By Mark for the TIB Network:
From Newsweek via MSNBC:The standard rap against Bush is that he was ducking combat by joining the Guard. Actually, the Texas Air Guard had a program called Palace Alert that allowed pilots to volunteer for flight time in Vietnam. Three of Bush's fellow pilots—Udell, Woodfin and Fred Bradley—recalled to NEWSWEEK that Bush inquired with the base commander about signing up for Palace Alert. He was told no; he had too few flying hours at the time and his plane, the F-102, was by then deemed obsolete for air combat.Here is another source, but of course we must ignore it because it is National Review, right Libs?
And still another
Retired Colonel Ed Morrisey served in the Air National Guard and is familiar with the President's record since the beginning of his service.Of course, Morrisey must be lying even though he was an eyewitness to events. I mean, he has to be lying if he doesn't support the lib line, right? I mean, we can hold up a demonstrated and proven liar like Paul Wilson as a paragon of virtue. We can hold up a debunked tabloider like Kitty Kelly whose sources have been debunked time and again. Heaven forbid we take contemporaries accounts over liberal provacateurs, right?
Opposite a portrayal of a soldier not performing his duty he describes a flyer, near the top of his class.
Retired Colonel Morrisey has trained, developed and commanded lots of soldiers over a distinguished career.
He also swore in one very notable officer.
"George W. went to pilot training, seated well, being selected to be a fighter pilot, which is at the top of the line in the Air Force selection process. Came back to train in the F-102 at Ellington. He stood alert like anyone else," says Colonel Morrisey.
According to Morrisey, then-Lieutenant Bush more than fulfilled his guard requirements.
Morrisey says in the six years the President served he never failed to meet participation point requirements.
"Bush averaged 176 per year. In no year did he have less that 50," says Morrisey. "He was rated by his commander, Col. Maurice Udell in the top 5 of his pilots."
One of the criticisms leveled at the President is that he sought guard service to keep him from serving in Vietnam.
Morrisey says, "not so."
"The Air Force, in their ultimate wisdom, assembled a group of 102's and took them to Southeast Asia. Bush volunteered to go. But he needed to have 500 [flight] hours, but he only had just over 300 hours so he wasn't eligible to go,” Morrisey recalls.
Despite that, Lieutenant Bush stayed busy.
"He flew in active air defense missions, training missions. Day, night, regardless of inclement weather," Morrisey says.
I guess SeeBS didn't get the memo on this story, or they wouldn't have revealed the depths of their devotion to smearing the President. This story broke in February, but I guess Big Media did not see fit to provide balance to the whole draftdodge chapter of the b.s. known as Shrub/BusHitler/Halliburton/BigOil/Dumbya propaganda.
President Bush served, and he enquired about Vietnam service. Whether or not he was being protected, he didn't know it. He asked about being sent over.
It is shameful to perpetuate the myth of President Bush as cowering dolt.
The fact that in February this story came to light and SeeBS ignored it, big media glossed over it, shows the height of bias and willingness to mislead and distort for a candidate. This smacks of fascism and demagoguery to a horrifying degree in this great nation, especially from a party and a media that is supposed to be open and accepting.
What is more unnerving is the Left and Big Media's obsession with Vietnam. That was over 30 years ago. Why aren't we talking about the global terror threat? Why is one of our candidates and his party hung up on Vietnam? Why don't they have a plan? Why is it everything is laced with Vietnam era hatred? Why is the Left trying to demonize today's soldiers as they did the soldiers 30 years ago? Aren't there bigger things at play here? I sure thought so. Evidently, the Left is so wrapped up in nostalgia for the "glory" days of the 1960s, they would sacrifice the blood and reputations of our soldiers to do it. Kind of self-absorbed and self-serving, isn't it?
Of course, the liberals will say: why didn't Bush just issue this statement about his inquiry into volunteering? Well, for that response, I couldn't put it any better than Russell Wardlow and his commenters:
If this story is true, then why didn't Bush himself ever point out that he volunteered for active war service and dig someone up to substantiate it?
Maybe because he's a little more preoccupied with the war happening in this century?
Just a thought....
Comments
That and because he's not full of himself like the other candidate running for President.
Posted by: David Andersen at September 26, 2004 05:28 PM
This story isn't really new. I've been aware of it for at least a couple three months. (He didn't actually formally volunteer, I believe - he asked about volunteering but wasn't eligible.)
But somehow, it never is referenced in journalistic summaries of the "controversy", and doesn't prevent reporters from writing sentences like "Bush, who didn't want to go to Vietnam". (Much like the discovery of those Sarin shells in Iraq is never referenced in journalistic summaries of the WMD "controversy", and doesn't prevent them from writing sentences like "No WMDs have been found in Iraq.") Funny how that works.... If Bush did point it out, would it get any traction? Or would it be blacked out by the media?
Posted by: jaed at September 26, 2004 05:38 PM
It follows the same line of a "dunce" with a masters
from Yale and who flew an F-102. I should be so stupid.
Posted by: Dave Marshall at September 26, 2004 06:10 PM
David/All
Lt. Bush, according to the documents released from the Pentagon in the spring, DID volunteer. However, there was such a glut of F102 pilots (Many who did not transition to the follow-on airframe type) that the Air Force put a "floor" on the number of hours necessary to be accepted for deployment. He completed and signed a request to be included in the program.
Bush, in an interview in August, stated that people can't compare his service and John Kerry's service. The President stated that Kerry served "in harm's way" and the President did not.
Just another example of W taking the high road. Is it any surprise now that he isn't jumping up and down like the class know-it-all shouting "I did too volunteer!"?
Posted by: Rick Hoppe at September 26, 2004 06:29 PM
Couldn't have said it better myself...Some people, it seems, just have to pat themselves on the back constantly for things they did...The rest of us are worried about what we are doing now....
