My Name is Baldilocks and I am a Ranter

Okay, I backslid. Happy? I’m sure some of you are gloating right now, but you could at least keep reading to find out how I slipped. I cannot stop beating my head up against brick walls. I am powerless over the rant. Kevin Drum of Calpundit made me relapse. Here, he posts a copy of George W. Bush’s Air National Guard point earnings (attendance records) from October 1972 to July 1973. (This page shows only October to May):

Drum: “My guess is the latter: they don't show much of anything related to the National Guard. Rather, they are records of something that counted as drills in the Air Reserve, although it's not clear what.” [Bold mine]

BZZZTTT!!!! Your guess is wrong, Kevin. What else would this record be related to besides Guard Service? A point run-down of a game of tiddly-winks? The points listed are for attendance: drill (or Unit Training Assembly as we Air Force Reservists call it; that required single weekend per month) or active duty. In other words, you have to actually be there for something other than a goose egg to be listed under “points.”

Also, the only thing that counts as drill is….wait for it…..drill. However, as mention above, points are also accumulated for the two-week active duty period (fourteen days) that each Guard member/Reservist is required to serve each year. By the way, those fourteen days need not be served consecutively. You figure it out.

Drum: “But whatever they show, both records show the same thing. Even if we're not sure exactly what that is… [Bold mine]

Have truer words ever been typed on a keyboard? At least he admits it.

…..the mainstream media needs to at least understand what evidence is currently available and what its possible interpretations are.” [Bold mine]

Why am I not surprised to find out that the “mainstream media” cannot manage to dig up one of their number who is/was a Guardsman/Reservist? (I can help them: FoxNews reporter Greg Kelly is a Marine Reservist. Wonder if he’s been asked about this matter? Heh.)

Interpretation? What is there to interpret? The document shown isn’t some obscure scroll written in a long dead language, found during an archeological dig at the foot of the Himalayas. It’s an objective document showing the amount of attendance points that President Bush earned during the last part of his ANG stint--the part that a certain segment of the population just can’t get out of their minds.

Drum: “POSTSCRIPT: By the way, the actual point of Romano's story is that the Defense Department is requesting Bush's payroll records from "a DOD archive in Colorado." Why is DOD doing this? And why just payroll records? Very peculiar.”

It’s only seems peculiar if one doesn’t know how things work in the military, as, apparently, you do not, Kevin. Such records are the minimal needed to disprove the assertions that George W. Bush was “AWOL” from or “deserted” from the Air National Guard. Hopefully, after that, people like you will STOP TRYING TO PEDDLE SIMILAR CROCKS OF SHIT TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC. There's always hope.

UPDATE: Since a lot of people have sent me the link to this letter—including one fine gentleman named GB who, in spite of the initials, is not fond of George W. Bush, but who is quite fair-minded—I wanted to mention that I had read it and heard it read aloud by Hugh Hewitt (while I yelled, “you go, Colonel!”). It’s great and awesome, but, for those in the tertiary stage of BDS, it won’t make a difference.

Comments

[wes jackson]

Striiike 3 and you are owwwwwwt, Mr. Drum!
Just once I'd like to hear one of these guys talk about a better IDEA someone has rather than trying for the rersonal attack K.O.
Really!
If I thought I might read your rants on the op-ed page I might re-up with the L.A. Slimes!

[Marty]

And while Kerry says, "I didn't bring this up," he continues to wrap his Vietnam service around him like a flag, regardless of his glaring hypocricy in doing so.

The latest issue of National Review exposes this (not available, yet, online), in a story titled "The senator's other Vietnam War record," wherein Kerry disparages the service of a whole generation of military men and women by alleging such tripe as:

American soldiers "raped, cut off ears, cut off heads...cut off limbs,...randomly shot a civilians, razed villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside..." (John Kerry before Congress, April 22, 1971)

Mackubin Thomas Owens (the article's author) debunks this argument as well as many others perpetrated by Kerry and his ilk back in the late 60s and early 70s.

Hey, John: What goes around, comes around! Get ready for some real interesting political commercials, wherein your doubletalk is revealed!

[MommaBear]

It is impossible to teach a rock ANYTHING. They all come from the "don't confuse me with facts, my mind[?] is made up!" school of discourse.

[Jim Armstrong]

Do you really think the facts are going to stop this? The next step will be questioning whether the documents are forged, and who GW paid off to do it. The dolts that keep these things going are not interested in actual proof. They have their minds made up, and anything that goes against their delusion cannot be accepted under any circumstance. They are absolutely convinced they are right, so the evidence can't be real.

