Memos tracked to Kinkos where Burkett has account!

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2004-09-17 11:46am

CJvR wrote:While it might be a bit unfair that Bush got away with his desertion and Kerry got caught in his that is hardly surprising. Bush is not running on his ANG record but his Presidential record, which Kerry so far has failed to dent in the slightest. Kerry however DO run on his Vietnam record packed with embarasing questionmarks even if it turns out he did nothing wrong. If this had been a race between the Governor and the Senator rather than between the President and the Senator Bush's ANG escapades would have been more intresting.

And the Right-wing logic rears its ugly head. "Kerry is running on his military record, therefore it's okay to sling shit and outright lies around about his military record, since he's asking for it. But since Bush isn't running on his military record, everyone can just overlook his desertion and cowardice."

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2004-09-17 01:02pm

Durandal wrote:And the Right-wing logic rears its ugly head. "Kerry is running on his military record, therefore it's okay to sling shit and outright lies around about his military record, since he's asking for it. But since Bush isn't running on his military record, everyone can just overlook his desertion and cowardice."

Well if you intend to bragg about your military record then you better not have any embarassing stuff in it.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-09-17 01:12pm

CJvR wrote:
Durandal wrote:And the Right-wing logic rears its ugly head. "Kerry is running on his military record, therefore it's okay to sling shit and outright lies around about his military record, since he's asking for it. But since Bush isn't running on his military record, everyone can just overlook his desertion and cowardice."
Well if you intend to bragg about your military record then you better not have any embarassing stuff in it.

Does "embarrassing" mean "didn't get all the dates and places right, but still won a medal for valour under fire as shown in the official record despite the bullshit accusations of others, including one who won a medal himself for being present at the same action?" Your dictionary must look a lot different than mine.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-09-17 08:22pm

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/Politics ... 917-1.html

Speaking Out
Air National Guard Colonel Denies Bush Got Preferential Treatment

ABCNEWS.com

Sept. 17, 2004 — The man cited in media reports as having allegedly pressured others in the Texas Air National Guard to help George W. Bush is speaking out, telling ABC News in an exclusive interview that he never sought special treatment for Bush.

Retired Col. Walter Staudt, who was brigadier general of Bush's unit in Texas, interviewed Bush for the Guard position and retired in March 1972. He was mentioned in one of the memos allegedly written by Lt. Col. Jerry Killian as having pressured Killian to assist Bush, though Bush supposedly was not meeting Guard standards.

"I never pressured anybody about George Bush because I had no reason to," Staudt told ABC News in his first interview since the documents were made public.

The memo stated that "Staudt is pushing to sugar coat" a review of Bush's performance.

Staudt said he decided to come forward because he saw erroneous reports on television. CBS News first reported on the memos, which have come under scrutiny by document experts who question whether they are authentic. Killian, the purported author of the documents, died in 1984.

Staudt insisted Bush did not use connections to avoid being sent to Vietnam.

"He didn't use political influence to get into the Air National Guard," Staudt said, adding, "I don't know how they would know that, because I was the one who did it and I was the one who was there and I didn't talk to any of them."

‘Highly Qualified’

During his time in charge of the unit, Staudt decided whether to accept those who applied for pilot training. He recalled Bush as a standout candidate.

"He was highly qualified," he said. "He passed all the scrutiny and tests he was given."

Staudt said he never tried to influence Killian or other Guardsmen, and added that he never came under any pressure himself to accept Bush. "No one called me about taking George Bush into the Air National Guard," he said. "It was my decision. I swore him in. I never heard anything from anybody."

When he interviewed for the job, Bush was eager to join the pilot program, which Staudt said often was a hard sell. "I asked him, 'Why do you want to be a fighter pilot?' " Staudt recalled. "He said, 'Because my daddy was one.' He was a well-educated, bright-eyed young man, just the kind of guy we were looking for."

He added that Bush more than met the requirements for pilot training. "He presented himself well. I'd say he was in the upper 10 percent or 5 percent or whatever we ever talked to about going to pilot training. We were pretty particular because when he came back [from training], we had to fly with him."

Bush has repeatedly said he completed all of his Guard commitments. Critics of the president say he got special treatment because his father was a congressman and U.N. ambassador. There also have been questions about why the young Bush skipped a required medical exam in 1972 and apparently failed to show up for Guard activities for six months.

