REAGAN DEFENSE SEC. CONFIRMS LEGAL ANALYSIS BUSH WAS AWOL

[rawstory]

*****WORLD EXCLUSIVE***** http://rawstory.com

By John Byrne | Raw Story Editor

Lawrence J. Korb, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Reserve Affairs, Installations and Logistics under Ronald Reagan from 1981-1985, confirmed RAW STORY's legal analysis of President Bush's Guard Service in a telephone call Friday afternoon.

The analysis, which proves that President George W. Bush was absent without leave from the Texas Air National Guard in 1972, is available here: http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=172

Given proof that Bush missed five months of Guard training sessions, he said that Bush would be considered AWOL. "If you don't show up, you're absent without leave, by definition," Korb said.

No more than ten percent of sessions could be missed without them being made up, he asserted, confirming RAW STORY's findings. He added that President Bush should have been mandated to serve active duty if he missed even two months of service in a fiscal year -- 24 months of active duty minus the amount of active duty already served. For Bush, this would have amounted to 113 days. How this number was divined can be seen here: http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=173

<snip>

He has written more than 100 editorials in major publications, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, and has appeared more than a thousand times as a commentator on television on shows such as Larry King Live, Good Morning America and The O'Reilly Factor.

RAW STORY plans to bring President Bush's AWOL research to its full conclusion Monday, when Korb is able to review Bush's payroll records.

http://rawstory.com

[rumguy]

1. nice - we gotta get this spread far and wide

[rawstory]

4. Let's just say...

We've been in touch with those to whom this information could prove beneficial. ;)

[Th1onein]

9. Rumguy! WHO is that guy in the picture?

eom

[rumguy]

12. it's me

no just kidding - it's eminem

[havocmom]

2. Anybody get the feeling Ron and his mother have been calling in

markers? :evilgrin:

[Nlighten1]

6. Exactly what...

I was thinking.

[iconoclastic cat]

3. How credible is this?

I thought Raw Story was like Capitol Hill Blue.

[lebkuchen]

7. Lawrence Korb is legit

Once he gets involved, it's time to pay attention. He wrote an editorial several months ago in the NYT criticizing Bush's plan to close bases in Germany and (re)build bases in the former eastern bloc, a plan Korb thinks is nuts, and it is.

I'm all ears and eyes when he gets on board.

[kentuck]

15. Korb is credible....

If he says Bush was AWOL, it's a story.

[0007]

30. Can't for the show to hit the road......Korb will knock 'em on thier ears!

A very creditable man indeed.

[rawstory]

8. You thought wrong

I spoke to the man myself. Capitol Hill Blue doesn't quote who their sources are.

Wanna read more about Larry Korb? Check out his bio at:

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=2486

I'd say, "here's his cell phone number," but obviously, that's really not appropriate.

[iconoclastic cat]

13. LOL -- okay, okay, I get it!

No need to cart Mr. Korb to my apartment or anything! I understand. Credible info. Great!

So, does this fall down the memory hole, or what?

[rawstory]

17. Nope, it's going out to the media now

We're just deciding whether to hold the story for full media release until Monday, when Korb can look at the payroll records himself.

[iconoclastic cat]

19. Hey, you should put a Rawstory.com link in the "comments" part of

your profile. I, for one, had only heard of your site once or twice during my time at DU. Spread it around!

[crossroads]

23. Way to go!!!

Nail the coward!
:dem: :kick:

[MaineDem]

5. What is rawstory?

I appreciate the story and the attention you're paying to it.

[rawstory]

10. I am rawstory ;)

"Raw Story is the liberal alternative to Drudge, culling and composing news from around the world."

"What is Raw Story Media?

Raw Story Media is private public-interest organization aimed at improving the breadth, depth and accessibility of alternative media.

Its properties include The Raw Story, a headline index focused on progressive politics; Blue Lemur News, a sister site focused on condensing and highlighting sections of various reportage to provide wider, more open access to myriad media; and the Blue Lemur Community, a network of liberal blogs intended to promote commentary, involvement and transparency on issues of the day.

http://rawstory.com/co/

[iconoclastic cat]

14. Hmmm...

Interesting site, RS. I dig it so far. I have four other windows going, but when I get done I'll dig into it.

[Zorra]

25. May I have your permission to print this story out with my printer and

distribute it to some republicans? I live outside the country and there are many ex-patriate republican vets near where I live. I will also give them a sheet with John Kerry's service record at the same time.

Thanks, nice work!

[rawstory]

33. Absolutely!

Sorry there's no printer friendly link. Maybe this story will get us enough traffic to pay for a programmer, lol.

