Replies

I saw a couple posts at another site (that starts with "L," grin) and they say that Barnes became Lt. Gov. the year after Bush joined the Nat'l Guard. Is this true and does this undermine his story?

Yes, and yes. Barnes now seems to be backtracking and claiming that it was while he was Speaker of the House, but there are four problems with that claim.

1. Barnes is on video claiming that he used the Lieutenant Governor's office to get Bush in. He became LG in 1969. Bush enlisted in 1968.

2. The Speaker is not a statewide elected position like LG and had no official duty over the state militia (aka national guard)

3. The legislature was out of session for the year when Bush enlisted, meaning Barnes wasn't even in Austin.

4. Barnes appears to have spent 1968 in Europe working his other job - a UN envoy position he got from LBJ.