National Guard

Did Ed Gillespie Help Roger Stone Create the Rathergate Forgery?

Bob Fertik — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:24:21 -0400

emptywheel has become obsessed with Ed Gillespie, which is a very good thing.

I'm increasingly fascinated with the prominent role of Lobbyist-in-Chief, Ed Gillespie. We now know he was included in discussions, in spring of 2006 (at precisely the time Andy Card and Scottie McClellan were ousted), about whether or not to fire Rummy. He picked up the portfolios of both Dan Bartlett and Karl Rove, two of the last hold-outs from the Texas Mafia. And now here he is, promising to do what Karl Rove couldn't do--excommunicate the corruption from the Corruption Party.

The Lobbyist-in-Chief is accruing an awful lot of power in fairly short order. Is Gillespie the guy corporate America imposed on BushCo to ensure the Republicans not lose power for all eternity? And is Gillespie the guy who told Rove and Gonzales to leave?

Gillespie doesn't make a lot of headlines so I checked my archives and was surprised to find Gillespie on a conference call at the height of the Rathergate scandal, courtesy of NewsMax:

Many questions still remain. Was a crime committed? I believe so. Obviously, forgery is involved. But the Texas Legal Code also says it is a third-degree felony if one "makes, presents, or uses any record, document, or thing with knowledge of its falsity and with intent that it be taken as a genuine governmental record" or "makes, presents, or uses a governmental record with knowledge of its falsity."

Did the Kerry campaign know about the existence of the documents in question in advance of the CBS report? A chronology of events indicates they did.

At the time, I loved the rightwing argument that the forgeries were a crime that absolutely positively had to be prosecuted - because I knew the forger wasn't Bill Burkett (who freaked out when he received the forgeries) but most likely GOP dirty trickster Roger Stone, whose Cuban wife most likely played the role of "Lucy Ramirez," the woman who arranged the delivery of the forgeries to Burkett.

But was Stone working alone, or was he working with the Busheviks who scrubbed all records of Bush's National Guard desertion from 1998 to the present - people like Karl Rove, Karen Hughes, Dan Bartlett - and Ed Gillespie?

It's hard to imagine Stone worked alone. And it's Standard Operating Procedure for the Busheviks to use a string of intermediaries to create "plausible deniability" for the insider operatives who are actually pulling the strings. (Think how Cheney used Libby to quietly spread Plame's identity through a series of White House officials and reporters.)

And it's also SOP for Busheviks to aggressively blame Democrats for the crimes they commit. So the fact that Ed Gillespie led the charge to blame the Kerry campaign for the forgeries is powerful circumstantial evidence that Gillespie himself helped create the forgeries - and is therefore guilty of the very crimes he cites.

At the time, DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe asked exactly the right question:

Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic national chairman, attempted to turn the matter against Republicans. McAuliffe cited a New York Post story that said Roger Stone, a Republican consultant based in Miami Beach, had declined to comment on whether he was the source of the documents. "Will Ed Gillespie or the White House admit today what they know about Mr. Stone's relationship with these forged documents?" McAuliffe said.

"I have nothing whatsoever to do with this," Stone told USA TODAY. "I'm a firm believer in political hardball, but I draw the line at forged documents."

So c'mon bloggers, let's find the connections between Gillespie and Roger Stone!

p.s. since emptywheel is also obsessed with Plamegate, she will also find this interesting from 9/30/03, when the Plamegate scandal was breaking:

RNC CHAIRMAN ED GILLESPIE: I think if the allegation is true, to reveal the identity of an undercover CIA operative -- it's abhorrent, and it should be a crime, and it is a crime.

CHRIS MATTHEWS: It'd be worse than Watergate, wouldn't it?

GILLESPIE: It's -- Yeah, I suppose in terms of the real world implications of it. It's not just politics.

Now that Gillespie has access to all the secret White House files about Plamegate, isn't it his duty as a lawyer to help solve the crime by turning those documents over to Patrick Fitzgerald and Henry Waxman?

The Smoking Jet

Bob Fertik — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 12:25:18 -0400

Originally here

Help Us Tell the World the Truth About Bush's AWOL!

______________________________________________

AWOL is back...
and this time the truth will come out!

Read the Latest Coverage from Democrats.com

Learn all the details at Paul Lukasiak's AWOL Project

and join in the search for truth at BobFertik.com

______________________________________________

Exclusives from Democrats.com!

Let's Get Back to the Rathergate Memos by Bob Fertik 4/7/05
Rather Was Right by Bob Fertik 3/9/05
Did Al Lloyd Forge Crucial Bush Guard Document? by Bob Fertik, 10/8/04
Bush's File has a PROPORTIONAL-SPACED Document! by Bob Fertik, 9/30/04
STOP THE PRESS! Bush was Grounded for "Fear of Flying", by Bob Fertik, 9/28/04
AWOL & Wasted: Bush in 1972-73, by Bob Fertik, 9/27/04 (updated periodically)
The Biggest Lies about Bush's AWOL and Grounding, by Bob Fertik, 9/25/04
NY Times Whitewashes Bush's AWOL, by Bob Fertik, 9/20/04
$3000 REWARD if George Bush will say "George Bush believes the Killian memos are all UNTRUE, and the events described in the memos are all FALSE" by Bob Fertik 9/19/04
Bush Impersonated a Veteran in 2000, by Bob Fertik, 9/14/04
How Many Lies did Dan Bartlett tell 60 Minutes? by Bob Fertik, 9/9/04
Lukasiak Study Proves Bush Was Legally AWOL, by Bill Burkett 8/13/04
Boston Globe Lets Dan Bartlett Keep Lying About Bush's AWOL Military Records, by Bob Fertik 4/20/04
FOIA Request, by Bob Fertik, 2/24/04 (never delivered)
Trolling for Truth, by Bob Fertik, 2/12/04
AWOL-Gate: It's Time for a Special Prosecutor, by Bob Fertik, 2/10/04
AWOL From the Truth: How George W. Bush Lied to Tim Russert About His Missing Military Records, by Bob Fertik, 2/9/04
Bush's AWOL Lies: Famous Last Words, by Bob Fertik, 2/4/04 (updated periodically)
AWOL? Deserter? Bring It On! by Bob Fertik, 1/25/04

Bush Aides Possibly Altered National Guard Records To Conceal Grounding and Missed Duty, by Bob Fertik, 11/4/00
Press Conference by Senators Bob Kerrey and Daniel Inouye 11/2/00
Bush's Top 10 Lies, Exaggerations And 'Obsfucations' About His Military Service, by Nancy Skinner, 10/30/00
The George W. Bush Military Record, by Jesse Brown, former Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 10/30/00
George Magazine is Wrong, by Bob Fertik, 10/15/00

______________________________________________

Read the Articles that Started it All...

The Smoking Jet: Bush's Military Record Reveals Grounding and Absence for Two Full Years, by Bob Rogers, Democrats.com, October 4, 2000
Finally, The Truth About Bush's Military Service Record, by Martin Held, TomPaine.com, September 27, 2000
Online Journal Articles by Martin Heldt, Linda L. Starr and Bev Conover, June 6 - November 5, 2000
One-year gap in Bush's National Guard duty, by Walter V. Robinson, Boston Globe, May 23, 2000

______________________________________________

Still Unclaimed in 2004!

$2,000 REWARD!!!
From Veterans for Real Truth
For Proof That Lt. George W. Bush
Reported for Air National Guard Duty
in Texas between May 1972 and July 1973

$2,000* REWARD!!!
$1,000 from Democrats.com
$1,000 from Alabama Vietnam Veterans
For Proof That Lt. George W. Bush
Reported for Air National Guard Duty
in Alabama in 1972

Birmingham News, October 14, 2000. Ten Jefferson County Vietnam veterans are offering $1,000 to anyone with proof that Texas Gov. George W. Bush actually served in the Alabama National Guard. "We don't want anybody like that leading our country," veteran John Stewart said Friday as nine other veterans surrounded him at Linn Park. "Not me as a veteran."