And Buzzflash just put up a link to one of our older stories -- the bush missed five months one -- so that should start the train-a-coming.

[Fridays Child]

36. RS, Al Franken should interview you.

Send AAR your stuff!

[Swede]

57. I just bookmarked you.

[Joanne98]

11. Rawstory rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!

:) Give them Hell RS

[AlFrankenFan]

16. Let's get is to CNN, MSNBC, FOX, everyone!

hehehehehehehehehe WE KNEW IT! WE AREN'T CRAZY! :crazy:

[havocmom]

22. Monday, let's wait for Monday. No point in doing the junta's Friday news

dump for them! We want the folks at home to notice this one. :evilgrin:

[WillyT]

18. Hee, Hee, Heeeeeeee... You Guys RAAAAAAWWWWKKK !!!

Georgie-Boy, and his Band Of Others!!!

The others who went in his place!

:yourock:

Or should it be 'nothers', or maybe 'nethers'...

:shrug:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

20. Thank you for posting this story!!

[Octafish]

21. CHIMPEACH!

[truthisfreedom]

27. hahahahahaha. chimpeach. i love it. bumpersnickers, now!

[WillyT]

28. BumperSnickers ??? - Can They Withstand A 5 mph Impact, Or...

do they just go all gooey???

:shrug:

[Merlin]

24. This could be the key to mainstreaming this story.

Korb has cache.

[rawstory]

34. Absolutely.

And he knows how to be a pundit.

[truthisfreedom]

26. he can make it up by serving active duty AT THE FRONT LINE IMMEDIATELY!

cuff him and frog march his ass to Iraq NOW.

[rocktivity]

29. He's a DESERTER!!!!!

If he was AWOL for more than 30 days at a time, HE'S A DESERTER!!! Don't water it down by saying he was AWOL--HE'S A DESERTER!

Under the circumstances, Rawstory, wait until the payroll records are in. You could be in for a nasty surprise otherwise.

Finally, remember the debt of gratitude we owe to the people who got this story into the mainstream: If Wesley Clark had backed down when Peter Jennings tried to "gotcha!" him asking if it was proper for Michael Moore to refer to Bush as a derserter, this would still be the stuff that tinfoil hat whack jobs are made of!

:headbang:
rocknation

[WillyT]

32. Hey, Just Because We Sport A TinFoilHat Doesn't Mean We're Wrong, LOL !!!

:hi::bounce::hi:

[rawstory]

38. ABOUT BEING A DESERTER...

we've actually got more evidence that suggests he was considered to have deserted the Guard and thrown back into the priority draft status (and it was the Houston draft board that finally "fixed" his Guard "problems") but it's a hell of a lot harder to provide and requires a really long time to properly argue. so we're sticking with the things that are more facile to understand, and were glad to enroll a reaganite in our cause.

[p.lukasiak]

53. Deserter...

the problem here is that you really can't define "deserter" in terms of 30 days when you are talking about the inactive duty obligation.

Bush was required to show up two days each month, or make up the time. Failure to make up that time within 30 days does not make you a deserter as that term is defined under statutory law, because Bush was not required to be there all 30 days...

Based SOLELY on the payroll records "AWOL" is an appropriate label. An argument can be made for desertion based on documentary evidence of intent to desert during that particular period (this is separate from the other "desertion" charge that is based on what happened after Bush left the Texas Air National Guard). But that is not as solid an argument as the AWOL charge...

and in terms of its impact, proving "AWOL" is going to be just as effective as proving "desertion" at this point.

[rocktivity]

61. Thank you, p.lukasiak, for your explanation

and welcome to DU!

:hi:
rocknation

[xchrom]

31. if you weren't a bush{hmmm?}

what would the punishment be?

[puerco-bellies]

35. An M-16 and in the jungle PRONTO!!! n/t

[Disturbed]

39. Moore was right!!!! Dumbass was a deserter!

Dumbass should be retroactively indicted for desertion.

[leftchick]

37. raw story... I LOVE YOU!!!!

"If you don't show up, you're absent without leave, by definition," Korb said....

That is THE most beautiful quote I have heard from a repuke in YEARS!!!

:loveya:

[Gloria]

40. Korb was on TV a couple of days ago, speaking about

the Iraq mess, if I recall. He was really great!
I think it was CNN, but I'm not sure.

I hope he gets to this business soon........

But I'm a bit concerned because I got the impression that he was at the very least, favoring Kerry. Again, I caught it by accident, so I may be totally wrong...but I think he was really arguing with reference to Kerry. I don't know if he's got any ties to the campaign. I don't want to see him smeared like Joe Wilson was and the link to Kerry expolited by the hounds.


