Below, in an update, I linked to Phil Carter's explanation of what records should exist of GW Bush's military service.
Now comes a respectable reporter and blogger with tales that suggest that these exact records may not exist, or might have been “sanitized.” It sounds like a tinfoil hat kind of suggestion…until you read the various evidence and hearsay assembled by David Neiwert at Orcinus. Then you may be seized by considerable doubt.
Hiding evidence is one thing. Shredding it and falsifying it is another. And in our recent history, we tend to get politicians for the cover up more often than the underlying offense.
This does not make me feel good at all. I actually find myself hoping it is not true, because I think it could tear the country apart. And I can certainly understand why reporters may be reluctant to look into this and set off the avalanche. Breaking Presidents gets to be too much of a habit after a while, and next thing you know you are living in an unstable society akin to a bannana republic.
Yet, these questions will not go away. And if any of this stuff is true then the country deserves to know it. In fact, if none of it is true, we'll all be better off for knowing that beyond a doubt.
The Bush administration has shown this week that when scared it bends to pressure. Not only are they setting up a commission to report back after the election on the Iraqi intelligence (and many other) issues, but today they announced that the 9/11 commission will be extended 60 days.
What sort of pressure will it take to get them to release whatever military records exist?
