I don’t know how many people saw Kitty Kelley this morning on the Today Show, but it was interesting. She’ll be on a couple more days so tune in if you get up early. This morning Sharon Bush was on to refute the claims that she told Kelley that Junior was doing cocaine at Camp David during the 80’s.
She was pretty weak, mainly because she just couldn’t resist trashing the family about how they were treating her during the divorce. It was clear that she harbored enough resentment that she could have easily spilled the beans on little George during a contentious divorce case. It’s possible she lied but you’d think she would have come up with one that would be more current if she wanted to stick it to him. Regardless, it seemed clear to me that Kelley accurately quoted her. Here’s the publisher’s response to Bush’s appearance on the show:
NEW YORK, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ — The following is a statement by
Doubleday regarding Kitty Kelley:
In an appearance on the Today Show on Monday, September 13, 2004, Sharon Bush repeated a denial she made earlier last week. After telling Kitty Kelley that she had knowledge of President George W. Bush “doing cocaine” at Camp David — “not once, but many times,” Mrs. Bush now denies that statement.
This denial has already been utterly discredited by a third party to the meeting at which Mrs. Bush made the statements. Doubleday and Kitty Kelley, author of “The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty,” firmly uphold the accuracy and veracity of reporting on this topic. Further, Doubleday and Ms. Kelley affirm that Mrs. Bush was read her comments on the day following the meeting in a telephone conversation, lasting over an hour, that was witnessed by Random House Vice President Peter Gethers — that those comments included her remarks on cocaine use at Camp David — and that she once again agreed that these comments were true.
The following are undisputable facts:
— Mrs. Bush confirmed that she was aware of cocaine use by President George W. Bush at Camp David when his father was President
— Mrs. Bush confirmed that such usage occurred on more than one occasion
— Mrs. Bush knew that Ms. Kelley planned on using this information in her book and was read the exact quotes that would be utilized
— Mrs. Bush continued to have a good relationship with Kitty Kelley — long after the meeting in April at which she confirmed the cocaine report
— Mrs. Bush called Ms. Kelley in May, 2004 after which there was a friendly correspondence.
Additionally, Today Show host Matt Lauer and Mrs. Bush suggested that Kitty Kelley had a “relationship” with Lou Colasuonno, a public relations executive who witnessed the April 1, 2003 lunch meeting between Kitty Kelley and Sharon Bush. Kitty Kelley had never met or spoken with Mr. Colasuonno prior to April 1, 2003. Kitty Kelley has never had and does not have any personal, social or financial relationship with Mr. Colasuonno.
Knowing the way Kelley operates, there are probably a few hidden bombshells that will come out over the next few days. Has anyone heard anything?
For those who wonder if I am right in saying in my post below that your boss can fire you for your political beliefs, yes she can.
It seems reasonable to ask what business Michael Italie’s political convictions were to his employer. But when the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union looked into Italie’s case, it discovered, as Pastrana evidently had, that Goodwill was on strong legal footing. “There is no legal case to be brought,” explains Miami chapter president Lida Rodriguez-Taseff. “The law is pretty clear that a private employer can fire someone based on their political speech even when that political speech does not affect the terms and conditions of employment.” A public employer would be prevented from firing someone based on political speech (because that would constitute the government itself suppressing free speech). Rodriguez-Taseff briefly held out some hope that Goodwill could be challenged based on its government contracts. Apparently, though, the case law isn’t favorable for government contractors, either. Italie told Chatterbox that every lawyer he’s spoken with has told him essentially the same thing. Everyone who isn’t a lawyer, Italie said, is outraged. Chatterbox tested this hypothesis by describing Italie’s case to Ronald Radosh, the virulently anti-Communist writer. “Everybody has a right to run for mayor on the SWP ticket,” Radosh said. “That’s a clear-cut infringement of civil liberties.”
The irony is that one can make (and many have made) the case that people like Michael Italie shouldn’t be permitted to hold jobs in government, where at least in theory they have the power to subvert the U.S. system. Yet it is in government where Italie would be protected. In the private sector, where Italie is entirely harmless, he enjoys no protection at all.
If you refuse to swear fealty to your leige’s politics, you can be kicked out on your ass. If you wanna eat, keep your mouth shut. Freedom of speech only goes so far. Creepy, isn’t it?
