Bush's Credibility Issue, Part 4: Military Service

CNN.com:White House Releases New Bush Document

Surprise, surprise. . .

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House said seven months ago that it had released all the records on President Bush's stateside military service during the Vietnam War, yet new records are still dribbling out as Election Day approaches.

The White House on Wednesday night produced a November 1974 document bearing Bush's signature from Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was attending Harvard Business School, saying he had decided not to continue as a member of the military reserve.

The document, signed a year after Bush left the Texas Air National Guard, said he was leaving the military because of 'inadequate time to fulfill possible future commitments.

Darn.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the resignation was found in connection with a lawsuit brought by The Associated Press. The White House said the document had been in Bush's personnel file and that it had been found by the Pentagon.

Found?? Does anyone out there believe for one second that the Pentagon didn't know where these records were? We're talking about the President of the United States. It was in his personnel file! What, did they forget to look there?

Earlier Wednesday, the White House said Bush never was disciplined while serving in the Texas Air National Guard, never failed a physical and never asked his father or family friends for help to get him into the Guard.

Never failed the physical, because he never showed up for it-- It's well documented.

And, if he wasn't disciplined for missing this physical (which in turn disqualified him from serving his tour in Alabama)--

The Texas Air National Guard stripped Bush of his pilot status in August 1972 for failing to take the annual medical exam required of all pilots.

--then I assume he was a very rare case. The military disciplines such negligence, and I suspect they did so in his case as well. Democrats do too:

Democrats question why Bush was never punished for skipping a required medical examination or missing drills for six months in 1972.

If he never was punished, then Mr. Bush certainly received:

Special treatment-- I wasn't around during the Vietnam War, so I don't know. But from what I've heard from people who were around, the only way for anybody to get into the National Guard was to get help from a friend in a high place (and W. certainly had many of those). Perhaps he didn't specifically ask anybody for help, but if your father was CIA director, and you were about to be drafted into a quagmire like Vietnam, wouldn't you expect it?

AP asked whether Bush ever participated in a disciplinary process during his Guard service, whether he ever received a critical report or was ever present for a conversation in which his performance, conduct or physical condition were raised by a superior officer.

"No and this is clear from the president's records, which have been made public," the White House said in an e-mail response.

That is, of course, it's clear from the documents we know about. Certainly, more will be "dribbling out." I wonder what documents will be "found" next.

After the White House said that they had released all of Bush's National Guard Documents, do you believe that the Pentagon has just now miraculously "found" these?

Do you believe that Bush didn't want or ask for help to get out of Vietnam?

Do you believe that Bush fulfilled his obligations, when the National guard stripped him of his pilot status, after which he promptly resigned for because of "inadequate time to fulfill possible future commitments?"

Look, Dan Rather or no, the White House has been pulling your chain about Bush's National Guard service. They just plain lied about releasing all of his documents, and they're lying now because --Gustav's bold prediction-- more documents will turn up later.

And no, it doesn't really matter whether Bush skipped out on his Guard service or not. We should all vote on the issues of this election, which is occurring in 2004, not 1974.

But here's a 2004 issue for you: When the Bush camp is saying that we can't trust Kerry, please ask yourself if you can trust this secretive and misleading administration. Despite what those slimy (and ironically named) Swift Boat Veterans for Truth say, we know that John Kerry served in Vietnam, honorably, saving a fellow soldier's life and sustaining several injuries in the process.

The Swift Boat Veterans dismiss these injuries as minor.

What injuries did W. receive? Well, he was serving on American soil, then working on a political campaign, and then attending Harvard, so probably none. But we'll never know, since he didn't even show up for a routine medical exam. My guess is that the most intense pain Bush endured during his time in the National Guard were some killer hangovers-- over at Harvard Business School.

I don't believe ya, Dubya. And neither will the American public.