Washington Post dispassionately details the Bush AWOL story

[cryofan]

....
Questions about Bush's Guard service first surfaced during the 2000 presidential race, when he ran against Vice President Al Gore, a Vietnam veteran. A review of Bush's military records show that Bush enjoyed preferential treatment as the son of a then-congressman, when he walked into a Texas guard unit in Houston two weeks before his 1968 graduation from Yale and was moved to the top of a long waiting list. It was an era when service in the guard was a coveted assignment, often associated with efforts to avoid active duty in Vietnam. Bush was accepted for pilot training after having scored only 25 percent on the pilot's aptitude test, the lowest acceptable grade.

....

According to military records obtained by The Washington Post, Bush first requested and received permission in May 1972 to be transferred to the Alabama National Guard so he could work on a U.S. Senate campaign. After he was in Alabama, he received notice from the Guard personnel center that he was "ineligible" for the Air Reserve Squadron he requested.

In August 1972, Bush was suspended from flying because he failed to complete an annual medical exam. A month later, Bush requested to be assigned to a different unit in Alabama and was approved. Although he was required to attend periodic drills in Alabama, there is no official record in his file that he did.

According to the records, Bush had been instructed to report to William Turnipseed, an officer in the Montgomery unit. "Had he reported in, I would have had some recall and I do not," Turnipseed, a retired brigadier general, told the Globe in 2000. "I had been in Texas, done my flight training there. If we had a first lieutenant from Texas, I would have remembered."



more here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7372-2004Feb2.html

Bwaaaahhahhahhahhah!

Some lyrics from Black Sabbath's Hand of Doom seem appropriate to describe Bush's trainwreck of a new year:


Whatcha gonna do?
Time’s caught up with you
Now you wait your turn
You know there’s no return

[ochazuke]

1. I wish people cared

They like shrub's swagger. I think secretly they admire how this little shit can get away with burrying his past.

He could be found molesting teenage girls and he'd still have a base.

[izzie]

10. Yar God talks to him, you know.

I guess I am of a different school as when I hear God is talking to some one I run the other way, but these so called Christian base in the GOP do not.I would think the paper records of Bush are long gone.

[NJCher]

2. sounds like bush marched to his own drummer

Had a schedule that was, shall we say, "sometimesy?"

Well, here's what it's like for your average person in the Guard. This story was told to me by my mother over the weekend.

My nephew Paul, a 19-year old kid in the Guard, commutes to his Guard duty from Omaha, NE to Lincoln, which is about a 55-mile trip. (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong; I live in NJ.) He was on his way to work in a snowstorm that, BTW, killed four people and was stopped by the state patrol and told to turn around and go back to Omaha. Consequently, he went home and called his commanding officer in the Guard and explained why he couldn't be at work. The officer chewed him out for not showing up.

Doesn't sound like this was the same demanding schedule to which dumbya adhered.


Cher

[Doctor Panacea]

3. What will they say?

It will be interesting to see how the stooges running the Republican Grand Wurlitzer will spin this. I am sure they will find a way. Maybe it will even turn out to be Bill Clinton's fault.

[girl gone mad]

6. "But, but, but...

Clinton dodged the draft, Kerry was friends with Hanoi Jane, Dean went skiing after his medical deferrment, Edwards never served.."

That's how they'll spin it.

[kaitykaity]

4. I thought those transfers were denied?

http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=627

National Guard records available to the public show that on September 5, 1972 Bush had been ordered to start serving three months in an active but non-flying administrative Guard unit, the 187th Tactical Reconnaissance Group in Montgomery, Alabama. He had been assigned to four certain duty days in October and November. Bush's new orders had been cut over three months after his transfer request to an inactive Alabama Guard unit was denied.

[NJCher]

5. cmorea

I heard an interview on the radio today which quoted someone whom I believe was from Texas. This person said about dumbya, admiringly, "He's such a cowboy."

There are a lot of ignorant people out there who don't have the guts to go out and be colossally stupid on their own. They admire the cowboy for being able to lay $87 billion to waste in one fell, stupid swoop.


Cher

[ochazuke]

7. I heard the same interview

on NPR, I think. They were from South Carolina, weren't they? Yeah, they think shrub shares their values.

And he does.

Until Karl Rove tells him otherwise.

[newscaster]

8. So what about his physical he was to have taken?

All active duty pilots in the AF are required to take a physical on a regular basis, an exam that includes a drug test. Without such a test, they can be grounded.
The Resident claimed he could not take the physical because his personal physician was not available. Thats horse hockey. A civilian doctor does NOT conduct mandatory military medical exams under any circumstances. Resident Bush could have gone to Maxwell AFB in Montgomery and have gotten the physical 1 2 3 and would have been in the clear but....they dont call him dumya for nothing.

[patricia92243]

9. From 68 to 72 -4 years - the guy doesn't "remember" him - THIS is the

stuff I've heard for years about his AWOL? This a big bunch of nothing, and quite honestly, people look silly to keep harping on it.

Yes, I'm a Democrat.

[tkmorris]

11. You have some reading to do

Seriously. That statement is merely one made by the CO at the time when asked about it.

At the time Bush was claiming to "vaguely remember" pulling some duty but no details. Turnipseed was asked if he ever reported at all and that was his response.

There are tons of other evidence. All you have to do is put the remote down and seek it out. Here's a start: http://web.archive.org/web/20000619121358/http://www.boston.com/news/politics/campaign2000/news/One_year_gap_in_Bush_s_Guard_duty+.shtml

Here's more, though admittedly the site is dedicated to making the point so read the information with a critical eye and decide for yourself. http://www.awolbush.com/

I served in the military. I can quote you chapter and verse on where I was and when, as well as who I reported to etc. I can back that up with a ton of documentation. The military has EXCELLENT records. Plus, if I lose mine they have copies that I can get merely by asking.

All of the public records show that Bush did not show up and managed to get away with that when others could not. Bush refuses to put the issue to rest even though he could do it with ONE PHONE CALL if he wished. Produce a record, ANY record whatsoever for the period in question.

I seriously wonder how you can offer an opinion on an issue you appear to know nothing about.

[radfringe]

12. key words in the spin

White House communications director Dan Bartlett said yesterday that although no official record has been found, "obviously, you don't get an honorable discharge unless you receive the required points for annual service." He said Bush "specifically remembers" performing some of his duties in Alabama. Bartlett also provided a news clipping from 2000 quoting friends of Bush's from the Alabama Senate campaign saying they recalled Bush leaving for Guard duty on occasion.

some of his duties? leaving for guard duty on occasion? what happened to performing the rest of his duties and leaving for guard duty when required? silly me - he was probably bored as hell and those pesky regulation don't apply to him