Brokaw Makes Up New Miliatry Term: "Absentee Record"

[Torgo4]

Timmy Russert dogged Clark about Moore's deserter charge against Dubya yesterday. Roundtable afterwards with Tom Brokaw where Brokaw said Bush had an "absentee record...!" :wtf:

MR. BROKAW: That's the phrase that he used. It was. And we do know that he had a big absentee record as a National Guard member in Alabama. That's fixed. But desertion...

Being a millionaire pundit toadying up to the Bush Family, Brokaw made up a phrase that doesn't exist in military parlance. Absentee record sounds like he missed a couple of shifts at the Oscar Mayer plant. Sure sounds better that AWOL though, eh Tom?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ID/4028066/

[monobrau]

1. "That's fixed"

What the hell does "fixed" mean? That he is helping to repair it by whoring for Bush?

[Bluzmann57]

2. When I was a Union Steward at a former job

I had to sit in on a couple of terminations of people because of "absentee records". They were justified. On any job where a person is at, they are expected to at least show up, which obviously bush didn't do. So therefore, he should be fired. And it is sad to see Brokaw, a University of Iowa grad, tilt so far to the right. He used to be good. And on edit, welcome to DU.

[madrchsod]

3. i worked with a guy

that had an "absentee record" in the early 70`s. guess what? the fbi came in to the plant and arrested him. i guess no one bothered with the fly boy.....

[BOSSHOG]

4. Desert - "to forsake one's duty."

bush's "absentee record" makes the case. The silence from the rnc and the WH is deafening on this issue. One would think karl et al would want to highlight bush's military record to silence critics such as Michael Moore. I guess they are too busy obfuscating the 9-11 commission investigation, spinning David Kay's words and enjoying the "cooperation" of WH staff members in the Plame case to work on the BUSH MILITARY RECORD.

[acmavm]

5. I think he means that yes, Bush* was awol during his time with the TANG,

but that it really doesn't matter. At least, not if you're a die-hard republican who just doesn't think that a little thing being AWOL during a war where the middle and lower classes were bled of their young people during the draft while the son of a rich, white, well-connected politician can just walk away from his obligations without even a reprimand. Yes sir, that point is fixed. It's set in stone.

[peacetalksforall]

6. If the Burkett account is correct

there ain't no more paper...
there are only people left who 'ordered' the destruction of the "absentee records".

Check out the Burkett article re Bush's right hand Communication staff members in Texas at the time.

One of them made this statement about himself:

"There isn't anything more important than protecting Governor Bush and the first lady. I'm the heavy in the literal sense of the word."

Quote from here:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/analysis_louise_122302_allbaugh.html

[Torgo4]

15. Burkett Is Too Gloomy---Lotsa Ways to Verify W's AWOL-ness!

Most detailed would be his actual military records. The records in Texas were probably "scrubbed!"
His permanent records were forwarded to ARPERCEN (Army-Reserve Personnel Center)in St. Louis, a few years after discharge.
According to a military retiree buddy of mine that worked there, NO-BODY gets without authorization and nobody scrubs records!!

All Baby Bush has to do is sign a SF 180 and release his records to an impartial source!

What are the odds of that happening?

[MariaS]

7. Don't you just love

that Russert refered to desertion as being punishable by death Doesn't that only apply if you desert from the battlefield. Could some one with military knowledge confirm or deny this for me.

[Torgo4]

8. Desertion

Like many things UCMJ-wise it is subject to varied enforcement (like adultery regulations). Of course battlefield infractions are considered more serious because of the situation.
I think the last US soldiers executed for desertion was PVt Slovik in WWII combat theater, so Russert is serving up some serious hyperbole for ratings.

I'll check the Regs for specifics (FTR, AWOL, Desertion)

How much you wanna bet Bush got a pass! Just like his whole life of failures (academic, military, business) W gets a pass.

Only now, he's got the US Treasury to bankrupt and our troops to decimate!

Also!!

[Torgo4]

9. A Little Help!

http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2004_01_25_dneiwert_archive.html#107509814210417564

[GOPFighter]

10. Just sent the following email to Russert

On Meet the Press on January 25, Mr. Russert asked the following question:

MR. RUSSERT: "Is it appropriate to call the president of the United States a deserter?"

The point was, I believe, to marginalize Michael Moore, and get General Clark to distance himself from the suggestion that George W. Bush did anything dishonorable while in the service.

I'm a veteran. I spent four years in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. I served my entire four years with honor. I would just like to ask Mr. Russert what he thinks would have happened to A1C xxxxxx if I had done what George W. Bush did during his stint in the Texas Air National Guard? I would have served time, I would have been given a Dishonorable Discharge, and I would never, EVER have a chance to hold political office.

I find it highly ironic (and insulting) that Mr. Russert would try to use President Bush's unpatriotic war record to make a Democratic Candidate for President look bad while he (and most of the rest of the press corp) have never cast the spotlight on the person who compiled the record, George W. Bush.

Sometime in the coming year, Mr. Russert will get a chance to interview the President during the upcoming Presidential election. Let's see if he has the balls to ask the president some tough questions about his record in the Air National Guard.

Sincerely,

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Skittles]

11. AMEN GOPFighter, AMEN

I too served in the Air Force and not only did I NOT go "ABSENT", I was fully aware of what would have happened to me if I HAD gone "ABSENT".

[Jack Rabbit]

12. We need to go a little farther than that

Let's not only hope Russert has the balls to ask that question, but that he has the professional integrity to ask follow up questions when (that's when, not if) he is given an unsatisfactory answer.

Michael Moore may be technically wrong to call Bush a deserter. That should not paper over the fact that Bush did not report for Guard duty for about a year and a half and then was honorably discharged early. That's one of the real stories; another is the lengths the US corportist media is going to cover for Bush.

[teryang]

13. The only difference between AWOL and Desertion

...is the state of mind of the person who failed to report. When he went absent without leave, did he intend to come back? AWOL is the lesser included offense of desertion. Lengthy absences, whether he turned himself in or reported back to duty are all factors that are considered. Technically, the chimp is not even guilty of Awol because he was never tried or given NJP. There is the matter of AWOL in law and AWOL in fact. Technically, the latter is irrelevant if receives an honorable discharge except perhaps for time of service considerations.

[tom_paine]

14. My God, the faces of Imperial Pravda are such odious bootlickers

Tom Brokaw would, at this point in his bloated, sycophantic and moribund career, be better off serving in Vlad Putin's media.

Imperial Amerikan media is a laughingstock.

A pathetic laughingstock.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

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[Logansquare]

17. Mr. Brokaw didn't go to Vietnam, so why should *?

It looks like he didn't even report from 'Nam, unlike Dan Rather and others. His bio from MSNBC:

Brokaw joined NBC News in 1966, reporting from California and anchoring for KNBC, the NBC television station in Los Angeles. From 1973 to 1976 he was NBC’s White House correspondent, and from 1976 to 1981, he anchored NBC News’ “Today.” An acclaimed political reporter, Brokaw has covered every presidential election since 1968. Brokaw began his career in journalism after graduating from the University of South Dakota in 1962 at KMTV, Omaha. In 1965 he anchored the late-evening news on WSB-TV in Atlanta.

[Jack Rabbit]

18. Let's be fair to Brokaw

As that thumbnail biography points out, he was a local TV reporter in Los Angeles during the Vietnam War. I lived in the LA area at the time and can add that Brokaw was a good reporter, as surprising as that seems now.

Nevertheless, local newsmen didn't go to Vietnam. Network people did. Brokaw hadn't worked his way up to the network until the war was almost over.