______________________________________________

Archive 2000:
The Story the Media Refused to Cover*
in order to elect their candidate
George W. Bush
(*with a few honorable exceptions below)

Bush military record berated, Dallas Morning News, November 6

In the presidential campaign's waning hours, Democrats focused their bare-knuckle attacks on Republican George W. Bush's military record and judgment, as backers came to the defense of the Texas governor. Two prominent Democratic senators accused Mr. Bush of embellishing his military service, citing campaign material that says he flew fighter jets until he left the Air National Guard in September 1973. They said Guard records indicate that the governor made his last flight in April 1972 before going to work on a political campaign in Alabama.

Senator plays role of Gore loyalist, Boston Globe, November 6

[Senator John] Kerry, a decorated Navy veteran of Vietnam, said Bush should be scrutinized because he ends every speech by raising his hand, taking a mock oath of office, and pledging to restore honor and integrity to the White House. ''How is it that someone who's supposedly serving on active duty, having supposedly taken that oath, can miss a whole year of service without explaining where it went?'' Kerry asked the crowd.

Burkett says he wasn't pointing a finger, but trying to get Bush to release the pertinent documents in his military records, Online Journal, November 5
Former National Guard officer says Bush aide scrubbed military records, Online Journal, November 4
Democrats launch attack on Bush, charge dereliction of military duties in '70s, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 4

The personnel officer in charge of Bush's 147th Fighter Group, now-retired Col. Rufus G. Martin, says he tried to give Bush a light load, telling him to apply to the 9921st Air Reserve Squadron in Montgomery, Ala. Martin said in an interview that he knew Bush wasn't eligible for the 9921st, an unpaid, general training squadron that met once a week to hear lectures on first aid and the like. "However," he said, "I thought it was worth a try.... It was the least participation of any type of unit."

Bush working to keep truth hidden, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, November 3

But the most perplexing deception involves Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. The evidence is inconclusive about how Bush succeeded in getting into the Guard, thus avoiding the draft, but it does suggest that strings were pulled on his behalf. The record is very clear, however, that at one point Bush transferred his obligation to a Guard unit in Alabama, then failed to report for duty there. All in all, he ducked out of 18 months of his Guard duty. Though the term "deserter" is too harsh to describe what Bush did, it's no more unfair than the "draft dodger" label applied to Bill Clinton for his own effort to avoid Vietnam. And the perplexing part of the story is the very different reaction that Bush's service record has inspired. The same people who claimed to find Clinton so morally disgusting apparently see nothing wrong in what Bush did. On that point, Bush isn't fooling them. They're fooling themselves.

2 Democrats: Bush Let Guard Down, Washington Post, November 3

Two high-profile surrogates for Vice President Gore, in an 11th-hour attempt to exploit a dormant issue, yesterday castigated George W. Bush over allegations that he did not fulfill some of his National Guard duties in the 1970s. Democratic Sens. Bob Kerrey (Neb.) and Daniel Inouye (Hawaii), both Medal of Honor winners, were drafted to attack Bush on a 27-year-old controversy that the Gore campaign has avoided mentioning until now. They spoke by phone to a veterans rally in Nashville led by Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.), a decorated Vietnam veteran.

Bush had '76 DUI conviction: He confirms Maine incident as military record is challenged, Sacramento Bee, November 3

Democratic military veterans in the U.S. Senate assailed Bush for failing to explain part of his tenure in the Texas Air National Guard. "The question is, where were you, Governor Bush?" said Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, a World War II veteran. "What would you do as commander in chief if someone in the National Guard did the same thing?" Inouye asked during a telephone address to Gore supporters in Nashville on Thursday. Inouye joined his colleagues, Sens. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska and Max Cleland of Georgia, in raising harsh questions about Bush's role during the Vietnam War.

Bush's Guard Attendance Is Questioned and Defended, New York Times, November 3

Two Democratic senators today called on Gov. George W. Bush to release his full military record to resolve doubts raised by a newspaper about whether he reported for required drills when he was in the Air National Guard in 1972 and 1973.

Democrats at rally contrast Gore, Bush in military service, Nashville Tennesseean, November 3

Lars Erik Nelson, For Bush, Conservatives Have Lowered the Bar, New York Daily News, November 3

Imagine if the roles were reversed. Imagine if the Democratic presidential candidate had spent the Vietnam War years in a National Guard unit - and then didn't bother to serve out his full obligation. In fact, we don't have to imagine very hard. President Clinton changed his mind about serving in the University of Arkansas ROTC and has been denounced for eight years as a draft dodger, even though he was subject to the draft. But George W. Bush, we now learn, received a preferential acceptance to the Texas Air National Guard, signed up for a six-year hitch, spent 22 months flying after completing training - and then simply walked away.

Discrepancies, Questions Surface About Bush's Service In Air Guard, Chicago Tribune, November 2
Mary McGrory, Undecided About What?, Washington Post, November 2

Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett made a snotty reply: "You mean to tell me he has no problem with Bill Clinton's avoidance of military service?" Medal of Honor winner Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) jumped in with a blazing statement to Bush: "If you become commander in chief, what will you do if a member of the Army went AWOL as you did?" Is Bush the Teflon candidate? Is he more like Ronald Reagan than his father--breezy, ingratiating, and not too deep? Gore is blamed for everything he does and apparently for Clinton's sins as well. Bush has always said that would be the case. Is he right? Who knows?

'Zeitgeist Meter' Detects Movement, Washington Post, November 1

The Gore campaign has stayed about a million miles away from allegations that Bush ducked part of his National Guard service. But Sen. Bob Kerrey, undoubtedly with a quiet nod from the Nashville folks, has lobbed a grenade in that direction.

Bush bashed for dodging Guard duty, Salon, November 1, 2000

In the name of avoiding "personal attacks," the media and the Democrats have largely ignored stories about George W. Bush's stint in the National Guard, particularly the gap of several months in his service record between 1972 and 1973. But one big gun in the Democratic Party has now opened fire on that issue. The Boston Globe reports that Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, a decorated Vietnam veteran, blasted Bush for dodging combat in the war, and dodging questions about his record during the race. "It upsets me," Kerrey said in an MSNNC interview, "when someone says, 'Vote for me, I was in the military,' when in fact he got into the military in order to avoid serving in the military, to avoid service that might have taken him into the war. And then he didn't even show up for duty."

Kerrey blasts Bush on Service, Boston Globe, November 1, 2000

Senator Bob Kerrey, a Nebraska Democrat who won the Medal of Honor for his service in Vietnam, expressed disgust yesterday at evidence that George W. Bush sidestepped National Guard duty for months in 1972 and 1973, a lapse that Kerrey said amounts to Bush being AWOL - absent without leave. ''It upsets me,'' Kerrey said in an interview, ''when someone says, `Vote for me, I was in the military,' when in fact he got into the military in order to avoid serving in the military, to avoid service that might have taken him into the war. And then he didn't even show up for duty.'' Bush, Kerrey said in an interview, ''needs to explain where he was when he was supposed to be fulfilling his military obligation. If he is elected president, how will he be able to deal as commander in chief with someone who goes AWOL, when he did the same thing?''

Gene Lyons, Bush Isn't Qualified for Presidency, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, November 1, 2000

[Bush has] achieved little or nothing on his own, coasting on Daddy's money and Daddy's connections all his life. Family pull got him into Yale and smoothed his path away from Vietnam and into the Texas Air National Guard. Although he never took a scheduled flight physical in 1973 and no record can be found that he ever reported for duty in Alabama that year, Bush somehow emerged with an honorable discharge. His business career consists of one false start after another. Buoyed by the family name and other people's money, Dubya went bust in three separate ventures, escaping each time with a healthy profit, although other investors were not so lucky.

MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, October 31, 2000

Gues: Senator Bob Kerrey(D-NE), former Navy SEAL and Congressional Medal of Honor winner.

KERREY: What is of interest is when he says "I can't account for eighteen months, I don't know where I was, I don't know where I did." I mean, Chris, there are guardsmen down in Alabama according to Walter Robinson who are saying that they'll offer a 3500 dollar reward for anybody that saw Governor Bush at a meeting that he alleges he was at. And when Jesse Brown says you're supposed to keep the commitment that you make, ya know what their answer is? They use Bill Clinton as an excuse. They hide behind Bill Clinton's behavior at the very moment that the Governor is attacking Vice President Gore, saying that he used this excuse "No controlling legal authority" and I'll just do what's right, and I'll just follow my conscience. Well obviously he didn't in the '70's... This question is not going to go away. When he stands in a press conference he's not going to be able to dodge it or have a spokesperson handle it. He's going to have to explain what he's gonna do as Commander and Chief when somebody in the guard unit says "Look, if I don't show up to a meeting I'm just doing what Governor Bush did when he was back in the guard in the 1970's." What are you gonna say Mr. President? ...He made a six-year commitment. He got out early, fine --get out early if you've done all your drills -- but showing up for a physical and showing up for meetings are not optional requirements. They are mandatory.

MATTHEWS: We'll hear more about this I'm sure.

FOX's Hannity & Colmes, October 31, 2000

Awaiting transcript...

MSNBC, October 31, 2000: Bush's military service questioned

But while the Bush campaign continues to raise questions about Gore's credibility, the Texas governor has not been able to escape questions about his own claims about his Vietnam-era service with the Texas National Guard, and whether he attended required drills in Alabama and Texas in 1972 and 1973.

Questions remain on Bush's service as Guard pilot, Boston Globe, October 31, 2000

Hardly a day passes without Republicans challenging Gore's character, especially his storied tendency to embellish facts. But Democrats are crying foul, saying that Bush has overstated his own record and with far less political consequence. Belatedly, they are calling attention to misleading claims Bush and his campaign have made about his Vietnam-era service as a fighter pilot with the Texas Air National Guard, and to documents that contradict Bush's insistence that he attended required drills in Alabama and Texas in 1972 and 1973

Eric Alterman on MSNBC.com, October 31, 2000

He was cleared to attend weekend drills in October and November. But two of the 187th's officers said Bush never appeared. One of them, retired Brig. Gen. William Turnipseed, says he is 'dead-certain he didn't show up.' Bush, who refuses all interviews on the subject, says he was there, but can't remember anything he did. His campaign can find no records to corroborate this.

Dave "Doctor" Gonzo in American Politics Journal, October 30, 2000

the Bush campaign's response to questions raised by the Globe comes across as both shrill and hilarious. Responding to criticism of Bush's early departure from the Guard by former Veterans Affairs secretary Jesse Brown, who was severely wounded while serving in Vietnam, Bush spokesperson Dan Bartlett could only say, ''Jesse Brown served honorably, but you mean to tell me he has no problem with Bill Clinton's avoidance of military service?" Someone should remind Bartlett that his middle-aged frat boy boss is running against Al Gore, not Bill Clinton.

Arizona Daily StarEditorial, October 24, 2000

It clearly is a coordinated campaign, but this newspaper has received dozens if not hundreds of e-mail letters from throughout the nation expressing outrage at the fact that (1) Texas Gov. George W. Bush did not fulfill his National Guard obligation in the early 1970s and that (2) the press has failed to disclose this shirking of duty. The Texas governor's response to the charge is that he basically can't remember what he did for a year of his life. That compels us to agree with the critics and attempt to reveal what we know from other published sources... The argument that Bush completed his military obligation will remain a simple, unfounded assertion until Bush explains what he did between May of 1972 and May of 1973.

The Nation, November 7, 2000 "BUSH GROUNDED?"

The major media have paid very little attention to a story by Robert Rogers about George W Bush's apparent grounding by Air National Guard. Rogers, a former commercial and National Guard pilot and airline industry consultant, acquired Bush's service records under a FOIA request. These show that, contrary to reports that he simply "gave up" flying in 1972, two years before the end of his six-year cornmitment, he was grounded because of "failure to accomplish annual medical examination." Given Bush's history of alcohol and drug use, Roberts theorizes that Bush may have either failed the drug test recently instituted by the Pentagon or chosen to avoid the physical. The truth lurks in service records not released under Rogers's FOIA request. Rogers calls on Bush to open up all his file and end speculation about this curious event. The story was published on the web at www.democrats.com.

David Case in TomPaine.com, October 21, 2000

No one questions that George W. Bush enjoyed considerable favoritism during the Vietnam War era. He catapulted in front of a long waiting list to get into the Air National Guard, enabling him to soar over the Texas skyline rather than fighting Viet Cong in the sweltering Asian jungle. But a new question needs to be raised: given the contradictions and inconsistencies in Bush's record, is it possible that he has benefited more recently from special handling of his military record? The case hasn't been cracked yet. It should be.

Dave "Doctor" Gonzo in American Politics Journal, October 21, 2000

Martin Heldt, using the Freedom of Information Act, uncovered documentary evidence that George W. Bush deserted the National Guard. When an article attempting to refute Heldt's finding appeared on the perfectly awful George magazine's web site, in what looked like an attempt to discredit Heldt's research, we laughed out loud -- because the hapless authors at George look to have received doctored documents or doctored them themselves and, worse yet, based their conclusion on what can only politely be called "fuzzy math." But what more should you expect from a shallow magazine that touts the celebritization of political culture?

Anthony York in Salon, October 20, 2000

"The issue of honesty, integrity and who's telling the truth has been probably the most important issue Bush has used against Gore in this campaign," Fertik says. "Bush says, 'I reported, I served my time.' Well, if he's lying about something this fundamental that's an issue that should be taken into account."

Amy Keller in Roll Call, October 19, 2000

Need Some Cash? Democrats.com, an independent and community site for Democrats throughout the country, is offering a $1,000 reward to anyone who can "prove that George W. Bush actually reported for duty with the Alabama National Guard in 1972."

Joe Conason in the New York Observer, October 18, 2000

In his 1999 autobiography A Charge to Keep, Mr. Bush offers a lyrical description of his flight training in the F-102 fighter. "I continued flying with my unit for the next several years," he writes. That simply isn't true: Lieutenant Bush never flew another jet after being suspended from flight duty in August 1972 for failing to take a mandated annual physical.

The Globe (supermarket tabloid), October 17, 2000

Shocking medical reports documenting that George W. Bush was often "too drunk to fly" when he was in the Texas Air National Guard are set to be released in an effort to destroy his presidential hopes, a source confides. The young Lieutenant was a big drinker and if he had been suddenly called to duty, he would not have been allowed in the cockpit, it is claimed.

Robert Parry in Consortium News, October 16, 2000

Bush has said that he has "some recollection" of attending drills that year, but has not been more specific. Under Air National Guard rules at the time, anyone who did not report to required drills could be inducted in the draft to serve in Vietnam, according to the Globe. That never happened to Bush.

The press has reported these gaps in Bush's record, but has not pressed the issue as a story worthy of determined pursuit or pundit show commentary. Similarly, Bush's implausible answers have not led to questions from the media about Bush's veracity.

TomPaine.com Update: Governor Bush's Military Record, October 12, 2000

Democrats.com alleges that "crucial evidence," such as a flight inquiry board report "that would reveal the true reason for Bush's suspension ... is missing from the records." Where did this report go? Were incriminating documents pulled from his file during his tenure as governor?

