Edward Everett Hale
Bush's aides back off on releasing all records
Thu Feb 12 18:51:34 2004
64.140.158.8

Bush's aides back off on releasing all records
The Washington Post

February 12, 2004

WASHINGTON -- The White House on Wednesday backed away from President Bush's weekend pledge to release all records from his Air National Guard service.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0402120346feb12,1,4022913.story


White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the administration would not necessarily make public additional records regarding Bush's time in the Texas Air National Guard, unless the president's aides determine that they are "relevant to this issue."

McClellan refused to commit to releasing medical or disciplinary records that become available to the White House. Bush's aides had released payroll records and other documents on Tuesday that they thought would douse the controversy, but instead they raised new questions about Bush's service.

McClellan criticized Democrats and other critics. "I think what you are seeing is gutter politics. . . . They are simply trolling for trash," he said.

Bush enlisted in the Guard in 1968 and became a fighter pilot before leaving in 1973 to attend Harvard Business School.

Opponents have focused on a period from May 1972 to May 1973, in which it has been unclear how he fulfilled his military service. Bush has said he performed temporary duty in Montgomery, Ala., but there has been no proof that he was there.

Administration officials confirmed Wednesday that the Defense Department is pulling together all of the president's payroll, personnel and medical records from the National Guard. But the White House said it had no immediate plans to open Bush's entire file, which would include his Guard medical records.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0402120345feb12,1,3629696.story
Powell: `Let's not go there'
Cox News Service

February 12, 2004

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Colin Powell was at a budget hearing Wednesday when Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) told him the "president may have been AWOL."

Powell's response: "I won't dignify your comments about the president, because you don't know what you're talking about."

Brown: "I'm sorry. I don't know what you mean, Mr. Secretary."

Powell: "You made reference to the president. . . . "

Brown: " . . . Said he may have been AWOL."

Powell: "Mr. Brown, let's not go there. Let's not just go there. Let's not go there in this hearing. You want to have a political fight on this matter that's very controversial, and I think is being dealt with by the White House, fine. But let's not go there."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I am only one, but I am one.
I cannot do everything, but I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
What I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will do."
---Edward Everett Hale
==============================

THE DAILY MIS-LEAD
< http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2123413&l=18084  >
===============================

BUSH AIDES ACCUSED OF DESTROYING MILITARY DOCUMENTS

Just four days after pledging to open up his entire military file, President
Bush has reneged on the pledge, with "Administration officials declining
yesterday to commit to releasing further records" on top of the inconclusive
ones they have already released. Additionally, new charges have surfaced
that Bush actually deployed his Texas gubernatorial staff to destroy
incriminating records.

As first reported by the Dallas Morning News, retired National Guard Lt.
Col. Bill Burkett said that, in 1997, Joe Allbaugh (chief of staff for
then-Governor Bush) told the National Guard chief to get the Bush file and
make certain "there's not anything there that will embarrass the governor."
Burkett said that a few days later at Camp Mabry in Austin, he "saw Mr.
Bush's file and documents from it discarded in a trash can."

While the White House has claimed the attack is baseless, Burkett's
credibility was bolstered today after the New York Times reported that he
made his complaint known right after the incident. In 1998, he sent a letter
to a member of the Texas State Senate saying Bush and his aides improperly
reviewed the file to "make sure nothing will embarrass the governor during
his re-election campaign." Burkett repeated in interviews this week that
Bush and his aides "ordered Guard officials to remove damaging information
from Mr. Bush's military personnel files."

Yesterday, the commander of the Alabama unit Bush claimed he served in
during his year-long absence said "[Bush] never did come to my squad. He was
never at my unit." Additionally, in a signed report, commanding officers in
Houston said Bush "has not been observed." In order to clear up the
controversy, the president would have to follow through on his Sunday pledge
to release all of his records rather than continue stonewalling.

Visit Misleader.org for more about Bush Administration distortion. -->
< http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2123413&l=18085  >

==========================

Wesley Clark to endorse Democratic front-runner John Kerry
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi%3Ffile%3D/news/archive/2004/02/12/politics1435EST0674.DTL

ohn Kerry lined up the support of campaign dropout Wesley Clark on Thursday, hoping to pre-empt any move by his remaining Democratic presidential rivals to sneak up on him in next week's Wisconsin primary.

Democratic officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Clark would bestow his endorsement on the front-runner on Friday in Madison, Wis. Kerry gained Clark's pledge of support as rivals John Edwards and Howard Dean crisscrossed the state, focusing on jobs and health care.

Clark spokesman Matt Bennett would not confirm the endorsement, only saying, "General Clark is looking forward to going to Wisconsin to be with Senator Kerry."

Kerry has racked up wins in 12 of 14 Democratic contests and hopes to add Wisconsin to his win column. The backing of Clark, who registered in the low double digits in earlier Wisconsin polls, could increase Kerry's advantage in a state with 72 pledged delegates at stake.

Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin said Thursday that Kerry's rivals are "really bucking against a strong national trend" as they try to defeat the front-runner in Wisconsin.

"I think Senator Kerry is in very good position here," said Doyle, who added that it is unlikely he will endorse a candidate before Tuesday's primary. He said Kerry "would be an outstanding nominee."

Doyle, who passed out leaflets for Kerry's failed congressional campaign years ago, said there always is a potential for surprise and "Wisconsin does have a trend of independence."

"On the other hand, what I tend to see happening here is a national event taking place, and not 15 or 16 isolated events. So what polls seem to suggest is happening across the country is happening here as well. Senator Kerry is in very strong position," Doyle said.

The Southern-bred Clark dropped out of the race for the White House on Wednesday after disappointing third-place finishes in Tennessee and Virginia. The retired four-star Army general was unable to command significant support as a first-time presidential candidate, winning just one state -- Oklahoma.

He coupled his withdrawal with words of praise for his remaining rivals -- Kerry, Sen. John Edwards and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.

"They're good men, they're good Democrats and they're good patriots," Clark said. "Our country is well-served" by them, he added.

Clark, a 59-year-old career military man from Arkansas, burst onto the campaign last fall, supplanting his more experienced and better-known rivals at the top of the polls and demonstrating significant fund-raising ability.

The commanding general in NATO's war in Kosovo in 1999, Clark anchored his political appearances with a pledge of "a higher standard of leadership" and spoke to campaign audiences often of service, duty and honor.

Strategically, his first key decision was to bypass the kickoff Iowa caucuses in favor of the New Hampshire primary eight days later. Kerry's surprise caucus triumph trumped Clark's plan, and the former general faded to a distant third.

After Kerry won a surprise victory in the Iowa caucuses, Clark suggested that Kerry's experience as a Navy lieutenant could not match his own as a four-star general. He toned down his remarks, saying he wasn't trying to distinguish between his rank and Kerry's.

Clark wrestled with the decision to end his campaign as election returns rolled in Tuesday night, with advisers urging him to quit and family pushing him to continue. Before deciding to exit, he thanked several hundred cheering backers.

"We may have lost this battle today, but I tell you what, we're not to lose the battle for America's future," he said Tuesday.

In appealing to voters, Clark relied almost entirely on his 34 years in military service. Supporters touted other qualities -- his Southern roots and his status as a Washington outsider -- that they contended made Clark the candidate most likely to defeat Bush. Plus, he provided another forceful voice in condemning the war in Iraq, which he frequently called unnecessary, reckless and wrong.

• KERRY FIGHTS OFF MEDIA PROBE OF RECENT ALLEGED INFIDELITY — DRUDGE REPORT, Thu Feb 12 18:58
• she didn't flee she lived in England — anonymous, Thu Feb 12 19:53