February 12, 2004

I Told You So: Bush Washington Times Letter Bogus The Washington Times letter was brought up in a previous post. This is a form letter. It was also sent to "The Observer." There are serious errors in this letter. Second, there was no such thing as a "disciplinary unit" to which Bush would have been ordered. They just don't exist. Any discipline, if required, is handled within the squadron or group, administratively or judicially. There would be a record and a reflection in Lt. Bush's performance review, and none such exist, as was confirmed in a (unfriendly) Washington Post article in 2000.

Lie. Read Kevin Drum's blog post. He has Bush's ARF document on his blog. And you were always subject to call up, as many Air National Guardsmen are finding out today. If the 111th F.I.S. and Lt. Bush did not go to Vietnam, blame Hutchins' heroes Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara, not lowly Lt. Bush. Bush was never faced with the possibility of being called up. The National Guard does not operate like now. Johnson and McNamara were not in the White House when Bush was in the National Guard. The speechwriters who wrote this letter don't want to mention Nixon and put illogical blame on two Democrats no longer holding office. And you were always subject to call up, as many Air National Guardsmen are finding out today. If the 111th F.I.S. and Lt. Bush did not go to Vietnam, blame Hutchins' heroes Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara, not lowly Lt. Bush. Again with Johnson and McNamara. Oliver Willis and Counterspin also point out that it's bogus. I say this was wrtten by Karl Rove and Karen Hughes. They had a Bush family friend put his John Hancock on it.

posted by Sullivan 20 years ago
  • I have no dog in this fight. But... both letters are attributed to the same person. Nothing nefarious about that. The letter may be bogus based on its content, not on the basis of being duplicated in a paper.
  • Only nine more months of this to look forward to. I'm sure the time will fly.
  • That's interesting, Sullivan, but I wonder if we shouldn't keep it all to one thread. Isn't this the third post on this topic in two days?
  • tracicle, some fodder for the rewrite: a more comprehensive category list for FPPs and the ability to filter in/out categories. Should satisfy everyone.
  • Probably should have been posted in today's earlier thread.
  • Seems the word of the day is served.
  • Oh my, stirfry, I really need to read that kind of thing more often. Most entertaining thing I've seen in weeks.
  • Great link, stirfry. Was anybody else reminded of William H Macy's character in Fargo while reading that?... "Well, heck, if you wanna play games here! I'm workin' with ya on this thing, but I... Okay, I'll do a damned lot count!"
  • Sully, here's a rebuttal to CalPundit's interpretations of the ARF documents...from someone who's spent 21 years as a reservist (including 7 active duty). And another man, a JLawson, left a comment on CalPundit's site explaining the discrepencies in Cal's review of the official docs. I'm not sure that CalPundit's not talking out of his ass here. Is the Wash. Times letter bogus? I dunno. Is it tin foil hat time?
  • Well, Baldilocks also thinks Cal is an ignorant ass on this one.
  • [derail] I think this thread needs a soundtrack. I propose this (flash ad)--for no other reason than that's what pops into my head everytime I read a Bush thread these days. I don't know why, but sometimes figuring myself out is more energy than it's worth. [/derail]
  • Is that a genuine advert Kimberly? That sure is frightening...
  • It is. It's been on tv for about a month now and they are making quite an impression. I happened to mention it on my blog and my hits went through the roof (my total hits doubled in a month and I've counting for about two and a half years). I personally love those ads, as frightening as they are. I'm a big fan of the surreal. Incidentally, here's the second one, which is even funnier.

  • Kimberly, so what losses did Quiznos post this year?
  • Are they by the same people who did this?
  • bloody hell, Joel Veitch is actually taking over the world, isn't he? Advertising execs - dare you to use this one for your next campaign... We like tha moooooooooooooon...
  • While I love the surreal mutant hamsters (a lot!!), it's the song that really gets me.
  • The surreal mutant hamsters are technically known as Spongmonkeys. But yes, it's the song. I'd only just got it out of my head after about, like, six months. And you just put it back in there, with new lyrics... *heartrending sob* He's also done these British ads for Swich/Maestro, featuring penguins singing Chanson d'Amour. Naturally.
  • flashboy: You are my new best friend. Seriously. Much better than the quiznos ad. Bless you with many bananas. That's my new theme song.
  • This type of letter campaign has been done by the Bush administration before. A Houston Chronicle article discusses letters from Iraq soldiers to newspapers across the country that was written exactly the same. +Jerry Wakefield, the managing editor of The Olympian, which has an average daily circulation of about 40,000, said the newspaper declined to publish the letters after an editor noted that the signatures were different. One was signed "SPC Marois, Alexander C." and the other "SPC Ackler, Joshua." "It's been a policy for a quite a while here that we not run things that are clearly form letters," Wakefield said. After receiving the letters, Gannett identified at least 11 newspapers, some of which are owned by the company, that had printed the letters. Look, people have a right to a conservative opinion. That should not blind you to the fact that this letter is bogus. The Washington Times letter wasn't an isolated incident. The White House has done this before. If I were a conservative I would be pissed right now. I was pissed at Clinton for MonicaGate and pardoning Marc Rich. There was no excuse for that. If citizens don't question public officials then no one will. It's their job to serve the public. Not the other way around. We're still all monkey pals, so don't sweat it. I lay off the Bush AWOL posts.
  • More holes in Bill Campenni's letter. Oliver Willis got in contact with him. When I asked him about being stationed in Pittsburgh, not Alabama and the fact that his story leads one to believe he was in grad school from '71-72 (the same years as the hole in Bush's record) and thus incapable of vouching for where the president was, his reply? An evasive "Nice Try".
  • Oops, wrong link. I meant to link to this.