Rather should read Kelley before he decides who should apologize

[Samantha]

Rather should read Chapter 16 of Kitty Kelley's book, "The Family" before apologizing further.

She starts with a quote of Colin Powell's, from "My American Journey" (1995): "I am angry that so many sons of the powerful and well-placed ... managed to wangle slots in Reserve and National Guard units ... Of the many tragedies of Vietnam, this raw class discrimination strikes me as the most damaging to the ideal that all Americans are created equal." (Perhaps MoveOn.org should use that McCain quote in an ad ....)

Kelly tracks George Bush*s propellment into the Texas National Guard from an initial phone call from George Herbert Walker Bush to Sidney Adger, who called Ben Barnes (Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives) who called Brigadier General James Rose (Head of the Texas National Guard) who called Lieutenant Colonel Buck Staudt (the commanding officer of the unit). At that time there was a waiting list of 100,000 to sign up for the Guard. This series of telephone calls happened 12 days before Bush* was eligible to be drafted.

On the subject of his last two years of service:

"According to one set of records, he was all but unaccounted for (the last two years). Those documents, released in 2000, showed no record by any National Guard unit that George W. Bush ever showed up between May 1972 and May 1973 for scheduled weekend flights, summary military training, or the periodic drills required of part-time Guardsmen. Four years later, February 2004, after a spate of criticism, the White House released a document indicating the Guard had given George credit for sufficient hours to fulfill his duty during the questionable period of May 27, 1972, to May 26, 1973. The 2004 document raised questions about the previously released record, which showed no Guard credit for May 1972 through May 1973. * * * Retired First Lieutenant Robert A. Rogers, an eleven-year veteran of the Air National Guard, said the document released in 2004 showing George W.'s intermittent Guard service from October 1972 through May 1973 is not a National Guard document. Rather, the document is an 'ARF (Air Reserve Force] Statement of Points Earned.' The 2004 document released by the White House is like the document released in 2000 by the Bush campaign that supposedly showed George W. had performed duty from the end of May through July 1973. These two documents show Air Reserve Force credits, which are not given for active service and were not accepted by the Texas Air National Guard."

This paragraph by Kelley opens the door to the question: Who exactly originated these documents?

"The Family" goes on to state that after April 17, 1972, he disappeared. The six-month penalty Bush received (he was released in November 1974, six months later than his original obligation) was not reported by the press. Kelley states that by the time Bush* readied his run for the Oval Office, his medical records had been sealed for reasons of privacy .

Kelley also discusses Guard Historian Tom Hails statement that Bush received a commission without attending Officers Training School, something he had never heard of except for doctors.

I have tried to keep the quotes in this thread to less than three paragraphs in order to reserve the right to quote one of Kitty Kelley's more pungent statements:

Fast forward to the Harvard Business School. One of his professors (Tsurumi) is quoted by Kelley:

"His strong prejudices soon set him apart from the rest of the students. This has nothing to do with politics, because most business students are conservative, but they are not inhumane or unprincipled. Unlike most of the others in class, George Bush came across as totally lacking compassion, with no sense of history, completely devoid of social responsibility, and unconcerned with the welfare of others ... I once asked him how he ever got accepted in the first place. He said, 'I had lots of help....My dad fixed it so that I got into the Guard. I got an early discharge to come here.'"

Reading the information presented by Kitty Kelley, the question must be asked: does Rather and CBS really owe anyone an apology? Doesn't it seems the coterie of people who wrapped Bush* in a Trojan horse during election 2000 should apologize to the people of the United States, if not the world, for their presentation of this man into polite political society?

Reading Kelley's words and still remembering the pounding CBS and Rather took on Scarborough country last night, I have to ask: how do these people have the audacity to demand an apology from Rather when they stole an election to eject this man into the Oval House? And how must the families of those who have given their lives in Iraq feel when learning the history of Bush* was known by hundreds listed by Kelley as sources in her book? How can not only Bush* but the Bush* proponents live with themselves after installing such a man into the most powerful job in the world? How?

[KoKo]

1. They don't have any right to question Kelly's book but they RULE through

authority and decades of Power Influence. That Rather "poked his head up against these McCarthites" and got trashed, smashed shows they have grown stronger and more powerful and able to beat everyone down who dares to defy them.

They allow these "little books" to be published so that they give the appearance that it isn't "total Fascist type control"...but they know once the book hits the shelves they can send their legions of RWingers out there to drive down the sales calling the books "partisan drivel" and throwing all their disinformation tactics against the reader.

Meanwhile they pump the books they want and know that there are very few readers still out there. So, the Pundits continue the trash and without even reading the books they win.

Stacked Deck. :shrug:

[Samantha]

2. Exactly

Too little attention is being paid to this powerfully damaging book because the CBS story is sucking up all the oxygen. If that story weren't taking us into the debates, the media would be all over the revelations contained in this book. The White House could not stop it from being published but the Republicans have found a way to stop it from being discussed. Why do we allow them to get away with these tricks?