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What did Dubya do in the war, daddy?
Toronto Star ^ | Nov 17, 2002 | LINDA MCQUAIG

Posted on 11/17/2002 10:41:55 AM PST by jody_b

It's often said that people just won't go into politics any more because of the intense media scrutiny one faces for even the smallest indiscretion in one's past. In fact, the media are temperamental beasts; fierce one day, gentle as lambs the next.

Certainly the media showed its soft side last week. As George W. Bush piously observed Veterans Day, media pundits somehow restrained themselves from pointing to the irony that the U.S. Commander-in-Chief, who's sometimes referred to as a "former fighter pilot," has an embarrassing military past. His records show that for months at a time during the Vietnam War, Bush could be classified as, at best, "absent without leave" (AWOL) or, at worst, as an army deserter.

This would be equivalent to the media withholding comment as former U.S. President Bill Clinton publicly espoused the virtues of marital fidelity.

Indeed, one hardly needs to wait for Veterans' Day to note the irony in Bush's military fervour. The man can scarcely contain his enthusiasm for war ? or at least for others going to war. As he inches closer each day to sending tens of thousands of American soldiers into Iraq (to be followed likely by hundreds of Canadian soldiers), any day would be appropriate for the media to satisfy its allegedly insatiable appetite for dirt on the rich and powerful by reporting the president's own military past.

The legwork has already been done by the Boston Globe, which dug up Bush's military records and interviewed his former military commanders.

While the paper published its dramatic findings during the presidential campaign of 2000, the rest of the media all but ignored the story and continue to do so, even as Bush has turned himself into arguably the most hawkish president in U.S. history.

It's not that the media are not hard on military laggards. While there were only 49 media stories about Bush's military past during his presidential campaign, there were a whopping 13,641 media reports on Clinton's Vietnam-era draft dodging during his first presidential race, according to former Clinton aide Paul Begala.

Begala made the observation on a media panel at a labour conference shortly after Bush's election. Other panelists, including journalists from major TV networks and Time magazine, agreed that Bush had had a much gentler ride, but attributed it to the media's alleged exhaustion after all the Clinton-era scandals.

Of course, it's possible Bush was so morally repelled by the U.S. slaughter in Vietnam that he just couldn't bring himself to participate. But probably not. Here's what we know.

Upon graduating from Yale, Bush applied for a position in the Texas National Guard, a coveted spot that required only part-time military duties at home, far from the battlefields of Vietnam. Bush was catapulted to the front of 500 other applicants after a friend of his father, then a wealthy Houston congressman, phoned the Speaker of the Texas House, according to the Boston Globe.

After completing training as a pilot, George W. Bush requested and immediately received a transfer to an Alabama National Guard unit in May, 1972. But Bush never showed up for duty there, according to the Alabama unit's commander and the commander's assistant, who were interviewed by the Boston Globe.

Military records show that Bush's two commanding officers back in Texas reported George W. did not show up for duty there either for a year, and that they believed he had been transferred to Alabama. Meanwhile, when Bush failed to take his required annual medical exam in August, 1972, his pilot status was removed.

It should be noted that reporting for military duty is not something that's optional, particularly during a war. Those caught shirking National Guard duties were usually punished by being drafted into the real army ? the one that landed you in Vietman, where some 350 American soldiers were killed each week. But, despite more than a year absent from duty, nothing happened to the well-connected George W. Bush.

Favouritism is a sore point among those who actually went to war, including U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. As Powell wrote in his autobiography: "I am angry that so many of the sons of the powerful and well-placed ... managed to wangle slots in Reserve and National Guard units ... Of the many tragedies of Vietnam, this raw class discrimination strikes me as the most damaging to the ideal that all Americans are created equal ..."

You've got to marvel at Powell's anger management skills.


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: awol; barfalert; bush; canada
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To: GodBlessRonaldReagan
nya-nya, beat ya
121 posted on 11/17/2002 8:17:17 PM PST by Clinging Bitterly
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To: jody_b
Why doesn't the media just drop this old lie. I thought Presiedent Bush or his staff presented facts that absolutely refuted this false charge.

Actually, the Dims never proved the charge to begin with. The most they have is that someone doesn't specifically remember Bush 30 years ago.

That's it.

But the real issue now is LIBERAL PANIC and INANE RANTING.

Now that the Dims are out of power and humiliated the attacks by liberal shills in the media will increase. Of course, the only people who take this story seriously are the DU/Fartcop crowd.

Ultimately, this idiot story will end up backfiring on the Dims as every other one has, but given that the dims have no issues, all they have left is rumor and innuendo.

122 posted on 11/17/2002 8:28:31 PM PST by Smedley
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To: jody_b
There is another possible explanation for the lack of a plausible denial of the implications of AWOL behavior documented in the exhibits to the George mag article. It is the same one that effectively prohibited Bill Clinton from responding clearly to critics of his activites at Oxford and his travels to the Soviet Union while a student.

They were both doing their time with the Intelligence Community: Getting their tickets punched for much higher level government service.

The stories of Clinton's recruitment by CIA biggie Cord Meyer are readily available at Orlingrabbe.com. That's the real reason he was able to avoid uniformed military service.

