BARNES CAUGHT IN LIE ABOUT ABOUT BUSH NATIONAL GUARD FAVOR.
August 29, 2004, 01:18 PM
Barnes caught in a lie about Bush National Guard favor
By Phil Magness
According to today's New York Times, disgraced Democrat politician Ben Barnes is once again claiming that he assisted a young George W. Bush in obtaining a slot in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam war. According to the story,
Former Texas House Speaker Ben Barnes said he is ``more ashamed at myself than I've ever been'' because he helped President Bush and the sons of other wealthy families get into the Texas National Guard so they could avoid serving in Vietnam.
``I got a young man named George W. Bush into the National Guard ... and I'm not necessarily proud of that, but I did it,'' Barnes, a Democrat, said in a video clip recorded May 27 before a group of John Kerry supporters in Austin.
Barnes, who was House speaker when Bush entered the Guard, later became lieutenant governor.
Curiously, the story omits a key portion of the Barnes quote, possibly because it demonstrates a glaring inconsistency in Barnes' story. A video of Barnes' speech shows the full quote as follows, the omitted portion in bold:
I got a young man named George W. Bush into the National Guard when I was Lieutenant Governor of Texas and I'm not necessarily proud of that, but I did it
The problem with Barnes' story: Bush entered the Texas Air National Guard in 1968 at which time Barnes was Speaker of the House. Barnes did not take office as Lieutenant Governor until 1969 and thus could not have done what he claimed. Some readers may best remember Barnes as a central unindicted co-conspirator in the Sharpstown Stock Scandal that rocked the Texas legislature in 1971.
chronicallybiased.com |