On Sunday night, Scott McClellan, the president’s press secretary, told of Mr. Kerry’s comments, said: “Senator Kerry wants to return to the failed policies of the previous administration, where the U.S. was duped. We’ve been down that road before and we have no intention of letting it happen again.”
We are instead far better off with the failed policies of the current administration! Look how much safer we are, today, from the threat of North Korea achieving nuclear weapons, thanks to the Strength™ of the Bush Administration!
It’s just that simple. Anything else is just rhetoric.
Truly has there ever been a more arrogant administration? This, apparently, is a real step forward:
A mushroom cloud that towered over a remote corner of North Korea last Thursday was a result of a huge blast to prepare earthworks for a hydroelectric dam, the North said Monday.
Bill Rammell, a British Foreign Office official, met with Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun of North Korea to discuss the incident, according to a BBC correspondent in Pyongyang.”It was no nuclear explosion or an accident,” Rammell quoted Paek as saying. “It was a deliberate, controlled detonation to demolish a mountain in the far north. The Press Association of Britain gave similar details about the explosion in a pool report, and Xinhua, China’s press agency, quoted a North Korean Foreign Ministry official with the same explanation. In a pool report received by Reuters in London, Rammell noted that he had asked permission for “our ambassador and other ambassadors to be allowed to visit the scene of the explosion.” “I am very pleased the North Koreans have agreed to the request,” he said. North Korea’s neighbors, China, Russia and South Korea, have reported no increased radiation releases.
But five days after seismic detectors picked up the blast, there were as many questions unanswered Monday as after the train explosion on April 22 that leveled a railroad station and killed 171 people shortly after the passage of a train carrying Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s dictator, whose father was Kim Il Sung, the nation’s founder. If the government planned to blast apart a mountain on Thursday, the 56th anniversary of the founding of North Korea, why do it in the middle of night, when no heroic propaganda videos could be made?
The date was purely a coincidence, I’m sure. Clearly, the reality is that Kim Jong Il is so afraid of Crusader Codpiece that he is trying to get the American people to vote for his good friend John Kerry who will let him have all the nuclear bombs he wants. At least Senator Roberts thinks so:
SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), KANSAS: It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if Kim Jong Il would think in some deranged way that if he had some kind of a test that that would affect the election. I don’t know if that’s the case, but that could be one of the conjecturing that is going on in the intelligence assessment.
BLITZER: What would be his motive in trying to affect the U.S. election, Senator Roberts?
ROBERTS: Oh, just to cause, you know, more concern in regards to possible terrorist attack, and they would then be the eighth nation that would have the kind of nuclear capability and what we’re working against.
We were able to convince Libya to, you know, go the other way; same thing with Pakistan; same thing with other countries. But it’s very hard to predict what Kim Jong Il will do. He’s just not very predictable.
BLITZER: Before we move on, are you suggesting he would like to see President Bush defeated?
ROBERTS: Well, I think that’s probably the case. I’m not going to go out on a limb and say he’s endorsing — or anybody that would want any kind of endorsement from Kim Jong Il.
I’m just thinking in terms of what he is up to, we have to very closely monitor it. And I’m saying the intelligence is mixed, and we’ll continue that monitoring.
Yeah, he’s obviously very afraid of Junior. That’s why he’s building nuclear weapons right in front of the whole world while John Bolton ineffectually shakes his tiny fist and Lil’ George pulls his proverbial pud. This is working out really well. I sure hope Bush gets elected. Maybe we can have a full fledged nuclear war. That’ll teach ’em who’s boss.
MOULTON — Lynne Gobbell never imagined the cost of a John Kerry-John Edwards bumper sticker could run so high.
Lynne Gobbell said her boss fired her last week because of the Kerry-Edwards campaign sticker on the back of her car.
Gobbell of Moulton didn’t pay a cent for the sticker that she proudly displays on the rear windshield of her Chevrolet Lumina, but said it cost her job at a local factory after it angered her boss, Phil Gaddis.
[…]
“We were going back to work from break, and my manager told me that Phil said to remove the sticker off my car or I was fired,” she said. “I told him that Phil couldn’t tell me who to vote for. He said, ‘Go tell him.’ ”
She went to Gaddis’ office, knocked on the door and entered on his orders.
