Thursday, September 09, 2004

Order? What Order?

Here are the memos that were exposed last night on 60 Minutes, with excerpts, but the actual memos aren't much longer:

May 4th, 1972
"You are ordered to report to commander 111 F.I.S.. Ellington AFB, not later than (NLT) 14 May, 1972, to conduct annual physical examination (flight) IAW AFM 35-13."

May 19th, 1972
"I told him I had to have written acceptance before he would be transferred, but I think he's also talking to someone upstairs" - May 19, 1972

August 1, 1972
"On this date I ordered that 1st Lt. Bush be suspended from flight staus due to failure to perform to USAF/TexANG standards and failure to meet annual physical examination (flight) as ordered."

August 18, 1973
SUBJECT: CYA [I LOVE that subject title - Ig]
"...Harris gave me a message today from Grp regarding Bush's OETR [Officer Evaluation Training Report] and Staudt is pushing to sugarcoat it: Bush wasn't here during rating period."


This stuff proves three things:

1) There was pressure placed on the National Guard to make Bush's record appear better than it was.

2) Bush disobeyed a direct order, and then left.

3) Bush lied when he said that he released all the records. The AP filed a Freedom of Information request to release all the records, and Bush said he had. But after 60 Minutes showed the new documents on TV, the White House suddenly released the documents that they said they didn't have. Where did they come from, and why weren't they released BEFORE the 60 Minutes expose?

And will the jellyfish of the press bother to ask?

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