The Democrats.com story points out that in April of 1972, "all the overseas and stateside military services began subjecting a small random sample in their ranks to substance abuse testing for alcohol and drugs. The Pentagon announced its intention to do so initially on December 31, 1969. If Bush reported for his scheduled physical in August 1972, he could have been subject to selection for a random substance abuse test."

Joe Conason in the New York Observer, October 11, 2000

But research by Marty Heldt, an Iowa farmer and former railroad brakeman, and Robert A. Rogers, a retired pilot with 11 years service in an Air National Guard unit, has unearthed disturbing new facts about Mr. Bush's service. Air Force documents unearthed by Mr. Heldt (and posted on TomPaine.com) appear to show that after receiving costly training to fly the F-102 jet fighter in Texas, Mr. Bush blew off the final two years of his sworn six-year commitment to the Guard. He cleared out of his Houston airbase and went to Alabama in 1972 to work in a Republican Senatorial campaign. Mr. Bush claims he returned to duty, but there is no evidence to support that contention. There are documents indicating that he ignored two orders to report for duty - and that he "failed to accomplish" the annual physical examination required by the Texas Air Guard, resulting in his suspension from flight status in August 1972. Somehow, though, Mr. Bush's poor attendance record and suspension didn't prevent him from being honorably discharged months before he had fulfilled his commitment. The documents provided to Mr. Heldt and Mr. Rogers under the Freedom of Information Act are incomplete because of privacy restrictions. They don't show, for example, whether a Flight Inquiry Board was convened to investigate Lieutenant Bush's suspension, as would have been normal procedure, according to Mr. Rogers. Is Mr. Bush telling the truth when he says he "did the duty necessary" to his country? Maybe some of Mr. Gore's tiresome tormentors should try to find out.

Paul Begala on Meet the Press, October 8, 2000

... Then he got a transfer to the Alabama Guard. He never showed up for an entire year. The general who ran the guard says he never showed up. The administrative officer says he never showed up. There were 400 or 500 people who would have served with him at the time. Karl Rove can't tell me one person who served with him in the Alabama Guard, yet Bush tells us to our face he'll restore honor and integrity to that Oval Office when I believe he's not telling the truth that he never, in fact, reported to the National Guard in Alabama.

Margaret Carlson in Time

[Bush] never had to give a straightforward answer on cocaine or on why there's no record of him showing up for National Guard duty in Alabama.

______________________________________________

But this is Just the Tip of the Media Iceberg!
Send an e-mail to the National Media

And your local media

Dear Editor,

As a concerned citizen of the United States, I am shocked that you have not given any coverage to the biggest scandal of this Presidential campaign: namely, that George W. Bush did not complete his military obligations to the National Guard during the Vietnam War, and has consistently lied by saying that he did.

The facts are clear:

1. George W. Bush was grounded from flight with TWO years left on his tour of duty - probably because of substance abuse, either alcohol or drugs.

2. George W. Bush never reported for duty for the last TWO years of his military service obligation, contrary to SEVERAL direct orders to report for duty.

George W. Bush has repeatedly said that he DID report for duty during his last two years, but this is a LIE. Bush's official military records show that he DID NOT report at any time during the last two years. In addition, Bush has been unable to find a SINGLE PRIMARY witness in the National Guard who saw him during those last two years.

George W. Bush is campaigning on issues of character, 'restoring integrity to the Oval Office,' strengthening the military, and honesty. But Bush's shamefully incomplete military record - and his endlessly repeated lies about that record - reveal the truth about George W. Bush.

Your news organization covered every lie and rumor about President Clinton for eight long years. Your news organization continues to distort the statements of Vice President Gore, often focusing on trivia and points of style that have nothing to do with governance.

It is therefore IMPERATIVE that your news organization report the truth about George W. Bush.

For more information, visit:

http://democrats.com/smokingjet
http://awolbush.com

http://onlinejournal.com/bush

Sincerely,

[Your name and address]

______________________________________________

Looking for Deserters? Look No Further!

Bob Fertik — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 10:23:42 -0400

The NY Times says the Army is Cracking Down on Deserters.

Oh really? How about cracking down on the deserter-in-chief at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?

Isn't it time he served his final two years after deserting the Texas Air National Guard because he developed "fear of flying" by repeatedly drinking himself stupid?

Bush was Grounded for 'Fear of Flying'

Bob Fertik — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 10:22:58 -0400

STOP THE PRESS! Bush was Grounded for 'Fear of Flying'

Wednesday September 29, 2004 8:22 PM

Since the Boston Globe's Walter Robinson published his groundbreaking story "1-year gap in Bush's guard duty" on May 23, 2000, journalists and researchers have been trying to find out WHY Bush stopped flying in 1972 with 2.5 years of flying obligation remaining.

Many theories have arisen because George W. Bush has never given a simple, straight answer to this question - which is supposedly his great "strength" as a communicator. Instead he and his spokespeople have offered an endless stream of evasions, alibis, and lies - all of which have been discredited.

(Bush continued his lies Tuesday night in his interview with Bill O'Reilly, when he said "I fulfilled my duty... I did exactly what my commanders told me to do." His duty was to show up for monthly drills and to fly for 4 years after he completed training; he flew for only 22 months, was completely AWOL for 5 months, and may never have reported for another drill in defiance of direct orders. Is that "exactly" what his commanders told him to do? Why didn't O'Reilly ask Bush this obvious question? Finally, why doesn't anyone in the embedded White House press corps ask Bush this question?)

Now, FINALLY, we have a simple answer: Bush developed a "fear of flying," possibly influenced by his drinking.

Below are two articles based on interviews with Janet Linke, the widow of the F102A pilot (Jan Peter Linke) who had to replace Bush when he quit flying in 1972. (This simple fact discredits Bush's alibi that his F102A was being phased out so Bush's flying skills were no longer needed.)

Linke says Bush's commander Jerry Killian told her and her husband about Bush's flying problems. Linke's story is confirmed by several of her friends. It is also confirmed by the few records that remain, including Bush's grounding order and his flight logs.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040908/D84V54IG0.html

Finally, it is confirmed by Bush's fellow pilot (and roommate) Deane Roome, who let the truth slip out in an interview with USA Today in 2002: "You wonder if you know who George Bush is," Roome said. "I think he digressed after a while. In the first half, he was gung-ho. Where George failed was to fulfill his obligation as a pilot. It was an irrational time in his life."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-09-12-bush-documents_x.htm

Janet Linke raised her son - a Bush supporter - "on military widow's benefits and worked as an art teacher and arts coordinator in public and Episcopal schools before suffering a stroke." Her school principal said, "She was a wonderful, outstanding teacher, able to connect with children in a way you rarely see."

Despite - or precisely because of - Janet Linke's sterling character, I am 1000% certain that the White House, the Bush campaign, the Republican National Committee - and their allies at FOX, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, the Washington Post, and the New York Times - will immediately launch a furious character assassination campaign against her. They will not demonstrate any "compassionate conservatism" for a woman who lost her husband who was serving in Bush's place; nor will "compassionate conservatism" stop them from viciously attacking a woman who suffered a stroke.

As an American who believes in truth and justice, I do not believe Janet Linke should be destroyed for telling the truth. For once in Bush's political career, I call upon the media to show some "compassionate conservatism" for a truthteller: instead of savaging Janet Linke, the media should FINALLY insist on a straight answer directly from George W. Bush.

In a few short hours, Mr. Bush will face reporters in debate. Here is one simple question the moderator should ask him:

"Mr. Bush, what is the REAL reason why you quit flying F102's in 1972 with 2.5 years left in your obligation to defend your country? When you returned to Texas with nearly two years left in your obligation, why didn't you get your physical and resume flying - since your F102A was then on 5-minute runway alert? Is it true you developed a "fear of flying"?"

