Massive Counterattack on Bush's Service
Questions About Bush's Guard Service
The White House, the Republican Party and the Bush-Cheney campaign mounted a choreographed defense yesterday of President Bush's attendance record in the National Guard and denounced Democrats for raising questions about his service.... White House press secretary Scott McClellan said during his televised afternoon briefing that it is 'a shame that this issue was brought up four years ago during the campaign, and it is a shame that it is being brought up again.'
The questions about George W. Bush's National Guard service (or lack thereof) is quickly becoming an issue that will not going away if the White House continues to pretend to ignore the 800-lb gorilla in the room.
With all due respect to Bush Mouthpiece-in-Chief Scott McClellan, it is hardly a "shame" that the question of Bush's service record has come up. The Democrats are putting forward two candidated in John Kerry and Wesley Clark who served their country ably and well. Bush, from all indications, used the connections available to him to avoid combat in Vietnam by joining the Texas National Guard. Of course, the path Bush chose hard makes him unique- thousands of young American males did the very same thing.
Lois Romano of the Washington Post examined the service record of Our Sainted And Yet Illegitimate President and weighs in with this by concluding:
...that Bush "enjoyed preferential treatment" that allowed him to get a coveted Texas Air National Guard assignment during the Vietnam War.
But the issue of whether Bush actually shirked his military duties in 1972, when he transferred to an Alabama unit, is murkier. There do not appear to be any records of his service there.
White House communications director Dan Bartlett said yesterday that Bush "specifically remembers" performing some of his duties in Alabama. And the Bush campaign is adamant. A spokesman told Romano: "The president was never AWOL."
The fact that there seem to be some legitimate questions about Bush's service record would seem to indicate that the White House needs to address this question openly and honestly. In a fashion typical of this Imperial Presidency, however, the initial response, as it ever is, seems to be denial, obfuscation, and professions of righteous indignation.
This "issue", such as it is, could be put to bed easily and quickly. All the White House has to do is to display some openness and honesty, supply the records, and let Americans draw their own conclusions. In the end, it may well turn out to be much ado about nothing, but Bush's "Trust me, I'm Presidentiary" approach isn't going to cut it. After Iraq, Our Sainted And Yet Illegitimate President's credibility is hovering somewhere around zero, and deservedly so.
Americans deserve to know, and if the White House refuses to be open about Bush's service record, we will be left to draw our own conclusions. The spinmeisters in the White House might not like the results.
