September 13, 2004

WINGING IT:

Internet claim on Bush award disputed (Gene J. Koprowski, 9/13/2004, UPI)

The Air Force has knocked down allegations by a Web site that said President Bush, when serving as an officer in the Texas Air National Guard, wore a ribbon he was not authorized to wear -- a military offense that could have led to a bad-conduct discharge from the service if true.

The original story was offered to United Press International during late August by operatives from Democrats.com, an Internet activist group whose founder had earlier this year served as a source for The Boston Globe and other media outlets on stories about Bush's service in the guard in the 1960s and 1970s.


The Democrats these days offer no end of amusement. They've apparently convinced themselves that the attacks on Senator Kerry have no basis in fact so they should be able to make up stuff about the President and have it cause him trouble. They're wrong on both counts.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 13, 2004 4:01 PM
Comments

Helen Thomas wanted to run it.

Posted by: Jeff at September 13, 2004 4:17 PM

We've entered the realm where wishful thinking is considered equivalent to reality, and subject to less rigorous validation.

Posted by: Raoul Ortega at September 13, 2004 4:38 PM

Solipsism - 4 out of 5 lunatics agree (but not with each other)!

Posted by: luciferous at September 13, 2004 4:43 PM

To explain the matter simply--

Bsuh wore an outstanding unit citation award ribbon. The unit did not win the award while he was serving there, causing some confusion among people not fully familiar with policy. However, per military regulations, the award belongs to the unit as a whole. While you're serving with that unit, you can wear such ribbons that apply to your unit even if they weren't won while you were there. However, to wear them after leaving that particular unit, they must have been worn while you were there.

Posted by: John Thacker at September 13, 2004 5:13 PM

Duh. Anyone who's seen "Band of Brothers" knows that.

Posted by: Timothy at September 13, 2004 5:18 PM

John - Didn't he win the award while on basic training with an Air Force unit, not as part of the National Guard unit that he spent most of his service time with? See Drudge links.

Posted by: pj at September 13, 2004 6:40 PM
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