The Daily Howler says that Slate's Jacob Weisberg has a serious quality control problem with Brendan Koerner:
At 'Slate,' a scribe knew what to do. He disappeared George Bush's problem: Last Tuesday, Slate... invited Brendan Koerner to review Bush’s record. Incredibly, Koerner typed this:
KOERNER: ... [in] May of 1972... [Bush] left Houston, where he was stationed, for Alabama, to work on a Republican senatorial campaign. The sticking point is whether Bush ever reported for duty with the 187th Tactical Recon Group, based in Montgomery, Ala., as he was supposed to. Bush claims that he did indeed show up for duty, though he did not fly. (A Boston Globe investigation from 2000 quotes a campaign spokesman who said Bush performed odds and ends in Montgomery.) Though Bush admits to missing a few required weekends while in Alabama, he says he made up that time when he returned to Texas the following year. He received his honorable discharge in October of 1973, eight months before his scheduled discharge, so he could attend Harvard Business School.
There are conflicting accounts as to whether Bush ever really served in Alabama. The commander of the 187th Tactical Recon Group told the Globe that he has no recollection of Bush’s presence. Several Bush friends, however, have insisted that they distinctly remember the president attending drills in Montgomery. The issue has become a partisan lightning rod, with organizations on both right and left offering differing takes on the commander in chief’s time with the Air National Guard.
... According to Koerner, “the sticking point is whether Bush ever reported for duty” in Alabama. Indeed: “There are conflicting accounts as to whether Bush ever really served in Alabama,” Koerner writes. But Alabama is only part of the problem, as anyone who has done the basic reading would know.... [H]ere is the established chronology:
How neatly scrubbed is Koerner’s account? He makes it sound like only “a few weekends” in Alabama are at question in this matter. He fails to mention Bush’s formal suspension [from flight status], and he fails to mention Bush’s seven-month absence from duty after returning from Alabama. He is careful to tell you what Bush, the Bush campaign, and Bush’s friends said. But he wipes the Houston absence off the face of the earth, and mentions only one of the five superior officers who have said or reported that Bush was missing. In short, Koerner baldly deceives his readers, as the AP and Broder did before him....
- Bush lived in Alabama from May 1972 through November 1972. His two superior officers in Alabama say that he never showed up for duty.
- While in Alabama, Bush failed to take his required annual physical. As a result, he was formally suspended from duty [and grounded].
- Bush returned to Houston in November 1972. Seven months later, on May 2, 1973, his two commanding officers at Houston’s Ellingwood air base... wrote, “Lt. Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of this report.... He... has been performing equivalent training in a non-flying status with the 187 Tac Recon Gp, Dannelly ANG Base, Alabama.” Of course, Bush was performing no such duty. But as of May 2, 1973, his superior officers in Houston still believed that he was.
By the way: Did Bush perform duty after May 2, 1973? The reporting on that is contradictory. In the second of the Boston Globe articles to which Koerner so disingenuously refers, Walter Robinson says this: “The official record that chronologically lists Bush’s service includes no evidence of service between May 1972 and October 1, 1973, the official date of his discharge.” And this: “A Bush campaign spokesman acknowledged last week that he knows of no witnesses who can attest to Bush’s attendance at drills after he returned to Houston in late 1972 and before his early release from the Guard in September 1973.” At Slate, of course, this has been disappeared....
GO AHEAD AND ENJOY A GOOD LAUGH: Yes, it’s true. And it’s OK to laugh. Slate called Koerner’s piece an “Explainer!”
Seems to me that I have to call this for the Daily Howler: a shutout.
Posted by DeLong at January 30, 2004 03:32 PM | TrackBack | | Other weblogs commenting on this postAnd then there's the REASON Bush was suspended from flight status...
...
What do you expect from the magazine that publishes Mickey Kaus?
Posted by: Asymmetric Inflammation on January 30, 2004 06:19 PMSomerby's blog should be required reading for all working pundits and journalists.
Posted by: Alan on January 30, 2004 07:36 PMI believe there are rewards out (unclaimed) in Ala for anyone who can attest they ever actually saw GB at a guard session.
Posted by: jda on January 30, 2004 07:42 PMIt's not as if the raw documents are hidden. They are plastered all over the web for anyone who cares to veiw them
http://users.cis.net/coldfeet/document.htm
Posted by: bakho on January 30, 2004 08:31 PMDoes anyone else find this AWOL stuff totally irrelevant, in light of our being bogged down in Iraq with little apparent plan for a transition to democracy and getting American troops out of the streets, the total unsustainability of our fiscal policy, the alienation of large parts of the world -- including allies -- from the U.S., etc?
Posted by: Julian Elson on January 30, 2004 09:49 PMIrrelevant no, indicative yes
Posted by: Eli Rabett on January 30, 2004 10:06 PMI search for blog like this long time.You website is very good!I will come next time!
カジノ
Posted by: カジノ on January 31, 2004 07:09 AM"Does anyone else find this AWOL stuff totally irrelevant, in light of our being bogged down in Iraq with little apparent plan for a transition to democracy and getting American troops out of the streets, the total unsustainability of our fiscal policy, the alienation of large parts of the world -- including allies -- from the U.S., etc?"
Posted by: Julian Elson on January 30, 2004 09:49 PM
Yes, we do, Julian. Some of us might even commit the thoughtcrime of thinking that highly relevant, in terms of character, and of how Bush skated through life, f*cking off and f*cking up, but being bailed out by his connections. We're now seeing what happens when one runs out of connections to bail oneself out with - the 'Peter Principle' in action.
Some of us might also consider how the bulk of the mass media has strained mightily to give Bush a pass on this. We might connect it to the recent flap over Michael Moore calling Bush a 'deserter'. We might conclude that the mass media gives the GOP a pass, 90% of the time. We might connect it to how a single-line audio feed from Howard Dean's microphone was used to present a distorted picture of what he was saying.
In short, it's highly relevant.
Some us might also note how, when Bush became the GOP candidate, somehow the GOP decided that things that happened decades ago were now irrelevant and shouldn't be considered.
Posted by: Barry on January 31, 2004 07:53 AMJulian: irrelevant? Well, yes, from the point of view of a dishonest conservative fuck who is focused on protecting the Fraud-in-Chief from accountability. From that perspective, its not only irrelevant -- it's fucking kryptonite. Go to hell all of you lying sack of shit conservative fucks.
And what about Slate? What a sad, sorry disappointment Slate is. I used to love it. Now I never read it unless somebody else links to it. Nowadays, Slate is stocked with so much shallow filler, its hard to find any articles of substance in Slate any more anyway.
Slate is now staffed by careerist yuppie weasels who revel in contrarianism. They are like the Jews in the concentration camps who collaborated with the guards at the expense of their fellow prisoners. They deserve a good kick in their smug little asses.
Posted by: The Fool on February 1, 2004 09:54 AMHello! Super work performed. Top PAGE, further so!
オンラインカジノ
Posted by: オンラインカジノ on February 2, 2004 04:27 AMWhat a great website I have ever seen. Thanks for all the hard work.
Online Casinos review
Posted by: Online Casinos review on February 4, 2004 11:03 AMPotest ex casa magnus vir exire - A great man can come from a hut. (Seneca)
where can i get Harry Potter book??? please, call me +1.9005646352 if you know...
lesbian sex
free lesbian porn
http://www.lesbian-sex.name
lesbian porn
lesbian sex stories
http://lesbian-sex.name
handjob
handjob movies
http://www.handjob-movies.us
handjob porn
handjob sex stories
http://handjob-movies.us
hand job
hand job
http://www.hand-job.us
hand job porn
hand job sex
http://hand-job.us
gay sex
free gay porn
http://www.gay-sex.name
gay porn
gay sex stories
http://gay-sex.name
handjob movies
handjob videos
http://www.handjob-movies.us
handjob
handjob movies
http://handjob-movies.us
latina sex
free latina porn
http://www.latina-sex.name
latina porn
latina sex stories
http://latina-sex.name
asian girls video
asian girls movies
http://www.asian-girls.name
asian girls vids
asian girls content
http://asian-girls.name
animal sex
animal sex
http://dog-sex-mpegs.beastiality-animal-sex-stories.com
asian girls vids
horse sex, animal sex
http://horse-sex.ws
where can i get Harry Potter book??? please, call me +1.9005646352 if you know...
lesbian sex
free lesbian porn
http://www.lesbian-sex.name
lesbian porn
lesbian sex stories
http://lesbian-sex.name
handjob
handjob movies
http://www.handjob-movies.us
handjob porn
handjob sex stories
http://handjob-movies.us
hand job
hand job
http://www.hand-job.us
hand job porn
hand job sex
http://hand-job.us
gay sex
free gay porn
http://www.gay-sex.name
gay porn
gay sex stories
http://gay-sex.name
handjob movies
handjob videos
http://www.handjob-movies.us
handjob
handjob movies
http://handjob-movies.us
latina sex
free latina porn
http://www.latina-sex.name
latina porn
latina sex stories
http://latina-sex.name
asian girls video
asian girls movies
http://www.asian-girls.name
asian girls vids
asian girls content
http://asian-girls.name
animal sex
animal sex
http://dog-sex-mpegs.beastiality-animal-sex-stories.com
asian girls vids
horse sex, animal sex
http://horse-sex.ws
where can i get Harry Potter book??? please, call me +1.9005646352 if you know...
lesbian sex
free lesbian porn
http://www.lesbian-sex.name
lesbian porn
lesbian sex stories
http://lesbian-sex.name
handjob
handjob movies
http://www.handjob-movies.us
handjob porn
handjob sex stories
http://handjob-movies.us
hand job
hand job
http://www.hand-job.us
hand job porn
hand job sex
http://hand-job.us
gay sex
free gay porn
http://www.gay-sex.name
gay porn
gay sex stories
http://gay-sex.name
handjob movies
handjob videos
http://www.handjob-movies.us
handjob
handjob movies
http://handjob-movies.us
latina sex
free latina porn
http://www.latina-sex.name
latina porn
latina sex stories
http://latina-sex.name
asian girls video
asian girls movies
http://www.asian-girls.name
asian girls vids
asian girls content
http://asian-girls.name
animal sex
animal sex
http://dog-sex-mpegs.beastiality-animal-sex-stories.com
asian girls vids
horse sex, animal sex
http://horse-sex.ws
Pone ubi sol non lucet! - Put it where the sun don't shine!
Numquam aliud natura, aliud sapientia dicit - Never does nature say one thing and wisdom say another
Construimus, Batuimus - We Build, We Fight (US Navy SeaBees motto)
Intelligenti pauca - Few words suffice for he who understands