PALAST: Still Unreported: The Pay-Off in Bush Air Guard Fix

[Octafish]

Palast pegged the quid-pro-quo Lt. Gov. Barnes received in exchange for keeping silent about getting Smirko McCokespoon his Texas ANG slot. Holy corruption, Batman! No wonder Barnes felt a load of shame upon seeing the names on the Wall.

STILL UNREPORTED: THE PAY-OFF IN BUSH AIR GUARD FIX

Saturday Aug 28, 2004
by Greg Palast

In 1968, former Congressman George Herbert Walker Bush of Texas, fresh from voting to send other men's sons to Vietnam, enlisted his own son in a very special affirmative action program, the 'champagne' unit of the Texas Air National Guard. There, Top Gun fighter pilot George Dubya was assigned the dangerous job of protecting Houston from Vietcong air attack.

This week, former Lt. Governor Ben Barnes of Texas 'fessed up to pulling the strings to keep Little George out of the jungle. "I got a young man named George W. Bush into the Texas Air Guard - and I'm ashamed."

THE PAY-OFF

That's far from the end of the story. In 1994, George W. Bush was elected governor of Texas by a whisker. By that time, Barnes had left office to become a big time corporate lobbyist. To an influence peddler like Barnes, having damning information on a sitting governor is worth its weight in gold – or, more precisely, there’s a value in keeping the info secret. 

Barnes appears to have made lucrative use of his knowledge of our President's slithering out of the draft as a lever to protect a multi-billion dollar contract for a client. That's the information in a confidential letter buried deep in the files of the US Justice Department that fell into my hands at BBC television.

CONTINUED...

http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=365&row=0

EDIT: Put in Palast name

[Supersedeas]

1. the intimacy of Texas backscratching--a sensitive subject for Texans

[Octafish]

4. Sorry to hurt anybody's feelings -- exceptin' the unelected fraud's.

Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes remembers why he did what he did for the Connecticut Cowboy. Still-Gov. George W Bush acts like he doesn't know a thing about it. And while Ronald Reagan may think "facts are stupid things," the law doesn't. Neither do the families of the 58,220 men and women killed or missing in action remembered on the Vietnam Memorial.

BTW: Hope I don't come across as self-righteous. It's the subject matter. Also want to say -- A hearty welcome to DU, Supersedeas!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

2. MoveOn should get hold of this and build a TV ad around excerpts

From the article:

"...I put the story on British television last year in the one-hour report, "Bush Family Fortunes." American networks turned down BBC's offer to run it in the USA. "Wonderful film," one executive told me, "but Time Warner is not going to let us put this on the air." However, US networks will take cash for advertisements calling Kerry a Vietnam coward...."

[Octafish]

5. They're not called "Media Whores" for nothing.

Yeh. Those parts really hit me in the stomach, as well. And a bunch of these same stations who took Smear Boat Liar money, I'd wager, would decline MoveOn's ads critical of Bushler.

A free press is so important, it's the only business mentioned by name in the US Constitution. The nation's founders understood for the concept of a democratic republic to work, an informed citizenry was needed.

Fast forward to 1972: Thanks to the crook Richard M Nixon, who blamed all his personal woes from the Vietnam War to Watergate (Ollie North STILL blames the loss of Vietnam on Dan Rather) on the "Liberal Media," the right wing went on a media buying frenzy, scooping up every network and newspaper in sight.

One excellent example is Cap Cities buying up ABC network. Bill Casey (of OSS, CIA and Iran-Contra fame) was one of the big honchos who made the deal happen. Similarly, GE and NewsCorp took their particular bents to their network buys. VIACOM, also a pretty conservative crew, bought CBS, although they are still willing to go out on a limb and voice some of the criminality of the Bush gang.

Going on to the 1980s, thanks to Pruneface Reagan and his deregulatory pirates, the media were able to consolidate into a few giant corporate powerhouses. The end result is a few, corporate, perspectives make up the nation's information environment.

Thank Goodness Al Gore helped make the Internet accessible to the public. Otherwise, it'd be "Good Night, USA!"

[Supersedeas]

10. Media and some outspoken Veterans

Plenty of Veterans manage to get face time in front of the Press and could easily raise the issue.

