posted on August 29, 2004 10:51:03 AM new
Former texas House Speaker Ben Barnes admits he helped get Bush into the National Guard.
Ex-Lawmaker Regrets Helping Bush in Guard
By BOBBY ROSS JR.
Associated Press Writer
DALLAS (AP) -- Former Texas House Speaker Ben Barnes said he is "more ashamed at myself than I've ever been" because he helped President Bush and the sons of other wealthy families get into the Texas National Guard so they could avoid serving in Vietnam.
"I got a young man named George W. Bush into the National Guard ... and I'm not necessarily proud of that, but I did it," Barnes, a Democrat, said in a video clip recorded May 27 before a group of John Kerry supporters in Austin.
Barnes, who was House speaker when Bush entered the Guard, later became lieutenant governor.
The video was posted June 25 on the Web site http://www.austin4kerry.org , but didn't get much attention until Friday, when Jim Moore, an Austin-based author of books critical of Bush, sent out e-mails calling attention to it just days before the GOP National Convention starts in New York.
Bush joined the National Guard in 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, and served until 1973. He has said he received no special treatment.
Barnes said he became ashamed after walking through the Vietnam Memorial and looking at the names of the dead.
"I became more ashamed of myself than I've ever been because it was the worst thing I did - help a lot of wealthy supporters and a lot of people who had family names of importance get in the National Guard," he said. "I'm very sorry of that and I'm very ashamed of it and I apologize to the voters of Texas for that."
Barnes told The Associated Press in a brief telephone interview Saturday that the video "just speaks for itself." He declined to answer specific questions about what role he had in helping Bush, but he said he may have more to say next week.
Both Bush and his father, the former president, have said they did not ask for help in finding the Guard opening.
Bush said Saturday in Lima, Ohio, that he is "proud of my service" in the National Guard.
He made the comment after a questioner in a friendly audience at a high school commented, "I'm feeling sorry on your behalf the fact that they are trying to bring this issue up about the National Guard. I have many many good friends that served in the Guard during the ... Vietnam War."
"There's eight of them that are changing parties because they've had it with the Democrats," said the man in the audience.
"The question is who's best to be the commander in chief to lead us in peace. That's the question," Bush responded to applause.
Earlier Saturday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said of Barnes' comments: "It is not surprising coming from a longtime partisan Democrat. The allegation was discredited by the commanding officer. This was fully covered and addressed five years ago. It is nothing new."
Five years ago, Barnes found himself at the center of questions about Bush's Vietnam-era service when the then-Texas governor emerged as the Republican presidential front-runner.
At that time, Barnes' lawyer issued a statement saying Barnes had been contacted by the now-deceased Sidney Adger, a Houston oilman and friend of Bush's father, who was then a congressman. Adger asked Barnes to recommend Bush for a pilot position with the Air National Guard and he did, that statement said.
"Neither Congressman Bush nor any other member of the Bush family asked Barnes' help," according to the 1999 statement.
posted on August 29, 2004 11:20:07 AM new
I personally think this whole military service debate is getting old.
I am about as liberal as you will ever get, yet can easily see this as simple fodder from the Democrats. Both sides are playing dirty and the Democrats are starting to catch up with the Republicans with dirty politics. All of you neo-cons can jump on me for that comment, but it is true.
George W. Bush has always played dirty, his family is nothing more than a bunch of rich political thugs who buy their way through everything. This comes as no surprise to me or probably any other intellictual in the world, whether liberal or conservative. Everyone knows that Bush bought his way out of Vietnam. This only puts the seal on the deal. Ironically, it was a Democrat who participated in helping these people out. It simply goes to show that both sides of American politics are dirty. They all participate in this underhanded system of wink-wink, pat-pat, look out for me and I'll look out for you. The bottom line is that this is simply worn out.
Here is a great idea that perhaps we all can appreciate. Let's get the ball rolling towards more important topics that affect our current lives. Here are my top 10 things I would like to hear about.
1) What is the war plan for each candidate?
2) The economy
3) Terrorism
4) International Relations
5) Education
6) Unemployment
7) Record Deficits
8) Corporate Tax Breaks
9) The Environment
10) Health Care
I don't want to hear Bush's "what I plan to do" either. He had his chance 4 years ago to tell us his plan. I want to know what he has accomplished during his 4 years, I want him to tell us how he has improved our country in these areas over the last 4 years, and I want to hear how he plans to further improve. The bottom line is that he can't do it because he has been a miserable failure across the board.
