to the story told by former TX Lt. Governor Ben Barnes?? His revelations got buried in the firestorm.
Here is the link to the apology by Rather, note it doesn't mention the interview with Barnes, just the documents ...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/20/politics/main644546.shtmlBuried in the original release is Barnes' story about doing daddy bush a favor. In the outrage from the right about the documents and the typewriter fonts, we forgot about what Barnes said ...this is so KKKarl Rove. Point to a firestorm over there so no one notices the juice of the story....
snip...
It was May 1968, and Vietnam was in flames. In that month, more than 2,000 Americans were killed in combat, and the draft was siphoning thousands more into the jungle.
George W. Bush had just graduated from Yale, and faced the prospect of being drafted himself. But former Texas House Speaker and Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes says he helped keep that from happening.
So what happened with Mr. Bush, the draft and the National Guard? And why is Barnes finally telling his story?
"First of all, I want to say that I’m not here to bring any harm to George Bush's reputation or his career. I was contacted by people from the very beginning of his political career, when he ran for governor, and then when he ran for president, and now he's running for re-election," says Barnes.
"I've had hundreds of phone calls from people wanting to know the story. And I've been quoted and misquoted. And the reason I am here today … is that I really want to tell the story. And I want to tell it one time. And get it behind us. And again, it is not about George Bush's political career. This is about what the truth is."
Barnes is a Democrat who is now actively raising money for Sen. John Kerry. But he was also a Democrat back in 1968, and serving as Texas speaker of the House. At 29, Barnes was a protégé of President Lyndon Johnson. But in keeping with the times, he wielded clout and connections to build a powerful political base.
A few months before Mr. Bush would become eligible for the draft, Barnes says he had a meeting with the late oilman Sid Adger, a friend to both Barnes and then-Congressman George Bush.
"It's been a long time ago, but he said basically would I help young George Bush get in the Air National Guard," says Barnes, who then contacted his longtime friend Gen. James Rose, the head of Texas' Air National Guard.
"I was a young, ambitious politician doing what I thought was acceptable," says Barnes. "It was important to make friends. And I recommended a lot of people for the National Guard during the Vietnam era - as speaker of the house and as lt. governor."
George W. Bush was among those he recommended for the National Guard. Was this a case of preferential treatment?
"I would describe it as preferential treatment. There were hundreds of names on the list of people wanting to get into the Air National Guard or the Army National Guard," says Barnes. "I think that would have been a preference to anybody that didn't want to go to Vietnam or didn’t want to leave. We had a lot of young men that left and went to Canada in the '60s and fled this country. But those that could get in the Reserves, or those that could get in the National Guard - chances are they would not have to go to Vietnam."
This is the first time Barnes has told his story publicly, but for years, the president has been hounded by questions about how he got in the National Guard.
more....
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/08/60II/main641984.shtmlThis was the story Rove was trying to bury at the time. Even Talking Points was picking it up weeks before Rather was going to use it in the infamous newsclip that led to his demise ...
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_08_22.php-- Josh Marshall
(August 27, 2004 -- 10:14 PM EDT // link // print)
Now Knight Ridder has picked up the Barnes tape.
-- Josh Marshall
(August 27, 2004 -- 07:43 PM EDT // link // print)
There's also a helpful compare and contrast with what Ben Barnes says on the tape noted below.
Jim Moore, the co-author of Bush's Brain, whom I also mention below, describes this exchange he had in the 1994 gubernatorial debate with Anne Richards. Moore was on the panel of journalists posing questions. This is from Moore's article in Salon back in July ...
The irony in all of this is that I am largely responsible for reducing access to those records. During the 1994 Texas gubernatorial race between Ann Richards and George W. Bush, I was a panelist on the only televised debate between the two candidates. The question I chose to ask Bush first was about the National Guard. I had lost friends in Vietnam, and many of them had tried to get into the Guard. We were all told that there was a waiting list of up to five years. The Guard was the best method for getting out of combat in Vietnam. You needed connections. George W. Bush had them.
"Mr. Bush," I said. "How did you get into the Guard so easily? One hundred thousand guys our age were on the waiting list, and you say you walked in and signed up to become a pilot. Did your congressman father exercise any influence on your behalf?"
"Not that I know of, Jim," the future president told me. "I certainly didn't ask for any. And I'm sure my father didn't either. They just had an opening for a pilot and I was there at the right time."
More soon ...
snip....
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