Bush himself has said that Kerry should be proud of his service.
The Media still claims not to know who Kerry is.
If the Swifties attack on Kerry is relevant to determining who Kerry is, then Bush's lack of combat experience and history behind that lack of combat experience ought to be relevant to the proposed re-election of a Commander in Chief who has no reservations about deploying brave young people into the ravages of war.

Veterans with integrity need to speak up when the mike is pushed in their face...that includes John McCain.

If Kerry post-combat activities are a relevant issue, McCain should declare that the history of Bush's lack of combat experience as an issue as well. That is--if honest integration of beliefs is important to McCain.

Veterans--it is your time--we need to hear from you on these issues.

[Octafish]

12. Most veterans I know respect John Kerry.

The reason is they know John Kerry didn't run when the going got tough. Kerry led his command. He didn't push them. And he was willing to go into the stuff to accomplish the mission and protect his men under his command.

When he got home, Kerry did all he could to stop the war. It didn't matter to him how history recorded his actions -- or some of his fellow officers considered him. Kerry wanted the killing to end, ASAFP.

Let's keep the story clear and up front. Kerry is a war hero. Twice.

[bmbmd]

3. Barnes is now, was then,

and always will be corrupt. Take his mea culpa with a large grain of salt.

[Octafish]

6. No doubt. But, Barnes still named the Little Turd from Crawford.

The guy seems as crooked as a dog's hind leg, to borrow a phrase, but what he says about George W Bush rings true. Remember the story of the Texas ANG Colonel who witnessed the purging of Bush's file?

Gee. What a different world this would be if the nation's "free press" had actually done their jobs and looked into the background of the psychotic moron they helped foist on the American people.

Former National Guard officer says Bush aide scrubbed military records

By Linda L. Starr and Bev Conover

November 4, 2000—Here comes the other shoe to the denials and cries of “desperation” from the George W. Bush camp: A former officer in the Texas National Guard says an aide to George W. Bush scrubbed Bush’s military records to get rid of the disparities between those files and an account of Bush’s military service in his official biography.

Bill Burkett, a former lieutenant colonel in the Guard, said, “As the State Plans Officer for the Texas National Guard, I was on full-time duty at Camp Mabry when Dan Bartlett was cleansing the George W Bush file prior to G.W.'s presidential announcement. For most soldiers at Camp Mabry, this was a generally known event. The archives were closely scrutinized to make sure that the Bush autobiography plans and the record did not directly contradict each other. In essence it was the script of the autobiography which Dan Bartlett and his small team used to scrub a file to be released. This effort was further involved by General Daniel James and Chief of Staff William W. Goodwin at Camp Mabry.”

Burkett stated, “I knew one person who worked within the records scrub who commented to me, while at the smoke area, that the Bush files really showed some problems with his ‘blue-blood service record.’”

He maintains the question of whether Bush completed his military obligations can be easily verified. “In fact, I have been disturbed by the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) material published that the two critical elements to answer questions were not included.”

CONTINUED...

http://www.onlinejournal.com/bush/110400Starr-Conover/110400starr-conover.html

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. Is Barnes a red herring?

Because the funny thing is, he wasn't Lt. Governor in 1968, the year that Bush joined the TX Nat'l Guard. He became Lt. Governor in 1969. Can someone explain this discrepancy to me?

[Octafish]

16. Good catch. Barnes was Texas Speaker of the House.

However, each bit the confusion helps whittle away a percentage of the Truth-Seekers. As Speaker, Barnes in 1968 was THE guy to know in Austin if one was interested in cutting through the red TANG tape to safety...

Texas Speaker Reportedly Helped Bush Get Into Guard

By George Lardner Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 21, 1999; Page A4

The speaker of the Texas legislature personally asked the top official of the Texas Air National Guard to help George W. Bush obtain a pilot's slot in a Guard fighter squadron during the war in Vietnam, according to informed sources.

The speaker, Ben Barnes, intervened on Bush's behalf sometime in late 1967 or early 1968 at the request of a good friend of Bush's father, then a Republican congressman from Houston, the sources said. The friend, Sidney A. Adger, was a prominent Houston business executive who died in 1996. The Guard official contacted at his behest, Brig. Gen. James M. Rose, died in 1993.

Both Bush, now governor of Texas and front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, and his father, the former president, say they did not ask for any help with Guard officials and have no knowledge of any assistance from Adger or anyone else.