But the curious gap in George W. Bush's guard service, mainly in 1971, coincides with a period when, according to the NYT, he was working his first real job out of Yale, for one Robert Gow. Gow is a very curious character whose resume fits well with that of a spook. He hired Dubya, according to the Times, to scout out horticultural sites in Guatemala and Central America. Hmmmmmm. Interesting work.

My guess he was seconded to the CIA or some other intelligence arm of the government. He was doing his time, but not exactly in uniform.

Think about it: His father had been long involved in CIA activites and would eventually become CIA director. Spookery runs in families, and the politico-intelligence elite make sure to bring along their progeny. Merely flying an obsolete jet in a non-combat homeland role during wartime is not the stuff legends are made of. As Machievelli pointed out, there is no more valued or important warriors than a spy. But it's not something you can exactly brag about.

123 posted on 11/17/2002 8:53:47 PM PST by Tenega
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To: dvwjr
THANK YOU! Saving this goodie for future references!
124 posted on 11/17/2002 9:16:39 PM PST by Lady In Blue
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To: TarlaStar
You wouldn't be posting from the same IP address as jody_b was, would you?
125 posted on 11/17/2002 9:44:50 PM PST by calenel
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To: Lady In Blue
Saving this goodie for future references!

Saving this thread for future references, especially since it's past my bedtime here in the East.

foreverfree

126 posted on 11/17/2002 9:45:44 PM PST by foreverfree
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To: jody_b
Left wing liberals don't care about the lies they spew forth. It's the "big lie" theory of the Nazis!

I heard G. Gordon Liddy one day take on some caller spewing this lie by saying, "AWOL is a crime and will be punished and thus Bush was absent with leave because he was on loan to another Air Guard"!

Geez, AlGore goes to Vietnam as a "reporter" and sat way behind enemy lines in a fancy hotel...all set up by his daddy. We've all seen the famous photo of Gore looking down the barrel of his gun. Then, unlike every other soldier required to 2 years service, he is back home in less than a year once his daddy loses his Senate seat!

Meanwhile, Bush "the dunce" is flying JETS! I'd like to see those oh-so-smart liberal elites fly a JET!

127 posted on 11/17/2002 9:53:21 PM PST by Fledermaus
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To: Reagan Man
Boy, that's one ugly lesbian!
128 posted on 11/17/2002 9:54:07 PM PST by Fledermaus
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To: TarlaStar
Please read my post #99 above to discount the charge that Bush was a "deserter" or AWOL for over a year. The photocopies obtained under a FOIA request contradict you assertions.

You do not have the facts on your side.


dvwjr
129 posted on 11/17/2002 10:35:07 PM PST by dvwjr
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To: Eric in the Ozarks
"He's not Eisenhower"

Please keep in mind that Eisenhower never heard a shot fired in anger in his entire career."

130 posted on 11/17/2002 10:42:39 PM PST by SoCal Pubbie
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Comment #131 Removed by Moderator

Comment #132 Removed by Moderator

To: Pompah
She tried to kiss a train and it didn't stop.
133 posted on 11/17/2002 11:16:13 PM PST by Roy Tucker
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To: TarlaStar
The truth is that Bush is a deserter.

Back up that statement, loser. Show me just one official US Government document that says it is so.

134 posted on 11/17/2002 11:31:27 PM PST by leadpenny
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To: GodBlessRonaldReagan
http://www.democraticunderground.com/cgi-bin/duforum/duboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=18624&forum=DCForumID60
135 posted on 11/18/2002 2:23:36 AM PST by ambrose
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To: TarlaStar
A DISRUPTER,


BYE-BUH!
136 posted on 11/18/2002 2:29:12 AM PST by Las Vegas Dave
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To: SoCal Pubbie
Not completely true. Ike came under fire in the Philippines before WW II.
137 posted on 11/18/2002 8:39:13 AM PST by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: jody_b
Here is what I think. He didn't report for duty during the time in question, but who cares? It was a lifetime ago we all know he has proved himself since then. It is incredible that those on the other side don't say a word about Clinton when they go on and on about the President. Typical.
138 posted on 11/18/2002 8:53:37 AM PST by Theyknow
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To: jody_b
And what did Clinton do? He lied to avoid the draft, noting in a letter to the head of ROTC at the University of Arkansas, that he might flee to Canada. What did Gore do? He also considered running to Canada, but his daddy said that would NOT help him get elected president one day, SO his daddy arranged for Gore to sit safely behind a typwritter far from the front, so Gore could claim to have "served" in Nam. Another point for the liberals who ARE concerned about what Bush did during the war but two-facedly defended Clinton/Gore, is that Bush can FLY A JET FIGHTER...Clinton can't operate (by his own admission) a computer, and Gore can use two fingers to type out nonesense.
139 posted on 11/18/2002 9:03:12 AM PST by Moby Grape
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To: TarlaStar
The truth is that Bush is a deserter.

Of course, idiot, you have no documentable proof outside of your rabid hatred for your baseless allegations. Go find someone who gives a damn about your personal problem with the President. I certainly don't.

140 posted on 11/18/2002 9:03:57 AM PST by mhking
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