Records show Bush stopped flying F-102As in April 1972. He has said he moved to Alabama to work on the Senate campaign of a family friend. Staudt retired from the Guard in March of that year and said he was never contacted about Bush's performance.

"There was no contact between me and George Bush … he certainly never asked for help," Staudt said. "He didn't need any help as far as I knew."

He added that after retiring he was not involved in Air National Guard affairs. "I didn't check in with anybody — I had no reason to," he said. "I was busy with my civilian endeavors, and they were busy with their military options. I had no reason to talk to them, and I didn't."

Staudt said he continues to support Bush now that he is president. "My politics now are that I'm an American, and that's about all I can tell you," he said. "And I'm going to vote for George Bush."

Post by **Beowulf** » 2004-09-17 08:24pm

Fuckers. He retired as a General. Therefore you refer to him as Retired General Staudt.

Talon Karrde · Post by **Talon Karrde** » 2004-09-17 10:54pm

Darth Wong wrote:
Beowulf wrote:His secretary says they're forgeries. Of course, his secretary couldn't possibly be biased, what with a quote about Bush being "Selected, not elected." Bush's record shows he had more than the required number of points each year, including in 1972.
You've gotta love Bush-defenders and the way they mindlessly ignore information that's contrary to their worldview. She's "biased", therefore she's a liar, and everything she says should be discounted ... except for the part about the letters being forgeries

Isn't this what you cry about with the Swift Boat Vets? They are all liars because they are "Bush supporters" and the works.

Post by **Edi** » 2004-09-18 03:01am

Talon Karrde wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:
Beowulf wrote:His secretary says they're forgeries. Of course, his secretary couldn't possibly be biased, what with a quote about Bush being "Selected, not elected." Bush's record shows he had more than the required number of points each year, including in 1972.
You've gotta love Bush-defenders and the way they mindlessly ignore information that's contrary to their worldview. She's "biased", therefore she's a liar, and everything she says should be discounted ... except for the part about the letters being forgeries
Isn't this what you cry about with the Swift Boat Vets? They are all liars because they are "Bush supporters" and the works.

Fucking idiot, their bullshit was objectively contradicted and proven to be false, so calling them liars is justified. But calling this woman a liar just on the basis that she has some bias is a whole different thing. I'm biased against Russia and most Russians, therefore everything I say about Russia must be lies, according to your logic, fuckwit. Doesn't hold up against any real scrutiny. My bias might affect my views, but I've yet to utter an intentional lie about that country.

Edi

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-09-18 02:58pm

WaPo

Parallels Drawn Between CBS Memos, Texan's Postings

By Michael Dobbs
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 18, 2004; Page A02

The former Texas National Guard officer suspected of providing CBS News with possibly forged records on President Bush's military service called on Democratic activists to wage "war" against Republican "dirty tricks" in a series of Internet postings in which he also used phrases similar to several employed in the disputed documents.

Retired Lt. Col. Bill Burkett, who earlier said he overheard Bush aides conspiring with the commander of the Texas National Guard to "sanitize" the president's military records, has refused to comment on reports that he could be CBS's confidential source. In e-mails yesterday to The Washington Post, he said he would speak out "at the appropriate time" but "that time is not now."

In e-mail messages to a Yahoo discussion group for Texas Democrats, Burkett laid out a rationale for using what he termed "down and dirty" tactics against Bush. He said that he had passed his ideas to the Democratic National Committee but that the DNC seemed "afraid to do what I suggest."

In another message, dated Sept. 4, Burkett hinted he might have had advance knowledge of some details in an explosive segment that aired Sept. 8 on CBS's "60 Minutes." In addition to airing footage of an interview with former Texas lieutenant governor Ben Barnes saying he helped Bush get into the Guard, the network broadcast documents purporting to show that Bush had disobeyed a direct order to take a physical required to continue flying in the spring of 1972.

"I believe that Bush knows that there is more coming out than Ben Barnes," Burkett wrote. "No proof, just gut instinct."

In another development, the Los Angeles Times reported that an Atlanta lawyer with conservative Republican connections posted the first Web log entry questioning the authenticity of the CBS documents less than four hours after the initial broadcast on "60 Minutes." The paper identified Harry W. MacDougald as the "Buckhead," who became a hero of conservative Web sites after pointing out technical problems with the documents, such as fonts and proportionate spacing.