“Phil and another man who works there were there,” she said. “I asked him if he said to remove the sticker and he said, ‘Yes, I did.’ I told him he couldn’t tell me who to vote for. When I told him that, he told me, ‘I own this place.’ I told him he still couldn’t tell me who to vote for.”
Gobbell said Gaddis told her to “get out of here.”
“I asked him if I was fired and he told me he was thinking about it,” she said. “I said, ‘Well, am I fired?’ He hollered and said, ‘Get out of here and shut the door.’ ”
She said her manager was standing in another room and she asked him if that meant for her to go back to work or go home. The manager told her to go back to work, but he came back a few minutes later and said, ” ‘I reckon you’re fired. You could either work for him or John Kerry,’ ” Gobbell said.
“I took off my gloves and threw them in the garbage and left,” Gobbell said.
Though she is unemployed and uncertain if she will get her job back, Gobbell said, she doesn’t regret her decision to keep the sticker on her windshield.
“I would like to find another job, but I would take that job back because I need to work,” she said. “It upset me and made me mad that he could put a letter in my check expressing his (political) opinion, but I can’t put something on my car expressing mine.”
She was referring to a flier that she said Gaddis placed in employee envelopes to remind them of the positive impact that President Bush’s policies have had on them. An employee at the plant who would not identify himself confirmed the contents of the letter.
Gobbell provided a copy of the flier. It says:
“Just so you will know, because of the Bush tax (cut):
I was able to buy the new Hammer Mill
I was able to finance our receivables
I was able to get the new CAT skid steer
I was able to get the wire cutter
I was able to give you a job”
It further says:
“You got the benefit of the Bush tax cut. Everyone did.”
It’s perfectly legal for an employee to express his or her political view. It’s perfectly legal for an employer to express his or her political view.
And it is also perfectly legal for that employer to fire that employee for expressing his or her political view.
Kind of harkens back to the glory days of the feudal system, doesn’t it?
The Political Animal is absolutely correct about what this election is really all about. Whether we like it or not, national security is the issue on which this election is going to be won or lost. And Democrats have been at a disadvantage on this issue for the last forty years which is why, despite the fact that the country agrees with us on virtually every other important issue, (and knows that Bush has been a disaster even on national security) it is an article of faith with many people that Republicans are better at defending the country. I believe that John Kerry, of all the primary candidates (except Clark who ran explicitly on that issue) understood that this election would be played on Republican turf and positioned himself to challenge Bush there. And that, in combination with the fact that there were no WMD and Iraq is looking more and more like a total disaster, is why we are tied instead of behind. If Iraq had turned out well, I never believed that there was any chance the Democrat would win.
I have said before and I will repeat, we can and must discuss other issues and in swing states particularly, there is nothing wrong with hitting hard on the economy and other domestic concerns. But, the sub-text of everything in this election has to do with each candidate proving that he is tough enough to beat the terrorists and handle any new threats that come up. If you do an ad about medicare reform, it must show Kerry being tough and calling Bush weak. If you do one about education, again, Kerry tough, Bush weak. The Democrats must show that they will give as good as they get, that they aren’t afraid and that they will go after anyone who challenges their willingness to fight. No matter what the actual subject of discussion, the sub-text is who can keep America safe from terrorists and since Democrats operate at a disadvantage on that issue, we have the higher bar to meet.
Kevin notes that Clinton won at a time when national security was not a major concern. (I agree. If Clinton were running for the first time today, I don’t think he’d have a chance.) He wisely used that period to lay to rest the shibboleth about Democrats being too irresponsible to manage the economy. He was largely successful in realigning the public’s view on that a fact which has only been reinforced by Junior’s fiscal nightmare. (They’ll keep trotting out their “tax and spend” mantra but it just doesn’t have the punch it once had.) Now, we face the other propaganda set piece that the Republicans successfully sold the public for the last forty years, which is the defense issue. Like Clinton and the economy, Kerry is challenging them on their field of battle and is promoting a better and more rational approach to national security. But, it’s tough sledding, just as it was for Clinton, to change public perceptions after a notion has been inculcated in the national sub-conscious for a generation.
