- Originally published by Salon.com on August 30, 2004
Even with new video of the Texas pol saying he's "ashamed" of helping
President Bush get his National Guard slot, the story gets little play
from the media.
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By Eric Boehlert
Aug. 30, 2004 | Faced with fresh news in the ongoing debate
about the presidential candidates' military service during the Vietnam
War, the media blinked this weekend, doing its collective best to
ignore an embarrassing new revelation by the prominent Texas politician
who says he landed President Bush a coveted pilot spot in the Texas Air
National Guard during the height of the Vietnam War, and is now
"ashamed" of his actions.
The explosive comments from a central player in the National Guard
drama -- captured on video and available online -- have received just
cursory coverage in the mainstream media since it was brought to light
on Friday. The shoulder-shrugging response stands in stark contrast to
the media orgy that has greeted the hollow, secondhand allegations made
about John Kerry's Vietnam service by the Republican-financed Swift
Boat Veterans for Truth, which has yet to make a single factual
allegation stick about the circumstances surrounding Kerry's five war
medals.
During a May 27 appearance before Kerry supporters in Texas, Ben
Barnes, a former lieutenant governor of Texas, apologized for his role
in getting Bush a safe, stateside spot in the National Guard. "I got a
lot of other people in the National Guard because I thought that was
what people should do when you're in office, and you help a lot of rich
people." Recalling a recent visit to the Vietnam Memorial, Barnes
added, "I looked at the names of the people that died in Vietnam, and I
became more ashamed of myself than I have ever been, because it was the
worst thing I ever did, was help a lot of wealthy supporters and a lot
of people who had family names of importance get into the National
Guard. And I'm very sorry about that, and I'm very ashamed."
At the time of the string pulling, Bush's father was a Houston
congressman. When taking his Air Force pilot test, Bush listed "none"
under his background qualifications, and scored in the 25th percentile,
the lowest possible passing grade for the test's pilot-aptitude portion.
The Associated Press did pick up the story of Barnes' highly
embarrassing comments over the weekend, and the Washington Post ran a
300-word version of the wire story, as did the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, the Kansas City Star, and the Contra Costa Times.
The New York Times, the Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle
ran their own, equally brief staff-produced accounts. (The Times' story
was buried deep inside, next to a big takeout on GOP-connected Swift
Boat Vets leader John O'Neill.) The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune
and Contra Costa Times inserted a sentence or two about Barnes'
comments into larger campaign trail dispatches. The Austin
American-Statesman ran the longest story, at roughly 600 words.
According to a search of the Nexis electronic database, those were the
only major newspapers in the country that even mentioned the Barnes
revelation.
On television, CNN made just a few passing references to Barnes' Guard
comment on its chat shows, and one of those was by conservative pundit
Robert Novak, who labeled it "Outrage of the Week" while managing to
bungle central facts of the incident. Fox News stayed clear of the
embarrassing development, as did ABC, CBS and NBC.
Given the press' past behavior, both in embracing the Swift boat
allegations and in its lead-footed approach to the ongoing National
Guard story, it's unlikely reporters will seize the initiative and
further investigate the Barnes story. It's also worth noting that the
Democrats haven't been aggressive in pushing the Barnes story to the
media, either. (Imagine how GOP attack dogs would hype a revelation
from a politician who pulled strings to get Kerry his medals.) On the
off chance the media decides to pursue the Barnes story on its own,
reporters might want to ask White House spokesman Scott McClellan about
his effort to dismiss Barnes' Guard comment. "It is not surprising
coming from a longtime partisan Democrat. The allegation was
discredited by the commanding officer. This was fully covered and
addressed five years ago. It is nothing new," said McClellan.
There are two problems with that claim. First, rather than acting as a
partisan Democrat, Barnes for years has turned down press inquiries and
refused to talk publicly about his role in getting Bush into the Guard.
It was only under threat of legal action back in 1999, and only after
efforts to assert "executive privilege" failed, that Barnes came
forward, and even then he did it through a written statement from his
lawyer. (The lawsuit dealt with whether a company Barnes lobbied for
was able to keep a lucrative Texas state contract in exchange for
Barnes' remaining silent about helping Bush get into the Guard.) If
Barnes was looking to inflict partisan damage he could have done so
throughout the 2000 campaign. Instead, he remained silent.
Additionally, what McClellan and the White House hope the press forgets
is that in 1998 Barnes met privately with Bush's then-campaign manager,
Don Evans, in order to give him a heads-up about the unfolding Guard
story. Bush himself sent Barnes a note thanking him "for his candor" on
the matter.
Second, when Barnes finally came forward in '99 and confirmed that a
wealthy, and now deceased, Houston businessman with close ties to the
Bush family had called Barnes in '68 asking him to find a slot for
Bush, neither Bush nor his campaign denied the story. They simply
stressed that nobody from Bush's family had placed a call directly to
Barnes asking for the inside help.
The press may get one more shot at covering the National Guard angle.
In a brief interview with the AP, Barnes suggested he might have more
to say on the issue later in the week. If the press ignores Barnes a
second time it will be obvious journalists just are not interested in
covering the lingering presidential Vietnam debate fairly.