Fear of Flying
by Russ Baker
The Nation
Posted September 29, 2004

A new source has emerged with what she says is personal knowledge about why George W. Bush prematurely left his Texas National Guard unit in 1972--because nerves, fear and a possible drinking problem were affecting his ability to pilot his F-102A plane. If true, this information further confirms a growing body of evidence that Bush has not been candid about his departure from his unit. At various times the President and his spokespersons have offered shifting rationales, from the planned eventual mothballing of the F-102As, to his doctor's unavailability to give him a flight physical, to a professional opportunity in another state.

However, Janet Linke of Jacksonville, Florida, says that it all came down to an inability to perform. Linke is the widow of Jan Peter Linke, who was brought into Bush's National Guard unit to replace him when Bush left the unit and the state for Alabama in May 1972.

Linke says that Bush's now-deceased commanding officer in the Texas Air National Guard's 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Lieut. Col. Jerry Killian, confided in her and her husband during an encounter at a social gathering as to the reasons Mr. Linke had been brought in to replace Bush. "He said Bush was mucking up his flying very badly and he couldn't fly the plane," Linke said. "Killan told us that he was having trouble landing, and that possibly there was a drinking problem involved in that"--which Linke took to mean a particularly debilitating one, since carousing was almost the norm in such units.

More here:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041011&s=baker

Fear of Flying
A Duval County woman says nerves ended W's National Guard service in Texas
Susan Cooper Eastman
Folioweekly
Thursday, September 23, 2004

Janet Linke has been thinking about George W. Bush a lot lately. Thirty-two years ago, her late husband Jan Peter Linke served briefly in the Texas Air National Guard's 111 Fighter Interceptor Squadron. Bush's service in the same squadron has gotten plenty of attention in an election year when what you did during the Vietnam War is suddenly a litmus test of character. But Linke claims she knows a part of the story that nobody has mentioned.

According to Linke, a Jacksonville resident and artist, Bush's flying career was permanently disabled by a crippling fear of flying.

Linke's husband was admitted to the Texas Guard in the summer of 1972 to replace Bush. President Bush has said that he stopped flying fighter jets because the Alabama Guard unit didn't have jets, and he wanted the transfer to Alabama in order to work on a political campaign. But Linke says she heard a different story from her husband and Bush's squad commander, the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian. Shortly after her husband joined the Texas unit, Linke says, the couple discussed Bush's service with Killian at a social event.

Contrary to some news reports that suggest Killian admired Bush, Linke says the officer didn't have much use for the young lieutenant. He mentioned that Bush appeared to have a drinking problem, she recalls, but he was most offended by another incapacity: his fear of flying. According to Linke, Killian said Bush was grounded in his fourth year of flying after he became incapable of flying or properly landing a plane.

"He was mucking up bad, Killian told us," Linke says. "He just became afraid to fly."

More here:
http://tinyurl.com/3vtja

Miersgate: Harriet Played Key Role in Texas Lottery Scandal

Bob Fertik — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 20:01:56 -0400

Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers is widely seen - on both the left and the right - as an act of crude cronyism, a payback to an utterly loyal aide.

But is that all there is to the story? Or is the nomination a reward for crimes Miers committed on Bush's behalf? Worse yet, did Miers actually force Bush to nominate her through blackmail?

These are the shocking implications of this shocking report by tas at Loaded Mouth, which is based on the reporting of Greg Palast.

The heart of the question is Miers' role in a no-bid contract bribe to silence former Texas House Speaker Ben Barnes. Barnes is the man who got Bush into the Texas Air National Guard (TANG) in 1968 ahead of a waiting list of 500 other applicants, many of whom had far superior qualifications for a coveted pilot's slot.

(Barnes admitted his role on 60 Minutes on 9/8/04 - the same show which featured the infamous "Killian memos" that were most likely forged by Karl Rove's dirty trickster Roger Stone. Because of the Rove-manufactured blogstorm over the "Killian memos," Barnes' explosive revelation received virtually no coverage.)

When Bush ran for Texas Governor in 1994 against incumbent Ann Richards, everyone wondered how Bush dodged Vietnam and got into TANG. They assumed, naturally, that Bush's powerful family pulled strings. During a TV debate, journalist Jim Moore asked Bush whether his father had used influence. But Bush adamantly insisted that he got in on his merits alone, and no strings were pulled for him.

But Ben Barnes knew the truth, and decided to cash in on their little secret by blackmailing Bush.

After several decades in Texas politics, Barnes had become the lobbyist for the company that managed the Texas Lottery - a Rhode Island lottery company called GTech. GTech was corrupt and was overcharging Texas for its services, and many Texans wanted the contract rebid. Bush supported rebidding during the 1994 campaign.

But thanks to Barnes' lobbying/blackmail, Bush ended up renewing GTech's no-bid contract in 1996. And to thank Barnes for his priceless service, GTech paid Barnes $23 million in 1997 as they eased him out the door amidst a GTech scandal in New Jersey.

And who was Bush's appointed Chairwoman of the Texas Lottery Commission from 1995 through 2000? Harriet Miers.

Miers' role was revealed in an anonymous whistleblower letter to the Justice Department that Greg Palast received and reported on in 1999.

Several months ago many of us felt that the Lottery Commission should rebid the GTech contract when it came up for renewal. Leaders of the Republican Party strongly supported rebidding and I believe the Chair of the Commission also wanted to rebid. It is now time to disclose at least one reason why it was not rebid. Governor Bush thru Reggie Bashur made a deal with Ben Barnes not to rebid because Barnes could confirm that Bush had lied during the 94 campaign.

Bashur was sent to talk to Barnes who agreed never to confirm the story and the Governor talked to the Chair of the Lottery two days later and she then agreed to support letting GTech keep the contract without a bid.

This was not the end of Miers' efforts to silence Barnes. In 1998, when Bush was running for re-election as Texas Governor, Karen Hughes was laying the groundwork for a 2000 Presidential campaign. To make sure there were no skeletons in Bush's closet, Hughes hired Miers to "scrub" any potential problems. Miers sent Bush's top fundraiser, Don Evans, to see Barnes to make sure the $23 million bribe was still in effect. As Newsweek's Michael Isikoff wrote on 7/20/2000:

The Bushies' concern began while he was running for a second term as governor. A hard-nosed Dallas lawyer named Harriet Miers was retained to investigate the issue; state records show Miers was paid $19,000 by the Bush gubernatorial campaign. She and other aides quickly identified a problem--rumors that Bush had help from his father in getting into the National Guard back in 1968. Ben Barnes, a prominent Texas Democrat and a former speaker of the House in the state legislature, told friends he used his influence to get George W a guard slot after receiving a request from Houston oilman Sid Adger. Barnes said Adger told him he was calling on behalf of the elder George Bush, then a Texas congressman. Both Bushes deny seeking any help from Barnes or Adger, who has since passed away. Concerned that Barnes might go public with his allegations, the Bush campaign sent Don Evans, a friend of W's, to hear Barnes's story. Barnes acknowledged that he hadn't actually spoken directly to Bush Sr. and had no documents to back up his story. As the Bush campaign saw it, that let both Bushes off the hook. And the National Guard question seemed under control.

Will "Miersgate" destroy Harriet's chances of getting on the Supreme Court? That depends on how aggressively Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee investigate this scandal - and the many other Bush scandals in which Miers has played a key role.

What they need is a credible witness - and they have one. His name is Lawrence Littwin, and he is the former director of the Texas Lottery Commission. He was hired in Feburary, 1997, and fired in October, 1997 - both while Miers was Chair. Best of all, Littwin is just waiting to be subpoenaed.

Bush's Guard service may affect Miers nomination
A former Texas Lottery official said he wants to talk to senators about the Supreme Court nominee's role in covering up his Bush's record

By Ken Herman
AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN WASHINGTON BUREAU
Tuesday, October 4, 2005

A former Texas lottery official, who claimed that then-Gov. George W. Bush's desire to cover up his National Guard record helped steer decisions about a key lottery contract, said he wants to talk to senators about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers' possible role in that effort.

