Capital Games by David Corn

The Nation [Reprinted by permission from David Corn's "Capital Games" Rapid Response Weblog]

(Note: We will be interviewing David Corn from The Republican Convention on Monday, August 30th, 2004 at 5:00PM EST GS)

A group of veterans motivated by 30-years of resentment accuse John Kerry of exaggerating his Vietnam wartime service, and their attack makes the front pages and cable gabfests. But when a news report showed that George W. Bush had overstated his military experience, Bush escaped without a scratch. . .

Putting aside the controversy over Bush's Air National Guard service (or dereliction of duty), there was another instance when Bush clearly did not speak truthfully about his military record. In 1978, Bush, while running for Congress in West Texas, produced campaign literature that claimed he had served in the US Air Force. According to a 1999 Associated Press report, Bush's congressional campaign ran a pullout ad in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that declared he had served "in the US Air Force and the Texas Air National Guard where he piloted the F-102 aircraft."

Here's a guide to some of our favorite shape-shifters scheduled to speak at the Republican Convention this week. Watching them masquerade as decent human beings will be the best show around!

by IAN WILLIAMS

The Nation [Reprinted by permission from the August 5th, 2004 issue]

(Note: We will be interviewing Ian Williams on Monday, August 23rd, 2004 at 5:00PM EST about his new book, "Deserter: Bush's War on Military Families, Veterans, and His Past" GS)

Even allowing for the usual military-bureaucratic incompetence, records relating to George W. Bush's National Guard Service have a suspiciously low survival rate, so there has been understandable incredulity about the recent revelation that a crucial quarter's pay records from 1972 did not survive the Pentagon's alleged attempt to transfer the microfilm to a more durable medium. ...   more »

August 5th, 2004 | Shane Corey | Reprinted by Permission of WashingtonDispatch.com

(Shane Corey will be with us on during our Friday show GS)

A new anti-Kerry group, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, came out swinging this week with a scathing advertisement against John Kerry that questions his service including a purple heart that he was awarded while in Vietnam.

The group which was hastily assembled is incredibly well organized . . . comparable to an RNC "war room" effort. The group was formed online in April of this year and yet they have amassed over $150,000 and have in ...   more »