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Friday, September 10, 2004
AWOL? D'OH!
TQP's favorite hack is at it again...

This time on the meme that the content 60 minutes memos was what mattered, not that they are very poor forgeries. In OllieLand, the memos are real. I will not debate the forged documents because it is soooooo yesterday... Let's just answer the question (no matter how schtoopid).

Was a young President Bush AWOL?

No, here is why...

President Bush got an honorable discharge. Military records were enough when the target was Sen. Kerry (D - France), but in OllieLand Military records are only reliable if the service member is a Democrat.

Tonight on Hannity and Colmes, Bill Bennett mentioned a piece by Byron York of "The Hill". I decided to have a look and found the entire story debunked. Problem is that it relies on the military records of a Republican, which in OllieLand are always suspect. The key to the whole thing is the following (you need to read the whole thing).
At the time, guardsmen were required to accumulate a minimum of 50 points to meet their yearly obligation.

Mr. York then shows that the young President Bush earned 253, 340, 137, 112, 56, and 56 points over 6 years. Seeing that the requirement was 50 points, the service was completed. In fact, he earned 5 years of points in the first year and almost 7 years of points in his second year. That alone should have been enough to say that there was no issues, but it relies on those unreliable military records (of a Republican).

More from the article:
During his service, Bush received high marks as a pilot.

A 1970 evaluation said Bush "clearly stands out as a top notch fighter interceptor pilot" and was "a natural leader whom his contemporaries look to for leadership."

A 1971 evaluation called Bush "an exceptionally fine young officer and pilot" who "continually flies intercept missions with the unit to increase his proficiency even further." And a 1972 evaluation called Bush "an exceptional fighter interceptor pilot and officer."


Back to Bill Bennett on Hannity and Colmes. Bill challenged Robert Reich to name just one high ranking Republican that has personally made disparaging and unsubstantiated comments about Sen. Kerry (D - France), of course he could not. The closest he could come up with was Sen. Miller (a Democrat) who attacked his record. Bill could have kept going for hours naming (among others) Sen. Kennedy, Al Gore, Terry McAuliffe, Sen. Kerry, Sen. Harkin, the list goes on.

Before Ollie can say "Swift Boat Liars", let me say that there is some very basic differences between the "Bush AWOL" charge and the Swifties. The Swifties (no matter what Ollie says) are not part of the Bush campaign, in fact many are Democrats. The traffickers in the "Bush AWOL" story are mostly Democrat flacks (see list above) and the old media (as if there is a difference).

For the record, I think the Swifties medals attack was questionable, on par with "Bush AWOL". However, "Christmas in Cambodia" is a real story because Sen. Kerry told the lie on the floor of the Senate. The Swiftie charges on Sen. Kerry's conduct after returning home are also valid.

The biggest reason the Swiftie attacks are different than the "Bush AWOL" attacks are 3 little words... "Bring it on".

UPDATE: LGF Watch Watch posts the same article. Great minds...


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