Case closed??? Get real.

Cases never close with Bush haters. Rest assured the Tinfoil Hat Brigade is already devising some new convoluted rationale for how, despite all the evidence to the contrary, Bush was AWOL anyway.

It's who they are, it's what they do. I don't even let it get me worked up any more. It's easier just to laugh at them.

There will be no apology from Bush-bashing webloggers. They'll just find a different angle to attack him. If anyone thought webloggers would somehow be different from their television and newspaper pundit brethren, this should show them they're incorrect.

But he didn't SEE him there, did he?

C'mon, it's all nonsense. These are the same people who said Clinton's draft-dodging didn't matter.

The worthy colonel states that he served with Lt. Bush in 1970 and 1971. What's that got to do with the period from April 1972 to August 1973? Maybe I'm missing something.

I don't trust Sun Myung Moon publications as a source of information, generally. Not that his followers weren't very nice to me in airports in years past.

Incidentally, since we are rehashing the history of the Bush clan, does anyone know what Mr. Bush was doing for a living between his graduation from Yale in 1968 and his entry into the Harvard Business School in 1973? Did he have gainful full time employment other than his active duty in the TANG, which doesn't nearly cover that time period?

The only recorded work I've seen is brief volunteerism on a few Republican campaigns and -- and this is very peculiar to me --work for an inner-city charitable organization in Houston called PULL that worked with disadvantaged minority kids, where he worked for a few months in late 1972 or early 1973. What's that all about? There is nothing in his personal or educational background, or in his actions before or since, that suggests the slightest interest in work like that. Please bear in mind that this was the hard-living George Bush of that era -- just about when he got in the famous fight with his father after taking his little brother Marvin out on a drinking binge. Is it possible that this work was community service, and was the price he had to pay to expunge some sort of arrest record? It seems like a pretty plausible explanation.

Maybe the press could check that out while they're at it.

I have only one quibble with the Colonel's letter: ARPC is not just where the records of "those no longer assigned to a specific unit, such as retirees and transferees" go. It is the central records repository for those in the Air Reserve Force (Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard) and the place where much of the administrative effort associated with those forces is conducted.

I am a current Air Force reservist--an Individual Mobilization Augmentee (or IMA), who served over 10 years on active duty before entering the reserves in 1999. I was recalled for a year of active duty (2001-2002) to support the Global War on terror. I also "stacked" a large number of my "monthly" drill periods and scheduled my two-week annual tour for 2003 to support Operation Iraqi Freedom.

I can attest to the flexibility that is the hallmark of reserve service--I don't always drill on the "scheduled" days, and often perform substantial portions of my yearly duty in a relatively short time period (and often outside the direct supervision of my rater). I have yet to see anything in the released records or White House statements that strike me as odd. In fact, if I were running for office today, my records since I left active duty would look a lot like the President's. You are quite correct that the ramblings of many of the bloggers are ill-informed. Those from Kerry and Clark are clearly cynical--they know (or at least have a good feel for) how the reserve system works, given their association with the military, either directly or via Senate oversight.

While the Democrats are questioning the military service of Mr Bush, they ignore where Mr. Kerry was: Helping the enemy.

Where was DAVID prior to February 2004? There is nothing in his actions past or present that would indicate he was in any position to know about GB. It seems plausible to me that DAVID is a paranoid schizophrenic who takes haldol. Why doesn't the press investigate that?

David, your comment is pure character assassination.

Bush worked for a time with a charitable organization, so that MUST mean he was performing community service as punishment for some crime? Come off it! For you to say that is wrong on so many levels.

You have no evidence whatsoever to support your claims. Until you produce it, then your comment is unadulterated bullshit and libel.

I smell desperation coming from Bill Hobbs.

In each of Bill Hobbs' posts on this subject it has begun with words to the effect of 'case closed' or 'charges disproved' or 'proof of service.'

COL Campenini's letter is fine and dandy and establishes Bush's whereabouts during the time he was flying. However, it does nothing to address Bush's whereabouts later.

Doesn't it strike you as odd that there is no shortage of folks who can place Bush's whereabouts when he was flying. Yet, he goes to AL and disappears. A unit which had between 600-700 reservists and not one has stepped forward?

David,

I worked as a suicide phone line volunteer trying to talk people in distrees out of offing themselves, after I left the military while attending university. So by your logic I must be a criminal too. Funny, I don't feel like one but no record exists so I must be.

JadeGold,
The desparation is yours. Bill has the sense of a predator moving iin on prey (like you) for a kill).

Just keep moving those goldposts. Maybe he slept with Morgan Fairchild. Yeah that's the ticket.

Actually, David's comments have a great deal of merit.

Let's remember a few facts, shall we?
1. Bush, at about the same time, was Asst. Campaign Manager for the unsuccessful campaign of Winston Blout in AL. One of the themes of Blount's campaign was to attack his opponent for supporting integration of the schools.

2. At the time, Bush was, by the accounts of his friends and family, having problems with alcohol. There were also unconfirmed reports of drug use.

3. Few remember, but Bush Sr. ran his own earlier Congressional campaigns on a platform opposed to federal civil rights legislation.

Thus, it would be completely out of character for Bush to volunteer at an inner-city charity. Moreover, Bush has never demonstrated any inclination to do so again.

Hey and there is this letter too that covers the period in Alabama

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040211-121217-6595r.htm

And when I volunteered for my charitable service, I had never done that before either.

