Time to revisit the flight physical in perpetuity?

[buycitgo]

this seems to be a generally agree-upon tack here at DU, right?

I mean, the fact that the refusal to "accomplish" his flight physical in 1972, and subsequent failure over a nearly two year period to ever make it up, seems more important than any question of AWOLness

right?

ALL DEM surrogates should mention this at EVERY opportunity, prefacing every statement they make, regardless of the subject at hand

it's open season now

when are they going to get tough? down and not even dirty, cause there's no bending the truth here, just an honest need to find OUT the truth

first google page on this

IHT: Bush's Guard actions required an inquiry
... by his failure to take a required annual flight physical, should have prompted an
investigation by his commander, a written acknowledgment by Bush and perhaps ...
www.iht.com/articles/129416.html - 13k - Cached - Similar pages

George W. Bush's Bright Shining Lies, by WM Tippins - Democratic ...
... Bush's "missed" flight physical and subsequent suspension from flying.
It is not spin-able because Bush, unwisely and uncharacteristically ...
www.democraticunderground.com/ articles/04/02/21_lies.html - 20k - Cached - Similar pages

Smoking Jet Campaign
... 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. ...
democrats.com/smokingjet/ - 67k - Cached - Similar pages

Boston.com / News / Politics / Presidential candidates / George W. ...
... Guard generals, in interviews yesterday, said they were surprised that Bush -- or
any military pilot -- would forgo a required annual flight physical and take ...
www.boston.com/.../president/bush/articles/ 2004/02/12/bushs_loss_of_flying_status_should_have_spurred_probe/ - 33k - Cached - Similar pages

Mathew Gross: Not Flying to Take Flight?
... But Bush missed his flight physical in July of 1972-- and then he never attempted
to make up for it. He didn't seek a physical in August or September. ...
mathewgross.com/blog/archives/000019.html - 21k - Cached - Similar pages

washingtonpost.com: Why Bush Stopped Flying in Guard Unclear
... He was not disciplined. There was no incident.". The records show only that Bush
was suspended from flying for failing to take a required flight physical. ...
www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/ wp-dyn/A60817-2004Feb21?language=printer - Similar pages

What Bush's Guard File Reveals
... This gap is as suspicious as the Alabama hole. The flight physical Bush's file
also provides no explanation for the flight physical that did not happen. ...
www.commondreams.org/views04/0219-03.htm - 19k - Cached - Similar pages

George W Bush and the F-102
... last Physical as May 1971. Which also shows him as CR MEM ON FS (crew member on flight
service) not PILOT. During his fifth year as a guardsman, Bush's records ...
www.seanet.com/~johnco/bush102.htm - 26k - Cached - Similar pages

Bush's flight from the Guard
... Bush may have thought this was a good strategy for ... the pilot's failure to keep his
physical status current. ... his pilots had been taken off the flight duty roster ...
home.earthlink.net/~imfalse/ bushs_flight_from_guard.html - 22k - Cached - Similar pages

Media AWOL in Noting Irony of Bush's Flight - Independent Media TV
... Bush failed to take his annual flight physical in 1972 so Guard officials
grounded him, the story went. He never flew again and ...
www.independent-media.tv/item.cfm?fmedia_ id=592&fcategory_desc=Media%20Deception - 20k - Cached - Similar pages

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=bush+flight+physical&btnG=Google+Search

[buycitgo]

1. here's why I started this

mad as I am, this put me over the top

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2161268&mesg_id=2161268

[sangh0]

2. There ya' go!!!

And don't forget, when asked recently about why he didn't take a physical, Bush* responded that he felt that he didn't NEED to take the physical because he wasn't going to be flying anymore.

Since when do inductees get to decide which orders they NEED to obey?

[buycitgo]

3. not only THAT, but what about the BS about his

own personal physician not being able to give it to him?

hahahahahahaha

he actually said that, and it's totally bogus, as an AIR FORCE doctor has to do it

he could NEVER have had his own doc give him a flight physical

where's the MEDIA on that one?

[put out]

11. Your own doc could do it if s/he was a Flight Surgeon.

And Little Boot's personal doctor was out of town from Houston, and therefore could not do the flight physical; this the official line straight out of the mouth of the pretender. The personal doc in Houston wasn't a Flight Surgeon, and could not have performed a flight physical. And Little Bit had five Flight Surgeons in Alabama from which to choose.

Stinky, stinky, stinky.

[buycitgo]

18. you sure about that?

is a flight surgeon by definition in the AF or the guard?

was his doc a flight surgeon?

interesting

I thought I'd read that, under NO circumstances could his own doc have conducted said physical

could be wrong on that

thx

[buycitgo]

5. when their daddies are influential pigpugs?

[klook]

4. Why is W skipping the physical more important than his going AWOL? (eom)

[sangh0]

6. Not more important - more damaging

because it's Bush*'s own words.

[buycitgo]

7. good question

one of the chief reasons is that the DOD had just institued mandatory drug/alcohol testing

another one is that he was flying nuclear capable planes (nuke tipped missiles for air defense), thus being held to higher standard of readiness than other pilots

don't want to go into more detail til I get some specifics on this

MANY people here are well versed in this

[buycitgo]

8. see how long it took?

from the same reporter who was the only one who followed the AWOL story at all in 2000

BOSTON President George W. Bush's August 1972 suspension from flight status in the Texas Air National Guard, triggered by his failure to take a required annual flight physical, should have prompted an investigation by his commander, a written acknowledgment by Bush and perhaps a written report to senior Air Force officials, according to Air Force regulations then in effect.

Bush, who was a fighter-interceptor pilot assigned to the Texas Air National Guard, did not fly after April 1972, just before the missed physical and 30 months before his flight commitment ended. He also did not attend National Guard training for several months that year and was permitted to cut short his military commitment in 1973.

