This is a g-d rewrite of the first story, so as to position the "body count" quote first, never mind what all the other vets said.
Please include original titles.
Thanks.
This is funny, AP has two articles out but they reverse it on this one, an earlier one had it started out with guardsmen who support Bush, and the guy from troy wasnt a republican, now it starts out with the guy from Troy who just became a republican.
Mr Jones and the others who are temporarily duped by this FRAUDcast will turn, and turn HARD, against the DNC and the FRAUDcasters when they discover how badly they've been misled by them. They _will_ find out.
Major Backlash.
/
"I'm really in neither camp at this point," he said. "
A 'Republican' who claims to be an undecided-where do they find these guys?
Oh yes he is in a camp, and it ain't republican "neither".
That's it. Just one sentence to indicate that the whole thing is likely a fraud. Sheesh, talk about political propaganda!
On Monday, the 10-year ban on selling military-style semiautomatic assault weapons in the U.S. will end because Congress would not vote to extend the law. What do you think?
16.5%
The ban should be re-enacted. There is no legitimate reason for people to own these guns. (191 responses)
83.5%
I agree with the NRA. The ban was ineffective, in part because these weapons are rarely used in crimes. (968 responses)
1159 total responses
Direct phone number to AP President & CEO Tim Hurley
1-212-621-7550
He actually picks up his own phone.
I've spoken to him about the AP's "1000 booed while Bush did nothing" and I called to ask why the AP hasn't requested Kerry's military records.
On the Military record issue, the guy tried to lie to me that the AP had seen ALL of Kerry's records and there was nothing to report. I asked how that could be since Kerry hasn't signed Form 180 and released all his records. Silence, thank you, click.
SOunds like Mr. Hurley needs another call from me.
IIRC, radio-show host Dennis Prager said that in this election, Dubya is running
against Kerry AND the MSM.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/politics/9639085.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sat, Sep. 11, 2004
Authentic or not, Bush memos no big deal to retired guardsmen
ELLIOTT MINOR
Associated Press
ALBANY, Ga. - Retired National Guard members and even an Army Reservist home on leave from Iraq say they aren't bothered by memos indicating President Bush was suspended from flying because he skipped a medical exam and missed six months of training with his Texas Air National Guard unit during the Vietnam war.
They said it's common for Guard members and reservists to miss drills - even up to six months - because of job conflicts, family problems or illness, and the members are encouraged to make up the drills so they don't lose pay or eligibility for retirement benefits.
"We worked around it. There's all kinds of situations ... that cause a person to go out of state for a period of time," said Ralph Bradley, 56, who served three years in Vietnam with the Air Force and 17 years with the Georgia Army National Guard.
Bush's performance as a fighter pilot in the Texas Guard became a focus of Democratic criticism this week with the newly unearthed memos that his opponents say show Bush shirked his National Guard duties - a charge that Bush denies.
"It's just politics. That's what they are doing; it's kind of obvious," said Neal Eubanks of nearby Leesburg, who served 39 years in the military - 23 in the Air Force and 16 in the Georgia Army National Guard.
Bush's Democratic challenger, John Kerry, won three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star in Vietnam. But a group sponsoring television ads challenging his wartime record contends Kerry's own fire caused the wound that brought his first Purple Heart. Navy records and other veterans don't support the charge.
Eubanks said it's time the presidential candidates move beyond their military records and focus on the issues, such as the economy and unemployment.
"You don't see Korean veterans or World War II veterans or Grenada veterans always talking about 'I served here and I served there,'" said Eubanks, 67, a Bush supporter. "I think those people in Vietnam were heros. I realize it was bad and it was hard on a lot of people, but it's over with."
Army Reserve Sgt. Tim Wilding, 37, of Jefferson City, Mo., back home for two weeks of leave from Iraq, said he remains a staunch Bush supporter and has come across only one other military member who publicly supports Kerry.
As for reports - and criticism - that Bush may have sought to get out of Guard drills for several months in 1972, Wilding said: "It's stupid. They're trying to dig up crap.