[ edited by rustygumbo on Aug 29, 2004 11:25 AM ]
posted on August 29, 2004 11:32:05 AM new
Of those 10 issues how many does bush mention? The war is a dismal failure...all he has is terrorism. One issue out of 10.
posted on August 29, 2004 11:46:47 AM new
We see how far Bush has succeeded in Terrorism as well. Poor funding for Homeland Security, major cutbacks for law enforcement, terrorism in Russia, Spain, etc. the outing of a CIA operative, the non-existent hunt for Osama Bin Laden, etc.
Don't think it won't happen here again, and when it does, I wonder if the neo-cons will be there to support their president who has failed miserably to protect America.
posted on August 29, 2004 12:38:25 PM new
Exactly what I expected from a neo-con. State the obvious and nothing more. They never offer any intellectual comments. Just a quick jab and run.
posted on August 29, 2004 02:50:05 PM new
Your heading is a little misleading and if you read the whole article you will see that it had been settle in 1999.
You can say exactly the same as your candidate JK. What has he done while in the Senate? A big fat 0.
He is on the intelligence committee. Didn't go to a meeting. But he states he will improve it. How can you improve on something he knows nothing about.
posted on August 29, 2004 06:20:40 PM newExactly what I expected from a neo-con. State the obvious and nothing more. They never offer any intellectual comments. Just a quick jab and run.
As opposed to your slash and flush comments, right rusty.
Pres Bush has the style and grace not to accounce I'm ashamed to say that in 1971 I accepted the aid from the criminal that Ben Barnes would become in 1972.
Ben Barnes is a Texas Democrat and former Lt Gov that helped Pres Bush get into the ANG, one of your Democrats.
Here's what you don't know of Barnes. He is another crooked demo who should have been thrown in prison over his part in the Sharpstown (TX) State Bank scandal.
But as the spring of 1971 droned into summer, political pressure mounted on Smith, Baum, Mutscher, and Shannon-even on Lieutenant Governor Ben Barnes, who had been connected in several tangential ways to Frank Sharp, his companies, and the bank bills. By the fall of 1971, when Mutscher and his associates were indicted, the politics of 1972 had begun to take shape. Incumbents moved as far away as possible, politically, from the "old system" and the current state leaders......Lieutenant Governor Barnes, whose seemingly inexorable rise to political prominence was ended when his reputation was tainted by the scandal.
posted on August 29, 2004 07:01:49 PM new
The reason kerry has focused his WHOLE campaign on pointing out everything he believes this President has done wrong....which is a most VERY negative way of campaigning....is because he can't discuss his own successes in his 20 year Senate history....because the three he did get passed were not of any importance....and he still can't make up his mind on most of those items to list or discuss where he stands on them.
The ONLY reason he's doing as well as he is is due to the 'anybody but Bush club'.....absolutely NOT because of his great service...either during the VN war or in his total Senate service.
Maybe once kerry makes up his mind which side of an issue he isn't holding eight sides on....he'll be able to let his supporters know his positions. Until then...it's like President Bush said....he'll debate him when kerry's through debating himself.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"One thing is for sure: the extremists have faith in our weakness. And the weaker we are, the more they will come after us." --Tony Blair
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"The War on Terror will not be won until America is united. And as long as Democrats target the Bush administration -- not the terrorists -- as the enemy, we are in trouble." --Oliver North
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Those are only two reasons why we need to:
posted on August 29, 2004 07:10:21 PM new
Well Linda, I guess this shoots down your "honorable discharge" blather. Nothing honorable about Bush, he's rotten to the core.
The ONLY reason all of these Vietnam era issues keep coming up is because if any current issues are brought up, Bush loses on every one.
posted on August 29, 2004 07:39:33 PM new
reamond - IFany of the current issues are brought up[/i]?
What's this IF business?
The dems have been firing away at President Bush on all the issues....and he's maintained a strong base even in spite of all their accusations.
He's held his own quite well through it all. While kerry holds multiple positions on so many issues...or promises to tell us AFTER he's elected where he stands/what he'll do then.
