Re: When even a Republican can see it....

In article <_eidnS99uojMVsPbnZ2dnUVZ_oSnnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxx>,
Kip Williams <kiptw@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

David Friedman wrote:
In article <f3lkmr$i3v$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, sethb@xxxxxxxxx (Seth)
wrote:

Try http://www.tompaine.com/Archive/scontent/3671.html

The page itself provides no support for its assertions. Combining that
with a bunch of links that go nowhere, I don't think you can take it
seriously. As far as the reader can tell, whoever wrote it could have
made up the whole thing.

Trying more recent pages, I find:

[chronological listing]

http://uggabugga.blogspot.com/2003_01_12_uggabugga_archive.html#87590816
(based on the article; given here for convenience and organization)

[for "bush guard transfer request"]

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/09/20/bush_guard_records/index1.h
tml?pn=1
(no links in the story)

http://users.cis.net/coldfeet/document.htm
gifs of documents from Bush's service record (I haven't checked the kerning)

The most useful thing so far, but still a bit hard to entangle. We have.

doc 2: Sept 5/72: A request for a temporary transfer to a group in
Alabama.

doc 5: A document, presumably after 24 May/72 (the date appears at the
bottom but seems to be referring to an attached form) turning down a
request to be assigned to an air reserve squadron, what and where
unspecified.

It looks from the time line as though Bush made a first request in 24
May and the rejection was 31 May, so perhaps the attached form is his
request.

doc 6: May 26/72: document accepting his request for assignment to the
9921 squadron in Alabama.

Perhaps the unit in Alabama is accepting him, but people higher up the
chain are rejecting? That's what one of the later pieces you link to
says happened.

No documents on whether the Sept request was accepted.

http://www.onlinejournal.com/bush/090300_Heldt/090300_heldt.html
(links to documents are given and seem to be there)

Yes.

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/09/09/bush_guard_duty/index.html?
pn=1
(another salon article from 2004)

This one seems to be accepting the forged documents as real.

http://www.glcq.com/
{"The AWOL Project" -- many documents included)

From a brief sampling, I don't think it's reliable. For instance, one
small part of the evidence for the claim that "there is no question that
some of Bush's military records have been tampered with" is the fact
that he gave his address as Harvard Business School, Boston Mass 02263,
with no post office box, street address, or specific building. Assuming
students had student mailboxes, as they well might, that's normal
enough--my university address has no p.o. box, street address or
building.

More generally, the author seems to take as evidence of tampering any
place where a form has ever been altered. But in the days before word
processors, it was perfectly normal to correct mistakes with whiteout.
Without more evidence, one can't tell if the correction was made while
the form was being filled out or years later.

[bush "not been observed"]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/09/08/bush_fell_short_on_duty_
at_guard/
(Boston Globe 9/8/2004)

Interesting, and I think relevant, quote:

" By not joining a unit in Massachusetts, Lloyd said in an interview
last month, Bush ''took a chance that he could be called up for active
duty. But the war was winding down, and he probably knew that the Air
Force was not enforcing the penalty."

But Lloyd said that singling out Bush for criticism is unfair. ''There
were hundreds of guys like him who did the same thing," he said."

Along similar lines, something nobody seems to have commented on is that
the document suspending Bush from flight duty for not having taken his
physical also suspends someone else for the same reason (as well as
doing several positive things with regard to other people). So it's hard
to tell how much of what people are taking as evidence of special
treatment was simply a general failure to enforce the rules as written.

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/bush/national_guard/
(Boston Globe's file of Bush Guard stories)

http://www.awolbush.com/index.html
(AWOLBush.com -- links seem current)

[bricken "accepted bush's request"]

http://www.populist.com/bushawol.html
(links include the above document gifs)

[bush "order to attend"]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/6/17/14206/1059
(with current link to document)

The interested reader is invited to continue Googling, as I have, on
phrases found in the document. I followed up the ones that looked
important (leaving out vague ones, or ones that simply referred to
standard Guard practice).

Many thanks. On the face of it there seems to be lots of evidence that
Bush fulfilled his obligations in a pretty minimal way and probably
didn't fulfill all of them. Both the claims of special treatment and of
after the fact alteration of records seem plausible enough, but I don't
think there is conclusive evidence for either.

Does anyone on the other side have links to good rebuttals?

One question that occurs to me, reading all of this, is why Bush joined
the Air National Guard in the first place. If, as various of the critics
argued, he had lots of political influence with, among others, his draft
board, one would think there would have been easier ways of using it to
avoid service. That might have led to later problems if he went into
politics, but my impression--perhaps someone can correct it--is that at
that point there was no particular reason to expect him to.

--
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/ http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/
Author of _Harald_, a fantasy without magic.
Published by Baen, in bookstores now
.

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