This is also why I have to laugh at this notion that Rove has gone after Kerry’s strength by attacking him on national security. It’s bullshit. Any Republican would have done that and they all have since 1960. When we won, it was largely in response to external events that changed the landscape temporarily (assasination, Watergate, end of the cold war.) As long as there was an external threat, the Republicans built in their advantage through relentless propaganda.
But, this is a cautionary tale that we should be very careful to look at with eyes wide open. Forty years ago, as now, the problem of convincing the public that we are tough enough to meet the threats of our time is only the first step. The real problem will be when we win and have to fend off the constant attacks from the right that we are appeasing the enemy. This was an ongoing problem during the cold war and it was how we ended up with a Democratic president escalating a war simply because he was hamstrung by the right wing’s obsession with communism. He didn’t believe in the war:
It looks to me like we’re getting into another Korea. It just worries the hell out of me. I don’t see what we can ever hope to get out of there with, once we’re committed. I believe that the Chinese Communists are coming into it. I don’t think that we can fight them 10,000 miles away from home. … I don’t think it’s worth fighting for and I don’t think that we can get out. It’s just the biggest damned mess that I ever saw.
Why did Johnson commit to such a disastrous course? He clearly did not share the hubris of his advisors, led by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara (who later recanted), that the war could be won. Nor could those advisors convince him that winning a war against one of the poorest nations on earth mattered to U.S. security.
But he did agree that the status quo in Vietnam was untenable; the choice was withdrawal or escalation. And he chose the latter because to do otherwise would endanger his chances for victory in the election that fall. “The Republicans are going to make a political issue out of it,” warned Georgia Sen. Richard Russell, the president’s longtime political confidant. “It’s the only issue that they’ve got,” Johnson replied.
In particular, Johnson was concerned that Henry Cabot Lodge, the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, would return to take a place on the GOP ticket, probably as the vice presidential candidate, and use weakness on Vietnam against Johnson. “Now, one of our big problems, the biggest, between us, and I don’t want this repeated to anybody, is Lodge,” Johnson told Russell. “He ain’t worth a damn . . . and he can’t work with anybody . . . so it’s just a helluva mess.”
Russell agreed, adding that in dealing with the Vietnamese, Lodge “thinks he’s dealing with barbarian tribes out there and that he’s the emperor and he’s going to tell them what to do, and there’s no doubt that, in my mind, that he had old Diem killed out there himself.” Of the killing of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, Johnson responded, “That was a tragic mistake.” But he didn’t dare remove Lodge because “he’d be back home campaigning against us on this issue every day.”
So in the end, Johnson sent half a million troops to Vietnam and carpet-bombed the country with more explosives than were used during World War II because he wanted to deprive the Republicans of their one issue and feared even Congress would turn against him if he withdrew: “Well, they’d impeach a president that would run out, wouldn’t they?” he asked Russell.
They impeach presidents for a lot less than that these days.
Kerry is, I believe, uniquely qualified to deal with this difficult issue and reposition the democrats on national security as Clinton did on economics. His personal knowledge of the Vietnam problem and the experience of dealing with the Washington power structure for the last twenty years prepared him for the political battle that lies ahead on Iraq and terrorism. But, it is going to be tremendously difficult to deal with the Republicans on these issues.
As Johnson said forty years ago, “It’s the only issue they’ve got.”
UPDATE: Since I linked to Drum’s piece, I should make it clear that I generally agree Michael Tomasky’s take on why Democrats’ fealty to the notion that elections are won on issues as opposed to “character” (I would call it personality) is losing us elections. (“Republicans understand the world, and Democrats do not,” is, however, a statement I don’t think is precise or wise. The out of context possibilities are frightening.) I don’t think that Drum and Tomasky really disagree with one another, either — what Kevin calls an “issue” (national security) Tomasky would call “character.”
Republicans certainly use national security as a character point — tough, uncompromising and aggressive vs being weak, vascillating and fearful — to beat us over the head. The reason that people trust republicans more than Democrats on the issue is not because of their superior 10 point plans, but because they trust them to have the character and temperament to fight and win. They have been taught to think the opposiote of Democrats.
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 12 – In a series of tightly sequenced attacks, at least 25 Iraqis were killed by suicide car bombings and a barrage of missile and mortar fire in several neighborhoods across Baghdad on Sunday.
