... that this is going to piss a lot of people off. But this is a book blog and Andrew Klavan is an author - of rather good books, in my view: What Bush and Batman Have in Common. (Hat tip, Paul Davis.)
I actually wondered for a moment if I wanted the bother that could result from linking to this, but was immediately disgusted by my own temerity. Not to post a link because it may annoy some people - even a lot of people? How dare I even consider that.
Update: And no, I don't regret having posted the link. Vent away, folks.
I actually wondered for a moment if I wanted the bother that could result from linking to this, but was immediately disgusted by my own temerity. Not to post a link because it may annoy some people - even a lot of people? How dare I even consider that.
Update: And no, I don't regret having posted the link. Vent away, folks.
What a load of crap! "When heroes arise who take those difficult duties on themselves..."
ReplyDeleteAs they did when they themselves were eligible to serve in Vietnam, Bush and Cheney onpassed those difficult duties to others once again using deceitful, cowardly rationales for doing so.
Amen to that, John Brumfeld. As an Army veteran myself (1966-69), I still cannot totally shed my resentment of those who declined the obligation their country laid on them, either by dodging the draft through shabby means, like Cheney and Clinton, or ducking into the (then) relative safety of the National Guard or Reserves. Soldiers had "difficult duties," Cheney had "other priorities."
ReplyDeleteCalm down, John. Regarding deceitful rationales, it is worth looking at this from FactCheck and this from the Strategy Page. To be wrong is not to lie. And, as the brother of a pilot who spent time in the National Guard (after service in the Army), I think it is worth considering what Bush actually did in the TANG. Also, by your logic, would it not follow that no man who had not served in the military could possibly, as President, lead the country into war?
ReplyDeleteReasonable people can - and do - disagree as to whether the Iraq War was a good or bad idea. I don't think any definitive answer to the question can be arrived at, certainly not at this point, but if Iraq does manage to acquire - uniquely among Arab states - a viable representative government, that would seem a worthwhile outcome. Geopolitics, of course, is an even greater source of ambiguity than poetry.
There is no "rationale" at issue here at all. I made no comment on one's ability to lead in wartime or the training required for it. I simply pointed out that it is hypocrisy to hold up as "heroes who take on difficult duties" men who, when asked to actually, personally take on such difficult duties in the face of actual, personal danger, refused to do so. By their actions ye shall know them. Cheney, who has presumed to lecture us on what our patriotic obligations are, plainly and simply and shabbily dodged the draft. Bush, through high-placed connections, dodged it by ducking into the Guard, and then neglected to show up at various times. You can go on all you want about how perilous Guard service is -- and TODAY it most definitely is -- but in the late 1960s it was a haven from the draft and Vietnam. And every one of us in the fulltime military then knew it for what it was and either resented or envied those who had managed to get in, and sometimes we did both.
ReplyDeleteActually, Roger, I was addressing John, and you were posting while I was doing that. You still confuse the Texas National Guard - for which there was a waiting list - and the Texas Air National Guard, for which there was not, and which in fact, at the time Bush joined, had units in combat in Vietnam. Flying the F-102 is dangerous in and of itself. Bush volunteered for combat, but had not acquired the necessary 300 hours air time. By the time he did TANG units were no longer being sent to Vietnam. He ultimately reached nearly 600 hours flying time. That is not to be scorned, and if you think it is, take it up with a flyboy, not me. But I grew up hanging out with pilots and I think I know their view on this. I hold no brief for Cheney.
ReplyDelete"making a fortune depicting the values and necessities that the Bush administration cannot seem to articulate for beans."
ReplyDeleteThe reason that W and his admin cannot seem to articulate those values is that they don't hold those values. They're into power, period.
W is the worst President this country has EVER had. Incompetent at war, at disaster relief, at preserving and protecting the constitution, at everything .. except lining the pockets of profiteers and charlatans out to fleece as many people as they can.
Mostly tho' he and his admin are incompetent at telling the truth. Let us lie ourselves into an Iraqi war and then whip up a fear that 'losing' such a war will be catastrophic. We must WIN our lie, yes! Are those the words of a real hero?
Comparing W to any kind of hero is to distort reality so far beyond recognition only 10 year-olds living on Krypton could buy it.
