maybe not at the normal drill center, but he did something for the Guard to get paid. Still there are huge gaps in this thing and he definitely got preferential treatment....Thanks Michael Moore for the great article.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

24. Michael Moore better endorse Kucinich now that Clark is out

Great letter.

[grasswire]

26. kick

for the morning crowd again

[donsu]

27. kick

nt

[GreenPartyVoter]

28. Love ya, Mikey!

:yourock:

29. HEY! Moore stole one of my lines!!!

guess I should be happy

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1087181
Why AWOL "didn't matter" in 2000 & does Now


"THAT is what makes this whole business of you being AWOL so despicable, and makes the grief-stricken relatives want to turn away from you in disgust. The reason your skipping-out on your enlistment didn't matter in the 2000 election was because we were not at war. Being stuck in a deadly, daily quagmire now in 2004 makes your military history-fiction and your fly-boy costume VERY relevant."

[JanMichael]

30. Moore is a liar!

"We are a forgiving people, and though you will not be returned to White House, you will find us grateful for a little bit of truth."

Not a fucking chance. I want that murderous piece of shit tried and punished severely for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers and thousands of Iraqis.

Oh and not just Bushbo either, I want Cheney, Rice, Wolfoshitz, Perle, Powell, Rumandcokesfeld, and every other no good lying sack of greedy shit that got us into this mess.

Prison? Too soft a punishment IMHO.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[DinahMoeHum]

32. Like I've said, * essentially had a "no-show" job. . .

good ol' political patronage.


:evilfrown:

[SeattleRob]

33. Another Kick for this one!

Thanks Michael Moore and General Clark for bring this issue out.

:kick:

[reprehensor]

34. Mother of all BUMPS! (n/t)

[mike1963]

36. Kick, maybe up to page 1

:kick:

[republicansarewhores]

37. Bumping ;-)

And thanks for the warm welcome Tripper!

RAW

[Singular]

38. So what?

You know, in all reality, it doesn't really matter if Bush served his time or didn't. Clinton surely didn't, and noone is really talking about that.

If you hang your hat on this kind of debate, you are basically advocating tearing down Bush using any means possible -- an affront to intellectual honesty. Its a little bit hypocritical to stand there and imply they have no integrity, when the motives of bringing something like this out is not the fact that anyone cares about it, its the fact that everyone wants to make Bush look bad.

I thought thats what seperated us from the hateful right.

[tkmorris]

39. Well hello there!

You are the second poster to show up tonight with this very same meme about how Clinton didn't serve. Sorry. I'm not gonna give ya the long version since you probably already know it but Clinton registered for the draft, got a high number, and was never called upon.

Bush however joined the ANG, a well-known tactic for avoiding Vietnam, and then refused a physical, getting his license to fly yanked. Then he goes missing for close to a year. Flash-forward to 2003 and he is playing Mr. War-hero on a carefully staged and made-up aircraft carrier. Sporting a sign made by his own White House staff.

It's kinda different. But here's a cold one on me, welcome to DU :beer:

[Kinkistyle]

41. If it really doesn't matter, why doesn't Bush just 'fess up?

He can just say "Ok, alright, I went AWOL. Who cares, it's history."

Instead, with each "released" document, the Administration digs themselves deeper into their ditch of lies. The whole thing is based on lies and immoral cronyism. This is just another example of this cronyism - how did Bush get out of serving in the Guard, after getting out of serving in Vietnam? We are just continuing to expose these lies, and letting Bush slowly tighten his own noose.

[Zhade]

42. It matters because b*sh is a chickenshit yellow-bellied pussy TRAITOR.

But then, you know this, being here at DU, right?

[Mobius]

40. Dont forget Moore endorsed CLARK!

It was a CLARK supporter that got this more media attention.