[Emma]

Take a look at the photos of the Kerry book, http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3587075583&category=1127, available on ebay.

[Emma]

and there's the Hardvard Crimson article where JK wants troops US deployed at the directive of the UN, http://www.thecrimson.com/today/article357339.html

[Autumn]

The very thing I love about Bush is one of the things that's been driving even supporters (only of the talking head variety) crazy about his MTP performance.

His complete inability to hide his flabergast at the sheer audacity and stupidity of the shirking service accusations.

He appeared to trip over his words and seemed to be reaching for what to say, simply because he could hardly believe he had to even answer the question. Since when does someone simply asserting something without a lick of proof make it a legit quesiton to pose to the President when there are actual real things of import to discuss.

Not only does the Baldilocks explanation escape the media, but so does this from a fellow ranger that served with the prez... http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20040210-082910-8424r.htm

Baldilocks, the point that they can't even find a person with the pertinent miltary experience to ask about this is right on and goes to the heart of the problem. Are they just lazy or as I believe, just want to believe it soo much that they are unwilling to do anything more than just show up as press briefings and sit on their hind parts and peppers McClennan with the most absurd lines of questioning.

It is difficult to swallow the mainstream media coverage and I guess we'll just have to get used to it. Rather, last night, managed to discount all of the called for evidence completely - it was something to behold!

[Paul Jané]

You're still nicotine-free, aren't you? ;-)

Nice work, 'nuff said.

[BeckyJ]

Check out this letter to the editor at the Washington Times. It does a good job of laying out how the Guard/Reservists work and how they worked when Bush was in the Texas ANG.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20040210-082910-8424r

[BeckyJ]

Oops, linked to the printer version and it got cut. Here's the regular version.

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20040210-082910-8424r.htm

[Arnold]

I don't think that counts as a rant Juliette. You used facts and stuff.

[Rustmeister]

Of course Drum doesn't have a clue as to military service. Folks like him still think the military is populated by the "go to the Army, or go to jail" types.

I'm really glad you have the background you do. I knew those records showed the facts, but being strictly an active duty guy, I was fuzzy on the details.

You rock. Beers to ya!

[Ith]

I love it when you backslide!

[Anne Haight]

Drum's perspective is fascinating. "This document is completely foreign to me, therefore it must be inscrutible glyphs to everyone else."

The idea that there might be some folks alive and walking who can explain it easily seems to escape him and his colleagues. It's sort of like looking at a pharmacy document filled with obscure abbreviations and concluding that its "real meaning" is ultimately unknowable.

I'm still, as of today, encountering people who assert that Bush "lied" about his service record in the Air Guard. The "lie" is what irks them, now that the fact of his service has been established.

I'd be flabbergasted, too. I'm sure Bush is astonished that anyone would pose it as a serious question, much less that it's become an issue.

And it's not like there aren't any real, serious isues on which one could disagree with Bush. Some of his policies are worth critique and discussion. But what do his opponents latch onto? His service in the Air Guard back in 1973.

Gimme a break.

[leslein]

I was a disbursing officer in the Navy several decades ago. It was illegal to pay someone who was AWOL. This was common knowledge. It's hard to believe that the press can't find this out.

[shark]

Our lazy press corps had 4 years to try and dig something up on this story. Now they whine the White House didn't do all their homework for them. Disgusting....

In the meantime, what REAL stories are being ignored in favor of this twaddle?

[Joe]

I'm so glad I found you! I read through the Calpundit comments and it was like Inspector Clouseau, but less intelligent and without the humor.

[JLawson]

Hi there! I did 732 and 2S0 work for the AF Reserve for quite a while, handling the unit's UTAPS and 40As - and I tried posting an explanation on CalPundit about what I saw. Got laughed at, too, by those 'ever-so-knowledgeable' bozos for spending the time and effort to put out an interpretation.

Short form - they're clueless, they're clue-resistant, and they're working hard to develop a good clue-repellant. I don't think there's anything that'll convince them - now they're concentrating on the missed physical. Wonder if I should tell them about my physical that took six months to complete, due to my being on alternate UTAs? Nah, they wouldn't understand it if I told them...

Great site, Baldilocks!

