WashPost wants your input on AWOL story's future

[grasswire]

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

Even as the debate continues, the issue may become less whether Bush technically did or did not fulfill the requirements of Guard duty. We know he received an honorable discharge. The issue may become less whether Bush acted honorably during that time than whether he is dealing with it honorably now.

Perhaps that's why, for three days now, one of the "most e-mailed" articles on washingtonpost.com has been an op-ed by Richard Cohen, in which he describes his own experience avoiding the draft by joining the Guard, dropping from sight and getting an honorable discharge.

"It hardly matters what Bush did or did not do back in 1972. He is not the man now he was then -- that by his own admission," Cohen writes. "All that really matters is how one accounts for what one did. Do you tell the truth (which Clinton did not)? Or do you do what I think Bush has been doing, which is making his National Guard service into something it was not? In his case, it was a rich kid's way around the draft. . . .

"When Bush attempts to drape the flag of today's Guard over the one he was in so long ago, when he warns his critics to remember that 'there are a lot of really fine people who have served in the National Guard and who are serving in the National Guard today in Iraq,' then he is doing now what he was doing then: hiding behind the ones who were really doing the fighting. It's about time he grew up."

So is that going to be the central issue? Where do you think this is going? Send me your thoughts at [e-mail]. Please include your name and hometown, and an acknowledgement that I can print your responses.

[Birthmark]

1. I replied.

"Credibility is the key issue in the AWOL affair. Bush's parsing of words, misrepresentation that this is an attack on the NG, apparently backing off of his claim that he would release *all* records on Meet the Press last Sunday, and most of all, his failure to utter the words, "I was never AWOL while serving in the TANG." or explaining that he was and is sorry, are all detrimental to his credibility and character."

[cosmicdot]

2. guess things like healthcare, education, other infrastructure concerns

don't matter to the WashPost

[buycitgo]

3. that's not froomkin's bailiwick

he needs positive feedback....bet he's getting freeped out the ass

[unblock]

4. "it's the lying that matters" ... what a crock

if your s.o. lies about their weight or age or natural hair color, that's one thing. if they lie about an affair, that's another thing entirely. the topic of the lie does indeed matter.

so if bush were to tell the truth: that he got grounded because refused to take a physical because he knew it would expose his cocaine and alcohol abuse; that he got busted for drug use, hence the anomolous community service; that he took an unauthorized transfer to alabama; and that he got his honorable discharge purely out of political pressure despite actions that would get anyone else court martialed; ....

so if he did all that, it would be ok because he's telling the truth, and his actions then don't matter now?

what a load of bu**sh**.


how the hell can mr. wartime president go around asking the military to risk their lives when his own service record is a spit in the eye to anyone who takes duty seriously?

to my mind, what he did was FAR worse than clinton or anyone who pulled strings or otherwise avoided the draft. bush signed up for duty and shirked it.

abominable.

[SoCalDem]

5. My e-mail to them

It's about the secrecy, deception, hypocrisy, and lying. Most people in the US either have a family member or friend who ducked service in Viet Nam. No one wanted to go , and people did all they could to avoid it.. Most did not lie about it.

The Bush "story" is just that...a STORY..

His spinners like to say that "this was brought up in 1994, 1998,1999, 2000...and the people just want to move forward".. Well this "people" actually wants them to once and finally answer the questions.

The fact that he was a well-connected wannabee scion of a famous family , pretty much guaranteed that he would not be going to Viet Nam. There is no sin in being well-connected.. The same people who railed for 9 or 10 years about "integrity, truthfulness, honor, and duty, seem to have lost their way on this one.

He blithely shrugged off duty to country when less connected men that he leapfrogged, surely met their deaths in Viet Nam, and now he is reborn as "War President-Defender of Freedom".

He TOOK the constitutional right to send soldiers into battle, but he did not EARN the right to do it. He has managed to get thousands of Iraqis killed , has spilled the blood of and maimed thousands of OUR soldiers, and killed 537 (or more) US soldiers who did NOT shirk their duty..

