Ex-Honcho: I Got Bush Into Guard
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| Sat, 08-28-2004 - 12:52pm |
(CBS/AP) In a video posted on the Internet, former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, a Democrat, says he is ashamed that he helped President Bush and the sons of other wealthy families get into the Texas Air National Guard in 1968 so they could avoid serving in Vietnam.
"I got a young man named George W. Bush into the National Guard when I was lieutenant governor of Texas, and I'm not necessarily proud of that, but I did it," Barnes said in the 45-second video, which was recorded May 27 at a meeting of John Kerry supporters in Austin.
Barnes, who was House speaker when Mr. Bush entered the Guard, later became lieutenant governor.
He said he became ashamed after walking through the Vietnam Memorial and looking at the names of people who died.
"I became more ashamed of myself than I've ever been because the worst thing I did was get a lot of wealthy supporters and a lot of people who had family names of importance into the Guard and I'm very sorry about that and I apologize to you and the voters of Texas," Barnes said.
President Bush has denied that family influence got him into the Guard.
"With controversy swirling around Kerry's service as a swift boat commander in Vietnam, Barnes' latest statements renew questions about (Mr.) Bush's military record, but also about Barnes' motivation for telling his story," the Houston Chronicle says in its Saturday editions.
"It is no surprise that a partisan Democrat is making these statements," Bush spokeswoman Claire Buchan told the Chronicle. "This was addressed five years ago, and there's nothing new."
The video was posted June 25 on the Web site www.austin4kerry.org, but didn't get much attention until Friday, when Jim Moore, an Austin-based author of books about Mr. Bush, sent out e-mail messages calling attention to it, The New York Times reported in its Saturday editions.
It was the first time Barnes, a Kerry supporter, has discussed at length his role in getting Mr. Bush into the Guard. In 1999, he said he recommended Mr. Bush for a pilot's position at the request of a Bush family friend.
"I got a lot of other people in the National Guard because I thought that's what people should do when you're in office: You help a lot of rich people," Barnes said.
© MMIV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Personally, I take this with a grain of salt. I don't know that there is written records that show preferential treatment, I would image there must be something that shows that this person had the influence and power to have excercised preferential treatment for Bush. There had to be other people involved, he didn't do the paper work at all ends, he didn't call himself up to speed up the process.
I'm continually amazed at the double standard that some people (from all sides of the fence) will use. No proof is fine, as long as it furthers their personal opinion, but if what is being said goes against those same convictions, well then there certainly better be supportiving evidence, from unbiased sources, and more than one source on top of that, then maybe it'll be taken up for consideration.
So what you say? So Bush got a coveted spot in the guard, skipped over all the other more qualified men on the waiting list, took someone else's slot, & then got a coveted spot in flight school. Someone else posted that there were openings in that flight school then. I ain't buying it. Prove it to me.
So what does this mean? It means a man of mediocre quality (per his grades & test scores) got in when he shouldn't have. It means he avoided Nam, & possible death, while other men less well connected got drafted & died.
Bush wouldn't offend me so much by this if he wasn't smirking and strutting and putting on false bravado. After avoiding Nam, he boasts of patriotism and being a war president. If he were a veteran of actual combat, he would not have said "Bring em on" because he would know that our men would die because of his careless words.
< So what? It's not as though this man is saying "I helped George Bush flee to Canada to avoid the draft". There is nothing wrong with choosing to serve in the National Guard rather than one of the other branches in the military-thousands of men did it. Are we going to say that all of their service was worthless? What about all of the men who got student deferments, or the ones who were never drafted at all and didn't volunteer for any form of service? Did they all shirk their duty too? If this man somehow got wealthy families into the Guard over poor ones (doubtful, he has no evidence to back up his story) in order to win their financial support, that's HIS crime, not George Bush's.>
No, I'm not. My father volunteered to serve as a Marine (though he didn't see combat) so I have his POV on all of this to help guide me, but I make up my own mind from everything I read and hear.
So you're saying that everyone in the National Guard back then was a rich kid who got in through connections? I highly doubt that, as there simply aren't enough rich kids with connections to have filled all those slots. I wouldn't be surprised at all if W got some recommendations from someone that helped him get into the National Guard-his father was a congressmen, anyone would be naive to think that this sort of "help" doesn't happen all the time. I'm sure lots of young men did-let's see, I have a cousin whose married to someone whose secretary works for a congressman, etc. etc. etc. again I have to say, so what? He served-he didn't dodge the draft, he served his country in some capacity.
Sorry,there's no evidence he skipped over any more qualified men. If anything he may have gotten some recommendations that some other men might not have gotten-that hardly means he skipped over more qualified men.
I always thought people were presumed innocent in this country until proven guilty. If you so believe that Bush got into the Guard and into flight school over more qualified men, I suggest it is you who should prove it. What, does every National Guardsmen now have to prove that they got into the Guard on their own, and that they deserved to be there?
Then you should understand completely why so many Vietnam vets are offended by Kerry's current attempts at glorification of the military career he so repudiated 30 years ago.
Did a lot of men serve in the guard...YES...was it common knowledge during that time of our countries history that Wealthy and well positions families used their influence to get their children such assignments...YES. Was it right...NO.
1. Bush's father used his contacts to move his son from 500 on the waiting list down to number 1 with only six days left on his deferment...in short, he would have been drafted and sent off to fight in Vietnam.
2. The Guard at that time had few opennings for fighter pilots, and had a minimum mandate to be considered. This mandate was not an issue, but a minimum requirement that really never mattered since there were more higly qualified applicants than positions, thus making bare minimum a non applicable quotent in the equation for who got the assignment. Bush though scored right at the BOTTOM minimum requirement, so his father stepped in and made sure he was accepted into the program.
Tell me, where in these two facts do you as a member of the younger generation see the honor?
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