Poppy had Sununu attack Lloyd Bentsen for getting his son in NGuard

[RamboLiberal]

Email from Daily Misleader
BUSH ATTACKED NAT'L GUARD SERVICE OF OTHERS

The White House is currently attacking those who raise questions about President Bush's National Guard record. They say the questions about Bush's failure to fulfill his commitment are "dirty politics."<1> Yet a look at the record shows that it was President George H.W. Bush - and his top campaign strategist George W. Bush - who tried to smear the National Guard and military record of their opponents.

As reported in the August 23, 1988 Los Angeles Times, then Vice President George H.W. Bush's campaign co-chairman John Sununu went on national television to impugn an opponent's dealings with the National Guard during Vietnam. Sununu specifically claimed Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX) had improperly helped get his son into the Texas National Guard during Vietnam.
Bentsen's son served in the very same National Guard unit at the very same time as George W. Bush. The Bush campaign's attacks came just days after Bush's allies on Capitol Hill launched a vicious attack on Gov. Michael Dukakis (D-MA) for receiving a draft deferment during the Korean War.<2>

At the time of the coordinated attack, George W. Bush was serving as a senior adviser to his father's campaign.<3>


Sources:

1. "New Questions On Bush National Guard Duty ," CBS2Chicago.com, 9/08/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1142061&l=54246.
2. "Report that Bentsen Got Son into National Guard Also Denied; Dukakis Angry about Charge of Avoiding Korean War," Los Angeles Times, 8/23/88.
3. GeorgeWBush.com, 9/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1142061&l=54247.


Visit www.Misleader.org for more about Bush administration distortion. »

[BurtWorm]

1. Thank you!

:wow:

[bushwakker]

2. I believe it was called The Champagne Unit

the arrogance and hypocrisy is astounding

[bushwakker]

3. Let us try and get this some attention

[LuminousX]

4. Wow. Forward this to every news editor you can

[AspenRose]

5. Well, well, well

Chickens coming home to roost....

[mbali]

6. Here's excerpt from 1988 LA Times story:

Democratic presidential nominee Michael S. Dukakis and his running mate, Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, on Monday rebutted Republican counterattacks about their relationships with the military services . . . And spokesmen for Bentsen accused Republicans of a "dirty trick" after a senior adviser to Vice President George Bush accused Bentsen of helping his son get into the National Guard.

. . .
Bentsen's son, Lloyd Bentsen III, said in an interview with The Times Monday that he was "absolutely furious" about the charge, which New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu, co-chairman of Bush's campaign, made Sunday in a television interview.
. . .
The younger Bentsen served in the 147th Fighter Group of the Texas National Guard along with George W. Bush, the vice president's son. Both men enlisted in the late spring of 1968. At the time, the senior Bush was a congressman and the senior Bentsen, who had served in Congress in the 1940s, was a private businessman, although one who remained politically well connected.

According to the younger Bentsen, he got into the Guard as a result of a chance meeting at a party with the then-commander of the 147th Fighter Group, Brig. Gen. Walter (Buck) Staudt.* (see below) Bentsen had recently been graduated from Stanford University's business school and Staudt was looking for a financial officer for his unit. "There wasn't any hanky-panky that went on there," Staudt said when reached by telephone at his Seguin, Tex., home.

I haven't been able to find the transcript of the program on which Sununu made the charge, but here's Sam Donaldson reporting on it:

"A question relating to Governor Dukakis' running mate, or more precisely, his running mate's son, was raised today. Lloyd Bentsen III also served in the National Guard during Vietnam, and today on ABC's This Week with David Brinkley, New Hampshire Republican Governor John Sununu accused Senator Bentsen of having run to get his son a special slot in the Guard. Later under questioning, Sununu said his evidence was only a newspaper report, and a Bentsen spokesman flatly denied it."

ABC World News Tonight, August 21, 1988

*Interestingly, Staudt's name turns up in today's stories about Bush's National Guard "service:"

In another "memo to file," dated Aug. 18, 1973, Killian complained that he was under pressure from his superior, Col. Walter B. "Buck" Staudt, to "sugar coat" Bush's officer evaluations. "I'm having trouble running interference and doing my job," he wrote in a memo titled "CYA." "I will not rate."

Staudt has insisted that he was not influenced by Bush's status as the son of George H.W. Bush (R), a Texas congressman in 1968 and later head of the CIA. He has also rejected the assertion by former Texas lieutenant governor Ben Barnes (D) that Barnes intervened with the head of the Texas Air National Guard to secure a position for Bush there at the request of a Bush family friend. Barnes, who has raised money for Democrat John F. Kerry's presidential campaign, repeated the assertion last night on "60 Minutes."

Washington Post, September 9, 2004

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6693-2004Sep8.html

[starroute]

8. Bush Sr. and Lloyd Bentsen are more often allies than enemies

Despite being of different political parties, their names turn up on the same side of the ledger far more often than not. To take one particularly striking example, in 1970 Bush ran against Bentsen for the Senate, with James Baker as his campaign organizer. But currently all three men (and Sununu as well) are members of the Honorary Council of Advisors of the US-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (which has recently been discussed in great detail here at DU.) The full list consists of:

* James Addison Baker III
* Lloyd Bentsen
* Zbigniew Brzezinski
* Richard Bruce
* Dick Cheney (resigned November 2000)
* Henry Kissinger
* Brent Scowcroft
* John Sununu


An interesting connecting figure is Walt Mischer, who has been good friends with both Bush Sr. and Bentsen. At one point, Mischer was the largest financial contributor to the Republican Party, the largest single donor to George Bush Sr., and also the largest single donor to Lloyd Bentsen. Beyond that, Mischer is friends with James Baker and was partners with Ben Barnes.

Another of Mischer's busines partners, Jack Trotter, was the man who introduced James Bath into Houston business circles in the 1970's, where he went into partnership with Lloyd Bentsen's son Lan. (Bath, of course, was Bush Jr.'s friend in the Guard who skipped out on his flight physical at the same time.) A resume of Bath's from this period lists both Trotter and Sidney Adger as references -- Adger being the man who approached Barnes to get Bush Jr. into the National Guard.

It seems that cronyism is a way of life in Houston, and all these people were (and in many cases still are) extremely tight with one another. I'm actually amazed that Barnes broke the code of honor -- he must have a lot on his conscience.

[Tactical Progressive]

7. Republicans have no sense of integrity

If you've watched George Bush Sr for any length of time you'll know that he is pure santimony when it comes to Bush tactics. He will be as self-righteous at his actions towards you as he is bitterly resentful if you do the exact same thing to him.

When their Clinton sexual smears in 1992 resulted in him being questioned about his affair with his secretary, he was furious with Mary Tillotsen and CNN for even questioning his marital fidelity - while he was doing the same thing to Clinton. There is simply no connection in their minds between honor and any reality they are part of. It is honorable if they do it, and dishonorable if the exact same thing is done to them.

This National Guard smear against Bentsen is another example of the same thing.

They can dish it out, but how dare you not take it in silence.

I say slam them, and not just with the truth, but with as much twist on truth as you think you can get away with.