He did this out of personal pique, or perhaps to prove that he was not inadequate. He did it in spite of the best of advice, and without much outside support.He had no plan for the aftermath of his actions, except the continued gutting of our treasury.


This man who blew into office like an F-5 Texas tornado,and claims to be a uniter,has divided our country more than ever, and the only uniting he has managed, is the rest of the world vs US... This is especially shameful, since the whole world was with us after the 9/11 catastrophe, and he threw their regard away like a used up kleenex..

The 2000 election is still eating at half of America,and it periodically regurgitates like bitter bile.

I hope that this story grows legs long enough that the Jolly Green Giant would have to look up to see the knees.

I am still dismayed that the press gave him such a free ride in 2000, but I guess late is better than never.. Thank you for finally airing out this dirty laundry..

[rasputin1952]

8. Well, reading your e-mail, after what I had sent...

I now feel totally inadequate to enter the forum again, :cry:

You were exceptionally eloquent, and straight to the point. I went to the point, but failed in the eloquence dept., (I must admit to being old and tired though, so I don't feel too bad). :P

Great job!

O8)

[SoCalDem]

9. Hey.. don't sweat it.. Dem's don't "astroturf"

mine is probably too long for him to print anyway.. But when they ask, I cannot resist telling them :evilgrin:

Like O'Reilly says.. "pithy" and to the point.. but I just can't do it :(

I'll watch.. I bet he does not print mine :)

[calimary]

23. Probably won't print mine, either, SoCal, It's long, too.

2/12/04 – email to [e-mail]

Greetings!

If you do indeed want opinions, here's mine:

1) I think AWOL is VERY important, and VERY symptomatic. He lied about it. He misrepresented it. He fudged it. He whatever-you-want-to-call-it'ed it. And it matters DEEPLY, considering his willingness to send so many of our sons and daughters to die for more of HIS lies in Iraq.

2) I think the media in general has been WAY too easy on George W. Bush. WAY too easy. Just put it to the Clinton test. Would any of you be giving Bill Clinton the same free pass on ANYTHING, that you've given Bush from the get-go, on EVERYTHING? Getting back to AWOL, the details came up in the year 2000, and nobody even lifted a finger about it. But they spent TONS of time, ink, and shoe-leather talking about the color of Al Gore's wardrobe that day.

3) I wonder why reporters are so reluctant to just say it: BUSH LIED. HELLO?!? He LIED. And, as events are proving, he's lied about EVERYTHING. He's lied about the WMDs, about being "misled by bad intelligence," he's lied about wanting to find out who exposed CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to
Robert Novak, he's lied about "youthful indescretions" with cocaine and alcohol - which occurred when he was ANYTHING BUT youthful, he's lied about creating jobs, he's lied about being a "compassionate conservative," he's lied about being "a uniter, not a divider," he's lied about having his Harken Energy insider trading "fully vetted," he's lied about Ann Richards supposedly getting money from Ken Lay (when he, Bush, got several times as much money from Ken Lay at the same time - THAT he doesn't say anything about), he's lied about every bill he supposedly supports, from the fight against AIDS in Africa to "No Child Left Behind" that sound good when he gives a press conference about them, and then he turns around, afterwards, and cuts their funding when nobody's looking, he's lied about the economy and how well he's done, he's lied about when the downturn began (which he provoked during Campaign 2000, by talking it down all the time - he denies this), he's lied when he says he cares about the little guy looking for a job (why does he think outsourcing is such a good thing, then?), he's lied about who his tax cuts are helping, he's lied about who his tax cuts have already helped, he's lied about supporting our troops (talk about cutting funding for their VA benefits, wanting to cut their combat pay and family-separation differential BEHIND THEIR BACKS while they were on the front lines) and he can't even be bothered to go to ANY of their funerals - NOT ONE, he's lied about "wanting to cooperate" with the 9/11 commission when all he does is stonewall. Just one lie after another after another! AND WHY DOES NO ONE IN THE MEDIA HOLD HIM ACCOUNTABLE FOR ANY OF THIS??? WHY??? Why is no one even willing to say the "L" word - that he LIES? WHY? Why are we still covering for this guy, and giving him the benefit of the doubt, and making excuses for him and sanitizing the way we refer to him? WHY?

