Ex-Guardsman: I Contacted Kerry Campaign

Yahoo News AP ^ | 19 Sep 04 | Kelly Shannon

[NavVet]

AUSTIN, Texas - A retired Texas National Guard official mentioned as a possible source for disputed documents about President Bush (news - web sites)'s service in the Guard said he passed along information to a former senator working with John Kerry (news - web sites)'s campaign.

Also Saturday, a White House official said Bush has reviewed disputed documents that purport to show he refused orders to take a physical examination in 1972 and did not recall having seen them previously.

The long-running story on Bush's Texas Air National Guard service took an unusual twist when CBS broadcast a report on what it said were the newly discovered records. The authenticity of the documents has come into doubt.

In his first public comment on the CBS documents controversy, the president told The Union Leader of Manchester, N.H., "There are a lot of questions about the documents, and they need to be answered."

The retired Guard official, Bill Burkett, said in an Aug. 21 e-mail to a list of Texas Democrats that after getting through "seven layers of bureaucratic kids" in the Democrat's campaign, he talked with former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland about information that would counter criticism of Kerry's Vietnam War service. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the e-mail Saturday.

"I asked if they wanted to counterattack or ride this to ground and outlast it, not spending any money. (Cleland) said counterattack. So I gave them the information to do it with," Burkett wrote.

[wolicy_ponk]

[Jenya]

Burkett could have produced the docufakes, but in collusion with the Kerry campaign. It's not so much protecting Burkett but what he knows. He's a loose cannon, and I have a feeling that if he goes down, he's taking everyone with him.

[mattdono]

Welcome to FR.

Not a bad first post. But...

You need to read again the points about Burkett get with Max Cleland. If Burkett offered them to Max Cleland, then he had the clear intention of helping Kerry and/or hurting Bush (probably the latter given Mr. Burkett's visceral hatred and mentally deranged impression of George Bush).

Now it seems that Mr. Burkett isn't exactly the kind of person who is familiar with the truth. In fact, it is very difficult for unbalanced people, like Mr. Burkett is reported to be, to recognize reality; rather, they are stuck in their own delusions. So, it is somewhat difficult to believe what he says, but he did say (type, actually) that he had finally gotten with Max Cleland and Cleland was in agreement for some "down and dirty" (his words) tactics.

Now, Mr. Burkett could be completely full of crap. He has demonstrated this before...on several occasions. But, if he is saying that he had contact with Cleland, it is a "simple" strategy that Kerry and the DNC pursued. Probably played something like this:

1. Burkett tries to "help" the Kerry campaign's fight against the Swift Vets accusations, by giving the Kerry campaign some damaging "evidence" (perhaps, as most suspect, the forged, faked documents). He runs into some bureaucracy with the Kerry campaign (which is telling in its own right, but a different story...).
   
   
2. He's gets ahold of Max Cleland. Tells Cleland he has "the goods" on Bush's Guard service. Cleland talks to Kerry and his henchmen. Maybe the Kerry folks know of Burkett's credibility problems (I suspect they did). So, they figure out a way to use the information without making the information itself the story (which inevitably it became).
   
   
3. They start pounding the National Guard angles. Remember, the so called questions (and answers, for that matter) have been around for 10 years. If you re-read the media accounts, McAuliffe and his group of gloomy men started to hint at this angle about 2 weeks before the CBS story was aired. So, the start floating the accusations.
   
   
4. The DNC (and just about everyone) knew that the Kitty Kelly book was coming out in mid-September. They knew the accusations in the book by Kelly involved drug allegations of some kind.
   
   
5. The DNC and the Kerry campaign then work on how to make the story come together.
   
   
6. Ben Barnes was set to be the formal introduction of the new challenge to the Bush's Guard service. So, a few weeks before the Ben Barnes interview, Burkett gets the documents to Mary Mapes, Rather's producer (maybe even utilizing his connections in West Texas, namely Mr. Van Os, democrat party muckity-muck and maybe even Rather's daughter, Robin, a democrat party muckity-muck).
   
