BUSH'S GUARD 'ACCUSER' ADMITS FAULTY MEMORY (Alzheimer's)

NY Post ^ | 2.15.04

[ambrose]

February 15, 2004 -- Serious doubts have been raised about the stories of two key Alabama National Guard figures who questioned whether President Bush showed up for weekend duty there in the early 1970s.

Retired Brig. Gen. William Turnipseed, the 187th's Tactical Reconnaissance Group's former commander, recanted his statement that he couldn't remember if Bush reported for duty, now saying his memory is faulty because he's in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease.

[ambrose]

ping.

[MJY1288]

Ping,

[NYCVirago]

I noticed that both the NYTimes and Washington Post stories were considerably less hysterical today (Sunday)about the whole "Bush is AWOL" issue. I think they were hoping to find real dirt in the full records, and the best revelation they could get out of it was the hemorrhoid notation.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Gotta wonder about the motives of this Burkett character.

[js1138]

If Kerry is the answer, the question must be obscene.

[MJY1288]

LOL, Or at least X rated :-)

[js1138]

The press has had this backwards from the beginning. The question is not whether people remember a completely unremarkabel Bush after thirty years, but whether anyone remembers him AWOL, or in trouble.

I can't remember the names of more thatna two or three of the guys I served with in this period, but if anyone had gone missing or AWOL, I'd remember that forever.

[Tamzee]

Wow...

Thanks so much for the ping on this! I'm glad I didn't miss it!

It's nerve-wracking how messy this situation keeps getting :-(

[mewzilla]

So what's the Boston Globe trying to do now? Cover its own backside, or are they trying for a cease fire?

[Ophiucus]

Gee, it was all another DemoRat fabricated hit? Who would have thunk it.

[js1138]

How long befor Michael Moore is accusing Bush of bribes or threats to silence thes guys?

[Texasforever]

If Kerry is the answer, the question must be obscene.

Quote of the day.

[MJY1288]

What else do they have??????

Watch John Kerry speak to his supporters.... There is no message, just hatred for Bush and the only time in his life when he stood for something, the problem is, he stood with our enemies when he returned from Vietnam

[3catsanadog]

Turnipseed. Where did he ever get a name like that? This is the best part of this whole "scandal."

[Slings and Arrows]

The Left sure seems to like picking on people with Alzheimer's - Gen. Turnipseed, Charlton Heston, and of course Ronaldus Maximus.

G-d help all of the above.

[Southack]

"What else do they have?????? Watch John Kerry speak to his supporters.... There is no message, just hatred for Bush..."

The Democrats have no new ideas.

They have no new policy suggestions. They have no new plans for America.

All that they have, they've had for decades. Nationalize healthcare. Abort babies. Legalize gay marriage. Give U.S. troops over to be controlled by UN kleptocrats. Ban all public talk about traditional religion as "hate speech." Redistribute American wealth by paying global fines (e.g. Kyoto Global Warming Treaty).

That doesn't leave much for them to campaign on, save for smears against their opponents...

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!

[Texasforever]

I think that someone said that Turnipspeed is a FR lurker and that he is really upset with how the media used his words out of context.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Daily Telegraph: Mark Steyn - So it has come to this - a choice of scandals ***…..Now let's consider the Kerry scandal: If you read the British newspapers, you'll know all about it. It's not about whether he was Absent Without Leave, but the more familiar political failing of being Absent Without Pants. It concerns a 24-year old woman - ie, 41 years younger than Mrs Kerry - and, with their usual efficiency, the Fleet Street lads have already interviewed her dad, who's called Kerry a "sleazeball". But if you read the US newspapers or watch the news shows there's not a word about the Senator's scandal. Though it seems to have a somewhat sounder factual basis, and at least one witness more relevant to this situation than the loose-lipped Gen Turniphead was to Mr Bush's, it's the media that's gone Awol. In this case, it seems it would hurt to ask. So Mr Bush has been unable to do the John Kerry routine, declining to comment but adding that "it's not my marital record that's at issue". We have two flimsy "scandals" tangentially related to character, but only one of them's all over the networks.