SNIP...

The question of how George W. Bush got into the Texas Guard as a pilot trainee less than two weeks before his graduation from Yale has been a recurring issue in his political campaigns and has now been raised in a contentious lawsuit in which Barnes, who retired from politics after serving as House speaker and then lieutenant governor, is scheduled to give a deposition in Austin Sept. 27.

Barnes said in an interview this summer that when he was speaker he sometimes received requests for help in obtaining Guard slots, but never received such a call from then-Rep. Bush or anyone in the Bush family. But he declined to comment when asked if an intermediary or friend of the Bush family had ever asked him to intercede on George W. Bush's behalf.

CONTINUED...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/barnes092199.htm

EDIT: hTmL

[DoYouEverWonder]

17. Thanks for clearing that up

Someone else brought it up on another thread and I need to know what happened, so that next time I've got a good answer.

[Octafish]

7. Kick to the Draft-Dodging Crook, George W Bush

This story pretty much lays out the criminality involved in Bush's entry in the Texas Air National Guard. It is criminal. And Bush is a crook.

[lanparty]

20. Mel Gibson as GW Bush ????

Or better yet, maybe they could get Arnold Schwarzenneger. Cheney would be portrayed by Dr. Evil as portrayed by Mike Meyers.

Any other casting suggestions???

[Octafish]

21. Mel is a girly-man. For this job he needs a combo body-stunt double.

Perhaps this would make a good candidate for the film version of Smirk's life:



With apologies to the late Mr. and Mrs. Rey.

Regarding your other casting suggestions:

Oh yeah. Schwarzenegger's got a role in the Party:





So does the Sneer:





Of course, every stinking one of the BFEE make for a very bright future:



Yours is a most excellent idea, lanparty! This excercise is most heartening!

[Octafish]

8. Barnes Confesses; Bush Keeps Lying

Gee, DU. I'd think more people'd be interested in BUSH draft-dodging. Another fine article and a final self- :kick:

Article & Essay:

Barnes Confesses; Bush Keeps Lying

Shame pushes a powerful Texan politican to tell the truth about President Bush entering the Texas National Guard, but Preident Bush just keeps righ on lying about how he avoided the Vietnam War.
By Frederick Sweet

An August 2004 Republican smear campaign launched national attention on John Kerry’s Vietnam War record, thus distracting voters from America’s pressing issues. Meanwhile, the Associated Press released the following story about the Texan who was the main fixer who helped George W. Bush evade combat service in Vietnam:

Former Texas House Speaker (1965-1969) Ben Barnes said, “ more ashamed at myself than I’ve ever been’’ because he had helped Bush Jr. and the sons of other wealthy families get into the Texas National Guard to avoid service in Vietnam.

Barnes was among the most powerful politicians in Texas during the 1960s and 1970s--“the next LBJ”--until a scandal connected with his being a fixer derailed his political career. His consolation prize was to become a Texas tycoon. Sid Adger, an oil magnate and friend of the Bush family, initiated getting George W. into the Guard by calling up Barnes.

“I got a young man named George W. Bush into the National Guard ... and I’m not necessarily proud of that, but I did it,’’ Barnes confessed to a group of John Kerry supporters in Austin, Texas in a video clip recorded on May 27th.

CONTINUED...

http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=861&POSTNUKESID=4ec899ae9a6b4cf34d77a6f2191e1c74

[Karenina]

9. Kick!

:kick:

[Octafish]

11. Thanks, Karenina! Hey, didya read these details?

It seems there is a record of the wickedness of the BFEE. Let's make sure it gets passed around...

Neocons, paleocons: Who's chucking whom out of party?

WE were bound to get at least one good laugh out of Swift Boat Veterans for Humongous Lies, and what a pip it is. Upon being identified as the lawyer both for the Bush-Cheney campaign and the Swift Boat Liars, Benjamin Ginsberg bravely offered his resignation to the campaign, which has said repeatedly it has NO connection to the Liars.

SNIP...

Why did Bush, described by some of his fellow officers as a talented and enthusiastic pilot, stop flying fighter jets in the spring of 1972 and fail to take the annual physical exam required by all pilots?

What explains the gap in the president's Guard service in 1972-73, a period when commanders in Texas and Alabama say they never saw him report for duty and records show no pay to Bush when he was supposed to be on duty in Alabama?

