There is a tiresome trope in the hard-left circles of the Democratic Party that George W. Bush went AWOL while in the reserves. Now, the fact is that there is even less evidence for this claim than the preposterous notion that Bill Clinton was a cocaine dealer, which was alleged by some on the hard right while Clinton was President. But you'll probably hear more about it over the next year, so you might as well prepare for it now.
The truth: this matter has been deeply investigated, and every time that's happened, the charge has been found to be without merit. There is absolutely no proof that it's so, and plenty of reason to doubt it, which means that any reasonable or decent person would acknowledge that the story should be presumed bogus.
That's not good enough for some people, who see every inconsistency in the 30 year old record as proof that the matter has not been "sufficiently investigated." Well it has been sufficiently investigated for any rational person. If you doubt it, you should read Bill Hobbs' excellent investigative pieces on the matter.
This "AWOL" story only flies with people whose dislike of the President transcends rationality. You won't talk the rabid anti-Bush people into that, of course, but do yourself a favor and read the Hobbs pieces anyway.
As a digression: the "hard left" seems adept at coming up with the absolute stupidest names for people. "aWol", "Osama Bin Missing", and so forth. I guess if you get a million chimps on a million typewriters for 4 years, you get some really stupid pseudo-puns.
I'll take that a step farther: it really seems like the "hard left" seems to think they win/trump arguments with such "clever" nomenclature and snappy phrases. Unfortunately, it never seems to get beyond that; I don't see how anyone can get an elitest attitude if the depth of your political thought is to refer to President Bush as "selected, not elected" or "the Resident", and yet somehow they do.
The hard-left, the democratic underground, the academic leftist types, the leftist literary and artist types hate Pres Bush with a passion, to thepoint that they become unable to think and act rationally. Hence you see the canards, like Pres Bush having been AWOL or other equally stupid stories, with no basis in fact being repeated over and over again. Once the 2004 election campaign heats up, expect to see the hard left attempt to pass off more such "stories" as the gospel truth. For example, I was told last week by a leftist grad student that the capture o f Saddam was timed to give Pres Bush a boost in npolls. Andthat come Oct2004, Pres Bush would pull Osama bin-Ladin out of a hat, to "sway the ignorant, stupid, conservative voters", and win the election!!!! Can you believe it? This guy is going to become a University professor in a couple of years time.
My my my. The President. I do tip my hat!
I have said these paper trails are something else!
My ride in an ambulance do tell. Excuse me mam. Before we go to the hospital. Mind you Dean. I am in an ambulance. Sign this paper. It is for your protection. No I am not paranoid. I just get a kick out of how hard we are honestly trying to get it right.
Many, many rich men will not leave a paper trail. Remember I flew a Cessna and talked about that. You had a rich man leave a comment about a smart Cessna mechanic that worked for many a fine group of social upper class to put it mildly. The little mechanic said it was better to rent cause if it didn't fly, or blank and blank, then do not own!
I do tip my hat as a woman should I say courtsey. I read what Bill Hobbs said about our Mr Bush learning to be a fighter pilot! That is FANTASTIC!!! Do you have any idea how smart you have to be!?! Do you have any idea the amount of hours you have to concentrate!?! The hours alone will get you so dang tired!!! There are 24 hours in a day. You have so many hours of sunlight. You have so many to eat, so many to read and study, so many to talk to your instructor, so many to try to even grasp what the cockpit looks like! Did anybody care to get that? That is day ONE!
The President went AWOL. I think that is sooo funny. That bit about paperwork is too. I do love what is going on and like you said, it is a year away. I really do not watch the news right now on politics.
President Bush is a fine man with outstanding morals. A real good person like that is always, always going to get knocked down. If it is good and decent and beautiful, there is something wrong.
Janelle, remember to take your meds with each meal, or every 6 hours if you skip a meal.
Ronin, I've had two co-workers tell me that exact same thing! About Saddam being a ploy for a higher approval rating and that if we capture Osama in 2004 it will be for the same reason. So, with that logic... should we not try to find Osama until 2005? I mean, we wouldn't want to unduely influence the voting public by having an elected official competently perform their job.