The AP has moved a story in the last two hours on -- big surprise -- still MORE Bush national guard documents unearthed by AP's tenacious FOIA requests. In this case, AP won a judge's permission to send two law school profs to inspect records to determine whether White House and Pentagon assurances that all documents had been turned over were, in fact, all the documents to be had. They weren't.
But as for the substance of AP's report, there is this, which I think is a major story:
...Gaps in the records leave unanswered questions about the final two years of his military service in 1972 and 1973. Chief among them: Why did Bush's commanders apparently tolerate his lapses in training and approve his honorable discharge?
Bush's commanders could have punished him -- or ordered him to two years of active duty -- for missing drills for six months in 1972 and skipping a required pilot's medical exam. Instead, they allowed him to make up some of his missed training and granted him an honorable discharge.
'Obviously, the commander saw the lieutenant's interest in the guard was waning,' said retired Maj. Gen. Paul A. Weaver Jr., a former head of the Air National Guard. 'Had he been good before? Yeah. Does that mean he should nail him to the wall? No. The culture at the time was not to enforce that.'
But the culture apparently did not apply to everyone. Although no records mention any punishment against Bush other than being grounded, the Texas unit's files show another airman was ordered to involuntary active duty in March 1972 as punishment.
There are also unresolved questions about what, if any, work Bush did while temporarily assigned in 1972 to an Alabama unit and why the future president suddenly switched back to training jets shortly before giving up as a pilot.
The last paragraph is certainly grist to chew on, since AP goes on to explain that the training jets Bush abruptly went back to flying were two-seat planes, as compared to the solo jets he had been previously flying extensively. Obviously, a suspicion among his superiors that our boy Bush had a substance abuse problem fits well with sending him back to two-seat planes, but that's mere speculation.
Of most significance is the simple statement that another of Bush's contemporaries -- same time, same unit, apparently similar offense -- was sent off to active duty for TWO YEARS, while our pampered President-to-be benefited from a "culture" to ignore the failures of rich kids who don't live up to their commitments.
Questions: who was Bush's fellow ANG offender? What was his offense? What became of him -- like, did he survie a trip to that pesky jungle over in Vietnam while W caroused in Alabama? And the obvious, big question: why did our President receive different treatment -- as compared to repeated suggestions we've read before that offenses such as Bush's were routinely ignored because the war was "winding down" anyway by the time W. "lost interest" in serving his country.
And the Biggest Question: Will the media shrug off the pounding CBS took and give this story the attention it deserves? One guy shirks duty, goes to active duty (presumably in Vietnam). The other, son of rich Congressman turned Patriot-In-Chief, suffers no consequence. Please tell them this is news!