He's a joke reamond - a very sad joke and I'm sorry to see you, especially, supporting a man like this.
posted on August 29, 2004 08:12:00 PM new
Ben Barnes. Glad you brought him up reamond. Rose to Lt. Governor, almost had to serve time in the Sharpstown Scandal and S & L melt down in Texas. Resigned in disgrace. Never heard from again till now. Although he is a big friend of Kerry's.
Quote from a Texas magazine: "Barnes was once a rising star in Texas Democratic politics, becoming a state representative at age 21. Later, he was elected lieutenant governor with 2 million votes, a Texas record. After he was involved in a bribery and stock fraud scandal in the early 1970s, however, he never held public office again. He was involved with a number of banks and thrifts that were mentioned during the S&L crisis, and forced into bankruptcy when the Texas thrift industry cratered in the late 1980s.
posted on August 29, 2004 09:05:02 PM new
Well, DUH, ya, he's a crook. He helped that yellow-bellied Bush get into the National Gurad and avoird going to war.
Ship! Nobody's arguing he's not a crook!
I mean, all of bush's associates are.
posted on August 29, 2004 09:09:52 PM new
crowfarm. Read it again, he's not an associate of Bush. He's an associate of Kerry. He's a democrat, although a disgraced one.
An honorable discharge can occur for several reasons:
* the contracted period of service is finished;
* an order of a superior or military court decides the term of service is over;
* the conflict is finished and the military unit is disbanding;
* being passed up twice in a row for promotion when eligible, though this may vary by branch of service;
Hey, hey Ho, ho Kerry - sign the 1-8-0
Edited to add DD214
[ edited by Bear1949 on Aug 30, 2004 11:19 AM ]
posted on August 30, 2004 07:47:58 AM new
Crowfarm: from the news today:
UPDATED 8/28/04 at 8:21 MST
According to an 8/27/2004 article in the the New York Times, a new Swiftboatesque testimonial video was released featuring Texas lobbyist Ben Barnes who claims that he got George W. Bush into the National Guard in 1968.
"I walked through the Vietnam Memorial the other day," Mr. Barnes said, according to a videoclip posted on the Internet this summer, "and I looked at the names of people who died in Vietnam and I became more ashamed of myself than I've ever been because the worst thing I did was get a lot of wealthy supporters and a lot of people who had family names of importance into the Guard and I'm very sorry about that and I apologize to you and the voters of Texas."
The New York Times did not mention Ben Barnes connections with John Kerry's campaign, or the DNC connections with the release of these videos.
Who Is Ben Barnes?
CBS News reports that Ben Barnes is one of eight "bundlers" who have raised more than $500,000 for John Kerry's campaign. He is also listed as a Vice Chair of the Kerry campaign on the John Kerry campaign website. According to the Dallas Ft. Worth Star Telegram, Barnes is one of the "gatekeepers and endorsers for Texas appointees and job-seekers" in a potential Kerry administration.
Ben Barnes had been the Lt. Governor of Texas in the early 1970's, but saw his elected political career end as a result of the Sharpstown stock-fraud scandal.
The timing of this news release, days before the Republican National Convention, is suspicious. A Texas Observer editorial from 10/15/1999 shows that Ben Barnes has made this accusation before.
Ben Barnes, then Lieutenant Governor... has admitted that he personally interceded with Guard officials at the behest of a business associate of Congressman Bush. The ex-President says he is "almost certain" he didn’t ask Barnes, directly or indirectly, to intercede for his son; the carefully crumbling denials suggest there is smoking documentation somewhere, and we may yet get a more precise snapshot of how the people who start the wars avoid risking their children to fight them.
These claims were already discredited by then. CNN reported in July 1999 that the Los Angeles Times had already investigated them, reporting that the "Los Angeles Times said it found no evidence that either Bush or his father, former President George Bush, had personally tried to influence or pressure anyone to get the younger Bush a place in the Texas Guard. Bush's father was a congressman from Houston at the time."
Additionally, Mr. Barnes wasn't Lt. Gov yet in 1968, he was the UN Representative to Geneva. Previously, he US Representative to the NATO conference in 1967. He wasn't elected governor until 1969. The Republican party had it's first Republican majority in all three branches of government in Texas for the first time in 130 years in 2002. In 1968, there were only 8 Republicans elected to the State Legislature out of 150 seats. At the time, President Bush's father was one of Republicans elected in a state that was primarly Democrat., which did not put him into a position of great influence.