………If character is the issue, Bush can relax. And, if doing your bit for national security is the issue, then John Kerry's been Awol for two decades.***

[rebel_yell2]

From a scientific standpoint, you are correct. You simply cannot prove a "negative." You can only prove a "positive." Just because you have no evidence that Bush did not serve doesn't mean that he did not serve. It simply may mean that one has come forward that remembers him. However, now some witnesses have come forward, effectively refuting the "null" hypothesis that he did not show up in favor of the "alternative" hypothesis that he did show up.

[PJ-Comix]

Retired Lt. Col. Bill Burkett had claimed he heard Bush aides talking about having his Guard records scrubbed and saw it happen.

Amazing hearing Burkett must have. He claims to have heard the conversation through a crack in the door even though he says he wasn't at the doorway. Then he sees them toss the records into the trash. This happened back in the 90s, years BEFORE shredders were invented.

[ItsBacon]

Don't give him any ideas.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I think that someone said that Turnipspeed is a FR lurker and that he is really upset with how the media used his words out of context.

I could be mistaken, but I believe Freeper "Hon" has been in touch with him personally.

[spunkets]

I haven't been following this too closely. I do know this has been known for a long time. Turnipseed always said that he didn't remember and always included and cautioned, that he didn't remember much of anything. It didn't amaze me though when the papers continued to leave that out. They have an agenda.

[barker]

No need to wonder.
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/what_do_you_say_032203.htm

[Texasforever]

Yes that was who I was thinking of. It is just another example of media manipulation.

[Southack]

"From a scientific standpoint, you are correct. You simply cannot prove a "negative."

That's actually a myth.

You *can* prove some negatives when you can exhaust all possibilities in a set.

For instance, how can I prove that the red ball isn't in my black box that holds 20 balls?

Well, if I take out every one of all 20 balls, and none of them are red, then I have just proven a negative.

[WOSG]

And The Boston Globe, which took the lead in challenging Bush's Guard service, reported serious doubts about the account given by one of Bush's prime accusers. This is slander by the Globe. They misreported it in the first place, deliberately twisting Turnipseed's words to accuse Bush. Now they make it sound like Turnipseed story has changed. It hasnt. They Globe is now finally deciding - 4 years late - to report it honestly: Bush served and did his duty honorably, and there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to suggest otherwise.

[Prodigal Son]

How long befor Michael Moore is accusing Bush of bribes or threats to silence thes guys?

I don't know but Michael Moore has gone over the edge. He's got Bush's dental diagram on his front page now. He's obsessed. It's creepy.

[ArmstedFragg]

recanted his statement

What's to recant? He said he didn't remember, and he doesn't.

Only a Rat could turn "I don't remember" into "he was never there".

[Mo1]

Gotta wonder about the motives of this Burkett character.

Do a google into Mr. Burkett and you'll find out .. interesting friends he has

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

It frustrates me to no end. This is how they work. They'll misrepresent someone, and then never correct themselves. Unethical and slimey.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

LA Times: What Did Bush Do in the Guard?…..Some of Bush's critics have declared him AWOL or a deserter. They point to selected records released from his military files that suggest he was basically a no-show during his temporary gig in Alabama, that he was grounded and put on nonflying status for failing to accomplish a physical, and that he seemed to have frittered away his final year before taking an early discharge eight months shy of his six-year obligation.

They also complain that he was a rich kid with deep family political connections - his father was congressman from Houston and his grandfather had been a U.S. senator from Connecticut - for whom the Guard cut corners to make sure he was kept out of harm's way, specifically the Vietnam draft.

The White House released documents throughout last week that it said supported Bush's account - including ones Friday night, which it said amounted to everything it had.

An examination of those documents, and nearly 200 pages of his service record obtained by The Times in 1999 as Bush was starting his first campaign for the White House, plus interviews with Guard officials, veterans and military experts, showed that while there was no evidence of illegality or regulations broken to accommodate Bush's entry or rise in the service, doors were opened and good fortune flowed to him at opportune times.

Retired Col. Charles C. Shoemake, an Air Force veteran who later joined the Texas Air National Guard, has told The Times, "We were flooded with applications back then. I'm not going to deny a lot of them turned to the Guard to get out of Vietnam." He added about Bush, "His name didn't hurt, obviously."

