For the last few days it seemed as though the recent comments made by Ben Barnes, the former Lieutenant Governor of Texas, concerning the plot to keep Georgie Bush from going off to fight that he and his family supported, might not get any serious attention by the mainstream press. Now, however, it looks like 60 Minutes is stepping up the plate and looking into the allegations that the Bushs asked Barnes to pull some strings in order to get their son into the Texas National Guard unit known as the Champaign unit. According to Salon.com, it was called that because, among its members were sons of prominent Texas politicians and businessmen. Anyway, heres a short clip from the Salon article on Barnes and his upcoming TV appearance:
Throughout his political career Bush has adamantly denied that he got a Guard pilot spot through preferential treatment. That, despite the fact Bush was jumped ahead of a nationwide waiting list of 100,000 Guard applicants, while achieving the lowest possible passing grade on his pilot aptitude test for would-be fliers, and listing “none” as his background qualifications.
So, someone elses son went over and conceivably died in his place Id like to interview the families of the men on that list of 100,000 applicants that Bush cut in front of, especially those that then went on to lose their young sons in Vietnam. That, I think, would make one hell of a powerful television ad Hello, my name is — —-, and my son had all the qualifications to be in the Texas National Guard. He applied, but he was told there wasnt room. Instead, he was drafted to go to Vietnam, where he died in combat. Ive looked at George Bushs qualifications side by side with my sons and I cannot understand why he got in and my son did not. Its not fair, and I deserve an answer. An ad like that would cut right to the core of the issue.
Heres another clip from the Salon piece:
With Barnes now being featured in a sit-down interview with “60 Minutes,” the highly rated CBS news magazine, reporters may finally be forced to address the consistent curiosities of Bush’s National Guard record. Such as why, after nearly a decade of sifting through military records, neither Bush nor his team of longtime advisors can piece together a coherent explanation for his whereabouts, particularly after April 1972 when Bush inexplicably stopped flying and moved to Alabama, failed to take his physical exam, was grounded by his superiors, and by all accounts failed to show up for weekend training for months at a time. Bush received an honorable discharge in 1973 in order to attend Harvard Business School. Bush supporters insist the honorable discharge proves his service was above reproach. But military legal experts note honorable discharges, particularly in the early ’70s as the Vietnam War was winding down, do not indicate unblemished military records.
Its funny to me that having earned a Purple Heart, in the eyes of several people in todays Republican party, doesnt necessarily imply that a person was wounded, but being honorably discharged means beyond a shadow of a doubt that a person performed his duty honorably and fulfilled his obligation to the country. I dont understand that. If a Purple Heart no longer means you were wounded in combat, then, it seems to me, that honorably discharged might no longer mean you were honorably discharged.
