Rather to little old lady "Do you think Bush got into the ANG through
influence?"

Little old lady "Yes, I do. I've always felt that way"

No further questions required, case proved. He could have asked "What
evidence do you have that this is true? What documents did you see?
But Dan the man just couldn't seem to get the words out. And you know
why? Because he's so full of hate and venom he can no longer think
straight. And I would say your previous response puts you in that
category too.


30 year old memories or even 74 year old memories can be very accurate.

Yes, they can. Memories of WHAT? She didn't get a chance to talk
about them.

Talked to my 86 year old father yesterday about his childhood. He
remembers the full names of all his neighbors, dates and intricate and
accurate details of when he was 12 years old.

Sure, but that doesn't make his opinion of Bush any more credible
unless Bush was one of his neighbors at the time.

Sure, let's hear what the little old lady remembers. Someone told
her they had to let Bush in? She overheard conversations about
favors exchanged for letting him in? She saw documents halting
investigations of why Bush didn't show up when he should have? She
noticed that Bush was among a group of people treated specially in
certain ways (name them) in the Guard? She knows that anyone in
this unit had to kiss this officer's ass? These are things to
base a credible opinion on.

I thought that the "little old lady" was a very credible witness.

Witness to WHAT? That Bush did NOT assassinate Abraham Lincoln?
All she stated was her opinion, without any basis, justification,
or reasoning. Was it her opinion that ANYONE who got into the
ANG received special treatment? If so, why? If not, why does she
think that Bush, specifically, got special treatment? What did
she see or hear that justifies this?

I'm not saying her opinion is wrong, but I'd like to hear convincing
evidence, not just her opinion.

As to the ANG and whether Bush got in with special treatment. It was
well known in Michigan where I lived at the time that you had to know
someone to get into the National Guard. I doubt there were many living
Americans at the time that did not fully understand this reality
nationwide.

I doubt that the majority of Americans living at the time even knew
there *WAS* a National Guard and that it wasn't a football team or
a position on a football team.

Our born again Christian president said straight faced to the camera the
other day that he had no idea that he received any favorable treatment.
This has to be a blatant lie or he is from another planet. I was drafted

Maybe. But the little old lady has not given me any reason to
believe that. Maybe she CAN, but she was never given a chance
to give one.

in 1968 and 75% of my basic training unit was black and 90% of those
went to advanced infantry training and then straight to the front lines
in Nam. They sure knew that they were getting special treatment. How
many blacks were in Bush's NG unit?

I don't believe our president is telling the truth. I can't imagine
anyone who was of draft age during that time believing him. You don't
have to be full of venom or hate to believe it.

Ever think of the possibility that Bush actually BELIEVES he didn't
get special treatment? (It's not unheard of for parents to exert
influence on behalf of their kids behind the kids's backs so they
don't know about it.) Doesn't EVERYONE get served caviar by his
personal maid every night? There weren't really many blacks in the
USA (around the time of the Vietnam war), were there? A few thousand,
maybe. They all move around from one riot to another in different
cities :-) Sure don't see them in MY neighborhood. Oh, maids don't
count.

You can probably argue that I used influence to stay out of Vietnam.
I was white, had good enough grades to get into college, had parents
well-off enough to pay for some of it (these three alone are probably
a significant advantage), and I was lucky enough to be born on a
day which drew a high draft number.

Gordon L. Burditt