The AWOL story is going nowhere...just like all the rest

[Q]

- I realize many DUers have their hopes up that the Bush* AWOL story will finally expose him for the lying, privileged scumbag that he is...but this story will go nowhere just like all the rest.

- What many of you still don't understand is that the majority of the right-wing-controlled media actually wants Bush* to stay in office. Those reporters who have gone 'too far' with the AWOL story have been or will be told to back off...or else.

- The Bush* administration is above the law. Get used to it. Don't misinterpret a few hard questions as an indication that the media will suddenly start telling the truth.

[ewagner]

1. Depends

on how the Press Briefing goes today. I'll be anxious to see if the press has the scent of blood in their nostrils and it they pursue it.


Didn't I read here that the WH has requested ALL of Dubya's records from the Air Force Reserve? That should carry the story a few more steps................

[Q]

3. Scotty flat out refused to talk about Bush's* service record...

...saying that he answered all of their questions yesterday. Those reporters who insisted on bringing up subjects like Bush's* refusal to take a physical were told that they were dealing in 'gutter politics'.

- Scotty simply refused to answer questions and moved on to 'other' topics. People need to take a hint and learn from recent history: the Bush* government is accountable to no one.

[nostamj]

7. uh, we just SAW the briefing

Scottie refused any questions about AWOL, the physical, etc.

dismissed it as "gutter politics" and refused to answer.

[ewagner]

16. Sorry

Didn't know the briefing was over...........

question though.....won't "stone-walling the press corps piss them off? Make the press corps more hostile?

Thoughts?

[nostamj]

19. it was cut very short today..

couldn't see the reporters (because NO LIVE MEDIA covered it! only the WH feed)

i would HOPE they're pissed off, but many of them probably had a little message on their answering machines this morning:

"ANTHRAX"

[AZCat]

22. Karl must have been busy

Sending little envelopes with "powder" to all the reporters last night.
Kinda like May Day baskets, only more evil!
:evilfrown: :evilfrown: :evilfrown:

[Zero Gravitas]

2. All the more reason for us to spread it around

if the media won't do it we will have to. Besides they are asking questions about it ow, it is becoming an issue and it won't go away. The Bushies are hiding something and everyone knows it.

[toddzilla]

5. they love a scandal, no matter who is in the office

if it sells advertising, and gets viewership up , then they'll go for it. that's the core problem with capitalism, it isn't loyal to anything but the dollar.

[Q]

35. I agree that we should not let this die...

- This thread is simply of a reminder of how the American Media has handled every single Bush* scandal for over three years.

[rogerashton]

4. Defeatism

tends to lead to defeat. Don't let the prostitute media get away with it!

That said, I agree that this will not be the decisive issue. Too many of us dodged that war any way we could. (I was 4F -- legitimate, but I can't come down hard on anybody who used connections to sit it out in the guard. if I had had connections ...)

What stinks about it is 1) the chickenhawk hypocrisy, and 2) the pattern: Daddy gets him into the Guard, and he doesn't show up; Daddy steals him the presidency, and, again, he doesn't show up to do the duty. Not on 9-11-01, anyway.

[Terwilliger]

6. The Dems might as well give up now, Q

because as much as the media is NOT pursuing the AWOL story, John Kerry will have to answer questions about his military vote or some other boondoggle story 24/7...

If Dems don't stand up now and say "WHERE WERE YOU, MR. BUSH???" then they might as well just call it a fucking day.

[aquart]

8. Actually, it's more like cutting their losses.

Bush is devaluing value. I mean, it's all gone too far. Money people are having nightmares.

It's one thing to climb on board with rosy dreams of empire and endless spoils of war and natives scurrying to obey.

It's another to be confronted with a money-eating mess.

[spinbaby]

9. They're on full ignore-and-distract mode

No coverage of WH press briefing on ANY news network.
Scotty refusing to talk about it.
Major * speech on some other issue this afternoon.
They're going to ignore and distract until it goes away.

[lapislzi]

13. Orange alert soon?

Betting windows still open?

[bowens43]

10. I disagree.

It has wide air play. What did you expect, impeachment or something. Getting it out there was what was important and it's out there. No one expected any one to be prosecuted over this. The media is given WAY too much credit and blame here at DU. The media is not controlling political scene in this country.

[Homer12]

11. One scandal goes nowhere, but one-hundreded scandals

will.

Bushco with their burn&slash political ethics won't stop making scandals. They'll keep coming and coming.

Sooner or later the House of Bush will collapse under their weight and try to take as many of us with them as they fall.

[grasswire]

12. you'd better...

....go read The Washington Post's summary of AWOL stories this morning on broadcast and print media. They say "it's consuming this town."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/administration/whbriefing/

Today, the journalists are waiting for the new document dump. But we know also that some investigative work is being done. One network is out in Alabama looking for fellow guardsmen. I heard a reference to it on a news show (can't remember what network).

It isn't going away any more than the Plame story is going away, or memogate is going away.

[Brian Sweat]

14. It doesn't need to go anywhere.

It just needs to stay here and smolder.

Nothing significant was ever going to come of this, but the longer it stays in the news, the more people start to think that that Shrub is hiding stuff and begin to doubt him.

[DinahMoeHum]

15. Oh ye of little faith, this is only the beginning. . .

The shit is on the fan, and people everywhere are getting ready to hit the switch on * and Co.

The red meat has been thrown out there.


