Today his campaign released this:
- Key Unanswered Questions on Bush's Record In National Guard
"If George Bush wants to ask me questions about that through his surrogates, he owes America an explanation about whether or not he showed up for duty in the National Guard. Prove it. That's what we ought to have. I'm not going to stand around and let them play games." -- John Kerry, NBC News, 4/26/04
-- Bush Has Said He Used No Special Treatment To Get Into The Guard. How Does He Explain The Fact That He Jumped Ahead Of 150 Applicants Despite Low Pilot Aptitude Scores?
-- Col. Albert Lloyd Said A Report From Alabama To Ellington Should Have Been Filed. Where Is That Report?
-- Why Did Bush Miss His Medical Exam In 1972?
-- Where Are The Complete Results Of The Required Investigation Into Bush's Absence From The Exam?
-- Why Did Bush Specifically Request To NOT Be Sent Overseas For Duty?
-- Why Does The White House Say Bush Was On Base When Bush's Superiors Had Filed A Report Saying He Was Gone For A Whole Year?
-- Why Is The Pentagon Under Orders To Not Discuss Bush's Record With Reporters?
-- Where Are Bush's Flight Logs?
-- Why Hasn't Bush Himself Demonstrated That He Showed Up For Service in Alabama?
The rest of the release goes on to provide the documenation and substantiation for each of those questions.
Y'know, as I mentioned the other day, bringing up the military records, and all the comparisons that come with it, probably wasn't the brightest idea on the part of Republicans. Never mind the fact that you're talking about comparisons between a decorated combat veteran and a man whose commitment to his sworn duty finally culminated in a unilateral decision to skip a flight physical and then fail to ever retake it, resulting in the short-circuiting of his service.
No, this was stupid because the GOP had successfully snowed the press corps into submission on the whole issue of Bush's military records, even though -- as James Moore details in Salon -- the White House's much-touted release of those records in fact fell well short of being complete.
Now, as Josh Marshall suggests, the whole issue is in play once again, despite the self-evident lethargy of the Kewl Kids press corps: "I fear this is becoming another example of my press colleagues' deep-seated corruption." (Yo, Josh -- we pointed this out a coupla months ago.)
Maybe someone will finally get around to asking Dan Bartlett about those holes in the latest version of the explanation for Bush skipping that physical. Because someone should have figured out awhile back that it just doesn't add up.
Hopefully, they won't be fooled by responses like this one in the Washington Post:
- But retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Donald W. Shepperd, who was director of the Air National Guard until 1998, said missing a flight physical happens with many part-time pilots. Shepperd said he once did not take an annual flight physical and was grounded.
"It's not a big deal," Shepperd said. "You're grounded, and you take it again. As a longtime commander, I saw this happen on a regular basis."
No one bothered to point out, of course, that Bush didn't "take it again."
And that really is the bottom line to the problem with Bush's military record: It reveals a young man who didn't think enough of his duty to even live up to his sworn commitment. A man who couldn't be bothered to maintain his flight status even after his political work in Alabama was complete. A man who knew his family connections could fix that problem, just as it had gotten him the plum assignment in the first place.
John Kerry maybe put it best today in an interview with Chris Mathews:
- "I've never begrudged people the choice that they made, but once you've made a choice, I think you have a responsibility to honor the choice that you made," he said.
This is a point that appears lost on our feckless press corps. But maybe that's the problem: They have so much in common with the Preznit.
No comments:
Post a Comment