A third question from USAT did Bush receive preferential treatment in getting into the Guard and getting a coveted pilot slot is a non-question. Of course he did. It was the peak of the Vietnam War, and there was a waiting list of over 100,000 men to get into the Air National Guard. A friend of Daddy Bush named Sid Adger called the then-lieutenant governor of Texas, Ben Barnes, and asked him to get Rep. Bush's son George into the section of the Texas Guard known as the "champagne unit.'

Adger was a prominent Houston businessman who belonged to the same clubs as Poppy, sent his kids to the same schools and had sons in the champagne unit. The son of former Texas Gov. John Connally had joined, the son of Sen. Lloyd Bentsen joined, as did some players for the Dallas Cowboys.

CONTINUED...

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/Stories/0,1413,206~11851~2367556,00.html

[DeepModem Mom]

13. kick

[Octafish]

18. Thanks, DeepModemMom! Hey! Didya read MediaMatters' release?

Mods, the following is a press release and intended for distribution. All or part of it may be posted without copyright infringement. Thanks! -- Octafish

MMFA: Two Candidates, Two Military Records, Two Standards; Media Covers Allegations about Kerry's Service, Ignores Bush's Record

8/30/2004 12:15:00 PM

To: National and State desks, Political Reporter

SNIP...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by Media Matters for America:

A new Media Matters for America (MMFA) analysis finds that in 2004, media coverage of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's baseless attacks on John Kerry's war record has been more than twice that of the coverage of the controversy over George W. Bush's service in the Alabama National Guard:

Both current major-party presidential candidates served their country during Vietnam. Both candidates' service has been questioned.

The similarities end there.

John Kerry, according to every available piece of documentary evidence, including official U.S. Navy records, served bravely and honorably, won five medals (including three Purple Hearts), and saved a crewmate's life. Everybody -- everybody -- who served on Kerry's boats during the incidents that led to his medals agrees that he deserved them and praises his distinguished service.

President George W. Bush, according to the documentary evidence available, apparently didn't bother to show up for duty for a lengthy period in 1972-73 -- a period when, according to USA Today, "commanders in Texas and Alabama say they never saw him report for duty and records show no pay to Bush when he was supposed to be on duty in Alabama." In contrast with Kerry, who has shipmates who sing his praises, Bush hasn't been able to produce anyone who can credibly say they remember serving with him in the Alabama Guard.

Though much is known about Bush's Guard record -- that he was grounded from flying for failing to take a physical, for example - - some questions linger. Among those identified by USA Today:

Why did Bush, described by some of his fellow officers as a talented and enthusiastic pilot, stop flying fighter jets in the spring of 1972 and fail to take an annual physical exam required of all pilots?

What explains the apparent gap in the president's Guard service in 1972-73, a period when commanders in Texas and Alabama say they never saw him report for duty and records show no pay to Bush when he was supposed to be on duty in Alabama?

Did Bush receive preferential treatment in getting into the Guard and securing a coveted pilot slot despite poor qualifying scores and arrests, but no convictions, for stealing a Christmas wreath and rowdiness at a football game during his college years?

The Associated Press filed a lawsuit this summer requesting copies of Bush's military records stored in a Texas archive on microfilm. It sought information that might explain why Bush did not take his flight physical and whether he showed up for duty in Alabama in the fall of 1972, AP spokesman John Stokes said.

One might think -- since we already know that Bush skipped a required physical, causing him to be grounded, and that records give no indication that he showed up for duty for several months - - that media coverage of questions about the candidates' Vietnam- era service would focus on Bush's record. But that's not what has happened so far during this presidential campaign, according to a Media Matters for America review of media coverage of the candidates. Not only has the media given substantially more attention to baseless charges leveled against Kerry, they have repeatedly held Bush to a lower standard than other candidates.

OVERVIEW of Media Coverage of Questions Surrounding the Candidates' Military Careers:

2004 Media Coverage of the Candidates' Military Service

Media Type Bush/Ala. National Guard Kerry/Swift Boats

All News 752 1,924

U.S. Newspapers and Wires 398 1,440

ABC, CBS, NBC, CNBC, CNN, 125 314 FOX, MSNBC

Methodology: Based on searches of the LexisNexis database conducted on August 25. Totals for "Bush/Ala. National Guard" include all hits in the given LexisNexis source files that return for the search: (George w/2 Bush) and (Alabama w/5 national guard). Totals for "Kerry/Swift Boat Vets" include all hits for the search: Swift Boat Veterans and Kerry

CASE STUDY: Baseless claims that Kerry lied get heavy coverage while media ignores Bush's proven lies.

Baseless allegations that Kerry has lied about his military record have gotten heavy media coverage in recent months -- but lies we know that Bush has told about his own military record have gone virtually unreported by the media.

For example, Bush lied during his 1978 congressional campaign, falsely claiming he had served in the Air Force. The Associated Press reported on July 14, 1999:

A pullout ad from The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal of May 4, 1978, shows a huge picture of Bush with a "Bush for Congress" logo on the front. On the back, a synopsis of his career says he served "in the U.S. Air Force and the Texas Air National Guard where he piloted the F-102 aircraft."

Bush didn't serve in the U.S. Air Force; he served in the National Guard. When confronted with questions about the ad, Bush said, "The facts are I served 600 days in the Air Force," basing his claim on the assertion that National Guard service and Air Force service are the same thing. But the Associated Press reported that there is, in fact, a difference between the National Guard and the Air Force:

The Air Force says Air National Guard members are considered 'guardsmen on active duty' while receiving pilot training. They get active-duty pay, which is more than their Guard pay, during pilot training. They are not, however, counted as members of the overall active-duty force.

By claiming to have been in the Air Force, Bush may have been trying to create the impression that he was in -- or could have been sent to -- Vietnam. But when he had the opportunity to volunteer for "overseas" duty, Bush refused, as page 22 of these Bush military records (pdf) reveals. Indeed, Bush once famously explained why he joined the National Guard: "I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes."

MMFA can find only one media mention on LexisNexis since January of this obvious Bush lie about the Air Force: an article on Salon.com in February.

Another example of a clear-cut Bush lie about his military record that has gone almost completely unnoticed by the media this year is a false claim he made in his autobiography about how long he flew jets for the Guard. The Boston Globe reported: "Bush himself, in his 1999 autobiography, A Charge to Keep, recounts the thrills of his pilot training, which he completed in June 1970. 'I continued flying with my unit for the next several years,' the governor wrote."

But, as USA Today reported, Bush "stop(ped) flying fighter jets in the spring of 1972" -- less than two years after completing his pilot training. Not only did Bush stop flying in the spring of 1972, he was grounded from flying in August 1972, after refusing to take a required physical.

Clearly, Bush lied in his autobiography when he said he "continued flying with" his unit for "the next several years." He doesn't seem to have done so for even two years, much less "several."

But the media has ignored this clear lie that George W. Bush told in order to advance a political campaign. A search of the LexisNexis database yields only seven hits for 2004 -- three of which are versions of an Eric Alterman column that appeared in multiple newspapers, and one of which is a letter to the editor. CASE STUDY on the media's double standard: Wesley Clark got negative coverage for remarks made at his campaign event; Bush has escaped similar scrutiny.

In January, during the Democratic primaries, filmmaker Michael Moore, appearing at a rally for then-presidential candidate Ret. General Wesley Clark, called Bush a "deserter," referring to Bush's apparent failure to report for duty in Alabama. A firestorm quickly developed, and Clark was widely condemned in the media for not challenging Moore's comment. During a Democratic primary debate, moderator and ABC News anchor Peter Jennings even suggested that Clark's failure to contradict Moore was an example of poor "ethical behavior."

Jennings, to Wesley Clark during the January 22 Democratic debate in New Hampshire:

JENNINGS: General Clark, a lot of people say they don't know you well, so this is really a simple question about knowing a man by his friends. The other day, you had a rally here and one of the men who stood up to endorse you was the controversial filmmaker Michael Moore. You said you were delighted with him. At one point, Mr. Moore said in front of you that President (George W.) Bush, he was saying he'd like to see a debate between you, the General (Clark), and President (George W.) Bush, who he called a deserter. Now, that's a reckless charge not supported by the facts. And I was curious to know why you didn't contradict him and whether or not you think it was -- would have been a better example of ethical behavior to have done so?