I am sorry to be so longwinded about this. But I used to be a reporter myself. I was in the news business for 25 years before I retired from the Associated Press in 1996. I am aghast at how badly the news media has betrayed its public trust. I am ashamed at what lapdogs the media has become, when it's supposed to be a watchdog. WHY, for example, does much of the public still presume that Saddam had anything to do with 9/11 - another lie - that the media has done NOTHING to set the record straight about. There has been such a gross dereliction of duty among our so-called media that I'm almost ashamed to admit I was once part of that profession. It's just awful! And the Washington Post, of ALL outlets, has been among the worst enablers of this historic and monumental travesty.

Good HEAVENS, but I hope you folks are sincere in your claims to care about your coverage and the readership you supposedly serve. Or is that readership confined to Rush Limbaugh, the Bush family, the GOP, and Karl Rove?

PLEASE, for the sake of our country, our democracy, a truly informed electorate, and the free, unfettered and unintimidated exchange of information and truth, PLEASE report on this White House with less blind bias!!!

And, by the way, I am STILL reeling from the quote your own Bob Woodward elicited from Bush in the writing of his recent book - where Bush said (paraphrasing) "it's an interesting thing about being president. I don't have to explain what I do to people. They have to explain themselves to me" - and DID NOTHING! REACTED NOT AT ALL! This imperialistic, arrogant attitude should have set off alarm bells all over the place! SOMEBODY needs to remind Bush that he is NOT our dictator or our king or our emperor (who has NO clothes, by the way), he is OUR PUBLIC SERVANT, and by God, as such, he owes all of America explanations for EVERYTHING HE DOES! HE works for US! It's NOT the other way around! And, so far, it seems nobody has the heart, or the courage, or the backbone, to remind him of this. And that's a damned shame. That Bob Woodward of all people would let that one go by unchallenged is STILL astonishing to me. Completely astonishing. AND disgusting.

Thank you for considering this, and letting me sound off. Hopefully it'll get through to SOMEBODY there.

--------------

By the way, SoCalDem, yours was probably MUCH easier to read, so I'm sure they'll at least go through it. I just got on a rant. But then again, they DID ask. Yours was GREAT!

[SoCalDem]

33. hee-hee... I just realized I did not put my name.. just my town

so I doubt they would do mine.. I did re-send with the info..

I love the ones that I have read.. People are ANGRY.. The Bush folks have "misunderestimated" again..

My only fear is that now they may have a gauge of what they are up against and may "diebold" even more intesely :(

[bonemachine]

6. To me, the two biggest factors in this are

1) The Senators Son factor: This is another example of why Bush is out of touch with the common American. So many things in Bush's life and career seem to be not of his own doing, but because of whose son he is.

2) The constant dodging: No other president (or for that matter presidental candidate) with military service has refused to release that service record. Even if nothing improper happened (which I'm doubting more and more every day), his evasive behavior clearly leads to the appearance of impropriety.

[rasputin1952]

7. Done...

:hi:

discussed the 'integrity' factor, and mentioned that bush has failed at everything he has ever done, why should NG service be any different?

More, but I won't bore you

O8)

[wabeewoman]

10. Done.

I focused on his RWers calling me unpatriotic because I didn't support his rush to war and it turns out his patriotism is questionable.

[Hekate]

11. kick n/t

[gander2112]

12. I replied....

I tried to keep it sane and rational.

My text:

I believe that until the entire set of facts around the service records of GW Bush is made public, and stands up to the scrutiny of public review, this issue will not die.