"If I were to be subpoenaed to come to the thing, I would come," said Lawrence Littwin, who filed a lawsuit after he was fired as the lottery's executive director in 1997. "I would say the committee, I think, would be interested."

Miersgate is a mirror-image of Bush's Funeralgate scandal, which Democrats.com first exposed in an article by Roses Prichard on February 8, 2001. Littwin, like Funeralgate's Eliza May, was fired for investigating crimes by Bush's cronies. Littwin, like May, filed a lawsuit for unlawful firing. Littwin, like May, received a 6-figure settlement. Littwin, like May, got the money on condition of permanent silence. But Littwin is willing to testify - as long as he is responding to a subpoena.

Under terms of the settlement, Littwin would have to forfeit $50,000 if he violates the confidentiality agreement. He said Monday that his lawyer told him he could testify if subpoenaed by the Senate.

In the coming hours, we will organize a campaign to lobby the Senate to subpoena Lawrence Littwin and investigate Miersgate - so stay tuned...

Update: Texas journalist Jim Moore knows more about this story than anyone, and tells the tale in the Huffington Post.

Cindy Sheehan Calls for Bush to End the Military Occupation Of New Orleans

CactusPat — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 19:39:49 -0400

I've been waiting for someone, some public personality, to broach this subject. Ever since it became apparent aid was deliberately denied in the aftermath of Katrina to facilitate the forced relocation of the populace and the "military combat operations" commenced in New Orleans along side heavily armed mercenaries three weeks ago, I've been waiting... As it turns out, that person is the one and only Cindy Sheehan. Here's a quote from her following message -

"... I don't care if a human being is black, brown, white, yellow or pink. I don't care if a human being is Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, or pagan. I don't care what flag a person salutes: if a human being is hungry, then it is up to another human being to feed him/her. George Bush needs to stop talking, admit the mistakes of his all around failed administration, pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans and Iraq, and excuse his self from power. The only way America will become more secure is if we have a new administration that cares about Americans even if they don't fall into the top two percent of the wealthiest."

Don't you agree? In a reality-based alternative universe the ENTIRE Bush MisAdministration has already resigned in shame... Here's her full message from Michael Moore's website...

Amid the Miserable Failures on the Same Planet -
A Message from Cindy Sheehan- It has been one month and one week since I sat in a ditch in Crawford, Tx. I can hardly believe it when I think of it myself. So much has happened in that time, and really, so little. I got to Camp Casey III in Covington, La today, after getting up at 3am to head for the airport. Now it is 3am the next day and we are driving in a car to try and find a hotel to sleep anywhere around Jackson, Miss. I was prepared to be shocked by what I saw in Louisiana, but I guess one can never really fully prepare for such devastation and tragedy. After living in a country your entire life it is so difficult to see such callous indifference on an immense scale. When I reflect on how the mother of the imbecile who is running our country said that the people who are in the Astrodome are happy to be there, it angers me beyond comparison. The people in LA who were displaced have nice, if modest homes that are perfectly fine. I wonder why the government made them leave at great expense and uproot families who have been living in their communities for generations.

After we arrived at Camp Casey III, we took the Veterans for Peace "Impeachment Tour Bus" into New Orleans after stopping at the distribution center to pick up some supplies in Covington. The stench and the destruction are unbelievable. I saw some hurricane zones in the panhandle of Florida last year that were pretty bad but that couldn't have prepared me for this.

I saw in the paper that George Bush said the recovery in the Gulf States would be "hard work." That's what he said about sending troops to Iraq and looking at the casualty reports everyday: "It's hard work." That man has never known a day of hard work in his life. The people on the ground in Covington scoffed at George's little junket to Louisiana yesterday. He stayed in the French Quarter and a Ward that weren't even damaged a bit. The VFP took me to the city of Algiers on the West Bank. The part of Algiers we went to was very poor and black. The people of Algiers know what hard work is.

Algiers had no flooding. All of the damage was from winds. There are trees knocked over and shingles off of roofs. There are signs blown over and there was a dead body lying on the ground for 2 weeks before someone finally came to get it. Even though Algiers came through Katrina relatively unscathed, our federal government tried to force (mostly successfully) the people out of the community. Malik Rahim, a new friend of ours and resident of Algiers, told us stories of the days after the hurricane. The government declared martial law, but there was no effective police presence to enforce it. Malik said the lawlessness was rampant. People were running out of food and water and they were being forced to go to the Superdome. They didn't want to go to the Superdome, because their homes were pretty intact: they wanted to stay and have food and water brought to them. A town of 76,000 people dwindled down to 3,000. The die hards were rewarded last Wednesday when the VFP rolled into town with food and water. The Camp Casey III people were the first ones to bring any relief to Algiers. The people who were supposed to look after its citizens, our government, failed them.

In Algiers, in the space of 2 short weeks, Malik and his community has opened a clinic which also doubles as a food and supply distribution center. We need more help in Algiers. Malik and the other dozens fine volunteers are planning on opening 2 more clinics in Algiers and Malik would dearly love someone to give him a flat bottomed boat so he can go to the flood drenched poor communities that still have not been helped and bring them food, supplies, and medical attention. Medical professionals are dearly needed. Malik has also set up a communications center in an apartment next to his house which is for the community to use. The aid that is being given in Algiers is completely driven by the needs of the community. They have a saying in Algiers: Not Charity, Solidarity.

The citizens of Algiers desperately needed help and hope before the hurricane. When I think of how many other poor neighborhoods are being decimated and made so desperate and hopeless by the failed policies of the Bush administration, it makes me so angry. But when I see what the people of Algiers are doing to help themselves and the people of America are doing to help them help themselves, it gives me hope. I think Algiers can be a model for all of our communities.

One thing that truly troubled me about my visit to Louisiana was the level of the military presence there. I imagined before that if the military had to be used in a CONUS (Continental US) operations that they would be there to help the citizens: Clothe them, feed them, shelter them, and protect them. But what I saw was a city that is occupied. I saw soldiers walking around in patrols of 7 with their weapons slung on their backs. I wanted to ask one of them what it would take for one of them to shoot me. Sand bags were removed from private property to make machine gun nests.

The vast majority of people who were looting in New Orleans were doing so to feed their families or to get resources to get their families out of there. If I had a store with an inventory of insured belongings, and a tragedy happened, I would fling my doors open and tell everyone to take what they need: it is only stuff. When our fellow citizens are told to "shoot to kill" other fellow citizens because they want to stay alive, that is military and governmental fascism gone out of control. What I saw today in Algiers lifted up my spirits, but what I also saw today in Algiers frightened me terribly.

The people who are running the clinic in Algiers gave me a list of desperately needed supplies:

Blood pressure medication---properly packaged.
Allergy medication---properly packaged
Vitamin B
Pens, paper, sharpies, index cards
Glucometers and test strips
Full O2 tanks
Power strips and extension cords
Non-DEET insect repellent
Mini bottles of Hand Sanitizer
A copy machine is urgently needed
People: Call: 512-297-1049

Send supplies to:
Fed Ex or UPS
Veterans for Peace Ch 116
C/O 645 Kimbro Dr.
Baton Rouge, La. 70808

Mark them: For the Medical Clinic in Algiers

The children in Algiers have also been out of school. Malik would like to open a school and they need school supplies and teachers.

I have a testimony from a Doctor that came to Louisiana to help that I will post tomorrow. The failure in every level of our government is criminal negligence. Tens of thousands of families in our country have been devastated because of the incompetence and callousness of our so-called leadership. America is stepping up to the plate to help Americans. America stepped up to the plate to hold George accountable for the abomination in Iraq. One thing George has taught us is that we are self-sufficient and we have a country that is worth fighting for and we are not going away.