J. Lawson
TSgt, USAFR (Ret)
94th LSS

[baldilocks]

Hi JLawson: I saw your heroic, but futile efforts in the "war zone." You deserve a medal. I haven't even bothered to mention--except here--that one of my four AFSCs was 4N0x1--the dreaded med techs that perform the paraprofessional portion of the physical exam. You know the stuff: give shots, vision exams, vitals etc. We also sent out letters to commanders informing them of personnel who missed their annual physical exams (PEs). Flying personnel were regular "offenders," often because they were off somewhere *doing their duty* when their exam time came up.

I also haven't mentioned that GWB couldn't possibly have refused a mandated drug test, since the random whiz quiz wasn't instituted until nine months after I joined the active duty Air Force. The year? 1981.

[baldilocks]

Paul Jane: Shhhh! You'll jinx me. :-P Still good to go.

[Jody Clukey]

My father was a lifer in the U.S. Army (infantry in WWII and Korea) and brought up the interesting fact that you cannot be discharged from the military if you are AWOL, and cannot get a Honorable Discharge if you have been convicted of treason. As both of these charges have been bandied about in the news it is easy to refute both of them – GWB was given an Honorable Discharge, therefore is not guilty of Treason, nor is he AWOL

[baldilocks]

JLawson: 4N0X1= 901/902 in the old system.

[Gary Utter]

An article by an officer who served with Bush

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1075896/posts

[Ali Karim Bey]

You rock lady! Now that this chapter is closed, let us focus on JFK's military service.

Ali Karim Bey

[Ali Karim Bey]

I am curious about your thoughts on JFK's military service. I want some dirt on him. I want my candidate (Dean) to beat this no-good, opportunistic, unaccomplished, marrying, special-interests senator.

Ali Karim Bey

[eric]

I've seen mention that Kerry may have written himself up for his purple hearts. --you get 3, you get to go home, at least, I think that was the the deal.

Those people at Calpundit are ignorant assholes.

[Tim]

Drum hates Bush. Drum also is an idiot He's that special kind of idiot who thinks he is smart and, if he doesn't understand something; then something must be terribly wrong. Expecting Drum to recognize easily explained facts while he's all geeked up about Bush's ANG service is, sorry, futile.

Better to wait for Drum to come to the realization (probably within 36 hours of Kerry/McAuliffe et al ceasing the "Bush was AWOL drill") that there is nothing there. The sad part, of course, will be that Drum will walk away from the issue knowing he was able to figure out Bush wasn't AWOL but still suspecting Bush's entire involvement in the ANG was due to Daddy's influence.

A better question for Drum migh be "if Kerry's representation of U.S. attrocities in Vietnam he witnessed is accurate, since every office is required by law to report war crimes, and he didn't, why should we vote for a war criminal?"

[Sue Bob]

WhooWhah!!

You've been quoted by Instapundit. You are getting more and more famous. You deserve it!!!

[baldilocks]

SB: Thanks.

Yikes! Frightening, it is.

[SMASH]

Yeah, I tried to explain how the reserves work to Kevin and the gang over at Calpundit, but they called me a "brownshirt" and assumed that I was trying to "cover something up" for Bush.

I'm not going to try to help anymore. I'll just sit back and enjoy the freak show.

[quark2]

Yep, found you through Instapundit. :)
You remind me of a long time ago girlfriend that I worked with.
As to trying to explain the simple unvarnished truth to lunkheads, you would have more success educating a brick wall.
Not to worry though, Kerry is going to get a schellacking on his senate record.
Barbeque and beer for the sideline show anyone?

[Raging_Dave]

Hot damn, that's a good read. Beers are on me if you ever make it up to Seattle.

[Pearl]

Yes!!!!

My thanks to the Instapundit for directions here.

[dougger]

Given that self proclaimed Intellectual Liberals are by definition smarter than the rest of us, anything that they do not understand is therefore incomprehensible to anyone else.

The mainstream media is populated by reporters who graduated from college with journalism degrees. It is the one field of study where you don't have to actually learn or know anything. I have seen it so many times that I have ceased to be amazed that they don't know how anything works and are also unable to recognize this fact and find someone who does.

Love your style.
Thanks for serving.

[Sharon]

You should thank Kevin Drum for doing the type of reporting that most of the SCLM refused to do in '96 and 2000.
The President has gotten the kind of pass by the press that Clinton would have loved to have had after 1993.
That being said:
I think this issue (what did W do in Alabama) is a small issue, but there are even more issues, faux WMDs, out of control spending by the WH, the GOP in the House and Senate, along with the decision to ignore the sale of nukes by Pakistan, (funded by the Saudis,) under W's watch... it's hard to convince the American people that we're safer when all of these problems are still on the table.
He's the Commander and Chief and these problems belong to him. The election will rest on how Americans judge Bush's performance in office, and I'm counting on the good judgement of the American people.

