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George W. Bush enlisted with the Texas Air National Guard after he graduated
from Yale in 1968. He signed up for a six-year hitch, two years full
time and four years as a “regular” citizen. He flew F-102 fighter jets
on missions to defend our borders against Soviet air incursions. He
applied for early discharge in 1973 to attend Harvard Business School and
the request was granted. Since Bush was nearing the end of his
enlistment and the F-102 was already being phased out, the early discharge
was not unusual for the circumstances or the time. Bush received an
honorable discharge. In a way, the dustup about President Bush’s National
Guard service is itself a demonstration of liberal bias in the media.
Below are some points to consider.
- When filmmaker Michael Moore introduced then-presidential candidate
Wesley Clark during a rally, Moore called President Bush a deserter.
Rather than denounce Moore’s accusation when given a chance, Clark said he
believed in freedom of speech.
- Democrat National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe claimed President
Bush was AWOL during his National Guard service.
- The mainstream media treated these unsupported accusations like a new
story. In fact, these accusations were shown to be baseless during
President Bush’s first successful campaign for Texas governor in 1994 and
during his 2000 presidential campaign. In 2000, the New York Times
-– as anti-Bush as they come –- said there was no basis for the
accusation.1
- Rather than ask the people who accused President Bush of being AWOL
for their proof, the mainstream media instead demanded President Bush
prove his innocence. The media were willing to believe the head of
the Democrat National Committee over President Bush.
- Rather than ask the people who accused President Bush of being a
deserter for their proof, the mainstream media instead demanded President
Bush prove his innocence. The media were willing to believe Michael
Moore –- a serial Bush basher –- over President Bush.
- The media reported that General William Turnipseed (commander of the
Alabama Air National Guard during Bush’s service) said he didn’t remember
seeing Lt. Bush in Alabama. This was supposed to be “proof” that
Bush never showed up for duty. However, the media didn’t report it
when Gen. Turnipseed said his comment was taken out of context. Gen.
Turnipseed said, “George Bush wasn't even famous back then, so why would I
notice this outsider showing up at a couple of meetings. I just
wouldn’t.”2
- Every time President Bush provided evidence he did nothing wrong while
in the National Guard, the press response was always, “this evidence
raises more questions than it answers.” Payroll stubs, medical
records, dental records, National Guard personnel records, nothing was
enough.
- When personnel records showed that appraisals consistently rated Lt.
Bush as an excellent or exceptional pilot, the mainstream media gave this
no coverage.
- We constantly heard that on his National Guard application, Bush chose
not to volunteer for overseas duty. What we didn’t hear was that Bush was
probably advised to do this because he was applying for a specific
position with the 147th Fighter Group.3
- When personnel records showed Lt. Bush volunteered for service in
Vietnam near the end of his pilot training in 1970, the mainstream media
gave this no coverage.3 The media wanted us
to know George Bush didn’t volunteer for overseas duty when he applied for
the National Guard, but didn’t want us to know he later volunteered for
combat in Vietnam.
- When John Kerry, Teresa Kerry, and Terry McAuliffe likened National
Guard service with fleeing to Canada to avoid the draft and not really
serving in the military, no one in the mainstream media made an issue of
it.
- When the media asked, “Where is the Bush ‘Band of Brothers’?”, the
mainstream media ignored people who served with President Bush when they
came forward.
- Talking heads (news show anchors) kept saying, “This story won’t die.”
Of course, it was those very talking heads that refused to let it die.
In the end, it became obvious that nothing short of a trip in the “WABAC
(Wayback) Machine” by Mr. Peabody and Sherman would satisfy the media.
What’s lost in all of this is President Bush spent nearly six years (the
first two years full time) in the Texas Air National Guard. He could
have requested a low risk position but instead chose to fly the F-102
fighter jet. This service was so “safe” that some pilots in Bush’s
squadron were killed in crashes while Bush was there. As mentioned
above, Lt. Bush volunteered for Vietnam duty.
If you want to believe the worst of President Bush, you won’t let facts
get in the way.
Contrast this treatment with that of then-presidential candidate Bill
Clinton in 1992. When it was disclosed that Clinton bailed out of the
ROTC to study at Oxford, and that Clinton demonstrated against the Vietnam
War on foreign soil, these actions got little coverage by the mainstream
media.4 Further, John Kerry defended
Clinton. What hypocrisy.
1.
Bush
‘Desertion’ Charge Debunked; Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff;
NewsMax.com; January 24, 2004.
2.
Alabama commander regrets Bush
comments; Jim Cummins; MSNBC News; February 11, 2004.
3.
At Height of Vietnam, Bush Picks Guard; George Lardner, Jr., and
Lois Romano; The Washington Post; July 28, 1999.
4.
Clinton Letter
to Colonel Holmes; Bill Clinton; December 3, 1969.
©
2004 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.
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