I don't know if you watched the Whitehouse press briefing yesterday, but I managed to catch 70% of it during lunch. Watching Scott McClellan's performance was very disheartening. I'm no political neophyte and I'm aware that the primary jobs of press secretaries and spokesmen and -women isn't telling the truth and being open with the public. They exist to act as a firewall from criticism for the administration they work. And I'm aware that I don't have a very extensive experience with Presidential press conferences like these (I've only seena few and read a few more). But what I saw yesterday was pathetic. Forty-five minutes of dodgy bullshit.
Mr. McClellan totally skipped the first question posed to him, instead choosing to say what would end up being his core stump speech for the rest of the briefing:
The President fullfilled his duties in the National Guard and this is documented from these payroll records we have released.
The second questioner didn't let him go so easily.
Q Scott, a couple of questions I have -- the records that you handed out today, and other records that exist, indicate that the President did not perform any Guard duty during the months of December 1972, February or March of 1973. I'm wondering if you can tell us where he was during that period. And also, how is it that he managed to not make the medical requirements to remain on active flight duty status?
MR. McCLELLAN: John, the records that you're pointing to, these records are the payroll records; they're the point summaries. These records verify that he met the requirements necessary to fulfill his duties. These records --
Q That wasn't my question, Scott.
MR. McCLELLAN: These payroll records --
Q Scott, that wasn't my question, and you know it wasn't my question. Where was he in December of '72, February and March of '73? And why did he not fulfill the medical requirements to remain on active flight duty status?
MR. McCLELLAN: These records -- these records I'm holding here clearly document the President fulfilling his duties in the National Guard. The President was proud of his service. The President --
Q I asked a simple question; how about a simple answer?
MR. McCLELLAN: John, if you'll let me address the question, I'm coming to your answer, and I'd like --
Q Well, if you would address it -- maybe you could.
MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, John. But this is an important issue that some chose to raise in the context of an election year, and the facts are important for people to know. And if you don't want to know the facts, that's fine. But I want to share the facts with you.
Q I do want to know the facts, which is why I keep asking the question. And I'll ask it one more time. Where was he in December of '72, February and March of '73? Why didn't he fulfill the medical requirements to remain on active flight duty status in 1972?
MR. McCLELLAN: The President recalls serving both when he was in Texas and when he was in Alabama. And that is what I can tell you. And we have provided you these documents that show clearly that the President of the United States fulfilled his duties. And that is the reason that he was honorably discharged from the National Guard. The President was proud of his service.
The President spent some of that time in Texas. He was a member of the Texas Air National Guard, and he was given permission, on a temporary basis, to perform equivalent duty while he was in Alabama. And he performed that duty. And the payroll records, that I think are very important for the public to have, clearly reflect that he served.
Mr. McClellan was asked where the George W. Bush was and delivered the full Stump Speech:
The documents we've provided show he fullfilled his duties. He met the requirements. He's proud of his service. And he fullfilled his duties. The President says he served and the records reflect that.
The third questioner also had trouble.
Q Scott, when Senator Kerry goes around campaigning, there's frequently what they call "a band of brothers," a bunch of soldiers who served with him, who come forward and give testimonials for him. I see, in looking at our files in the campaign of 2000, it said that you were looking for people who served with him to verify his account of service in the National Guard. Has the White House been able to find, like Senator Kerry, "a band of brothers" or others who can testify about the President's service?
MR. McCLELLAN: All the information that we have we shared with you in 2000, that was relevant to this issue. And all the additional information that has come to our attention we have shared with you. The President was asked about this in his interview over the weekend, and the President made it clear, yes, I want all records to be made available that are relevant to this issue; that there are some out there that were making outrageous, baseless accusations. It was a shame that they brought it up four years ago. It was a shame that they brought it up again this year. And I think that the facts are very clear from these documents. These documents -- the payroll records and the point summaries verify that he was paid for serving and that he met his requirements.
Q Actually, I wasn't talking about documents, I was talking about people -- you know, comrades-in-arms --
MR. McCLELLAN: Right. That's why I said everything that came to our attention that was available, we made available at that time, during the 2000 campaign.
Q But you said you were looking for people -- and I take it you didn't find any people?
MR. McCLELLAN: I mean, obviously, we would have made people available. And we -- Mr. Lloyd, who has provided a statement to put some of this into context for everybody, made some public statements during that time period to verify the records that the President had fulfilled his duties. And he put out an additional statement now to put this into context. He's someone with some technical expertise and someone that understands these matters, because he was in the National Guard at the time.
He wanted to know if the President had found any people to stand up and say they remember serving with him during his tour, like Senator Kerry has during his campaign. Mr. McClellan dodged again, and they had to go back adnd forth until he'd finally admit (grudgingly implying is more like it) that they couldn't find any people to come forward, not once stating the obvious.
The next series of questions got tied up in a back and forth exchange.
Q Scott, can I follow on this, because I do think this is important. You know, it might strike some as odd that there isn't anyone who can stand up and say, I served with George W. Bush in Alabama, or in Houston in the Guard unit. Particularly because there are people, his superiors who have stepped forward -- in Alabama and in Houston -- who have said in the past several years that they have no recollection of him being there and serving. So isn't that odd that nobody -- you can't produce anyone to corroborate what these records purport to show?