[Adin]

OK, being a current ignorant reservist, I'm a bit confused. Why are his points listed as being from the ARF if he was in the guard? I though the centers that kept those point totals were different for the National Guard/Reserve.

What am I missing?

[Scott Forbes]

Why am I not surprised to find out that the “mainstream media” cannot manage to dig up one of their number who is/was a Guardsman/Reservist?

...you mean, like the Washington Post's Richard Cohen?

[Greyhawk]

Ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom!

Was hoping you'd weigh in on this one. My favorite part of the Calpundit story was the speculation that Dubya had been transferred to the Army as punishment, and the subsequent speculation "as punishment for what?"

I'd put 50 cents into Calpundit's PayPal account if I thought he'd buy a clue.

[dorf]

I'd send CLUEs™ if I had an address.

[Joan of Argghh!]

Heck. They're all still p.o.'d about his carrier-landing, and Kerry's just another pouty foot-soldier who hates Fly-Boys. Ha!

Note to the left: the military doesn't let idiots, morons, or low-i.q. types fly their multi-million dollar JETS! They look for men of vesatile intelligence and agile, quick-thinking minds. Flame away at Bush's intelligence, you liberal hacks along for the ride, but if Air Force One's pilots ever get offed, you'd better hope that the POTUS can land the plane for you.

[Dan McWiggins]

Nice work again, Ms. B.

You know, I've gotten so disgusted with Democrat lying and misrepresentation since 1992 that I've come to believe that anyone who declares himself a Democrat is simultaneously making a statement that he/she is morally corrupt. In their willingness to accept changes in the current party "line," they've shown themselves to have even greater flexibility than the Communists who, having damned the Nazis for years prior, suddenly went "Ulp. Never mind." when Molotov and Ribbentrop concluded the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. The Dems truly are a contemptible lot; this is one voter who will see ice hockey televised from Hell before he votes for a Dem again.

Again, nice work. Congrats on breaking the habit, too!

[Lyana]

This whole thing just makes me want to scream!!!
It's really sad that the media has turned into a think tank for conspiracy theories - any evidence shown, any explanation given will be countered with the sentiment that it can't be true, someone must have been paid off or influenced to change records, make a statement, etc. And that's aside from the complete ignorance displayed toward the workings of the military.

I guess what is the most disconcerting is that people usually interpret the world according to how they behave (and we all remember how forthcoming our previous president was!)

On the other hand, I think it's terrific that this is the worst they can come up with to try to tar him - and I'm sure it's not for lack of effort!

The next step will be questioning whether the documents are forged, and who GW paid off to do it.

Already has begun, check out the Talking Points Memo....... sigh, what a bunch of tools.

[John Anderson]

The records show he was active.

A colonel who served with him points out that at the time regular Air Force pilots were not being sent to the 'Nam but Air Reserve pilots were - and he and Bush knew that when they signed up. That it may have been why Bush went Reserve instead of Regular.

The General who said he did not recall seeing Bush has also said he does not remember whether he himself was on-post while Bush would have been. Quite the memory there, even allowing that a commanding General might well not know (let be remember) a shave-tail LT.

The "scheduled" medical he "missed" is scheduled by the person, not the Air Force: ie, he couldn't have missed it because it never existed, and he must have had one on his own initiative or been tossed out.

All of which and more, according to Drum and others, adds up to evading service and going AWOL?

---
But it is the major media which has once again failed in its responsibility to report fact rather than rumor-as-fact. And the media troops are getting restless:
*ABC: The Press is Biased! *
"There've been lots of books written on an alleged left-wing bias in the press. Anne Coulter's probably the most notorious author at the moment... But when ABC's entire politics team is essentially coming to the same conclusion as Coulter does, that makes things a bit harder to ignore."
See
*The Note*

[Anne Haight]

J. Lawson:

"Clue-resistant". That's a good one -- have to remember that. :) You think Monsanto would be interested in the biotech of making Clue-Repellent?