MacDougald declined to say how he learned about the problems with the documents so early. In addition to being released by CBS, copies of the documents were e-mailed by the White House to reporters as "60 Minutes" went on the air.

For his part, Burkett said in an Aug. 25 posting to a different Web site, Online Journal, that he and other researchers had "reassembled" files showing that Bush did not fulfill his oath to obey his superior officers. It was not clear from the context of the message, however, whether he was referring to records that have dribbled out of the White House and the Pentagon in response to Freedom of Information Act requests or to previously unpublished documents.

Yesterday, the Pentagon released more records of Bush's service with the Texas National Guard, two days after a Texas Guard official told The Post that no new documents had been discovered. The records showed that Bush's father, who was then a Republican congressman from Houston, thanked his son's commander for taking a personal "interest in a brand new Air Force trainee."

Burkett, who worked at the Austin headquarters of the Texas Guard before his retirement in 1998, has said he saw some of the younger Bush's records in a trash can when Bush was preparing to run for reelection as governor of Texas. Guard officials have called his assertion fictitious.

CBS News has refused to identify the person who provided "60 Minutes" with records purporting to show that Bush received preferential treatment from his commanders when he moved from Texas to Alabama in 1972 to take part in a political campaign and was suspended from flying for failing to take a physical. But in an interview published yesterday in the New York Observer, CBS News anchor Dan Rather gave details about his source that fit with known details about Burkett.

Rather described his source as a man who said he, along with his family, has been harassed and threatened by political operatives. In interviews with journalists over the past few years, Burkett complained about receiving threatening phone calls at home, as well as a bullet with his name on it in his mailbox.

Another retired Guard officer who was interviewed for "60 Minutes," Robert Strong, said earlier this week that Rather showed him copies of new Guard records on Bush that bore markings showing that they had been faxed from a Kinko's copy shop in Abilene, Tex., 21 miles from Burkett's home in Baird.

The CBS documents include several phrases that crop up in Web logs signed by Burkett, including "run interference," and references to a pilot's "billet." Former Air National Guard officers have pointed out that "billet" is an Army expression, not an Air Force one. Burkett has also used the expression "cover your six," a military variant of the vulgar abbreviation "CYA," which appears in one of the CBS documents.

In an Aug. 21 posting, Burkett referred to a conversation with former senator Max Cleland (D-Ga.) about the need to counteract Republican tactics: "I asked if they wanted to counterattack or ride this to ground and outlast it, not spending any money. He said counterattack. So I gave them the information to do it with. But none of them have called me back."

Cleland confirmed that he had a two- or three-minute conversation by cell phone with a Texan named Burkett in mid-August while he was on a car ride. He remembers Burkett saying that he had "valuable" information about Bush, and asking what he should with it. "I told him to contact the [Kerry] campaign," Cleland said. "You get this information tens of times a day, and you don't know if it is legit or not."

Researcher Alice Crites contributed to this report.

*********************

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2004-09-18 05:20pm

Shep, can you PLEASE get your mouth off of Bush's cock?

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-09-18 05:26pm

Iceberg wrote:Shep, can you PLEASE get your mouth off of Bush's cock?

I'm not quoting from the RNC site, it's from that right wing paper known as the Washington Post

J · Post by J » 2004-09-18 05:28pm

Iceberg wrote:Shep, can you PLEASE get your mouth off of Bush's cock?

Don't hold your breath, that'll happen when Elfdart & Hamel become Bush-loving Republicans.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2004-09-18 06:04pm

MKSheppard wrote:
Iceberg wrote:Shep, can you PLEASE get your mouth off of Bush's cock?
I'm not quoting from the RNC site, it's from that right wing paper known as the Washington Post

Irrelevant. Any time you quote a newspaper article, it's an article that either (a) criticizes Kerry or (b) praises Bush. You don't have to quote a particular source to be sucking Bush's cock if the whole pattern of your behavior shows your lips inside his pants.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-09-18 06:05pm

Iceberg wrote:You don't have to quote a particular source to be sucking Bush's cock if the whole pattern of your behavior shows your lips inside his pants.

Hmm, so does that mean you had your lips firmly attached around
Howard Dean's cock several months ago?

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2004-09-18 06:33pm

Dude, that's just weak.