Bush and the Guard: Starting to get the story right

Earlier this year, there was a brief mainstream media "feeding frenzy" over Bush's Guard record.  Some additional facts were highlighted in the story.

But the feeding frenzy also illustrated some of the worst weaknesses of today's press corps:  a tendency to get sidetracked by trivia (or, in this case, by a less important aspect of the story); lack of focus and sustained investigative reporting; and, a scramble to find a conventional-wisdom script for the story, which the Big Pundits could then repeat to create that pleasing sense of hearing a discussion without the speakers or the listeners having to make the painful effort of actually thinking.

The Bush National Guard story has several elements: how he got in; missing his flight physical in 1972 and thus was removed from flight status; whether he actually showed up for Guard service in Alabama in 1972; and, how he got out early.

The earlier feeding frenzy tended to focus on the aspect of the Alabama service, or lack thereof.  But as David Neiwert noted at the time, the key part of the story is why did he miss the flight physical?  He had been trained as a pilot, at an estimated cost to the taxpayers of $1 million.  By missing that physical, he lost his usefulness to the Guard as a pilot, and that public investment in his training was flushed down the drain.

In addition, normally in those circumstances if a pilot does that, there is some kind of disciplinary action taken.  What was done in Bush's case and why (or why not)?

The other pieces of the story are part of the picture.  The latest round of stories has shed new light, for instance, on Bush's having gotten out early, as well as how he got into the Guard.

But it also looks as if some of our press corps has begun to focus on the core part of the story!  Josh Marshall has provided a transcript for CBS' interview with Bush spokesperson Dan Bartlett in this 09/09/04 post.  The CBS interviewer pressed Bartlett on the loss of flight status:

Q: Okay. So you seem to paint that as an option, that he could have taken the flight exam if he wanted to continue to fly, but didn't really have to take it. But this first document, dated 4th of May 1972, specifically says, "You are ordered to report for a physical examination." So he either ignored, or didn't fulfill a direct order, not an option.

DAN BARTLETTT: Well, in fact, the memorandum shows -- the other memorandum in your possession shows that he spoke to the commander who made that order to talk about his personal situation in the fact that he was going to Alabama. So at every step of the way, President Bush was meeting his requirements, granted permission to meet his requirements. And that's why President Bush received an honorable discharge.

Q: You've also said that the President was removed from flying status because he failed to meet the physical requirements, he didn't take the physical. Yet the second memo from Lt. Colonel Killian, dated the 1st of August 1972, says, "He was suspended from flight status due to failure to perform to Air Force Air National Guard standards and failure to meet an annual physical exam." So there's two reasons in there that he was removed from flying status, not the single reason that the White House has talked about, that he didn't meet the physical requirements. It says here he didn't meet performance requirements.

DAN BARTLETTT: No, the records have been clear for years that President Bush did not take a physical because he did not need to take a physical because, obviously, the choice was that he was going to be performing in a different capacity. That might be official language, but the bottom line is President Bush did not take that physical, so that does not suggest, nor is there any evidence that President Bush did. And the reason why is as I stated, that it was clear, as it says in your own documents, that President Bush talked to the commanders about the fact that he'd be transferring to a unit that no longer, or did not fly the plane that he was trained -- he was trained and a fighter pilot on F-102, which he flew for four years. And in this case, he was going to a unit in Alabama that didn't fly that plane.

There's more in the interview on the flight-status question.  Let's hope our press corps manages to carry the ball for a while longer on this, now that they are getting to the meat of the story.

After the latest reporting from CBS, Kevin Drum asks some questions that also focus on the heart of the story: National Guard Smoking Gun? 09/08/04

So why did Bush refuse to take a physical that year? And why did he blow off drills for at least the next five months and possibly for a lot longer than that?

And finally, why did he get an honorable discharge anyway?