Jennings flatly declared Moore's allegation "reckless" and "not supported by the facts," despite the fact that, as noted earlier, there is no evidence that Bush showed up for duty when he was supposed to. And Jennings wasn't alone in criticizing Clark; the condemnation of Clark's decision not to contradict Moore's comments was so great, the event has been blamed for Clark's defeat in the primaries. For example, on the June 30 edition of FOX News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly said:

O'REILLY: Kerry has a problem, and we discussed this last night. I don't know whether you saw The Factor last night. But he can't ally himself with Michael Moore, because you saw what happened to Wesley Clark, when Wesley Clark wouldn't even repudiate Moore. And that blew Clark right out of the race. He can't partner up with Moore, because as you said, there are a lot of independents who don't like this kind of stuff. It's disrespectful, is what it is.

A search of the "All News" category on LexisNexis finds 293 articles that mention Clark, Moore, and the "deserter" comment.

Fast-forward to August: At a Bush campaign event in Beaverton, Oregon, two Bush supporters attacked John Kerry's military record -- one even suggesting Kerry received his Purple Hearts for "self- inflicted scratches" -- in questions to Bush. Bush did not denounce the comments, or disagree in any way. Instead, he thanked the supporters for their comments.

Surely, then, the media has taken Bush to task the way they took Clark to task? And perhaps even more harshly, since there is no evidence that John Kerry's military record is anything less than exemplary, while there is considerable evidence that Bush didn't show up for duty when he was supposed to?

Well, not quite: The media has ignored the Bush event and ignored Bush's tacit endorsement of the attacks on Kerry's military record made in his presence (which, by the way, recalled the 2000 Republican primaries, when, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Bush stood on a stage and listened as a supporter accused McCain, who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi, of turning his back on veterans").

A LexisNexis search shows only six mentions of the Beaverton incidents: two Washington Post articles, two Washingtonpost.com articles, a column by Gene Lyons in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and a Scripps Howard article. The Bush event is perfectly analogous to the Clark/Moore event (except that Moore had considerably more evidence to support his position than did the questioners at the Bush event) -- and yet the news media, which covered the Clark/Moore event so thoroughly, has ignored the Bush event.

Below are the two exchanges that occurred during an August 13 Bush "Town Hall" event in Beaverton, Oregon:

Q: Mr. President, Mr. Kerry seems to have a lot of trouble remembering dates -- when and if he was in Cambodia; who was president -- Nixon or Johnson -- when he was assigned to Vietnam; what bills in Congress he worked for and when; cannot remember if he campaigned in Oregon or California for George McGovern. Your last opponent you exposed with fuzzy math. It's time to expose John Kerry with fuzzy memory.

(applause)

BUSH: You got a question?

Q: I, too, want to say God bless you, Mr. Bush. My husband and my twins and I pray for you daily, as do many homeschoolers.

(applause)

Thank you for recognizing homeschoolers.

BUSH: You bet. Thanks.

Q: On behalf of Vietnam veterans -- and I served six tours over there -- we do support the president. I only have one concern, and that's on the Purple Heart, and that is, is that there are over 200,000 Vietnam vets that died from Agent Orange and were never -- no Purple Heart has ever been awarded to a Vietnam veteran because of Agent Orange because it's never been changed in the regulations. Yet, we've got a candidate for president out here with two self-inflicted scratches, and I take that as an insult.

(applause)

BUSH: Well, I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you for your service. Six tours? Whew. That's a lot of tours. Let's see, who've we got here? You got a question? - J.F.

------

Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media. Media Matters for America is the first organization to systematically monitor the media for conservative misinformation -- every day, in real time -- in 2004 and beyond. For more information, log on to http://www.mediamatters.org.

http://www.usnewswire.com/

-0-

/© 2004 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/

SOURCE:

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=35393

[oasis]

14. "slithering out of the draft". (kick)

[Octafish]

19. Thanks, oasis! Thanks also for your service to our country!

You know how I feel about our veterans. Gee. My dad, grand-dad, uncles, cousins...

Unlike our present civilian leadership, I respect most everyone in uniform and government service because they keep our country free. I'm feeling we are going to need to call on them soon to protect the nation from enemies domestic.

DU: The BFEE is more than an Transnational Criminal Enterprise. They hijacked America on 22 November 1963. Look where Dim Son's leading us... Chimpageddon.