George W. Bush graduated from Yale University in 1968, soon to become eligible for the draft. Mindful of his father's World War II exploits as a bomber pilot, he showed up at the Texas Air National Guard office announcing he wanted to fly jets "just like Daddy."

……….. The White House has not provided a roster of Alabama guardsmen who remember Bush, and most veterans of the Alabama squadron cannot recall him at all. But Republican operatives did release the name of Bill Calhoun.

Calhoun, who now lives in the Atlanta area, said he was a supervisor in the Alabama squadron and remembered Bush because he and Bush were the only Republicans in a squadron that otherwise was full of "George Wallace Democrats."

He said Bush signed in "probably from four weekends to six weekends" and usually spent his time in Calhoun's upstairs office reading flight magazines and pilot accident reports - which was considered acceptable duty.

"He was very punctual and very dedicated and never complained about it," Calhoun said. "A typical fighter pilot, a little more quiet than some of us. And drinking and carousing - that was typical of a fighter pilot."

He added that Bush always appeared in uniform and "there was some resentment" from other squadron members, who did not like a man coming from Texas and talking Republican politics.

"We had lunch sometimes, and he told me he was working pretty heavily in the campaign, at least long hours," Calhoun said. "I asked him if he was going to be a politician and he said, 'I don't know. Probably.' " [Full article at LINK]

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Thank you.

[ArmstedFragg]

Gee, it was all another DemoRat fabricated hit? Who would have thunk it.

'Bout time for Terry to come up with a new phony story to replace his old phony story.

[Mo1]

I think that someone said that Turnipspeed is a FR lurker and that he is really upset with how the media used his words out of context.

Yes and the reporter from the Globe took his words out of context

Notice the Globe fails to take responsibility for that

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

A leftie hack. I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell you.

[Mo1]

"A leftie hack. I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell you."

A leftie with some interesting connections


Be prepared to be ticked off when listening to this


http://stream.realimpact.net/rihurl.ram?file=webactive/peacewatch/peace20030506.ra&start=16:42.0

[Mo1]

I don't know but Michael Moore has gone over the edge. He's got Bush's dental diagram on his front page now. He's obsessed. It's creepy.

Isn't Michael Moore the same creep that a few years ago had a web cam pointed at Lucianne's apartment window???

[GretchenEE]

Bush's assailants just keep digging to China on this one.
It's a wonder they don't suffocate themselves with all that dirt falling back in the hole over them.

[Ophiucus]

Watch John Kerry speak to his supporters.... There is no message, just hatred for Bush and the only time in his life when he stood for something, the problem is, he stood with our enemies when he returned from Vietnam

Very true - the old "speaking to the base" crud of a primary.

The election campaign will go back to bread and butter and building a bridge to the Xth dimension. That is if Hitlery doesn't jump in.

[3catsanadog]

If he is then I apologize for snickering at his name.

I still wonder how Turnipseed becomes a family name.

[GretchenEE]

For the record, there's a FR thread posted in the last week or so, I think by Hon, after a telephone conversation with Turnipseed, who said he never said what the media reported he said. He told the FReeper that the media has consistently disorted and edited his comments and that he has tried repeatedly to set the record straight but when the media (dolts) find out he's a Bush supporter and that he's never claimed Bush wasn't in Alabama, they go away and quash the story.

[WaterDragon]

It all sounds like very sleazy 'reporting' by the liberal media because they don't like Bush. And those 'journalists' don't bother to even try to find the truth out. They've really damaged their credibility!

[Ophiucus]

'Bout time for Terry to come up with a new phony story to replace his old phony story.

The heavy stuff should start coming out after the Rat convention. Look for a Bush love child.

[3catsanadog]

Rush, the other day quoted someone (and he didn't have the name right then) who said, "Well we know that Bush's teeth were at the dentist, but we don't know if Bush was there."

[GretchenEE]

Better to be associated with the farmer element of this name than the transportation company element.

Imagine being Mr. Turniptruck.

[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

The name "Turnipseed" is a little unusual, but I've known many people who have that last name, most of them fine folks.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Thanks for the "ping". I hope this is an indication that the story is losing its legs. I'd like to start watching the "news" again.