Bush is a liar

It seems to me that the key point in this whole National Guard story is that Bush has lied, as recently as last March on Meet the Press, about a number of things pertaining to his record in the Texas Air National Guard.

1)Bush has said,again and again, that he received no preferential treatment in getting into the Texas Air National Guard at the height of the Vietnam War. This has now been proven false. Per the New York Times:

President Bush's Vietnam-era service in the National Guard came under renewed scrutiny on Wednesday as newfound documents emerged from his squadron commander's file that suggested favorable treatment.

At the same time, a once powerful Texas Democrat came forward to say that he had "abused my position of power" by helping Mr. Bush and others join the Guard.

2) Bush said on Meet the Press last March, "I did serve in Alabama" from April 1972 to November. Per last night's CBS 60 Minutes report:

[P]reviously unseen documents from Killian's personal file obtained by 60 Minutes include a memorandum from May 1972, where Killian writes that Lt. Bush called him to talk about "how he can get out of coming to drill from now through November."

Lt. Bush tells his commander "he is working on a campaign in Alabama…. and may not have time to take his physical." Killian adds that he thinks Lt. Bush has gone over his head, and is "talking to someone upstairs."

One of the Killian memos is an official order to Mr. Bush to report for a physical. The president never carried out the order.

In an Aug. 1, 1972 memo, Killian wrote, "On this date I ordered that 1st Lt. Bush be suspended from flight status due to failure to perform to USAF/TexANG standards and failure to meet annual physical examination ... as ordered."

3. Bush has said on a number of occasions that he fulfilled his obligations and arranged to complete his service in Massachusetts when he began at Harvard Business School. This has also been proven false. Per the Boston Globe:

Bush fell well short of meeting his military obligation, a Globe reexamination of the records shows: Twice during his Guard service -- first when he joined in May 1968, and again before he transferred out of his unit in mid-1973 to attend Harvard Business School -- Bush signed documents pledging to meet training commitments or face a punitive call-up to active duty.

He didn't meet the commitments, or face the punishment, the records show.

Keep in mind, this is the same man who as President convinced most Americans that the threat from Iraq was so urgent, that the UN inspectors had to be taken out and the war started in order to pre-empt an attack on us or our allies in the region using WMD. This is the same man that as President made all those promises about creating jobs, finding Osama bin Laden and proclaiming 'Mission Accomplished' in Iraq.