The attacks were the most widespread in months, seeming to demonstrate the growing power of the insurgency and heightening the sense of uncertainty and chaos in the capital at a time when American forces have already ceded control to insurgents in a number of cities outside of Baghdad.
[…]
American forces appear to be facing a guerrilla insurgency that is more sophisticated and more widespread than ever before. Last month, attacks on American forces reached their highest level since the war began, an average of 87 per day.
In a Sunday appearance on the NBC News program “Meet The Press,” Secretary of State Colin L. Powell acknowledged that the United States faced a “difficult time” in Iraq but had a plan to “bring it under control” before nationwide elections scheduled for January.
“It’s not an impossible task,” he said.
The violence, which began before dawn, all but paralyzed this country’s capital city, where portions of several central highways were closed, and traffic slowed to a crawl.
[…]
After the attack, fighters and gleeful onlookers scaled the burning armored vehicle, said Hassan Lazim, assistant security director at nearby Karkh Hospital who said he saw the scene. Reuters reported that several young men had hung a black banner of the Unity and Jihad militant group, believed to be linked to Al Qaeda, on the barrel of the Bradley’s main gun.
Helicopters that flew in to protect the Bradley were then fired on from the ground and fired back, the military said in a statement, adding that the aircraft then destroyed the armored vehicle as well. The helicopters “fired upon the anti-Iraqi forces and the Bradley, preventing the loss of sensitive equipment and weapons.” The military stressed that the helicopters had not fired indiscriminately into the crowd, but said, “An unknown number of insurgents and Iraq civilians were wounded or killed in the incident.”
[…]
In the fighting before and after the attack on the Bradley, 13 people were killed and 61 were wounded, the Iraqi Health Ministry said. A journalist for the Arabiya television network and a 12-year-old girl were among the dead, hospital officials said.
Al Arabiya showed dramatic footage that followed the journalist, Mazen al-Tumeizi, as he stumbled away from the scene of the airstrikes, yelling, “I’m dying, I’m dying!” More than 20 journalists have been killed here since the beginning of the American invasion.
“We can say there were innocent people who died,” said Sabah Abud, head of emergency room statistics at Yarmouk Hospital, which received most of those wounded on Sunday.
There’s more to the story and it’s all bad. I don’t know how much more of the “freedom” these poor Iraqis can take.
Just one last little word on this document drama and the blogosphere. We have among us here in left blogistan someone who is not only and expert in typography, but an expert on the blogosphere — Barbara O’Brien who has written a book called Blogging America (which you should all buy because it features many fine and familiar bloggers, including yours truly) and who also runs the great blog the Mahablog.
Her expertise in these two areas means that her blog is required reading on this subject:
Even I think I am spending way too much time on the Killian memo issue, but I’m visiting it again because, dammit, I’m an expert. And I don’t think they are forgeries.
I studied typography as an academic discipline (circa 1971) as part of the old journalism school curriculum at U of Missouri. I spent roughly 30 years in the book publishing business, most of which was on the production side dealing with type compositors and printers. I have worked with typography and printing processes from the end of the raised-metal-type era to current digital technology. I have designed and written complete type specifications for more books than I can remember.
As a production editor in the 1980s I became especially good at measuring the type in books to be reprinted so that corrections could be made by patching the film. To do that, I had to measure the old type and match font, body size, ledding, and letter spacing exactly. This is not a skill people need much any more, since books are stored digitally. But I still know how to do it.
I’m bouncing around the web seeing wingnuts flying off about proportional letter spacing and kerning and whatnot, and I’m telling you these people are off the wall.
As of now, I believe all of the “proof” of forgery of the Killian documents has been tossed out of court, so to speak. We’ve accounted for proportional type several different ways, centered heads, all manner of character questions (including the famous raised “th,” which turns out to have been a special character on some type element balls, as I suspected), kerning (there wasn’t any), and the astonishing fact that when you set the same document twice in the same type face and size it will look pretty much alike. Imagine.
The hyenas on the right are still mindlessly yapping about forgeries, because that’s what they do. But by now most people with brains understand the documents are most likely authentic.
According to this LA Times article, the “forgery” claim can be traced to an anonymous poster on Free Republic. Of course. Then some junior technoweenie on Little Green Footballs discovered he could replicate the documents on Microsoft Word, which said junior technoweenie, who clearly knows absolutely nothing about typography, assumed was proof the documents were phony. And then Matt Drudge picked it up, and then it went to mainstream media. And this in a space of about 12 hours.
