XPost: alt.fan.julia-roberts, alt.politics.bush, alt.politics.democrats   
   XPost: alt.politics.greens, alt.politics.liberalism, alt.radio.talk   
   XPost: alt.rush-limbaugh, soc.culture.filipino   
   From: gwb04!@America1.com   
      
     Carl Limbacher   
     Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2004   
   WASHINGTON – President Bush's spokesman said Wednesday that Democrats who   
   continue to demand more proof that the president reported for National Guard   
   duty in Alabama are "trolling for trash."   
   Bush said in a television interview over the weekend that he would be   
   willing to open up his entire military file, and would "absolutely" be   
   willing to authorize the release of anything that would settle the   
   controversy over his service in the Texas Air National Guard during the   
   Vietnam War.   
      
   White House press secretary Scott McClellan appeared to step back from that   
   pledge in telling reporters: "If there is new information that comes to our   
   attention, we will let you know, if it's relevant to this issue."   
      
   "I think what you're seeing is gutter politics," McClellan said. "The   
   American people deserve better. There are some who are not interested in the   
   facts. They are simply trolling for trash" for political gain.   
      
   On Tuesday, the White House provided documents that it said show Bush   
   completed his National Guard service during the Vietnam War. But Democrats   
   say they still want evidence that he reported for duty as ordered in   
   Alabama.   
      
   "The president recalls serving both when he was in Texas and when he was in   
   Alabama," McClellan said Tuesday, holding up a 13-page packet of military   
   records. "We have provided you these documents that show clearly that the   
   president of the United States fulfilled his duties, and that is the reason   
   that he was honorably discharged from the National Guard."   
      
   More Gripes From Non-veteran McAuliffe   
      
   The records, some being released for the first time, didn't satisfy   
   Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe. He argued that the   
   payroll and summary service records posed more questions than they answered.   
      
   "The fact remains that there is still no evidence that George W. Bush showed   
   up for duty as ordered while in Alabama," McAuliffe said.   
      
   McAuliffe helped resurrect long-running questions about Bush's National   
   Guard record earlier this month when he charged that the president had been   
   "AWOL," or absent without leave during his time in Alabama. Democrats have   
   been raising questions again about Bush's service, especially since Vietnam   
   War veteran John Kerry has taken the lead to become Bush's opponent in the   
   upcoming presidential election.   
      
   Kerry Dummies Up   
      
   Kerry stayed silent on the subject Tuesday.   
      
   "I just don't have any comment on it," he told reporters between campaign   
   stops in Tennessee and Virginia. "It's not an issue that I chose to create.   
   It's not my record that's at issue, and I don't have any questions about   
   it."   
      
   Bush joined the Texas Air National Guard in 1968, and spent most of his   
   service time based near Houston. From May to November 1972, however, Bush   
   received permission to perform his duties in Alabama while he worked as   
   political director on the Senate campaign of Winton "Red" Blount," a Bush   
   family friend.   
      
   In a memo included in the packet of payroll and other records, retired Lt.   
   Col. Albert Lloyd Jr., former personnel director of the Texas Air National   
   Guard, stood behind Bush's service record. He wrote that the records show   
   Bush had "satisfactory years" for the period of 1972-73 and 1973-74 "which   
   proves that he completed his military obligation in a satisfactory manner."   
      
   But although McClellan insists that Bush "recalls serving in Alabama," the   
   records do not show that Bush was paid for any service between May and   
   September 1972. Records show he requested and received permission for the   
   temporary Alabama duty in May and that a three-month transfer to a unit in   
   Montgomery was formally approved on Sept. 6. Bush was paid for two days in   
   October 1972 and four days in November 1972, but the pay records do not say   
   where he served on those days, or what he did.   
      
   "This paperwork doesn't say where he was or what type of training he   
   conducted," said Lt. Col. Scott Gorske, a military fellow at Center for   
   Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "What it does say is the   
   days that he did train and that he got paid."   
      
   He said National Guard members were not necessarily required to attend a   
   drill each month, but rather to train a certain amount of time over a   
   12-month period. That is why Bush could have met his yearly service   
   requirements even if there were some months in which he did not attend a   
   drill, Gorske said.   
      
   Retired Brig. Gen. William Turnipseed, who commanded the 187th Tactical   
   Recon Group in Montgomery, told The Associated Press in May 2000 that he did   
   not recall Bush reporting for duty there. "To my knowledge, he never showed   
   up," Turnipseed said then.   
      
   Turnipseed Unsure of His Own Whereabouts   
      
   On Tuesday, he told the AP that he was not sure whether he was even on the   
   base during the time Bush was assigned there. Moreover, he said: "In 1972, I   
   didn't even know he was supposed to come. I didn't know that until 2000. I'm   
   not saying that he wasn't there. If he said he was there, I believe it. I   
   don't remember seeing him."   
      
   McClellan accused the Democrats of resurrecting a controversy that the Bush   
   campaign tamped down in 2000. Calling allegations by McAuliffe and others as   
   "baseless" and "outrageous," McClellan said they wanted to twist the facts   
   to seek a partisan, political, election-year advantage.   
      
      
   --   
   Left-wing liberals are EVERYTHING they accuse the right of being.   
   They are mean, vicious, hateful, greedy, cold-hearted, closed-minded,   
   selfish, intolerant, bigoted and racist.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)