-blue
Frank, We're not talking about people who "have not served in the military", we're talking about people who had the chance to serve in a war and act on the principles they so cynically claim to esteem and then did not do so. You make it sound like the poor guys just never had the chance to defend their country when it was their turn.
ReplyDelete“You still confuse the Texas National Guard - for which there was a waiting list - and the Texas Air National Guard, for which there was not.”
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Frank, I confuse nothing, and, with respect, these attempts to defend Warrior Bush are a crock. If Bush was this junior Audie Murphy, I marvel that he did not simply join the Air Force proper, rather than the Guard, if the draft was on his tail. There were plenty of slots when I inquired in 1966 (I probably was not qualified, but in any case I joined the Army instead), but perhaps when Bush joined the Guard in 1968 at the height of the Vietnam War all the regular AF slots were filled? I think not. Anyway, he did not join the AF. He said in a 1994 interview that he joined the Guard because "I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes."
The fact is that Johnson and Nixon decided against calling up National Guard units for service in Vietnam. Hence, National Guard service was widely portrayed as a way to avoid combat. The waiting list for the Guard at that time was extremely long, and there have been charges that young men from influential families were improperly moved to the top of the list. There are conflicting stories about Bush receiving favorable treatment. Ben Barnes, 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 a Bush family friend. Later, Barnes repeated these claims in an interview with CBS News.
One thing is true, Bush received only the minimum passing score (25) on the pilot entrance aptitude test.
The unit in which Bush served was known as a "Champagne unit," where the sons of influential Texans could avoid combat duty with and pretty much go on with their lives, unlike the majority of American families (some things never change). Serving in that unit with Bush were the sons of three prominent men: Democratic Gov. John Connally, Democratic Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, and Republican Sen. John Tower.
Bush had a six-year obligation, as all of us did, no matter how much time we spent on active duty. In Bush’s case it required him to maintain his immediate readiness as an individual and a member of a unit to be called to active duty in the event of a national emergency. Bush's military records indicate that from May 1968 until May 1972 he fulfilled that obligation. But from that point on, he failed to meet the attendance requirements established by law, DOD regulations, and Air Force policies for "obligated" members of the Air National Guard, and the Air Force requirement for an annual physical examination for pilots.
The issue of President Bush and Dick Cheney not serving in Vietnam is off the point that Klaven was making.
ReplyDeleteBut to address it, one ought to consider that FDR did not serve in the military, and Clinton not serve. Yet, both of them did not hesitate to commit troops to combat as president.
I'm a Navy veteran of the Vietnam War and I recently retired from the Defense Department after 37 years of combined Navy-civilian service. I volunteered to serve in the Navy and I volunteered to serve in Vietnam, and my many years of service convinces me that not everyone is truly suited to serve in the military.
As a conservative, I was, and am, against the draft, which ole "Tricky Dick" Nixon ended to kill the anti-war movement (it worked). Barry Goldwater said a free nation did not need to force free men to fight for freedom, and he was right, as today we are much better off with an all-volunteer military.
Today's troops are committed to combat as a cohesive unit, and they support each other and they are committed to each other, much as they were during WWII. This is preferable to Vietnam, where we saw "newbies" rotate in and "short-timers" rotate out during the course of any year during our time in Vietnam.
Now that is not to say there weren't great acts of heroism during Vietnam, and for the record, we won every battle over company strenth in our 12 years of holding the line against one of the largest militaries in the world, heavily supported by the Soviet Union and Communist China. (We didn't just fight Viet Cong in pajamas, and John McCain's aircraft was not shot down with a slingshot - it was a modern surface to air missile donated by the Soviets).
Ttoday we see that unit loyalty is one of the reasons so many men and women commit to a second, and for some, a third tour of duty in combat. They are there for each other and many of them support President Bush.
(Have you seen HBO's "Generation Kill?" I love it when the Marine "grunts" mocked and insulted the embedded liberal Rolling Stone reporter).
As to comparing Bush to Batman, Klavan made the point that it often takes a strong, committed person to fight an evil with everything you have, while being criticized by the very people you are protecting.