Just be forwarned.........

[rawstory]

41. STATUS of STORY in MAINSTREAM MEDIA

Just as an FYI: We've fed this story to some political operatives who've given us the thumbs up and are feeding it to "receptive" mainstream media sources. We've also made sure they're aware that Korb hasn't commented on the payroll records specifically, and to look for that on Monday. But this will allow them to get their own expert and independent sources as re: the specifics of his payroll records.

We're also drafted a rebuttal to the expected Bush/Cheney response:
http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=174

Hopefully, we're on our game. I've spent about ten hours looking and checking everything myself, and trying to present it so it can all be understood.

We'll see...

[Fridays Child]

42. Glad you're on the side of truth.

If you used your powers for evil, you would be devastating!

[demgurl]

44. Keep up the great work, raw.

[KC21304]

43. Don't the payroll records show that he showed up

on a lot of days before and after those 5 months ? I don't understand the points earned on these days, but I know that their argument has always been that he made up his time.

I still think the point to be made is his deciding in April 72 that he isn't going to fly anymore and the hell with what anyone wants to do about it. After signing a contract to fly until May 26, 1974 he quits 20 months after being certified. And he lied in his biography when he said he flew " several " years after he was certified. 20 months is not several years.

[rawstory]

46. No, he never made it up.

Please read all of the documents. He never made up a single weekend for those five months.

[rawstory]

45. EXTREMELY IRATE WITH DU

I am pissed that this was moved from LBN to General Discussion, without any consideration of the fact that Capitol Hill Blue and Drudge HAVE NEVER (from my understanding) been moved. They quote anonymous sources; this source is an extremely trusted one.

I am considering pulling out of DU altogether. There is evidently a double standard here (and a seeming attempt to censor legitimate news, while allowing the right-wing and completely fictitious stories -- CHB and Drudge have been proven false time and again, whereas we have not) which discourages ACTUAL BREAKING NEWS from getting out.

I am happy to provide the moderators with Mr. Korb's email address so that they can confirm the story. I cannot BELIEVE THAT THIS occured, at DU, of all places.

[NecessaryOnslaught]

47. Kick

Agree about the double standard. Stick around though.

[rawstory]

48. DU CENSORS DU CENSORSHIP THREAD!

Jesus. I did post it in the ask the moderators forum, but that's not the point at all. The point is that the general DU audience should be aware of what the DU mods are doing and the double standard they employ.

So much for free speech.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2119647

[rawstory]

49. AND IT WAS MENTIONED ON AIR AMERICA

Just my last kick, mods and DUers -- this story (in its earlier, pre-reagan defense secretary confirmation stage) was carried on Air America's 10pm news on Wednesday, July 28.

Obviously Air America isn't a "legitimate source" in a forum that plasters Air America schedules and shows ALL OVER the site.

And really, does nobody care about this? If not, shoot me down, please -- I just thought this should be something serious people should be worried about -- If DU censors the real hard-hitting news, what is DU for?

[LittleApple81]

50. Don't get irate... we need news like this. Just post it in GD for

every DUer's benefit, please.

[BayouBengal07]

51. Noooooooo

Please stay!!!!

[calimary]

52. Yes, you need to hang with us.

Look, until this gets sorted out, we need the INFORMATION out! I, for one, LOVE to relay word of stuff like this to viewer complaint operators and whomever else might be helpful! At least stick with us for the support system, if nothing else.

[rawstory]

54. I suspect I'll stay, but

I really want a response from Skinner (wrote him a nice letter) just clarifying the policy. You can't approve Drudge and Capitol Hill Blue across the board and not give other sources a chance. Especially, uh (and this really gets me) when Air America carried our story -- even without the Reagan Defense Sec. stuff -- on Wednesday! Come on, Mods, be a little more reasonable about this. If Air America isn't a legitimate source, it's probably a good idea to take all the promo stuff off the site. ;)

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

55. I agree

and I certainly hope you stay around, this is big.

Maybe there is some reason not clear to any of us at this time why it was moved to GD? Just giving it a shot here....

[rawstory]

56. I dunno

They could have thought it was "news analysis," which, of course it is, aside from the overriding principle that it's breaking news...

[DemBones DemBones]

58. We just got new moderators recently and I've seen

some strange decisions made by mods myself. The admins were all in Boston this past week. Take those facts (new mods, absent admins) together and that may explain it.

It is odd that you're bounced when you are naming your source and CHB doesn't.

As for Drudge :eyes:

[slutticus]

59. You rock dude...please don't leave...

What if we all "nominate topic for homepage"?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

60. Thank You! kick