Who is Distributing This Video Now
According to the New York Times, the website which released the video, Austin4Kerry.com, crashed when James Moore, the author of "Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential" and "Bush's War For Reelection : Iraq, the White House, and the People" sent an email to his mailing list, with the resuling traffic crashing the website hosting the video.
According to the New York Times, the website changed to http://69.59.167.160
This website is hosted by www.polycot.com but contains the instructions "email [email protected]"
I spoke with Greaterdemocracy.org blogger Aldon Hynes, who was also an accredited "blogger" at the Democratic National Committee. According to the DNC Blogwebsite, "Aldon is one of approximately 20 bloggers who received press credentials for the convention."
Mr. Hynes says that he is not involved with the Barnes video. He directed me to Mr. John Lebowsky, CEO of Polycot Consulting LLC, who is the actual proprietor of GreaterDemocracy.org, and the person who Mr. Hynes says is hosting the Barnes videos.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now my comments: Texas was strictly a Democratic state until Ben Barnes came along. After his tenure it has been completely Republican. He ruined the Democratic Party in Texas for eternity. As you see, he IS a crony of Kerry's. Show's you what the democrats associate with if they think it will help them.
~~~~~~~
All that said, I have enjoyed this board for the past few days, but I don't allow name-calling and negativity in my life, unlike some of you who are thriving on it. So I'm going to mosey along out of here. I'll leave with one last comment:
As you probably know, "everyone" in Texas carries a legal gun. I have a small ranch with several pecan trees. Crows eat three things: vermin, roadkill and PECANS. Therefore I shoot crows on sight. CROWfarm, come on down for a visit.
Adios all.
posted on August 30, 2004 09:18:57 AM new
etexbill - I'm sorry to see you leave our board. I've very much enjoyed your 'common sense' statements and will miss them.
"As you probably know, "everyone" in Texas carries a legal gun. I have a small ranch with several pecan trees. Crows eat three things; vermin, roadkill and PECANS. Therefore I shoot crows on sight. CROWfarm, come on down for a visit." Adios all."
Was that another threat to Crowfarm?
...and another neocon bites the dust.
Good.
Ubb ed.
[ edited by Helenjw on Aug 30, 2004 09:44 AM ]
posted on August 30, 2004 09:53:41 AM new
extexbill, "As you probably know, "everyone" in Texas carries a legal gun. I have a small ranch with several pecan trees. Crows eat three things: vermin, roadkill and PECANS. Therefore I shoot crows on sight. CROWfarm, come on down for a visit.
Adios all.""
Just another loser Republican who solves the problem of dissent like Republicans in the past have....kill the dissenter.
He doesn't believe in name calling.....just shooting those who prove him wrong.
Ain't nothin' NEGATIVE about that!
What honor and ethics these Republican slimeys have.
posted on August 30, 2004 09:57:47 AM newTherefore I shoot crows on sight. CROWfarm, come on down for a visit. Adios all.
Best be careful before Homeland security comes to pay you a visit. When I read this kind of dismal post I just keep hearing the tune from dueling banjos.
posted on August 30, 2004 10:16:58 AM new
I think it's a TEXAS thing.....the "men" from down there have a testosterone surge they can't control and decide to kill people.
Doesn't matter if it's a war killing thousands or a poster in a chat room.
posted on August 30, 2004 10:28:09 AM new
I do not think its a "Texas" thing at all. I refuse to believe that everyone from Texas is that ignorant or stupid. Just because I may not always agree with a said outlook does not mean I wish them harm or wish them dead.
To wish such a thing is just plain crazy.
I have dealt with a lot of folks from Texas and overall they are a great bunch.
But like everything else there are always a few brain dead types around that give everyone else a bad name.
posted on August 30, 2004 12:46:02 PM newRight Reamond, the whole USAF & ANG were in on the conspiracy
You're not too bright if you think it takes the whole USAG and ANG to give Bush his "honorable discharge".
Was the whole USAF and ANG in the conspiracy to get Bush into a filled up ANG unit that actually had a waiting list ?
Bush was dishonorable getting into the ANG and went AWOL and deserted.
I wonder how many poor American kids in combat in Vietnam tried to get into a NG unit or tried to just leave the service and go work on a Senator's campaign, or just didn't bother to show up ?
When his country called him for combat, Bush did not hesitate to hide and desert.