I recently read "1776" by David McCullough, and I had a similar thought while reading about General Washington's darkest hours.
He was criticized by his own staff, his troops, the politicians and much of the public, yet he persevered, won our independence and went on to be one of, if not the, greatest of presidents.
Now I don't think Bush is General Washington - or Batman - but I believe his actions in the war on terrorism, including Iraq, will be judged kindly by later generations.
I believe he will be given credit for protecting us from another terrorist attack on U.S. soil after 9/11, and he will be given credit for successfully confronting the Islamic fanatics around the world during the early 21st century.
Paul Davis
daviswrite@aol.com
of
Here's what they say at aerospaceweb.org:
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, we have established that the F-102 was serving in combat in Vietnam at the time Bush enlisted to become an F-102 pilot. In fact, pilots from the 147th FIG of the Texas ANG were routinely rotated to Vietnam for combat duty under a program called "Palace Alert" from 1968 to 1970. Palace Alert was an Air Force program that sent qualified F-102 pilots from the ANG to bases in Europe or southeast Asia for periods of three to six months for frontline duty. Fred Bradley, a friend of Bush's who was also serving in the Texas ANG, reported that he and Bush inquired about participating in the Palace Alert program. However, the two were told by a superior, MAJ Maurice Udell, that they were not yet qualified since they were still in training and did not have the 500 hours of flight experience required. Furthermore, ANG veteran COL William Campenni, who was a fellow pilot in the 111th FIS at the time, told the Washington Times that Palace Alert was winding down and not accepting new applicants.
As he was completing training and being certified as a qualified F-102 pilot, Bush's squadron was a likely candidate to be rotated to Vietnam. However, the F-102 was built for a type of air combat that wasn't seen during that conflict, and the plane was withdrawn from southeast Asia in December 1969. The F-102 was instead returned to its primary role of providing air defense for the United States. In addition, the mission of Ellington AFB, where Bush was stationed, was also changing from air defense alert to training all F-102 pilots in the US for Air National Guard duty. Lt. Bush remained in the ANG as a certified F-102 pilot who participated in frequent drills and alerts through April of 1972. ... By this time, the 147th Fighter Wing was also beginning to transition from the F-102 to the F-101F, an updated version of the F-101B used primarily for air defense patrols. Furthermore, the war in Vietnam was nearing its end and the US was withdrawing its forces from the theater. Air Force personnel returning to the US created a glut of active-duty pilots, and there were not enough aircraft available to accommodate all of the qualified USAF and ANG pilots. Since USAF personnel had priority for the billets available, many of the Air National Guard pilots whose enlistments were nearly complete requested early release. The ANG was eager to fulfill these requests because there was not enough time to retrain F-102 pilots to operate new aircraft before their enlistments were up anyway. Bush was one of those forced out by the transition, and he was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant in October 1973, eight months before his six-year enlistment was complete. Bush had approximately 600 flight hours by the time he completed his military service.
They conclude:
While Bush did not see combat in Vietnam, it is also obvious he was not seeking a way to avoid the risk of being sent to Vietnam. At the time he was training to be an F102 pilot, ANG units and that aircraft type were based in Vietnam.
Hi All,
ReplyDeleteI'm 53-years-old, so was 17, smart and healthy, prime grade A beef, and had a random number of 13 when the Vietnam Conflict was called off. I am keying into this idea of young men looking at their options as the battles and battle lines in Vietnam got nastier. Each one of us was an "expert" in what we could do. We talked about it, fretted over it, drank around it, and noted what the older kids did (cut off ears, got Thai girls and weed, went AWOL), and then listened to what they said and what others said they said.
One of the rules was that if you were in college, or in graduate school, you would not be conscripted. Bush had just completed his undergraduate years at Yale in 1968, and so could have opted for graduate school somewhere. And if he was hell bent on staying clear of Vietnam: anywhere. And "anywhere" meant the college would be very like to support him in his decision to dodge.
Instead, he chose the Texas Air National Guard during the time that over 10,000 of them were called into active service in Vietnam. No matter how you cut it, this is no way to dodge Vietnam. It sounds like something one of my older friends might advise, but it's no dodge. In fact, there is an air of stepping up to it.
Yours,
Rus