MR. McCLELLAN: David, we're talking about some 30 years ago. You are perfectly welcome to go back and talk to individuals from that time period. But these documents --
Q Hey, we're trying. But I would have thought you guys would have had a real good handle on --
MR. McCLELLAN: - these documents make it very clear that the President of the United States fulfilled his duties --
Q Well, that's subject to interpretation.
MR. McCLELLAN: No. When you serve, you are paid for that service. And these documents outline the days on which he was paid. That means he served. And these documents also show that he met his requirements. And it's just really a shame that people are continuing to bring this issue up. When --
Q I understand --
MR. McCLELLAN: No, no, no, no. People asked for records to be released that would demonstrate he met his requirements. The records have now been fully released. The facts are clear --
Q Do you know that a lot of these payroll records are --
MR. McCLELLAN: -- the facts are clear --
Q -- you can't read them. Have you looked at these? You can't -- how are we supposed to read these?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you can talk -- one, we put it out on email. It's a lot easier to read, I think, on the email version because that was the --
Q Oh, you did put it on our email?
MR. McCLELLAN: We are going to, if we haven't already. But it was sent to us in email form from the Personnel Center in Denver, Colorado.
Another addition to the Whitehouse Firewall:
People asked that we release documents and records verifying the President's claims of service. He fulfilled his duties. And we have provided those records, showing that he fullfilled his duties. If they are hard to read, we'll e-mail them to you later. It's too bad some people won't let this issue go, because the facts are clear.
Next up, someone asks for IRS records.
Q One other thing on this. To corroborate these records, will the President do two things -- one, will he authorize the relevant defense agency in Colorado to release actual pay stubs for the President? And if those don't exist, will the President file a form, as he can do at the IRS, to at least look for a '72 or '73 tax return that would corroborate what you claim are payroll summaries that he actually got paid for this duty?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think this information is his payroll records. It is my understanding this is the information that is available from his payroll records. And it shows the days on which he was paid. So that's the information that I understand is available. In terms of tax returns, the President, like most Americans, does not have his tax returns from some 30 years ago.
Q But it's possible that he could file a form requesting the IRS to search if they have a return for '72 or '73. Is he willing to do that?
MR. McCLELLAN: Obviously, if there's any additional information that came to our attention that was relevant, we would make that information available.
Q Well, it could be relevant if he would file a form --
MR. McCLELLAN: I think that these documents clearly show that the President of the United States fulfilled his duties. I mean, these were the documents that people questioned and said should be made available. And we went back to double-check. We thought we had all the information that existed previously, but we went back to double-check after the comments that were made over the weekend, to see if there was any additional information available. And when we contacted the Personnel Center in Colorado, it was our understanding that the Personnel Center in St. Louis and Colorado were already working to pull this information together, and that this is the information that they have that is relevant to this topic.
Q So it's your position and it's the President's position that these documents put this issue to rest, period?
MR. McCLELLAN: Oh, I think these documents show that he fulfilled his duties. These documents show that he met his requirements.
Mr. McClellan can't seem to answer direct questons well. He isn't a man, but a mouthpiece for another man; the voice of a politician. And politicians also have deep problems answering direct questions. This goes on and on and gets worse.
Eventally, Scott relies on the same things to say in response to most of the questions:
The documents show the President met his requirements and fulfilled his duties. These documents are all we have to our knowledge. He fullfilled his duties. He's proud of his serivce. It's a shame some people are making outragious claims and partisan fodder out of this issue. Anything that contradicts what we have must be referred back to the original sources because I cannot speak for them. This all happened 30 years ago. The President is proud of his service, which he fullfilled. These payroll records show he was paid for serving because he served. I cannot detail everything he did hour-by-hour, but he met his requirements and fullfilled his duties. Techical people are available to answer technical questions and I refer you back to the Personnel Center and the individuals who have made statements in the past to answer questions not answered by these documents, which we feel end the question of his serving. These documents show he fullfilled his duties. These are the facts. The American people deserve the facts and it's a shame that some people brought this up four years ago and have brought it up now. We've answered your questions many times over and the facts show that the President served his duty and met his requirements and fullfilled his obligations to the National Guard. Boo. And he fullfilled his requirements.
"Grab on to one or two solid things and never let go."
That should be the motto of the Whitehouse Press Secretary.
In the end, it has become obvious to me that President Bush logged in just above the minimal amount of time required to be honorably discharged. Some of his superiors don't remember him ever showing up for duty, no one over the years of scrutiny has come forward to corroborate Bush's story, and there are gaps in the payroll records. Bush probably didn't go AWOL and probably wasn't a "deserter." But I'd be ashamed to point to his record of service and act as if it's something to be proud of.
As Byron York put it:
The White House hopes that the release of documents today will quell criticism over the president's service. However, if Tuesday's press briefing was any indication, the questions will persist. Reporters from the broadcast television networks grilled White House spokesman Scott McClellan about the months in which the records do not show any service points earned by the president. McClellan, beyond stating repeatedly that the records prove the president met his obligations, was otherwise not familiar with the details of the documents, and the White House did not provide an expert who could interpret them for reporters.
I'd be twice as ashamed to put on display this pathetic Clinton-esque dodging.