No question that the Web is impacting major media and the political campaign. The question is, how? Quoting the LA Times:
This was the first time, some said, that the Web logs were engaging in their own form of investigative journalism — and readers, they warned, should be cautious.
“The mainstream press is having to follow them,” said Jeffrey Seglin, a professor at Emerson College in Boston. “The fear I have is: How do you know who’s doing the Web logs?
“And what happens when this stuff gets into the mainstream, and it eventually turns out that the ’60 Minutes’ documents were perfectly legitimate, but because there’s been so much reporting about what’s being reported, it has already taken on a life of its own?”
There are two legitimate issues here. One is the content of the documents, which proves Our Fearless Leaders was indeed a spoiled little princeling who got away with disobeying a direct order while dissing his country.
But the other question is, how can we restore some semblance of responsibility to news reporting?
When I was in journalism school (a zillion years ago, seems like) there was this notion that a professional journalist verified his information before making a story public. And even then, statements were to be cautiously edged with lots of qualifiers just in case the reporter had been misled.
But now false allegations hit the public so fast the whole world hears them before knowledgable people can clear their throats to speak up.
Short of giving a responsibility transplant to anyone within ten feet of a computer keyboard, I don’t know what to do.
I don’t either, but whatever we do, I know it’s not going to happen before November.
I’m no expert on the arcana of the Killian documents, but I hadn’t been aware until a reader alerted me that there are six memos rather than the four reported by CBS linked on the USA Today site. Maybe everyone already knows about these other two, but they were news to me.
The first is dated 02 February, 1972 and says simply
Subject: Flight Qualifications
Harris,
Update me as soon as possible on flight certifications, specifically Bath and Bush.
The other is dated 24 June, 1973 and says:
Subject: Bush, George W. 1st Lt.32447544FG
Sir,
1. I got a call from your staff concerning the evaluation of 1st Lt Bush due this month. His rater is Lt. Colonel Harris.
2. Neither Lt Colonel Harris or I feel we can rate 1st Lt. Bush since he was not training with 111 F.I.S since April 1972. His recent activity is outside the rating period.
3. Advise how we are supposed to handle this.
Like I said, I’m not an expert and don’t want to become one, but these two docs were news to me. The note concerning Bush and Bath from February 1972 is particularly intriguing.
If I’m not just misinformed here, I think it’s a bit odd that USA today has two documents that CBS never reported. They don’t mention it in their article. Where did they come from?
UPDATE: Apparently DU has been on this all day and has lots of intrigue. I’m not all that engaged in the details on this so if you want to get the latest go over there and check it out. In case anybody doesn’t know the illustrious history of Bush and Bath, here’s a handy site.
UPDATE II: Kevin Drum talked to the USA Today reporters who say that they received the memos from their own sources. One does wonder why they published them but didn’t mention that they had their own sources or that there were two more memos. Very strange.
Kevin Hayden the overlord of The American Street alerted me that the Freepers seem to think there was a long term conspiracy to get Bush on these TANG issues and they are linking to an old post of mine on AS as some sort of proof. I can’t really follow what they think they’ve found (check for yourself at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1213742/post) but it did remind me that this old post of mine from last April illustrates nicely why the Swift Boat Liars needed to be formed and why the TANG stuff had to be trivialized.
When you put these two records together it’s really quite devastating:
Via Atrios, I read that the Republicans have decided to try to take on Kerry’s war record. They’ve trotted out one of Nixon’s old lackeys to disparage his leadership and they got lapdog Russert to imply that he was hiding something in his military files, so today he released them in their entirety. I think that’s a good idea. To start, let’s take a look at some of his military fitness evaluations:
A top notch officer in every measurable trait. Intelligent, mature and rich in educational backround and experience. ENS Kerry is one of the finest young officers I have ever met and without question one of the most promising. Polished, tactful and outgoing, this officer is a brilliant conversationalist who can contribute much worthwhile comment to any discussion. In three months aboard he has clearly made his mark as an outstanding division officer and a skilled administrator. He has done a superb job as Public Affairs Officer, putting many extra hours into collateral duty and exhibiting uncommon ingenuity and initiative. He utilizes the English language expertly, both orally and in writing. He is an alert and active original thinker with great potential to the Navy. He eagerly accepts and actively seeks out tasks of greater responsibility. He is recommended for accelerated promotion.
