(Hat tip to KLP) - This is edited for relevant content
relating to the baseless Kerry/DNC "Bush AWOL" attacks &
the Swift Boat issues - see link at bottom for complete
text.....
<font size=4>Press Gaggle with Scott Mcclellan Aboard Air Force One
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En Route Las Vegas, Nevada
Today, Sept 14, 2004
12:00 P.M. MDT
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.....Q <font color=blue>Scott, does anyone in the administration or the campaign that you know of share the First Lady's view that the documents about the President's record are fake?
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>I can speak to our view, the White House view. I mean, obviously, she was -- Mrs. Bush was expressing her view, and there have been, as you're aware, a number of continuing questions raised about those documents. And media organizations are continuing to investigate it further. And we look forward to seeing what the results of those investigations are. And those are serious issues --
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Q <font color=blue>Have you looked --
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>No, we're not doing our own investigation to look into the authenticity. There are serious questions that have been raised and they should be looked into.
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Q <font color=blue>By?
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>Well, media organizations are already doing -- I'd say most media organizations are already -- or many media organizations are already investigating the questions that have been raised about these documents' authenticity.
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Q <font color=blue>But you're only calling for an investigation -- when you say you want it looked into, you only want it looked into by the media. You're not suggesting some type of --
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>Yes, I think I said the same thing the last few days, that it ought to be looked into.
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Q <font color=blue>Any response to Operation Fortunate Son that the DNC is launching today?
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>Any -- well, I think I responded to it last week. That was -- Fortunate Son was the name of a book written in the 2000 campaign by an ex-convict who was widely discredited. And I think it just shows the Democrats and the Kerry campaign are determined to throw the kitchen sink at us because they can't win when the discussion is focused on the issues and the future. The President believes that this race ought to be about the future, and they are resorting to recycled attacks that have come up every time the President runs for election......
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.....Q <font color=blue>Scott, in the past, the President and you, when asked about -- questions about his National Guard service, have said that people should not be so quick to denigrate service in the National Guard. Does the President see a distinction between what he was called on to do in the '70s and what people who serve in the Guard today have to do?
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>Well, there are certainly many significant challenges that the men and women in our Guard are helping to address today. Our men and -- and the President will talk about this in his remarks. He'll talk about how our men and women in the Guard, in addition to the reserves and active forces out there, are serving and sacrificing for an important cause. We are engaged in a global war on terrorism, and the men and women in the Guard are playing an important role in the war.
And I don't think anyone is making the same comparison or saying -- drawing the same distinction. Right now you have a number of men and women in our Guard who are serving abroad in this global war on terrorism.
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Q <font color=blue>Scott, if I read it right, all the President says in his speech about his service is that he's proud of it. He doesn't answer a lot of the questions that have been raised by the same reporters that you're looking to look into the documents, such as, why did he not take the physical, why did he -- was there any reasons that he left the Guard other than his own volition. Are you going to answer those questions?
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>Why he has not addressed it, is that what you're saying?
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Q <font color=blue>Well, yes, any reason --
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>I think, as you see in the article today -- there's an article today in USA Today -- most of those in the National Guard, like most Americans, want the candidates to focus on the future. And the President has been, and will continue to focus on the future. The President is talking about how we confront today's war and how we lead in the global war on terrorism. And I think that's what most Americans, including those in the Guard that he's talking to today, want to hear from the candidates -- not what happened 35 years ago.
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Q <font color=blue>I'm asking you what happened 35 years ago. Is there any reason why you can't tell me --
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>I think it's all been -- I think it all has been addressed, Ron. The President met his obligations and was honorably discharged from the Guard. And it's supported by the facts. It's -- this is more of the same old, recycled attacks by the Kerry campaign and Democrats. And that's -- they can't defend his out-of-the-mainstream record, they can't defend his lack of a vision for the country going forward.
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Q <font color=blue>Did he receive preferential treatment in the National Guard?
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>That's already been addressed, and that's more of the same, recycled attacks from the Democrats that they keep asking. And he's already addressed that matter, every single campaign he's been in. It's been asked and answered numerous times.
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Q <font color=blue>So the answer to my question is, he's not going to answer those specific questions, because the public is more concerned about the future than the past.
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>What specific questions? They've been answered, Ron.
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Q <font color=blue>Why did the President not take a physical?
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>It's been answered in reports, as has been answered before. He was going to Alabama to perform equivalent duty in a non-flying status. And he talked to his commanders every step of the way, and received permission to do so.
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Q <font color=blue>Why did he not take the physical?
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>Because he was going to Alabama and he was not going to be in a flying -- he was serving in a non-flying status in Alabama.
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Q <font color=blue>Was he excused --
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>Asked and answered every campaign.
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Q <font color=blue>Did he leave the Guard on his own volition, or was there other reasons for him to leave?
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>He met his obligations, and he was honorably discharged. So I think you should look at the facts, and the facts are clear, versus old, recycled attacks from the Democrats. This race -- there are too many critical issues facing this nation for us to continue to engage in these old, recycled attacks. That's what the Democrats want, because they can't win on the issues, they can't win on a discussion of the future.....
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.....Q <font color=blue>When is the next time we get to ask President Bush?
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>Do you all want to do an "Ask President Bush"?
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Q <font color=blue>Well, Senator Kerry said he's going to take questions from reporters very soon. Do we have a "very soon"?
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>The President takes questions on a regular basis.
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Q <font color=blue>It's been a while though, since we had an extended opportunity.
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Q <font color=blue>It was August 23rd, or something like that.
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>He spoke at the convention, and he did interviews before that. And he had some questions prior to that period. But I hear you, and I'll take it under advisement.
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Q <font color=blue>All right, thank you very much.
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MR. McCLELLAN: <font color=purple>Thanks. <font size=3>
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END 12:15 P.M. MDT
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