Posted on 02/08/2004 10:06:51 AM PST by jmstein7
"Meet the Press" host Tim Russert repeatedly grilled President Bush in an interview broadcast on Sunday about allegations he went AWOL from the Alabama National Guard - but never once mentioned that the key witness behind the charge had recanted his story.
Sounding like a surrogate for Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe, Russert echoed the DNC chief's words last week on ABC's "This Week."
"I look forward to that debate," Russert told Bush, "when John Kerry, a war hero with a chest full of medals, is standing next to George Bush, a man who was AWOL in the Alabama National Guard. He didn't show up when he should have showed up."
But the NBC newsman never mentioned his network's own scoop, garnered just last week by White House correspondent David Gregory, who interviewed the ex-Alabama Guard commander who first claimed that Bush had gone AWOL from his unit in 2000.
Back then retired Brig. Gen. William Turnipseed told the Boston Globe that Bush had never appeared for Guard drills. But on Wednesday Gen. Turnipseed withdrew the allegation, telling NBC, "I don't know if [Bush] showed up, I don't know if he didn't. I don't remember how often I was even at the base."
While failing to note the exculpatory account, Russert continued in an accusatory tone, bearing down on the issue of Bush's Guard service:
"You were allowed to leave eight months before your term expired. Was there a reason?" he demanded to know. "When allegations were made about John McCain or Wesley Clark on their military records, they opened up their entire files. Would you agree to do that? . . . . Would you allow pay stubs, tax records, anything to show that you were serving during that period? . . . Would you authorize the release of everything to settle this?
Bush responded, "Yes, absolutely," then noted, "We did so in 2000, by the way." But Russert didn't explain why he hadn't taken the time to review the long available evidence.
Instead, the NBC Washington Bureau chief shifted gears, asking why Bush didn't volunteer to go to Vietnam since he was in favor of the war.
For his part Bush remained firmly on the defensive, saying he was proud of his Guard service, but never challenging Russert about why he had decided to carry the DNC's water by raising questions that had long ago been answered.
In several interviews in recent months with Sen. Kerry, the "Meet the Press" host never questioned the top Democrat's controversial activities with the radical anti-American group, "Vietnam Veterans Against the War," including Kerry's testimony before the Senate in 1971, where he painted soldiers serving honorable in Vietnam as war criminals.
Kerry told the Senate that his fellow GI's had "personally raped [Vietnamese civilians], cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephone to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan."
Though the Democratic presidential front-runner later admitted he hadn't personally witnessed any of the atrocities he claimed his fellow soldiers had committed, he has yet to be challenged on the issue by mainstream journalists.
How about "reduced spending until the budget is balanced, Tim?"
And a little (very little) simple research into National Guard practices and policies would have shown Mr. Russert that it was standard practice to discharge a Guardsman honorably when that individual had less than a year left on their current term.
Ignorance is no excuse for poor journalism, or a lack of objective stance.
We'll see him relax and joke with F'ing Kerry in an interview soon.
He will not challenge Kerry on his anti-war activities in the early 1970's like he challenged Bush on the National Guard question.
Newsmax only perpetuates the myth. I have not seen Turnipseed interviewed, only selectively quoted. How could he recant something he didn't say and was misquoted or quoted out of context to serve the Globe's ideological bias?
Instead, the NBC Washington Bureau chief shifted gears, asking why Bush didn't volunteer to go to Vietnam since he was in favor of the war.
"I look forward to that debate," Russert told Bush, "when John Kerry, a war hero with a chest full of medals, is standing next to George Bush, a man who was AWOL in the Alabama National Guard. He didn't show up when he should have showed up."
Russert did not say this to Bush, but was quoting someone else. Geez, no wonder things get screwed up. !
Wrong.
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