—
In a combat environment often requiring independent, decisive action LTJG Kerry was unsurpassed. He constantly reviewed tactics and lessons learned in river operations and applied his experience at every opportunity. On one occasion while in tactical command of a three boat operation his unites were taken under fire from ambush. LTJG Kerry rapidly assessed the situation and ordered his units to turn directly into the ambush. This decision resulted in routing the attackers with several enemy KIA.
LtJG Kerry emerges as the acknowledged leader in his peer group. His bearing and appearance are above reproach. He has of his own volition learned the Vietnamese language and is instrumental in the successful Vietnamese training program.
During the period of this report, LTJG kerry had been awarded the Silver Star medal, the Bronze star medal, the Purple Heart medal (2nd and 3rd awards.)
—
LTJG Kerry was assigned to this division for only a short time but during that time exhibited all of the traits desired of an officer in a combat environment. He frequently exhibited a high sense of imagination and judgment in planning operations against the enemy in the Mekong Delta. Involved in several enemy initiated fire fights including an ambush during the Christmas truce, he effectively suppressed enemy fire and is unofficially credited with 20 enemy killed in action. Though relatively new to the PCF he is thoroughly knowledgeable of all aspects of his boat and PCF operations. He is instrumental in planning of highly successful Sea Lords operations. He was cited for his performance during action against the enemy by Commander Task Force in his message 0808072Z Jan 69.
—
LTJG Kerry is one of the finest young officers with whom I have served in a long naval career. His combat record prior to becoming my personal aide speaks for itself and is a testimony to his competence and courage at sea.
As my personal aide he could not have been more effective. In every instance he has displayed tact, judgment, foresight and energy. he is particularly adept in his relations with people both military and civilians from all strata. I have given him personal speaking assignments which he has performed in an outstanding manner to the credit of the Navy and himself.
This young man is detached at his own request to run for high public office to whit the Congress of the United States. The detachment of this officer will be a definite loss to the service. He is the dedicated type that we should retain and it is hoped that he will be of further perhaps earlier greater service to his country, which is his aim in life at this time.
This is a man who certainly seems to have the requisite qualities of leadership. In the earliest evaluation, where he is on ship awaiting his requested assignment to Vietnam (pdf), he is described as an intelligent, energetic, skilled administrator who uses ingenuity and initiative. Special attention is given to his outstanding communication skills and he is shown to be actively seeking out responsibility.
The next assignment shows Kerry in Vietnam. Using phrases like “independent, decisive action” he is said to be constantly reviewing tactics and using his growing experience at every opportunity. Wounded three times, winner of the silver star and the bronze star he is a heroic leader who has smartly taken initiative in everything from battle tactics to learning the vietnamese language.
By the third report, we see a seasoned, battle hardened veteran who has imagination and judgment; a well known leader of men at the highest levels. He is also credited with killing the enemy in double digits in an ambush during the Christmas truce.
At the final report we see Lt Kerry back in the states assigned as the personal aide to a high ranking officer in Washington. Hardened by battle he is described as a young man of tact, judgment, foresight and energy who his officer sees as a great loss to the Navy as he leaves the service to make a run for Congress. The trajectory from his earliest fitness reports to the last were of an intelligent, ambitious, brave young man who consistently surpassed his previous success and abilities.
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George W. Bush (pdf) entered the National Guard in May 1968. Despite his lackluster performance on the entrance exam, he was allowed to train to be a fighter pilot, which by all accounts he managed to do without incident. His fitness reports start off in promising fashion:
Lt. Bush is an exceptionally fine young officer and pilot. After completing the F102 all weather interceptor school in November 1969, he came to this unit as a highly qualified fighter interceptor pilot. Lt. Bush possesses sound judgment and is mature beyond his age and experience level. During the last weapons firing deployment, he delivered both primary and secondary weapons from the F102. Lt Bush performed in an outstanding manner, following the best project requirements set forth. He also participated in a practice deployment during annual field training. He was able to handle intercepts with varying [?] and tactics selections. He continually flies intercept mission with the unit to increase his proficiency even further. Lt Bush is a natural leader but he is also a great follower of military discipline. Lt Bush has outstanding growth potential and should be promoted well ahead of his contemporaries.