I for one find it hard to swallow that GW Bush, a son of a prominent family, who was granted preferential treatment in deferring his duty to the nation by a posting to the Texas Air National Guard, has such gaps in his service records that his administration expects us to swallow pay records, and dental exam records as evidence of time served. Clearly his failure to report for a physical to continue his active flight status, and his acknowledged use of drugs and alcohol in the period leads intelligent people to speculate (truly of falsely) that he was dodging his flight physical to avoid the drug screening that was implemented in that time frame.

Furthermore, the continued reports of no one being able to verify his time or whereabouts in either the Texas or Alabama units in '72-'73, either with duty reports, or even eyewitnesses is particularly troubling.

There is a real possibility that he was merely a child of privilege taking advantage of family connections to avoid a tour of duty in Vietnam by riding it out in the Air National Guard. This I can understand and sympathize with, however, the very real possibility that he treated his commitment lightly and poo-poo'd his responsibilities to the ANG, shows a contempt for the service (and all military service by proxy).

It is this attitude from his behavior over 20 years ago that clouds the public perception of his role as Commander in Chief of said armed services.

[rasputin1952]

14. I liked the line about ...

"shows a contempt for the service, (and allthe military by proxy).

The military is fine, if a dolar canbe made off of them, but otherwise, this administration simply doesn't care.

Once agin, simply the WORST administation this nation has ever seen, bar none.

O8)

[dusty64]

13. Kick.

:kick:

[SoCalDem]

15. kick for day people

:)

[NewJeffCT]

16. sent my email in

Talked about Bush dishonoring the Guard in the past with his AWOL and today by sending them to Iraq while cutting their combat pay and veteran's benefits...so, it shows a pattern of a lack of respect.

[Katie]

17. What's "honorable" about being grounded?

Bush's flying privileges were suspended, were they not? I'm really curious to know how he could get an honorable discharge, with that on his record. Anyone know?

[central scrutinizer]

18. sent mine in

What bothers me is the hypocrisy. Funny how most of the current administration leaders were in favor of the Vietnam War, but almost all of them dodged serving. Even Colin Powell, in his book, states that the National Guard was a way for rich, connected kids to dodge the draft. This is the most secretive administration in history: they have stonewalled the 9/11 commission, the inquiry into the secret energy meeting, the Plame investigation, they rescinded the law requiring presidential records be made public, and now they have appointed a committee of known fixers to coverup the misuse of intelligence that led to the deaths of over 520 American soldiers in Iraq. Then there are scandals from the past that got covered up, like insider trading of Harken stock. On Meet The Press, Bush said he would release all records and since then only selected, redacted documents have dribbled out. The AWOL story is really trivial compared to all of the other coverups, but if that's what it takes to wake up the press, then I say full speed ahead.

[callous taoboy]

19. Mine was straight-forward...

basically an "It's about time the phony was exposed" letter.

[Cat Atomic]

20. Sent mine.

The Bush AWOL issue not only about character. It's about privilege, and the great allowances that are made for well connected, wealthy families.

Bush's honorable discharge is only more damning. The fact that Bush could be absent from his duties, refuse a physical, be grounded, and still get and honorable discharge sums up the whole problem. A man with that sort of record does not warrant an honorable discharge.

His entire history is one long string of undeserved honors. His honorable discharge, his entrance to Harvard, his positions in corporate America, all the way up to the office of the Presidency. This is a man of low character and low intellect who, were it not for his family name, would likely be living under a bridge somewhere.

[rasputin1952]

21. Living under a bridge...

just like the other trolls of this admin.

O8)

[calimary]

24. He's the King of Ill-Gotten Gain.

Just as you've said. Glad you sent it in!

[Doctor_J]

27. #1

I vote this one the best of the bunch - concise, pointed,explicit. Please accept the "Jeffrey" award. :toast:

[buycitgo]

22. I just sent him the shotgun quote, as well as the interview with C Chung

from 1988

started a thread here on that one.

astoundingly hypocritical, that one was.

no surprise at all, though

[Grins]

25. I'm going to respond...

But I'm going to turn the question on him.

