It’s a Bombshell, But Don’t Expect a Barnestorm Over It

Although the press never picked up on it, President Bush himself intimated (in his Meet the Press interview earlier this summer) that he used family strings to avoid the Vietnam draft.

Now, former Texas lieutenant governor, Ben Barnes, has provided the smoking gun. Apparently, after touring the Vietnam Memorial recently, the former official felt such pangs of conscience, he had to go public. In remarks videotaped in May, Barnes revealed that he was the one who placed Bush in an elite National Guard unit at the request of a Bush family friend.

This story is not altogether new. As this Washington Post report explains, Barnes issued a written statement in 1999 indicating that he had been approached to help Bush avoid the draft. His recent public statement is significant, however, because it proves conclusively that the assistance was provided. The disclosure is particularly damning, as Bush Sr. and Jr. have firmly maintained no influence was used to get W. into the guard.

Here is the clip in Quicktime, Windows Media

(source: greaterdemocracy.org by way of austin4kerry.com)