It worked. After the Rathergate thing, no one cared about the truth of the matter... Bush’s military bona fides.
Look, it is all very well to say that Bush went into the National Guard, and that he didn’t serve in Vietnam. But,Kerry, meanwhile, was racking up three purple hearts in record time in order to get out of Dodge. He wasn’t re-upping to get back, he wanted out and he got out. I’m not boasting of a superior military record myself, but Kerry may have been activated from the National Guard himself, for all we know - he never released his records any more than Obama has released his college records.
- being a pilot - even in the NG - is not just strapping on a plane and taking a ride. It takes about a year of full time duty training to even qualify to fly for the NG.
- it makes all the difference in the world when you are inducted into a military unit. Bush was a year later than Kerry, and it took another year for him to be even qualified to fly in Vietnam. By that time, Vietnam began to wind down. The TANG only had so much money to conduct flight operations, and therefore could only fly so many missions. So instead of having a scarcity of pilots, the TANG suddenly faced a glut of Vietnam Vets wanting flying billets. On top of that, Bush’s credentials were for a plane which began to be phased out of the Guard. At that point, through no fault of his own, Bush’s membership in the Guard ceased to be an asset to the Guard, and became a liability.
As far as Rove typing those “TANG memos” - Dan Rather would have blown that story up long since, if that were the case. Their provenance was all on Dan Rather - he bought them hook, line, and sinker. Or at least, tried to con us to buy them. Not forgetting that the Democrats coordinated an attack on Bush’s military record with Dan Rather’s 60 Minutes con job.
I think most of this was covered in FAMILY OF SECRETS: The Bush Dynasty book from 2009, can’t remember the author’s name at moment, but he was the writer who was on the phone at ground zero with his LA Times editor when Building Seven fell in front of him.
For us FReepers, we have too slowly caught on to the dirty tricks of Rove and his GOPe. He is well known for his “paper trail fake-outs”. Such as typing up windshield flyers and signing them “the McCain campaign” during the Bush V McCain primary fight in 2000. (That flyer became debate fodder within a week, because Rove wanted to make it look like McCain had broken a campaign promise in the fake flyer; and how could McCain deny it plausibly? Bush held the flyer in his hand at the debate.)
We have to remember to what lengths the GOPe machine will go, as if their attacks on Palin, starting within the Bush White House in 2008 when she first was picked by McCain... to the burgeoning onslaught now as Trump is ruining Rove’s GOPe Roadmap to 2016 Victory.
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/08/09/gope-2016-road-map-to-victory-tree-house-challenge/
Latest update on Rove’s chicanery with his Jeb roadmap here:
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/09/13/the-gope-roadmap-status-update-and-the-event-horizon/
I believe FAMILY OF SECRETS details all the stuff about Bush’s pilot days. But read it first before you dismiss the idea that Rove wasn’t doing a triple play fake out on FR conservatives with Rathergate. It becomes quite obvious when you understand the objective.
That was never mentioned enough. At the time President Bush got out, the entire US military was scrambling on what to do with the tons of active duty men coming back to a downsizing force. They only had one priority, trying to find places for career troops. The Guards and Reserves were even full to the max. Admin’s biggest concern was demobilizing those who were getting out and accurate paperwork on those who were staying in. Allot of good men weren’t allowed to stay in at that time simply because there was no room for them.