I was told that Pat Boone was on a conservative radio talk show in San Francisco (yes they do exist) with Melanie Morgan (who has a vendetta against me) and he told the listeners that after we "stole the supplies" from the Red Cross, we gave them to the "enemies of America who are like the people who want to fly airplanes into our buildings." Boone says that we were giving them to enemies of America, because we were distributing the supplies from a Mosque. First of all, accusing me of stealing is slander, I think, and second of all: we were helping Americans. Just because their government abandoned them, we shouldn't feed them and give them medicine and supplies? I thought Pat Boone was supposed to be a Christian man? Thirdly, isn't Freedom of Religion one of our Constitutional guarantees?

It is a Christ-like principal to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless. That's what is happening in Algiers and other places in Louisiana…but by the people of America, not the so-called "Christians" in charge. If George Bush truly listened to God and read the words of the Christ, Iraq and the devastation in New Orleans would have never happened.

I don't care if a human being is black, brown, white, yellow or pink. I don't care if a human being is Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, or pagan. I don't care what flag a person salutes: if a human being is hungry, then it is up to another human being to feed him/her. George Bush needs to stop talking, admit the mistakes of his all around failed administration, pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans and Iraq, and excuse his self from power. The only way America will become more secure is if we have a new administration that cares about Americans even if they don't fall into the top two percent of the wealthiest.

Vacation is Over... an open letter from Michael Moore to Our Feckless MisLeader

CactusPat — Sat, 03 Sep 2005 02:13:36 -0400

Dear Mr. Bush: Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag. Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with? Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you?

I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!

I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?

And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!

On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.

There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.

No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!

You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.

Yours,

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.MichaelMoore.com

P.S. That annoying mother, Cindy Sheehan, is no longer at your ranch. She and dozens of other relatives of the Iraqi War dead are now driving across the country, stopping in many cities along the way. Maybe you can catch up with them before they get to DC on September 21st.

Let's get back to the Rathergate Memos

Bob Fertik — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 11:20:11 -0400

The rightwing lie-osphere has been buzzing for two weeks with baseless circle-jerk rumors that Democrats manufactured the Schiavo Senate strategy memo to embarrass Republicans.

As John Aravosis beautifully documents, this horseshit was enthusiastically shoveled by such shameless media liars as Tucker Carlson, Fred Barnes, Newsmax, Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin (drill down with Holden's obsession), Powerline's John Hindraker, and AIM's Cliff Kincaid, as well as Senators Robert Bennett and Trent Lott.

Armando reveals WaPo's Howie Kurtz planned to have Hindraker on his Sunday CNN show attacking Kurtz's own WaPo colleague Mike Allen, who broke the original memo story. Kurtz's journalistic demise was momentarily delayed by the physical demise of Pope John Paul II.

Mike Allen got sweet revenge in today's WaPo when Republican Senator Mel Martinez fired his 39-year-old counsel, Brian H. Darling, for writing the memo.

Now the last time a major news organization got a memo story wrong, rightwing bloggers demanded - and ultimately got - the lead reporter's head on a platter, along with everyone else involved in the story.

So let me offer a challenge to the progressive blogosphere: can we end the careers of those who embraced the bogus "evil Democratic memo" theory?

Which progressive blogger wants to take the lead in removing incompetent rightwing journalists from the newsosphere?

And now that this memo mystery has been solved, this is an excellent opportunity to return to the still-unsolved mystery over the Mother of All Memos - the memos that brought down Dan Rather & Co.

The ongoing mystery is: who wrote the Killian memos?

Lt. Col. Bill Burkett received the memos in March 2004, shortly after he appeared in several news stories and TV interviews describing how he witnessed the shredding of Bush's National Guard records in 1997.

Burkett heard about the memos from a woman caller who identified herself "Lucy Ramirez." She arranged to deliver the memos to Burkett at a Texas livestock show. When Burkett arrived at the appointed spot, he was met not by "Lucy," but by a man who handed him an envelope.

Burkett was deeply skeptical of the memos. He took them to a copy shop, made a few copies, and burned the originals. He then sat on the memos for five months, telling only his closest friends, because he was skeptical - and afraid.

But word leaked out to the media, and many news organizations begged him for a copy. CBS's Mary Mapes was especially persistent, and Burkett finally agreed to give her the memos - on condition that CBS use its vast corporate resources to authenticate the memos.

CBS's authentication effort was crummy, which is common in American journalism. But this one caused a furor, and it was eventually dissected in the Thornburgh report.

Yet even the Thornburgh report was unable to determine whether the Killian memos were authentic or not. The Executive Summary (page 14) reads:

The Panel has not been able to conclude with absolute certainty whether the Killian documents are authentic or forgeries.

So that leaves three possibilities:

The Killian memos were authentic, just as the Schiavo memo was authentic
The Killian memos were forged by Democrats
The Killian memos were forged by Republicans

Mary Mapes believes #1, and will argue her case in a book tentatively called “The Other Side of the Story” and scheduled for publication in fall. The book will reportedly include 40 pages of evidence to buttress her case.

Rightwing blogs believe #2, and have loudly demanded prosecution of the forger.

Rep. Christopher Cox (R.-Calif.) told HUMAN EVENTS: "This isn't the final chapter. That won't be written until we know where the apparently forged government documents came from. Every citizen has a stake in the answer to that question, because if it is true the documents are fake, a serious crime was committed. It's high time we got to the bottom of this. Where are the investigative journalists when we need them?"

I agree with Cox completely - but I believe #3. And the most likely suspect is Roger Stone, as Sherlock Google argued on DailyKos.

C'mon progressive bloggers - let's get to the bottom of the Killian memos!

Rather Was Right

Bob Fertik — Wed, 09 Mar 2005 10:01:27 -0500

Over on the right, today is "We Hate Dan Rather Day."

Of course, "Exhibit A" in Rightwingers v. Rather is the 60 Minutes II segment that Rather presented on 9/8/04, entitled "New Questions On Bush Guard Duty."

Rather's report asked two questions:

The military records of the two men running for president have become part of the political arsenal in this campaign – a tool for building up, or blowing up, each candidate’s credibility as America's next commander-in-chief.

While Sen. Kerry has been targeted for what he did in Vietnam, President Bush has been criticized for avoiding Vietnam by landing a spot in the Texas Air National Guard - and then failing to meet some of his obligations.

Did then-Lt. Bush fulfill all of his military obligations? And just how did he land that spot in the National Guard in the first place? Correspondent Dan Rather has new information on the president’s military service – and the first-ever interview with the man who says he pulled strings to get young George W. Bush into the Texas Air National Guard.

The segment began with the interview with Ben Barnes, the former Speaker of the Texas House.

"I was a young, ambitious politician doing what I thought was acceptable," says Barnes. "It was important to make friends. And I recommended a lot of people for the National Guard during the Vietnam era - as speaker of the house and as lt. governor."

George W. Bush was among those he recommended for the National Guard. Was this a case of preferential treatment?

"I would describe it as preferential treatment. There were hundreds of names on the list of people wanting to get into the Air National Guard or the Army National Guard," says Barnes. "I think that would have been a preference to anybody that didn't want to go to Vietnam or didn’t want to leave. We had a lot of young men that left and went to Canada in the '60s and fled this country. But those that could get in the Reserves, or those that could get in the National Guard - chances are they would not have to go to Vietnam."

In other words, George W. Bush was a draft dodger who used his powerful family connections to get out of Vietnam.

EXCLUSIVE: Bush's Tactical Lying by Jim Moore

Jim Moore — Sat, 30 Oct 2004 12:24:42 -0400

Democrats.com EXCLUSIVE

Bush's Tactical Lying
By James C. Moore
Author of Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential

Being wrong is not very gratifying. Still, I had hoped I was mistaken about George W. Bush. But all of the evidence indicated my president was a liar, a man skilled at deception and changing the evidence to construct alternate realities.

