Friday, July 09, 2004
The Dog Ate My Military Records
Serendipity has once again cast her friendly gaze on the charmed life of George W. Bush. Apparently, the medical records that could have proven Bush's whereabouts during his controversial stint in the National Guard were "inadvertently destroyed" according to the Pentagon.
As reported in the New York Times, the destruction occurred to a series of payroll records covering three months of a period in 1972 and 1973, during which Bush claims he was serving in Alabama.
"For Mr. Bush, the 1969 period when he was training to be a pilot, is not in dispute. But in May 1972, he moved to Alabama to work on a political campaign and, he has said, to perform his Guard service there for a year. But other Guard officers have said they had no recollection of ever seeing him there. The most evidence the White House has been able to find are records showing Mr. Bush was paid for six days in October and November 1972, without saying where, and the record of a dental exam at a Montgomery, Ala., air base on Jan. 6, 1973."
Of course, this latest stroke of luck does not preclude Bush from releasing other records and documentation relating to some of the controversies surrounding his service. "Among the issues still disputed is why, according to released records, Mr. Bush was suspended from flying on Aug. 1, 1972. The reason cited in the records is "'failure to accomplish annual medical examination.'"
Maybe he's waiting for all of the records to spontaneously combust, or become the next course for the White House's canine inhabitant.
As reported in the New York Times, the destruction occurred to a series of payroll records covering three months of a period in 1972 and 1973, during which Bush claims he was serving in Alabama.
"For Mr. Bush, the 1969 period when he was training to be a pilot, is not in dispute. But in May 1972, he moved to Alabama to work on a political campaign and, he has said, to perform his Guard service there for a year. But other Guard officers have said they had no recollection of ever seeing him there. The most evidence the White House has been able to find are records showing Mr. Bush was paid for six days in October and November 1972, without saying where, and the record of a dental exam at a Montgomery, Ala., air base on Jan. 6, 1973."
Of course, this latest stroke of luck does not preclude Bush from releasing other records and documentation relating to some of the controversies surrounding his service. "Among the issues still disputed is why, according to released records, Mr. Bush was suspended from flying on Aug. 1, 1972. The reason cited in the records is "'failure to accomplish annual medical examination.'"
Maybe he's waiting for all of the records to spontaneously combust, or become the next course for the White House's canine inhabitant.
