New York Times discusses Bush's Guard records.
Here.
To make a long story short, the Times found jack shit that makes Bush look bad, but does its damnedest to twist the story in that direction.
The thick stack of military records were released as part of the White House's efforts to rebut accusations from Democrats that Mr. Bush might have avoided some duties in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. The documents seemed unlikely to resolve that dispute.
Of course it resolves the dispute, if facts mean anything. What the Times should say is that it is unlikely to make the media call off its fishing expedition.
But the documents offer up flashes of detail about Mr. Bush's life in the six years after he finished college, as well as glowing evaluations of him as an officer and as a pilot that could help the White House rebut any suggestion that he passed that period aimlessly while other young Americans were risking or giving their lives in Vietnam.
That last sentence is solid propaganda gold. Notice the impression left by a sentence that, actually analyzed, says that Bush did NOT pass that period aimlessly.
Try this one on for size: "The Times has found no evidence that suggests that John Kerry had a two-year affair with an intern, paid her off, concealed evidence from his wife over that lengthy period, and spent nights with her in hotels under the assumed name of Fred Gwynne."
Then the parts that must have really hurt to print:
In November 1970, the commander of the Texas Air National Guard, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, called Mr. Bush, then 24, "a dynamic outstanding young officer" who stood out as "a top-notch fighter interceptor pilot" mature beyond his age.
"Lt. Bush's skills far exceed his contemporaries," Colonel Killian wrote in recommending that Mr. Bush be promoted to first lieutenant. "He is a natural leader whom his contemporaries look to for leadership. Lt. Bush is also a good follower with outstanding disciplinary traits and an impeccable military bearing."
Then two more classic sentences like the one above:
There is no mention in the records of Mr. Bush's father, who was a United States representative from Texas at the time Mr. Bush entered the guard, and in 1971 became the ambassador to the United Nations after losing a race for a Senate seat to Lloyd Bentsen in 1970.
There is no indication in the documents that Mr. Bush was granted any special treatment at a time when competition for slots in the Guard was intense, though he received only a 25 on a test for "pilot aptitude," compared with a 95 for "officer quality" on a test he took in January 1968.
See how it's done?
Now check THIS out:
Looking back from more than three decades, there are intimations in the records of a life of privilege and of fateful decisions to come. Asked to name character references, Mr. Bush listed Baine P. Kerr, then a prominent lawyer in Houston who went on to become a top executive of the Pennzoil Company, and C. Fred Chambers, a Texas oilman who was so close to the Bush family that they named one of their dogs after him. On another application, he listed as a reference Cathryn Lee Wolfman, to whom he was engaged at the time he entered the Guard, but with whom he would later break up.
The "life of privilege" is indicated by naming as a reference a lawyer who would one day become an executive, and an oilman who named a dog after him. So if you knew prominent professional people, who would you name as a reference? The milkman?
Okay, one more cheap shot couched in a paragraph:
Thirty-five years before he would land on the carrier Abraham Lincoln in a flight suit, igniting a political storm, the future commander in chief was issued a duffel bag, six pairs of cotton drawers, a pair of black combat boots, a flight cap and some United States Air Force insignia tape, among other supplies and clothing.
God, the Left hates that flight suit. The media knows damn well that the S-3B flight required wearing the suit, just like it knows damn well that the "Mission Accomplished" banner referred to the mission of the Abraham Lincoln, but why ruin good lies?
Okay, one last bitter little dig:
Then there is his medical history, set out in more detail than many Americans might want to know. He had his tonsils removed as a young boy, had appendicitis when he was 10 and at 14 had an operation to remove a cyst from his chest, leaving a scar. At the time he applied for entrance into the guard, he had a hemorrhoid, the location of which was charted with military precision.
Meanwhile, the allegations against Kerry have been totally spiked by the mainstream media. None of this "there isn't any evidence, but the accusations are important enough to investigate" crap here. If Bush's name had been attached to an intern, it would be in type five inches high on the front pages.