:kick:

[tabasco]

36. Technical note.

The approved method is to turn the fan switch on before applying the fecal matter. Better distribution.
I do not think Bush has redeemed himself (except for his loyal brownshirts). Most people realize the guy is full of it when NOT A SINGLE person can come forward to say Bush served in Alabama. Bush got his cushy spot to avoid war service and then didn't even complete it satisfactorily. Must be nice to have Daddy's in high places.

[Bunny]

17. Well aren't you Little Miss Sunshine?

Really, Q, you are crushing our groove. I know it's fashionable in some circles to be very blase and jaded, but let us have our fun, would ya? You have no way of knowing how this will turn out, or what issues will resonate with the general public, so give it a rest. I'm enjoying this to no end, and all I can say is: drip....drip....drip!

[Arugula Latte]

23. That's what I was thinking, too

Drip, drip, drip...

It's all part of the trickle (which by all rights is a torrential flood) that is eroding the credibility of this administration. I know everyone on DU has had their eyes opened since Day One of this illegal administration, but millions of others weren't paying attention. If there is enough of this stuff covered (AWOL, Plame, etc.) they will begin to connect the dots. Bush is a liar. That's something everybody can understand.

[hlthe2b]

18. heavens... such defeatism....

I may not normally be a "half-full" kind of person myself, but let's put this in perspective.... The word is getting out there and it is adding to the hmmmmmm factor for independants, who are already questioning Bush's policies. Will it change any hard core Limbaugh-regurgitating Repug's minds-- No, certainly not. But those are not the ones whose opinions matter in the coming election.

Go back and review the history of Watergate, if you have time. I think that will be somewhat reassuring. Keep the faith, folks!

[Jose Diablo]

20. Another crack in the dam

Patience, the dam is crumbling.

[Bonhomme Richard]

21. The "Story" fhas already done it's job and

the timing couldn't be better.
Two things:
Shows bush for what he is. A deceitful person who used connections for everything.
His credibility is completly gone. Having this come out after the Kay report is perfect. Who will beleive anything this guy says.

[NNN0LHI]

24. The damage is already done. Anything else is just gravy now n/t

[Terwilliger]

28. I disagreee totally

Bush has barely had a skin scratch on this issue...

WHY NO PHYSICAL? WHY DO THE RECORDS AND THE OBSERVATIONS OF COMPANY COMMANDERS DISAGREE?

WHERE WERE YOU, MR. BUSH??

[Q]

34. You're right...this won't damage him at all with the Faithful...

...who tend to believe anything the Bushies tell them...and the Bushies are telling them this is nothing more than 'dirty politics' played by 'desperate' Democrats.

- It may not happen right away...but expect the 'free press' to finally 'agree' that this is just partisan politics in an election year.

[Terran]

25. wrong

As long as it occupies the Rove machine, and keeps the admin. on the defensive, it's "going somewhere". What do you expect, that we think this will get him impeached or something? Not gonna happen. But it makes him look bad, and it plants doubts in people's minds. AND, they have done the worst job I've ever seen handling this whole thing--they keep having to retreat and fall back to new positions. That above all else shows they're are having a big problem with this, on top of everything else.

Short of out and out fraud (which should be easy to detect) they can't prove Bush did what he supposed to do. This could be the ONE scandal, above all else, that resonates with a lot of voters. People in the military don't like the kind of sh*t that Bush pulled when he in the ANG.

[JPace]

29. I agree it will not go away....

even bush supporters will be repulsed at the
thought of their "boy" being AWOL, even possibly
a deserter who was treated so special that he
got away with it.

If the WH cannot absolutely prove they he was
not AWOL the accusations will linger all the
way up to the election.

[Beetwasher]

26. NYT Lead Editorial Today

The President's Guard Service

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

I'd say that's certainly getting somewhere...

[Q]

33. I'd be very glad to be proven wrong...

...but I've seen this same scenario played out at least a dozen times now.

- I don't understand why people think the media will suddenly start reporting the truth after four years of covering for the Bushies and avoiding damaging stories...unless it's negative stories about Democrats.

- That the media is giving this so much attention now is just a way for them to get it out of the way far in advance of the next election.

[nolabels]

27. Or else what?

You seem to think that this is some kind of game or something, it is not As long as there are fellow citizens serving and defending this country this will be an issue. This is as important of issue as any other and maybe more.

U.S.citizens who have served want to know the truth, we are entitled to such, and by that token, so is everybody else. As of yet we have seen no real evidence to vindicate.

All the posturing is leading just more to believe that the allegations are true. As a man if he cannot step up and show such proof then he must not be one.

George Bush the world is waiting

[Q]

32. A game?

- Hell no it's not a 'game'. But recent history shows a precedent where the American media...for some yet unknown reason...has given the Bush* administration a free pass since the 2000 campaign.

- Everyone 'deserves' the truth...especially those who have or are serving. My point is that the media is giving this token coverage to give the impression there's no coverup going on...but never intending to get to the actual facts.

- The story won't die...but it will be relegated to the back pages in order to protect this corporate government from any real political damage. The American media hasn't spent hundreds of hours and millions of dollars to make George look like a Great Warrior King just to throw it all away.

- Investigative journalism is dead..for a reason. If they had any interest in the truth...they'd inform the public about why and how the Bush* government is obstructing the 9-11 investigation and rigging the Iraq Intel inquiry. Add to that the dozens of stories they've simply allowed to fade into memory...from outing a CIA agent to the anthrax killer.

[lebkuchen]

30. The Bushies are above the law, no question

But their sedimentary layers of weak excuses are straining credibility on all political fronts.

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[Catherine Vincent]

37. As long as Bush* can catch some HELL on this,

then I'm satisfied.