I bet a lot of wealthy (not me) young people have volunteered without previous inclinations to do so.

you are reaching.

aah, unconfirmed reports... must be true!

I like how you say lets review the facts then bring in a bunch of "unconfirmed reports"

he has admitted on many ocassions having an alcohol problem and dealing with it. Don't make this out to be some deep dark secret.

Once a problem always a problem. Jeez, you some like those guys after Clinton's hide witht he rumors of Vince Foster.

Please reread what I said. I didn't accuse George Bush of anything. The comment clearly is speculation, but it is informed speculation. It actually could be viewed as a positive for President Bush that through his wife and his religion, he turned things around in his life. Take it easy.

CaptJoe: As my comments made clear, the PULL episode is purely speculative.

OTOH, it is profoundly out of character for Bush.

Sorry Dave, I was did something similiar after leaving the military and felt a slam .

Four General Info

another article that clarifies Col Turnipseed's own account and the distortions that the Globe foisted in 2000

http://www.suntimes.com/output/elect/cst-nws-banal11.html

I think a bit of calm reflection is in order. My problem with Bill Clinton was not what he did or did not do but the fact that he didn't tell the truth about it. My problem with George Bush is exactly the same. The bottom line is that we have documentation that would indicate that GW was ordered to report for a flight physical. There have been many stories about this but the bottom line is that he didn't. When I was in the military that was called disobeying a direct order. We have documentation that shows that he was ordered to report to a unit in Alabama and was even given 4 mandatory drill dates in October and November of 1972. Note this was not an arbitrary (if i feel like showing up situation) set of orders. He was ordered to report to the officer in charge of the unit (the guy who says he never saw him). When I was in the military you reported to where you were ordered to report when you were suppose to and if the person you were to report to wasn't there you reported to the duty officer or the duty NCO and covered your ass. If you didn't report you were technically AWOL (sorry you can spin it anyway you want but thats the truth). Maybe its just an oversite maybe its just a paperwork SNAFU but its quite frankly an insult to those of us who did do our duty during that time and to those in the Reserves and National Guard who then and NOW did their duty to just arbitrarily blow it off as a bunch of BUSH haters playing games. I have to many of my friends whose names are on that wall in Washington DC who deserve the TRUTH to just blow it off.

Mike McDaniel: I don't know what branch you were in (I was in the USAF) or your rank (I was enlisted, mostly) but temporary postings for me frequently included orders to report somewhere, but where I reported was whatever worked. Usually I either handed in a set of papers describing what was going on to some clerk or signed in on same that had been sent ahead. I don't recall ever reporting directly to a commanding officer above the rank of captain (although this was 40 years ago and I may have forgotten one). Also, I was later required (not ordered) to pass a yearly physical during the anniversary month of my enlistment. It could be missed for a few weeks for several reasons, and if failed mostly just changed my duty status unless and until I could pass. In fact, after a major injury, I was eventually invalided out due to failure to take the physical (it was physically impossible). So, I never took it, but I was honorably discharged, physically unable to perform duties.

So far I've seen no evidence that Bush "failed to follow a direct order." That would and should have resulted in a hearing, a finding, and a punishment if appropriate. Breaking regs, as you should know, is vastly different. Regs are broken all the time. If you get caught, you probably pay the penalty. Been there, done that. Disobeying a direct order is a whole 'nother story, no matter whose son you are.

By the way, it's just conjecture and commentary, based on unconfirmed reports, but have JadeGold and David ever proven that they're not members of a club practicing pyronecrobestiality? Would they please release all the records I would like to see, including rent receipts, etc so I can check against a list of arrests for pyronecrobestiality? Until they do, there's really only one way to see it.

Mike McDaniel: "When I was in the military you reported to where you were ordered to report when you were suppose to and if the person you were to report to wasn't there you reported to the duty officer or the duty NCO and covered your ass. If you didn't report you were technically AWOL (sorry you can spin it anyway you want but thats the truth)."

That is a near certainty for Active Duty Personnel. If you weren't in the Guard or Reserves as part of your military service, however, it's unlikely that you would have an idea of how Guard/Reserve service worked. When I entered the AF Reserve, I had no idea, even though, prior to that, I had spent thirteen years in Active Duty status. It took me a year to learn. For example: three unexcused absences will get you the boot. However, you can have as many excused absences as your commander will allow. (Keep in mind, this isn't 24/7/365-6 duty.)

It may be foreign to your experience as an AD member of the military, but we're not talking about AD; not spin, but fact.

Mike McDaniel: "When I was in the military you reported to where you were ordered to report when you were suppose to and if the person you were to report to wasn't there you reported to the duty officer or the duty NCO and covered your ass. If you didn't report you were technically AWOL (sorry you can spin it anyway you want but thats the truth)."

That is a near certainty for Active Duty Personnel. If you weren't in the Guard or Reserves as part of your military service, however, it's unlikely that you would have an idea of how Guard/Reserve service worked. When I entered the AF Reserve, I had no idea, even though, prior to that, I had spent thirteen years in Active Duty status. It took me a year to learn. For example: three unexcused absences will get you the boot. However, you can have as many excused absences as your commander will allow. (Keep in mind, this isn't 24/7/365-6 duty.)

It may be foreign to your experience as an AD member of the military, but we're not talking about AD; not spin, but fact.

The campaign Bush worked on was that of Winton Blount. Let's at least get one thing right.

Hey, pyronecrobestiality? I never saw them at the meeting ....

oops. ;)