Sigh. We loves Rew, local Power Liberal, and her fiance Smartie, but I'm afraid Smartie's gone and drank the Kool-Aid in his post, It's Set in Potterville, in which he envisions George W. Bush as George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life.
A wondering George runs through the tranquil streets of Bedford Falls. First he encounters the joyful family of a man who didn't get killed in Vietnam because George took his spot in the TANG...
Never mind that President Bush volunteered to go to Vietnam. Never mind that in spite of the liberal press ignoring the facts, there was no waiting list for pilots in the TANG.
Then he stumbles across an old couple who didn't lose their pension thanks to the mismanagement of Spectrum 7 Energy...
It appears that Smartie made his own batch of private Kool Aid on this one. It's well documented that Bush was CEO of Spectrum, which was failing and subsequently bought out by Harken. Intense googling reveal no allegations, even from vitriolic lefty sites that the employees of Spectrum lost their pensions as a result. Personally, I've worked for a failing company that was bought out by another, and my benefits improved.
Then he meets a man who can walk for the first time in his life thanks to a cure using stem cells...
Let's not give the President any credit for being the first to give stem cell research any federal funding, OK? It really interferes with our enjoyment of that sweet, sweet Kool Aid flavor.
Then a young couple who don't lose their house because their jobs were outsourced in the recession...
You mean the recession that started in 2000, under Clinton, right? Remember the Dot Com crash in March of 2000? Irrational exuberance? Followed on 09/11/2001 with a terrorist attack on our financial center? Is any of this ringing a bell?
...and he finally looks into the window of a peaceful house and sees a family celebrating Christmas together because the father wasn't killed in Iraq.
No one wants a single one of our men and women to die in Iraq. Yet it's dishonest to ignore what they've accomplished. They freed the people of Iraq from a brutal dictator. It can be argued that millions around the world are experiencing more freedom as a result. Freed from Syria in Lebanon. Women given the vote in Kuwait. Freedom is breaking out all over.
Remember. I fisk because I care.
Shalom Sandy,
It took me about a minute to pull this up from a Google search:
Retired Col. Rufus G. Martin, then personnel officer in charge of the 147th Fighter Group, said the unit was short of its authorized strength, but still had a long waiting list, because of the difficulty getting slots in basic training for recruits at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. Martin said four openings for pilots were available in the 147th in 1968, and that Bush got the last one.
From the site you linked to:
Colonel Earl Lively, retired Operations officer for the Texas Air National Guard, said there was no waiting list to get into the Texas Air National Guard as a pilot. There was a waiting list to get into the Air National Guard as an Airman, but not as a pilot.
Ah, there is the rub. Officers, before they are commissioned, are first enlisted personnel. President Bush would have enlisted as an airman before beginning his training. He was commissioned, became an officer, at the end of that training.
So while Col. Lively spoke correctly, the devil is always in the details, as the quote from Col. Martin demonstrates.
B'shalom,
Jeff Hess
Posted by: Jeff Hess | June 11, 2005 at 07:56 AM
Actually, he's my husband. We got married on the 30th of April.
:-)
Posted by: rew | June 11, 2005 at 10:19 AM