   
7. The thrust of Ben Barnes was to raise questions about the qualifications for entrance into to the National Guard.
   
   
8. The documents accompanying the Barnes' interview were to raise questions about why Bush missed his physical, which, by the way, is the PRECISE angle that Rather, Kerry, Edwards, McAuliffe, and every other democrat started asking.
   
   
9. The Ben Barnes appearance was to be tied to the release of "Fortunate Son", run by the DNC. Ben Barnes assertion was that Bush was a fortunate son who got into the Guard because of privilege. The ad tied that together.
   
   
10. The documents were supposed to do 1 thing and 1 thing only: plant the seed for the Kitty Kelly book. The Kitty Kelly book comes out, with an unheard of 3-day booking on Today to push the story, "Bush was druggie". Then, Terry McAuliffe can come on TV and ask this rhetorical question, "Well, I think that we know why George Bush missed those physicals back in the Guard, don't we?" Note that he isn't going to actually say it, but he going to play the democrat word games with hinting and implying the charge. When someone calls him on it, he'll say, "Well, I didn't say that; but that may be a question you want to ask Mr. Bush". Then, somehow, it seems like a legitimate question to ask.
    
    

In reality, this was a process. This is really basic strategy, but uses different tactics to accomplish the strategy. This is basic stuff really. In the business world, this is what I do everyday...well, my aim is to actually improve people's lives, not destroy and smear. But, like anything it can be used for good or evil.

Strategy: Smear Bush

Tactic 1 to fulfill strategy:
Burkett >> documents >> CBS >> 60 Minutes interview >> missing physical >> Kitty Kelly drug revelation >> (false) conclusion: Bush missed physical because of drug use.

Tactic 2 to fulfill strategy:
Barnes >> CBS >> 60 Minutes interview >> questionable entrance >> Fortunate Son ad >> (false) conclusion: Bush got into the Guard "illegally" or "immorally" or "because of daddy".

The MSM plays right along, that's how it goes down. Except it didn't in this case...because we were on the case...and still are. I can only hope that someone else would have noticed the issues with the memos, but what if someone didn't? And, how many times has this been done in the past (note that the expert CBS hired for this situation was the same expert that verified some of the Vince Foster documents)? Proves the value of this little endeavor we call Free Republic.

[loboinok]

Danger Dan described his source as unimpeachable;

Ya...and how did he describe his document experts?

[Lunatic Fringe]

iMAGINE IF THE ROLES WERE REVERSED. hEADLINE WOULD READ:

FAKE MEMOS LINKED TO BUSH CAMPAIGN!

[Fishtalk]

The Dem's new ad references the memos in the segment directly.

Okay. And welcome as a new poster. couple of comments/questions about your post. Which is intriguing and thoughtful, by the way.

I agree with you whole-heartedly that CBS is not protecting Burkett. Further, I don't think Burkett is the source of those documents. Except in the nefarious manner that you implicate..ie-Burkett arranged to have them 'made'.

As for the new DNC ad to which you refer, I haven't seen it. You say it references the memos. Does it reference them in the way one would expect had the documents never come to be view as a forgery? If so, then definitely there was some sort of grand plan here with this handsome ad meant to be the crown on the cake.

If the ad references the documents in a manner as to try as cast blame away from the Dems, then , well, not so.

In either case, no, I'm not believing the source was Burkett although inserting that Cleland connection to it is new. You will note that never is it asserted that Burkett passed along THESE damning memos to Cleland.

I think Burkett's a showboat and is enjoying all this teasing he's doiing with the press. Although he is enough of a kook to have arranged to have these documents forged, maybe even did them himself. In his little mind, he could see those documents in his mind, the day Bush's clean up team allegedly dumped them in the trash (like any fool would put those documents in the trash in front of anybody). Still, Burket might have it in his deranged mind that the forgeries he might, possibly, could have, arranged to have "re-done" did exist at one point in time so it's not like he's lying or making up stuff.