"A lot of guys don't serve for four or five months at a time. They've got other stuff going on. They'll make it up later on, or they just won't get paid. That's really no big deal to a lot of National Guard soldiers. I don't see how it's relevant now," said Wilding, who has served nearly 20 years as an Army Reservist and has been stationed just north of Baghdad with the 428th Transportation Company.
Frank Jones, 60, of Troy, N.Y., a Vietnam veteran and a Republican, said he's angered by reports that Bush got preferential treatment in the Texas Guard, but he said favoritism and politics were not surprising in the National Guard.
Jones, who was an Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam from 1970 to 1971 before serving 16 years in the National Guard, said he hasn't decided who to vote for in November but admits the daily news of soldier deaths in Iraq combined with the political furor surrounding the candidates' military records is coloring his perception of this campaign.
"I'm really in neither camp at this point," Jones aid. "However, I do see a direct correlation to Vietnam. The body count is really starting to get to me."
Savannah attorney Joseph Brennan, who flew C-130 transport planes as an Air Force pilot in Vietnam and served in the Georgia Air National Guard from 1977 to 1998, said he doesn't understand what the big deal is about the military records of Bush or Kerry.
Brennan, 57, voted for Bush in 2000 and said what he's heard or read about Bush's Vietnam-era Guard stint won't stop him from voting for the president again.
"I don't understand why there's so much concern over this," he said. "Whether someone serves in Vietnam or not has nothing to do with their qualifications to be president of this country."
---
Associated Press correspondents Russ Bynum in Savannah, Ga., and David Lieb in Jefferson City, Mo.; and writer Michael Gormley in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.
I'm starting to think every wire service story should trigger a blogosphere follow-up.
Bloggers should provide the people named in the article with a copy, and ask them if they feel their position was presented accurately.
In this way the blogosphere would evolve into a true media watchdog.
The good thing is that the internet and talk radio is now breaking the monopoly of the main stream media and disrupting the Lib playbook.
Associated Press in Atlanta, Georgia: 1-404-522-8971.
AP in New York: sports is 1-212-621-1630 or 1-800-622-1630, and ask for national news desk.
Washington: 1-202-776-9400 - don't know if that's sports or nbews.
CALL THEM, CALL THEM, CALL THEM. It's a story based on a false premise. I called Atlanta and New York, and they knew they couldn;t even defend this bizarre story.
.....sorry I don't know how to start a new thread asking people to call these lying factories and posting their phone numbers. Somebody, please do....Also, PLEASE call your local newspapers and tell them that they will be running a story based on lies if they do run it....AND THAT WE ALL ARE WATCHING AND EDUCATING PEOPLE ABOUT THE MEDIA LIES...
". . .the war in Vietnam was nearing its end and the US was withdrawing its forces from the theater. Air Force personnel returning to the US created a glut of active-duty pilots, and there were not enough aircraft available to accommodate all of the qualified USAF and ANG pilots. Since USAF personnel had priority for the billets available, many of the Air National Guard pilots whose enlistments were nearly complete requested early release. The ANG was eager to fulfill these requests because there was not enough time to retrain F-102 pilots to operate new aircraft before their enlistments were up anyway. Bush was one of those forced out by the transition, and he was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant in October 1973, eight months before his six-year enlistment was complete. Bush had approximately 600 flight hours by the time he completed his military service. In the fall of 1973, Bush began coursework at the Harvard Business School where he received an MBA in 1975. . ."
"Many of the Air National Guard pilots whose enlistments were nearly complete requested early release."
If they could do the minimal required of real journalists the Rat "journalists" would headline, "Many ANG pilots deserted!"
"not enough aircraft available to accommodate all of the qualified USAF and ANG pilots. . .[and] not enough time to retrain F-102 pilots to operate new aircraft before their enlistments were up anyway. Bush was one of those forced out by the transition"
Rat "journalists" know nothing of the U.S. military beyond feeeeeeeeeeeling our military is the greatest threat to world peace.
Can someone check to see if Ahmad Majied was a Seal or if he stole some valor?
Why not ask Guardsmen what they think of the continual attacks by Kerry and the Dems about National Guard service being equivalent to draft-dodging? That would make a much better story than asking them to comment on forged documents as if they're real.