For a second day in a row, the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, declined to answer questions Wednesday about Bush's failure to take the physical, and McClellan appeared to retreat from Bush's promise Sunday to make public all of his military records. Asked at a midday press briefing if all of Bush's records would be released, McClellan said, "We'd have to see if there is any new information in that." Erin Healy, assistant White House press secretary, said later than the White House did not have records about the flight physical.

it goes on to say that the records are probably in Colorado

sound familiar?

they're personnel records, but are probably part of his medical records, which he will not release

during the SC primary four years ago, part of the smear campaign against McCain was that he was nuts, causing him to reveal his own Navy medical records, after which he challenged the chimp to do likewise

he didn't, of course
http://www.iht.com/articles/129416.html

[klook]

12. OK, I'll buy that

Thanks for the info. I agree that reinforcing the AWOL charge with reminders of W's alcohol & drug abuse could be a good double whammy. And it's certainly all fair game to ask these questions about a presidential candidate, even one who's been appointed to the job once.

[buycitgo]

15. FAB YOU LESS!!!!

LOVE that

is that yours?

where's it from?

will check properties, but I hope there's more like that

[buycitgo]

16. found it

http://protest.bmgbiz.net/

[klook]

19. Peace Pretzel

Glad you found it.

[Bandit]

22. Because it is so easy to verify

He was Required to take the Physical. Required not just asked nicely to do so but required by direct order to do so and he did not do so. He has no real excuse. The one he has offered is that he did not plan to fly anymore. To me that is just as damning because the Government just spent close to a million dollars on his training and then he refused to continue. There is no legitimate excuse for this behavior. The AWOL claim can be spun many ways but refusing to take a Required Flight Physical can not be spun at all.

[buycitgo]

9. well.....nobody interested in taking the offensive?

I know, this is pretty boring stuff, pretty unimportant

never mind

[sangh0]

10. welcome to my world, buycitgo

people say the dems need to fight back, but the second we're attacked, they go to defense.

[buycitgo]

13. it's my little hellhole, as well

it's early on this, and we're always ahead of the news cycle, but they'd BETTER get on the stick soon

and they better go STRONG

don't send a boy, and all that

sorry, womyn, but it's just an outmoded cliche

works, though

no more wimpyass chuckleheads anymore

that doesn't leave too many people, though, does it?

WHO is out there to speak for YOU?

for ME?

Wes Clark, I hope.

PLEASE, wes

and please, Teresa....open your wallet

I started a thread on that, remember?

[sangh0]

17. Your little hellhole??

Did you just call me a squatter?

(in my best Curly Joe voice) Why I oughta.....

[DemoTex]

14. My perspective on 2/21/2004, the beta star in Bu$h's constellation of lies

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/04/02/21_lies.html

[buycitgo]

20. thanks! just saw this

IIMBSB:

What the spin-miesters are avoiding, however, is the beta-star in the Bush constellation of lies: Lt. Bush's "missed" flight physical and subsequent suspension from flying. It is not spin-able because Bush, unwisely and uncharacteristically, told an itsy-bitsy white lie about the flight physical that was so disingenuous and transparent that it has now become an egregious damn-lie. Bush flippantly explained that he did not comply with the requirement to get his flight physical because his personal physician was not available. Pants on fire!

Lt. Bush lost his qualification to fly the F-102 when he failed to take his flight physical in July of 1972 and was suspended from flying the next month, August 1972. This is the most salient point of Bush's short, and oh-so-sweet, service record. As a former military pilot and airline captain, I can only imagine the reasons for not taking a mandatory flight physical, and none of those reasons are pretty.

Why did Lt. Bush, apparently on his own, decide not to submit to a mandatory flight physical and incur a suspension from the flying that he told Tim Russert on Meet the Press (February 8, 2004) he "loved"? There is no record that Lt. Bush ever obtained the medical qualification required by regulations, nor is there any record of Bush ever flying a military sortie after his suspension in mid-1972.

The missed flight physical becomes the crux of Lt. Bush's problems with his guard service. Why would TANG want him back in the unit if he were not qualified to fly? Why would AANG take him, even into a non-flying billet, given that he had, de facto, disobeyed an order to take a flight physical? Submission to the annual flight physical, required of all pilots operating under the auspices and regulations of the air force (as was TANG), was not an option; it was a mandate. In July 1972, by skipping his flight physical, Lt. Bush also failed to comply with new USAF regulations concerning mandatory drug testing.

USAF regulations are not bent or broken without serious consequences, for most people. All other issues regarding Lt. George W. Bush's service record in the Air National Guard derive from the missed flight physical. Expect the self-proclaimed "war president," Mr. Bush, to get hammered on this in the months to come. Meanwhile, don't look for any RNC campaign ads on TV with Bush doing his vainglorious strut on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. The aircraft carrier publicity stunt is now prime-time fodder for the Democrats.

this is the sort of thing I was looking for

have you sent it to the kerry campaign?

how bout Joe Conason?

this BEGS to be widely known

[buycitgo]

21. it can't testify alone.....it can't FLY alone, either

split screen of him with Cheney's hand up his puppet ass, set off with Bush in his flying monkey suit

[trof]

23. You are absolutely, positively dead on!

THAT is the $64,000 question.
I was a guard pilot in Alabama, 1963-1971.
To not show up for your annual flight physical results in IMMEDIATE grounding. DNIF (Duties Not Including Flying) on your official record and a VERY SERIOUS "Show Cause" as to WHY you were a no-show.
That's the question to pursue unto the ends of the earth.

[TacticalPeek]

24. Kick,

:kick: