More on typewriters.

This is from Bush’s “Chronological Listing of Service” which was released by the Bush White House. Notice the raised “th” in the second line.

More on typewriters.

This is from Bush’s “Chronological Listing of Service” which was released by the Bush White House. Notice the raised “th” in the second line.

When Did Bush Quit Flying?

The Washington Post notes that Bush’s story now doesn’t match his story from 1999. Bush told us then that he continued flying for years with his unit. But the records show differently, and the White House has admitted as much.

The White House now says that Bush left Texas, where he was first assigned when he joined the Air National Guard, for Alabama in the spring of 1972 because his priorities changed and he wanted to work in the political campaign of a family friend, Winton “Red” Blount, who was running for the U.S. Senate.

But in his 1999 autobiography, Bush omits mention of his suspension from flight status and says only that “I continued flying with my unit for the next several years” after being turned down in 1970 for a program known as “Palace Alert” that might have taken him to Vietnam.

Bush should explain the evolving explanations regarding his alleged service.

When Did Bush Quit Flying?

The Washington Post notes that Bush’s story now doesn’t match his story from 1999. Bush told us then that he continued flying for years with his unit. But the records show differently, and the White House has admitted as much.

The White House now says that Bush left Texas, where he was first assigned when he joined the Air National Guard, for Alabama in the spring of 1972 because his priorities changed and he wanted to work in the political campaign of a family friend, Winton “Red” Blount, who was running for the U.S. Senate.

But in his 1999 autobiography, Bush omits mention of his suspension from flight status and says only that “I continued flying with my unit for the next several years” after being turned down in 1970 for a program known as “Palace Alert” that might have taken him to Vietnam.

Bush should explain the evolving explanations regarding his alleged service.

Bush’s Military Record

At the risk of belaboring a point, we come back to the matter of Bush’s National Guard record. Retired Army Colonel Gerald A. Lechliter has compiled what might be the most comprehensive look so far at the details that can be mined from the February document dump by the Bush White House along with other public records. Here are the summary points from Lechliter’s work entitled President George W. Bush’s Military Service: A Critical Analysis © 2004

The pay records released by the White House this past winter prove Bush received unauthorized, i.e., fraudulent, payments for inactive duty training, even if he did show up for duty.

The memorandum from Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Albert C. Lloyd, who affirmed for the White House that Bush met his retention/retirement year point requirement, is an obfuscation, or outright deception, that disregarded Bush’s failure to meet the statutory and regulatory fiscal year satisfactory participation requirement.

Bush’s superiors in the Texas Air National Guard failed to take required regulatory actions when Bushed missed required training and failed to take his flight physical.

Despite seemingly laudatory comments, Bush’s May 1972 officer performance report was a clear and unmistakable indication that his performance had declined from the annual 1971 report. The report was the kiss of death before he left for
Alabama that year.

Bush did not meet the requirements for satisfactory participation from 1972 to 1973.

This is important not so much because of what it tells us about Bush’s character 30 plus years ago, but for what it tells us about his character now.

Bush’s Military Record

At the risk of belaboring a point, we come back to the matter of Bush’s National Guard record. Retired Army Colonel Gerald A. Lechliter has compiled what might be the most comprehensive look so far at the details that can be mined from the February document dump by the Bush White House along with other public records. Here are the summary points from Lechliter’s work entitled President George W. Bush’s Military Service: A Critical Analysis © 2004

The pay records released by the White House this past winter prove Bush received unauthorized, i.e., fraudulent, payments for inactive duty training, even if he did show up for duty.

The memorandum from Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Albert C. Lloyd, who affirmed for the White House that Bush met his retention/retirement year point requirement, is an obfuscation, or outright deception, that disregarded Bush’s failure to meet the statutory and regulatory fiscal year satisfactory participation requirement.

Bush’s superiors in the Texas Air National Guard failed to take required regulatory actions when Bushed missed required training and failed to take his flight physical.

Despite seemingly laudatory comments, Bush’s May 1972 officer performance report was a clear and unmistakable indication that his performance had declined from the annual 1971 report. The report was the kiss of death before he left for
Alabama that year.

Bush did not meet the requirements for satisfactory participation from 1972 to 1973.

This is important not so much because of what it tells us about Bush’s character 30 plus years ago, but for what it tells us about his character now.

Verdict Is In: BUSH AWOL

The conservative leaning US News and World Report Has weighed in on the matter

“The U.S. News analysis also showed that during the final two years of his obligation, Bush did not comply with Air Force regulations that impose a time limit on making up missed drills. What’s more, he apparently never made up five months of drills he missed in 1972, contrary to assertions by the administration.”

More on Typewriters

This is a section of the CYA memo released by CBS. Look at the word “interference” in the second line. Look closely, and you will see that the second “e” rests above the baseline. Those of us who actually worked with typewriters know this sort of imperfection was a common occurence.

I don’t know how we could duplicate this defect with MS Word. Do you?

Document Forgeries?

The Daily Kos has a quite interesting discussion of type faces, superscripts, fonts, proportional spacing, etc., here. Looks like indeed the documents CBS obtained could very well have been produced by typewriters existing at the time.

AWOL

The Annenberg Political Fact Check took a look at the available data back in February of 2004, and had this to say.

An additional witness came forward to say that he had seen Bush at the base. John W. “Bill” Calhoun was quoted by the Washington Post and others as saying he saw Bush sign in at the base eight to 10 times for about eight hours each from May to October 1972. However, as previously noted, there is record of Bush being paid for only two days of Guard service during that period, Oct. 28 and 29 1972. A White House spokesman could not offer an explanation for the discrepancy.

Furthermore, the Annenberg reports only that Bush was paid and credited for service – not that he actually did duty.