[js]

I suppose it must be nice to think that if you just turn up the volume, you'll actually persuade people. In criticizing Kevin Drum, you state, "The points listed are for attendance: drill (or Unit Training Assembly as we Air Force Reservists call it; that required single weekend per month) or active duty. In other words, you have to actually be there for something other than a goose egg to be listed under “points.”
Also, the only thing that counts as drill is….wait for it…..drill."

But alas for you, Bush's main witness (if he's not a simple liar), one Lt. Colonel Bill Calhoun states that "said in a telephone interview that Bush used to sit in his office and read magazines and flight manuals as he performed weekend duty at Dannelly Field in Montgomery during 1972.

Calhoun estimated that he saw Bush sign in at the 187th Tactical Reconnaissance Group eight to 10 times for about eight hours each from May to October 1972. He said the two occasionally grabbed a sandwich in the snack bar.

"He'd sit on my couch and read training manuals and accident reports and stuff like that,'"

Well, maybe you call that drill. Most of us call it reading. It sure as h--- wasn't logging hours in the air.

[js]

And another point. A number of you apparently think this is just partisan games. The truth of it is that the regular Democrats will barely touch the issue. It is grassroots people, many of them veterans, some Guardsmen, and others who potentially faced the Vietnam draft who are pointing out that the issue is not skipped drills. It's arrogance and deceit, not 30 years ago but this week.

Oh, and JLawson-- there are records experts advising on what the records mean. It just so happens that not a lot of people who know about records know specifically about Texas records from the VN era-- probably not even the proprietor of this site.

In 2000, two Medal of Honor winners called on Bush to release his records. It is a senior member of the National Guard who said that Bush's records were cleansed.

When are you folks gonna wake up?

[baldilocks]

JS writes: But alas for you, Bush's main witness (if he's not a simple liar), one Lt. Colonel Bill Calhoun states that "said in a telephone interview that Bush used to sit in his office and read magazines and flight manuals as he performed weekend duty at Dannelly Field in Montgomery during 1972.

You have proved in the above statement that you don't understand the concept of duty. Whether he's performing some duty or screwing off, if he's where he's supposed to be, doing what he's authorized to do by the authority appointed over him it counts, whether you like it or not. Here was a pilot whose aircraft was being phased out and who was waiting for his early out. What would you have had him do? Defecate an aircraft to fly in?

Contrary to the prevailing thought, one's entire military service does not consist of non-stop task start and completion like a bunch of worker insects. There are times when there is simply nothing to do. Young Lt. Bush sat and read a couple of magazines--aeronautical ones at that--during a few days of duty time when there was nothing else for him to do and was authorized to do so. So what?

When are people like you going to get tired of moving the proverbial goalposts?

[JLawson]

JS -

Oddly enough, the records are essentially the same across all the services. And the recording of time and points for service is something that DOES NOT VARY between the active AF, Reserves and Air Guard. Time served in one is directly equivalent to time served in the other. I've had folks come from Guard positions to Reserve positions, and vice versa. Now, you've come up with a conjecture that it's not equivalent - so it's YOUR job to prove a difference, not ours to prove it's the same.

Tell you what... show us ONE link to ONE person who's a personnel specialist who is saying that something's wrong with his records.

As far as the flying goes... what Baldilocks said, in spades. It's evident that you're clueless about the Reserves. You show up on a drill weekend, and you do what you're assigned. He didn't fly? Why not? Does that mean there weren't any planes available? That he flew on a Saturday, but not a Sunday? That the planes were redlined for maintenance? That other pilots with more seniority grabbed the flying spots earlier? Can you understand the idea of 'Resource Allocation'?

You DO realize for every hour of flight, any aircraft requires a certain amount of maintenance, right? (Which explains why there's a lot more maintenance people than pilots.) The current standard for CIVILIAN business aircraft is here. http://www.nbaa.org/basics/admin/calcmaint.htm
Modern military aircraft (which aren't designed for minimal maintenance) requires approximately 4 times that that amount at present. This is just for general maintenance, that is. Engine changes and such require more.

Now, double or triple that amount for 30 years back, on the F-102.

Yes, I do think this is just partisan games - stupidly so on the Democrat's side. You guys are showing your ass, showing your gleeful and willful ignorance of the military. You're losing more than you're winning here, and don't realize it. You keep moving the goalposts, showing that you'll never be satisifed until someone posts streaming video from a time machine showing where GWB was every minute of the time.

It's a non-issue. The more you press it, the less respect for truth on the issue you're showing. And the less respect for your persistence it's generating.

When are YOU going to wake up, JS?

J.