I'm going to ask him that I want to know when the damn press is going to question POPPY Bush on HIS actions in getting his son into the Guard?

Just as important, and maybe more so in the broader sense, is the use of political access and privilege to avoid what others have to do in their place; that privileged Americans have the luxury of not having to worry about fighting and dying. The AWOL story is far more than about Chimpy, it's about who lives and who dies, who has connections, and who doesn’t.

I'll make it easy for the guys in the press. Here are my questions for the former President:

Mr. Bush, why would a sitting Congressman, and a decorated Navy veteran from WWII at that, at a time of war, make a call to a politically powerful person to get his son at the head of a long line of those trying to get into a Guard unit, a Guard unit that he knows will never be deployed to a war zone?

Mr. Bush, your former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff wrote in his autobiography that he was, quote, "…angry that so many of the sons of the powerful and well-placed . . . managed to wangle slots in reserve and National Guard units" to avoid going to Vietnam.
Do you share this distinguished officers opinion?

Mr. Bush, on follow-up, do you feel that your former Chairman was referring to your son - and your Vice-President?

Mr. Bush, do you think it was honorable for your son and your Vice-President to move ahead of other Americans enlisting in those units?

Mr. Bush, should the upper echelon of the American power establishment; i.e., Ivy League schools, Wall Street, the Senate, the House, major corporations, and old-boy networking, etc., have a privilege to use those connections to avoid the duty and responsibilities of other Americans?

[Beam Me Up]

26. not qualified to be commander-in-chief

Mine:

The Bush AWOL issue is very important. The bottom line: Bush is not qualified to be commander-in-chief of our armed forces. Given his absenteeism, having been grounded and so on, the only reason he could have gotten an honorable discharge is through family influence. He did not EARN this honorable discharge any more than he EARNED his acceptance into Harvard or most anything else that is accredited to him, including the Presidency. This man is an embarrassment to the American people and a slap in the face to the brave men and women who serve our country.

[Grins]

28. One more...

Good point. Sorry for the double post, but you have hit on something. If * does not have an honorable discharge, then he has a dishonorable one (medical being the other and I know of no disability he has other than mental); then, BY LAW he cannot hold public office in the federal government.

[Stephanie]

29. Bush pranced around on the deck of the Lincoln in a flight suit

Therefore we have grounds to ask questions about his actual service. He flaunted his background as a pilot. Now we want to know the truth about it.

We need to know why he and James Bath failed to take their flight physicals, leading to Bush being grounded from flying. In fact he never flew again, wasting the $1 million in taxpayer money that went to his training. What is the reason for that?

If you are going to wear the fighter pilot costume for a photo-op, you open the door to questions about your actual service.

And by the way, where IS James Bath these days? And is he still doing work for the bin Ladens?

[guitar man]

30. My letter

I think this issue is important and should not be allowed to just "go away". There is too much at stake here. We are talking about a President and Commander in Chief who beat the war drums over WMD in Iraq only to come up empty handed. This same man strutted around the deck of an aircraft carrier like HE is some kind of big time war hero. In the meantime,sons and daughters,brothers and sisters are dying every day in Iraq,many of them members of the National Guard who did not get the benefit of sitting out THIS war stateside like George Bush did during Vietnam.

I think the facts are very simple here.Unless I have missed further developments,9 days of pay records and some dental records have been released. If my calculations are correct,there should be 68 days of service to account for in regards to the period of time in question.What about the other 59 days?

We need to send a clear message to George W. Bush: If you want us to believe you were not AWOL from the TANG,then PROVE IT!

Simply bringing up a few old pay stubs and some dental records and trying to represent it to us as sufficient proof isn't going to cut it. Mr Bush,you have a credibility problem.

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[SoCalDem]

32. kickepoo for more letters

:)