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By: Chris Stevenson

In May of '68 2000 American troops were killed in a war that the US would eventually lose. George W. Bush had just graduated from Yale and would sign a six-year commission with the Texas Air National Gaurd (TANG), and would begin a series of insubordinate behavior that would have earned you or me a court marshall, or a free trip to SE Asia. These are the only factors worth remembering in the rush to demonize interviewer Dan Rather over possibly forged documents aired weeks ago on "60 Minutes."

Though many have protested, It would have been unwise for CBS to overlook Bush's horrid military service record as it would be for CBS to fire Dan Rather, even though CBS and Rather should have fully checked the source of the alleged documents (in this case a Bill Burkett of Abilene TX, a retired TANG Lt. Col.). While the alleged 5/72 note from Bush to Col. Gary Killian stating "how can we get out of coming to drill from now to November," has come under harsh criticism over a lack of accuracy because the transcript was disclosed to Burkett from an unamed 3rd party, remember it was the now deceased Killian who previously gave Bush glowing marks for his overall performance at TANG. Even giving Bush supporters the benefit of the doubt, the show's revelation of Bush not being present during the rating period of 5/72-5/73, and his 8/1/72 suspension for refusing to take a physical don't exactly help the case to disprove the forged transcripts.

Reportedly Bush was with the Alabama Air National Gaurd's (AANG) 9921st Air Reserve Squadron (this outfit was known for it's light duty, and not having planes. As if TANG wasn't enough of a cake-walk. Not exactly "hard work") from 5/72 to 9/72, and AANG's 187th from 9/72 to his honorable discharge on 10/1/73, even though he was known to have been working on an Alabama Senate campaign and refused to show up for AANG duty for two years. I can respect any full military service, but not this.

The Burkett documents should not be the main focus anyway. Let us not forget the revelation of Ben Barnes, the former Texas Speaker of the House breaking a 30-year-silence to disclose that he is the man who pulled strings to get George W. Bush into the TANG though a meeting with the late Texas oil man Gen. James Rhodes. Actually Barnes first official disclosure of this was back in '99 to the British media.

Dan Rather's gutsy journalism isn't new, decades ago he followed Malcolm X's career even though only reportedly meeting him in person once during one of his lectures in Harlem. While not as close to the surviving Shabazz family as Mike Wallace, he did a documentary on Malcolm's life in '92 ("The Real Malcolm X") which focused on both the Nation of Islam's smoking guns, and the FBI's and CIA's role as agent provocateurs in the conspiracy against Malcolm, raising the ire of all three organizations. In June of '02 Rather lamented to the British Broadcasting Company about "the deadly censorship" that had taken over big US newsrooms since 9/11 that prevented journalists like himself from bringing the Bush administration under question regarding Iraq, as his predecessor Walter Cronkite had done with Nixon regarding Vietnam. But this isn't about Vietnam, it's about VietNow, another war for foriegn resources.

Stevenson is a columnist for the Buffalo Criterion. Pointblank can be read at www.voiceoffreedom.com and theBrownWatch, email comments to Stevenson at pointblankdta@yahoo.com