It was May 27, 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War. Bush was 12 days away from losing his student deferment from the draft at a time when Americans were dying in combat at the rate of 350 a week.

The unit Bush wanted to join offered him the chance to fulfill his military commitment at a base in Texas. It was seen as an escape route from Vietnam by many men his age, and had a long waiting list. Bush jumped to the top of a list of over 500 applicants.

Bush had scored only 25 percent on a “pilot aptitude” test, the lowest acceptable grade.

Bush was sworn in as an airman the same day he applied. His commander, Col. Walter B. “Buck” Staudt, was apparently so pleased to have a VIP’s son in his unit that he later staged a special ceremony so he could have his picture taken administering the oath, instead of the captain who actually had sworn Bush in.

He was a son of privilege, his father was a man of means, political means, and if he was a regular Johnny trying to get into the Guard … it wasn’t going to happen.

The former Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives and Lieutenant Governor of Texas, stated under oath that he had called the head of the Texas Air National Guard, Brig. Gen. James Rose, to recommend Bush for a pilot spot at the request of Bush family friend Sidney Adger.

Later, Barnes repeated these claims in an interview with CBS News on 8 September 2004. Barnes’s daughter said that her father was lying about President Bush.

Former Texas legislator Jake Johnson has stated that before General Rose died, Rose told him that he had been responsible for Bush’s acceptance into the Guard.

Yoshihiro Tsurumi, one of Bush’s Harvard professors, claims that Bush told him that his “Dad’s friends” got him into the Guard.

The unit in which Bush served was known as a “Champagne unit,” where the scions of the Texas aristocracy could avoid combat duty with relatively few demands on their time. Serving in that unit with Bush were the sons of three prominent men: Democratic Governor John Connally, Democratic Senator and future Vice-Presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen, and Republican Senator John Tower, as well as seven members of the Dallas Cowboys professional football club, and a man named James R. Bath, who would become a longtime friend of Bush’s.

General Colin Powell wrote in his autobiography, “I am angry that so many sons of the powerful and well placed and many professional athletes (who were probably healthier than any of us) managed to wangle slots in Reserve and National Guard units. Of the many tragedies of Vietnam, this raw class discrimination strikes me as the most damaging to the ideal that all Americans are created equal and owe equal allegiance to our country.”

Any wonder why normal Americans see the left as condescending and arrogant? I mean, according to GD, Old Soldier is a mental midget who just doesn’t know any better. Thankfully, we’ve got that moonbat GD to “enlighten” those of us in proper-thinking America…what a guy.

the difference between Socialism (radical or otherwise) and Liberalism.

There’s a difference? I wouldn’t know it by a cursory glance at the left today.

Interesting interpretation of the “facts”. It was actually Bush that volunteered for Vietnam while John Kerry admitted, “I didn’t really want to get involved in the war. When I signed up for the swift boats, they had very little to do with the war. They were engaged in coastal patrolling and that’s what I thought I was going to be doing.”

Apparently, facts are not your forte.

You bet Old Soldier…it would be an honor. However, I don’t think you can say that Political Analysis is your forte if you don’t know the difference between Socialism (radical or otherwise) and Liberalism.

Once upon a time, it was difficult to know the political partisanship of a military officer…

In 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower’s popularity was so high that both the Democrats and the Republicans wanted him for a presidential candidate; he chose the Republicans. Most if any didn’t know what the choice would be.

So it was with most in the military profession…if they had a partisan affiliation, it was low key…many intentionally did not feeling that it would hinder service to their Nation.

Unfortunately for you, you served in a time when the Republican Party, hijacked by the military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned of, actively targeted for partisan conversion the military ranks, especially the Corp of Officers.

It is not your fault that with all your honorable service, you ended up one day…maybe two days, voting for a privileged ninny draft dodger that sat out the Vietnam War in the Texas Air National Guard, rather than meet the call…while others volunteered, and still others were drafted into service.

It’s not your fault that Republican Veterans, like yourself, back-stabbed one who actually suited-up and showed up for the war of his generation…because he was a Democrat, and because he was a man of conviction that saw wrong and spoke up about it.

You were a victim of Republican brainwashing…your peers constantly repeated the Republican mythology, and far from partisan positions being seldom mentioned, it was quite known what political affiliation you should choose, should you choose to comfortably and effectively continue your career.

It’s OK…it wasn’t your fault. I admire your fine service, and congratulate you on your ability to continue to help with your extensive knowledge and experience.

However, political analysis is probably not your forte.

Robert, you must be new. No one hear listens to GD’s moonbat arguments.

RH

..Haditha could undermine U.S. efforts in Iraq more than the prison abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib…

So here, OBM has been condemning and convicting our military in public forums for the “supposed” massacre in Haditha before there has even been a trial. Even before both sides of the story had been told he accused our troops of murder.

So, based upon his own comments, OBM absolutely wants to UNDERMINE the U.S. efforts in Iraq.