All of that being said, someone at the Dem party, someone very believable, someone CBS desperately wanted to believe, passed them along. And I don't think CBS would be salivating over Max Clelland.

I still think the source was John Kerry himself. Said it before and I'm sticking to it.

Way I figure, when Kerry called from his secret line with his voice all conspiratorial, CBS figured Kerry would have as much to lose as them if the docs Kerry was stage-whispering over the phone lines about were forgeries.

Also, maybe Kerry called Kennedy and convinced his fellow Massachusetts criminal and maybe Kennedy gave the docs his blessing well.

Because somebody with that kind of clout so bowled over CBS with their power that they opened their minds and their brains fell out.

It's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Travis McGee]

[Solar Wind]

Thanks for the article. Many on this forum have suspected for some time that Burkett had funneled the documents to the DNC.

In Texas there is a core group of committed Bush haters who have had it in for Bush for a long time, well before he became president. This group is almost insane with hatred. They seem to always plotting some new way to get at Bush. They are all quite mad and not very good at these schemes. They do get caught sometimes.

Burkett's MO is very similar to that of Juanita Yvette Lozano. She is the DNC hack who sent tapes and materials on Bush's 2000 debate prep to a former US Rep who was at the time a Gore campaign adviser. Burkett apparently sent the documents to a US senator who is a Kerry campaign adviser.

These closely allied but officially unrelated groups independently dream up this stuff. Then they slip it to the DNC. The DNC uses what it likes and rewards those who come up with good stuff.

Unfortunately for Lazano in Austin the US Rep turned the tapes over to the authorities and she went to the hoosegow. see: http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2001/03/22/News/Suspect.In.Bush.Debate.Tape.Scandal.Released.From.Jail-699268.shtml

In the case of Burkett, the DNC, CBS and Rather wanted too badly the Documents to be true and were blinded to how bad they were.

Mr Sol.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Proves the value of this little endeavor we call Free Republic.

BIG TIME!!!

Thanks for the good thoughts, they certainly had a strategy going complete with talking points cause they were all singing out of the same hymnal, on the "Fortunate Son" theme

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

ping

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Don't know if you have seen this:

Bill Burkett's Yahoo Groups Message to his Fellow DemonCats

[okie01]

Granted, it's about a 2hr drive, but I wonder if Burkett was anywhere around when Cleland went to Crawford to deliver the letter to Bush a few weeks back...

About 150 miles from Baird to Crawford. But I don't think you could do it in two hours. Gotta go through some big towns -- like Cross Plains, Rising Star and Hico. Traffic would slow you down...

[Mo1]

The MSM plays right along, that's how it goes down. Except it didn't in this case...because we were on the case...and still are.

I believe you are correct .. the dots are all there ..

There needs to be an investigation .. but not by Congress .. (imo) they'll just screw it up

Has there been any word on whether the Texas AG is looking into this? or the FBI since wire fraud is also involved with this case?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Be sure and see the thread linked at #31, it is very close to a confession, it seems to me!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

And one more:

Rid the country of BUSH policies

This is a post from Bill Burkett to a Yahoo Group for Democratic Activists in Texas. It was made just days before he forged the cBS/Rather memos. It show us two things. 1) He's a run of the mill Bush hater. 2) He's an active member of the Texas Democratic Party.

_____________________________________________

Above in italics is from the link.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

See this also.

[Mo1]

He's as nutty as Marty is

[Willie Green]

OK, maybe he IS stupid enough to post his real name on Yahoo!
I'm still skeptical, though.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Yes, but probably a useful nut for the DemonicRats.

Pinged you to some other stuff, I am gonna close down for the night before long.

[Mo1]

I'm heading out also

I was just reading some things .. I didn't know that Dan interviewed Burkett?

For six years, I've submitted formal and sworn testimony, and this spring even appeared on the Chirs Mathews 'Hard Ball' show, Bill Mahrer, Dan Rather, and many other shows concerning what I saw.