JUSIPER

 
What can they say?

Posted by Patrick

Plenty, unfortunately. First, right out of the gate, they can call Barnes a "partisan crank", which they essentially already have. He's appeared at a Kerry rally, which is where he made the comments. Second, if the public comes to believe it, they can say that Bush and his family never knew what Barnes was doing for them. There's no documentation, after all.

Still, a video played over and over again by the cable networks says more than a thousand newspaper stories.

UPDATE: The ABC story now provides greater context:

Five years ago, Barnes found himself at the center of questions about Bush's Vietnam-era service when the then-Texas governor emerged as the Republican presidential front-runner.

At that time, Barnes' lawyer issued a statement saying Barnes had been contacted by the now-deceased Sidney Adger, a Houston oilman and friend of Bush's father, who was then a congressman. Adger asked Barnes to recommend Bush for a pilot position with the Air National Guard and he did, that statement said.

I'm hoping that Peter, JUSIPER's expert on the AWOL story, will provide us with some commentary on the significance of this new chapter.

8:57 AM |