Strengths: Lt Bush’s main strengths are his eagerness to participate in the unit’s activities and his ability to work harmoniously with others.
Suggested assignments: At the present time Lt Bush should continue to serve as a squadron pilot. This will enable him to gain valuable knowlege of the Air National Guard’s role in the defense of this country and experience as a pilot.
Self Improvement Efforts: Lt. Bush makes an effort to learn more abnout the all weather interceptors mission and capability by attending squadron briefings and studying available material in his spare time.
Other comments: Lt Bush is employed by Statford of Texas. Being on the managerial side of this diversified company he tells the story of the ANG and the USAF to the public at every opportunity. Since completing pilot training in November 1969 and F102 all weather interceptor school in June 1970, he has made a concentrated effort to improve his proficiency as a pilot. He is a member of the National Guard Association of the United States and Texas. Lieutenant Bush is an outstanding young pilot and officer and is a credit to his unit. I have personally observed his participation and without exception, his performance has been noteworthy. This officer is rated in the upper 10% of his contemporaries. 27 May, 1971.
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Lt. Bush is an exceptional fighter interceptor pilot and officer. He eagerly participates in scheduled unit activities. During this past year he participated in several target force deployments and an F-102 aircraft deployment to Canada. His conduct and professional approach to the mission were exemplary and apparent to observers. His skills as a interceptor pilot enabled him to complete all his ABC intercept missions during the Canadian deployment.
Strengths: Lt/ Bush’s major strength is his ability to work with others. He makes a welcome addition to any group of team effort.
Suggested assignments: Lt Bush should be retained in his present assignment. He has gained valuable experience in the [?] area and would be a welcome addition to any fighter squadron.
Self improvements efforts: Lt. Bush is enrolled in the Squadron’s Officer School by correspondence and progressing satisfactorily. He also participates in ground school and briefings to stay abreast of the F-102 response employment and the ANG mission.
Other comments: Lt Bush is very active in civic affairs in the community and manifests a deep interst in the operation of our government. He has recently accepted a position as campaign manager for a candidate for United States senate. He is a good representative of the military and Air National Guard in the business world. His abilities and anticipated future assignments make him a valuable asset. He is member of the National Guard Association of the United States and Texas.
Lieutenant Bush is an exceptionally fine young pilot and officer and is a credit to this unit. I have personally observed his participation and without exception, his performance has been noteworthy.
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This officer should have been reassigned in May 1972 since he no longer is training in his AFSC or with his unit of assignment.
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Lt Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of report. A civilian occupation made it necessary for him to move to Montgomery Alabama. He cleared this base on 15 may, 1972 and has been performing equivalent training in a non flying status with the 187 Tac recon Gp, Dannelly ANG Base, Alabama
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Verbal orders of the Comdr on 1 Sep 72 suspending ist Lt george W. Bush ANGUS (Not on EAD) TX ANG, Hq 147 Flt GTp, Ellington AFB, Houston TX, from flying status are confirmed, exigencies of the service having been such as to preclude the publication of competent written orders in advance. Reason for suspension: Failure to accomplish annual medical examination. Off will comply with para 2-10, AFM 35-13 Authority: Para 2-29m, AFM 35-13
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Not rated for the period 1 May 72 through 30 Apr 73
Report for this period not available for administrative reasons.
It’s true that until 1972 they consistently say that Bush is a fine pilot and a credit to his unit. But, look at what he’s actually doing during this time. The only thing that seems to set him apart is that he’s an excellent cheerleader for the National Guard — his “anticipated future assignments make him a valuable asset.” They assert without evidence that he should be promoted ahead of his peers because he is a natural leader, but his strengths are always listed as simply “works well with others.” His performance is “noteworthy,” for what we don’t know. The trajectory is of someone who performed to expectations at first and then lost interest.
Finally, he just stopped showing up altogether.
Perhaps the best way to look at this election is as if we are making a movie called “Post 9/11 America.” That’s something anyone can understand.
Which one of the above two stories provide us with a glimpse of a true leading man for our movie? The full time cheerleader, part-time pilot or the smooth, heroic, battle tested naval officer?