I had been interviewing and writing about Mr. Bush consistently for over 15 years and had spoken with him on the record many times prior to his political ascension. I gave him the benefit of believing what he told me. This is what journalists do.

But they also verify. And when I began the business of corroborating and trying to check out George W. Bush and his various narratives, I began to have grave doubts. I wrote about them in two books: Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential, and Bush's War for Re-election: Iraq, the White House, and the People. I had evidence, documentation, interviews, narratives, and everything a writer needs to construct a story line. But no one who knew the exact truth from the Bush perspective, including Mr. Bush, ever agreed to go on the record. My work, as a result, was often dismissed by the Bush team as "leftist," and a specious political attack, even though I had been working in mainstream journalism for over 25 years.

My doubts are gone now, and yours should be, too, as a result of a fine piece of journalism by my indefatigable friend Russ Baker. Baker, who writes frequently for various national publications, landed a long interview with Mickey Herskowitz, originally retained by Mr. Bush to write the pre-presidential biography in 1999. Herskowitz, a long time friend of the Bush family, built a successful career as a ghostwriter for the famous. And it is Herskowitz who got the unvarnished truth from George W. Bush during a series of long interviews.

Recently, Russ Baker got Herskowitz to sit down to a taped interview and talk about what Bush had related when they began work on the Bush biography in 1999. And, according to Herskowitz, almost everything the public thinks it knows about Bush is wrong.

For 10 years, I have been trying to prove Mr. Bush has been lying and obfuscating about his time in the Texas and Alabama Air National Guard. Russ Baker's interview with Herskowitz proved I was right. As I traveled on the 2000 presidential campaign, I grew weary of hearing Mr. Bush claim that he had reported for duty in Alabama and then, in his biography, A Charge to Keep, he claimed he continued to fly with his Texas unit for many years.

Unless our president is pathological, he knew this was not true. I never found a record to prove Lt. Bush ever reported to duty in Alabama, yet the magnificent research work of Paul Lukasiak proved that Mr. Bush got paid. In fact, the director of human resources for the Alabama National Guard, Kenneth Lott, admitted to the Los Angeles Times that he never processed paperwork for Lt. Bush, which meant the Texas transfer pilot never did a day of duty. Further complicating the story, Bush's commander in Houston, Rufus Martin told the paper he had "no personnel contact" for the Alabama unit Lt. Bush was supposed to join.

Lukasiak's work, a significant public service, shows that Martin should have never signed pay vouchers for Lt. Bush without approved paperwork from Alabama. But he did. And Lt. Bush got paid. This is particularly surprising given what Mr. Bush told Herskowitz, and what Russ Baker reported. He said he left Houston's guard unit under "murky circumstances" and never flew again.

I had made this assertion many times, but never had proof until Baker's reporting confirmed what the missing and available records had been telling me. My own research and writing indicated the future president was given a free pass to simply leave for Alabama and not report to any kind of duty ever again. And that's precisely how Mr. Bush related the story to Herskowitz back in 1999.

During the campaign in 2000, a number of reporters on the press plane were given shoddy documentation, torn and annotated with hand-written notes, as an attempt to prove Mr. Bush reported for duty in Alabama. His own memory, though, was faulty. He said he showed up for training a few times and made up some days.

There was, however, never a solitary soul who was able to claim they saw the Lt. at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery. No wonder. After hearing what Mr. Bush told Hersokowitz, there's no doubt he never did anything more in Alabama beyond party and show up late for work with a hangover at the campaign headquarters of Winton Blount.

Through Baker, Herskowitz has verified what a number of sources told me off the record in Alabama: Bush never talked about the guard and brought neither uniforms nor equipment of any kind with him for his time in Montgomery. The guard was no longer a part of his life. I wrote in various essays and my books that Lt. Bush never did another day of duty, much less spend time flying, after he left Texas for Alabama in May of 1972. Herskowitz's testimony to Baker corroborates what I reported from the files available in the Bush Military Personnel Records Jacket.

Baker's interview also corroborates my own investigation of the run up to the war with Iraq. In both of my books, I used all available evidence to make the case that the Bush administration, indeed, the Bush campaign, had been thinking about Iraq long before 9/11. Bush's chief political advisor Karl Rove, along with Vice President Dick Cheney and the now-household names of Wolfowitz and Perle and Rumsfeld, had all been lusting after Iraqi oil since the 1994 essay published by the Project for the New American Century. They wanted to project American power into the Middle East; and toppling Saddam, beyond acquiring Iraq's oil reserves, also provided a number of domestic political positives for Mr. Bush. Herskowitz told Baker that Bush was interested in a war because it would help him politically and that he would use that political capital to win passage of his legislative agenda.

Herskowitz's words prove that our president is a reckless cowboy - a man who views war and conflict as a great game and does not think of the families he has destroyed to acquire "political capital." During the course of interviewing and doing research, I spent several days talking to Wade Lieseke of Tonopah, Nevada, whose adopted son was killed in the opening days of the Iraqi invasion at the Battle of Al Nasiriyah. Lieske, who was a door gunner for two tours of duty in Vietnam, told me, "The elitists who start these wars don't give a damn about those of us who have to fight them. We're just cannon fodder. And all they do is lie to us. It's just about greed and power and ego." I thought Lieseke was a bit cynical but I understood his anger after losing a son he loved in a meaningless, hopeless endeavor. After reading what Herskowitz told Russ Baker, I think Wade Lieseke was restrained and I was, at age 52, strangely naïve.

The Herskowitz interview with Baker is more evidence that the Bush organization is willing to recreate history, alter evidence, destroy documentation, and mislead anyone who is seeking the facts about their power. When Lt. Col. Bill Burkett told me that he had witnessed the Bush guard files being purged at Camp Mabry in Austin, I had a great deal of difficulty giving his narrative any credence. However, when I began calling his associates to inquire about Burkett's character, they all flattered him with compliments for integrity and honesty, including his commanding officer Gen. Danny James. James later called Burkett a liar after I related the story of the purging. I included Burkett's narrative in my second book because it fit with the facts of what I was able to prove through my own research. Documents, both missing and available, pointed toward corroboration of Burkett's claims. After reading Herskowitz's quotes in Russ Baker's piece, it becomes abundantly clear that the Bush dynasty is willing to do whatever is necessary to reconstruct a more favorable history. They give credibility to conspiracy theorists.

The way Herskowitz was treated for trying to write the truth comports with what Col. Burkett told me about the National Guard file cleansing. Karen Hughes, a Bush confidant and counselor, told lies about Herskowitz, claiming he had habits that interfered with his writing and that he had missed deadlines. Neither was true. According to what he told Baker, he'd already written six chapters and had the finish line in sight. Hughes, though, knows how to reconstruct facts to suit her hero. She was, after all, part of the plan Col. Burkett overheard presented to Gen. Danny James by then-Gov. Bush's Chief of Staff Joe Allbaugh. The goal was to "remove embarrassments" from the Governor's file. What Mr. Bush told Herskowitz was another embarrassment when it was written, so Herskowitz was fired because he was unwilling to help the Bush cronies build their false reality.

Our default position as Americans is to trust our president. Unfortunately, we cannot do this any longer. The administration of George W. Bush proves we must be skeptical. Our president looked us in the eye on national television and told us that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was a grave and gathering threat; and he did this as though it had just occurred to him to confront the Iraqi dictator. We saw a man acting out a charade, a president who has a facility for a selective recall of his own past and the necessary psychological tricks to convince himself it was okay to lie to us because he was lying for a good reason. Russ Baker's fine journalism has done us all a great favor by getting as close to Mr. Bush's thinking as anyone has ever done.

Nonetheless, we failed in our responsibilities as citizens. We let Mr. Bush get away with this. And we ought to be ashamed. Now, we need to do something about our own mistakes.