September 2004 (II): Missives

Photo: solarbreeze69
Of all the regime's feats of pulling wool over 'Murkan eyes, one of the most impressive has been the turning of AWOL George into Commander-in-Chief, beloved by The Troops. And the process of creating this "War President" has combined emptying the treasury into the pockets of cronies with shanghaiing the National Guard as roadside bomb targets.

The abuse of the National Guard has been particularly stunning—and as ignored by the major media as most real stories are. William S. Lind, a military (and conservative) commentator calls the process exactly what it is—"Destroying the National Guard"—

...Desperate for troops as the situation in Iraq deteriorates, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld is using the National Guard in a mission for which it was never intended: carrying on a "war of choice" halfway around the world. Most Guardsmen enlisted expecting to help their neighbors in natural disasters, or perhaps maintain order locally in the event of rioting. They never signed up for Vietnam II.

Eric Boehlert has been covering Bush's AWOL history at length, with a recent review here. From the latest round of document dumps—just out, after the AP wins a suit to obtain previously missing documents—Boehlert writes a primer of Bush's Guard record. This covers the period beginning 1972, when Bush still had over two years of service to evade.

Citing a Bush friend on the 1970s as "an irrational time in [Bush's] life," Boehlert says, "It may have been an irrational time for him, but Bush managed to focus intently on not serving in the Guard in any significant capacity again." Boehlert notes page after page of Bush's "focus"—chronic absenteeism and blowing off orders. None of which he ever had to account for.

The regime manages the CBS "controversy" to distract from the truth of Bush's military record. The rightist outlets running the attack on CBS are tied to anti-Kerry "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" operatives and Republican PR outfits, as Boehlert details here.

The "blogger" who instantly discovers supposed font discrepancies "proving" forgery is revealed as—quel surprise!—a Republican operative—

It was the first public allegation that CBS News used forged memos in its report questioning President Bush's National Guard service — a highly technical explanation posted within hours of airtime citing proportional spacing and font styles.

But it did not come from an expert in typography or typewriter history as some first thought. Instead, it was the work of Harry W. MacDougald, an Atlanta lawyer with strong ties to conservative Republican causes who helped draft the petition urging the Arkansas Supreme Court to disbar President Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky scandal...

Of course, the distraction works as intended. A couple of samples from Media Matters—Media obsesses over CBS documents, ignores uncontested evidence that Bush didn't meet his Guard obligations; and, Trees everywhere, forest nowhere in sight: Media ignores witnesses who confirm memo content

It's left to Texas journalist James Moore to get at the story behind what may or may not be forgeries—

...People who know the truth about the president’s time in the Texas Air National Guard are angry that the cover up of his failings has been so effective. And now there are suspicions that the individuals who have long sought after the truth may have succumbed to the power of fighting a well-told lie with another; not so well-told...

... Lt. Col. (Ret.) Bill Burkett [suspected of fabricating memos]... told me that he had witnessed hard copy documents being dumped out of Bush’s file and into a wastebasket. According to his memory, there were "retirement points" and pay sheets in the trash and he had a moment to "lightly rummage" through them as two other officers stepped away to talk... In 1997, when this was supposed to have occurred, Bush was preparing to run for re-election as governor and was prepping a presidential campaign. Cleaning up a hard copy file and then controlling access to the microfilmed record was a simple method for hiding the facts. Bill Burkett either had a fanciful imagination or his unfettered access to senior officers in the Texas Guard had serendipitously put him a few right places at all the wrong times...

Moore notes that "at least a dozen commanders," some still in active service, hold former Governor Bush responsible for inadequate funding and training of the Guard. Burkett had been hired to oversee solutions, but was prevented from implementing his recommendations. And Bush was "said to have turned down millions of dollars in federal money to pay for improvements when it was offered by the Clinton administration."

Why ever would he have done that? From Moore's Texas sources–

No one understood the decision to not upgrade the guard until Bush ran for president. In his first policy speech, given at the Citadel, candidate Bush told the assembled cadets, "If the commander-in-chief were today call upon all of our armed forces to defend America, at least one full division would be unable to answer that call." The only "full division" that was incapacitated at the time of that speech was the Texas National Guard. The governor of Texas is the only governor in the country who has command of a full division. It struck Texas Guard commanders then, even some who supported Bush, that they had been used as a political ploy and their lousy training and equipment was part of a plan.

This rings only too true of the user psychology at work here. Bush first learned he could use the Guard to evade going off to a war in Vietnam he was so enthusiastic about having less fortunate sons die in. Knowing his connections had let him exploit the Guard, he went on to misuse it as governor, and in his run for president. All roads lead to: sacrificing the Guard as targets in Iraq.

Despite the non-stop perception management, this time around they aren't taking chances with the military vote. From NYT editorial, "Denying the Troops a Secret Ballot"–

Members of the military will be allowed to vote this year by faxing or e-mailing their ballots -- after waiving their right to a secret ballot. Beyond this fundamentally undemocratic requirement, the Electronic Transmission Service, as it's known, has far too many problems to make it reliable, starting with the political partisanship of the contractor running it. The Defense Department is making matters worse by withholding basic information about the service, and should suspend it immediately.

This is contracted to Republican-connected Omega Technologies, whose CEO refuses to discuss details, proclaiming "I will not allow the public to invade the privacy of the employees of Omega."

The editorial notes–

The secrecy of ballots could be breached at several points: when they are faxed or e-mailed from the field, when they go through the contractor and when they are received by local officials. The Pentagon has not explained why it is acceptable, or legal, to ask soldiers to waive their right to secret ballots. Laughlin McDonald, director of the Voting Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, says he cannot recall another group of voters being asked to give up such secrecy. It is particularly inappropriate, he says, for soldiers, who are under the direct control of the Defense Department.

And this guy also seems to know something–

Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday warned Americans about voting for Democratic Sen. John Kerry, saying that if the nation makes the wrong choice on Election Day it faces the threat of another terrorist attack.

Now that Sonny, Jr. is across the country at boot camp, Jesus' Best Administrative Assistant begins taking lunches in full public view. She plants herself in the lobby, stationery and pen in hand, writing a line, then pausing to stare soulfully into the distance. Rehearsing her new role as Mother Of A Troop.

Which doesn't make sense in English, even if it has become the usage.

Which is no mere quibble: getting people to use nonsensical language is part of getting them to fall for anything.