Month: February 2004

So, you’re hankering for more news articles about President Bush, and you enter some Google News search terms that you suppose will bring up likely hits. You know, all the current and past administration/media buzzwords such as “National Guard” and “terrorism” and “Al-Qaeda” and “Washington”…
Only, you get the following instead. Damned imperfect technology.

U.S. soldier arrested in Washington state for allegedly aiding al-Qaida
SEATTLE (AP) – A U.S. National Guardsman stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash. was arrested Thursday and charged by the army with trying to provide information to the al-Qaida terrorist network, a federal law-enforcement official said.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Spc. Ryan Anderson was charged with “aiding the enemy by wrongfully attempting to communicate and give intelligence to the al-Qaida terrorist network.”
It was not immediately known what information Anderson allegedly provided.

Next time, I guess “Iraq” or “economy” or “Wasn’t James Yee acquitted after his career was ruined?” will narrow the field a bit more.

Editorial, San Diego Union-Tribune, February 11, 2004:

Meanwhile, the White House released pay records this week which also document the dates on which Bush was paid for National Guard duty. They provide further evidence that Bush did not shirk his obligations to the Guard between May 1972 and May 1973.
Of course, there are some die-hard Bush detractors who are unwilling to accept that the president did not go AWOL, that he was not a deserter. But the fair-minded can lay the controversy to rest once and for all.

Editorial, The Daily Iowan, February 11, 2004:

Amid accusations of being AWOL in the National Guard and lying to the American public about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Bush remained as confusing and contradictory as always during the “Meet the Press” segment Sunday on NBC.
On Tuesday, White House officials released payroll records demonstrating that Bush in fact did get paid for his service in the Guard. However, spokesman Scott McClellan admitted that the records do not specifically show that the president reported for duty. Bush’s response to reports of his first-lieutenant evaluation showing that the future leader had not been seen during 1972 is a simple, “They’re just wrong.”

It’s over, it’s over, it’s over, I won’t look back,
Won’t look back, my bridge has been crossed.
It’s over, it’s over, it’s over, I’ll walk away,
I’ll stay away, cause my heart’s been lost.
Losing is not a happy thing when the stakes are high,
Not when you lose your lover on a simple goodbye.
—Frank Sinatra, “It’s Over, It’s Over, It’s Over” (lyrics by Don Stanford & Matt Dennis, 1960)
Related: “Moonlight in Vermont”; “That’s All”; “The Impossible Dream”; “Walk Away”; “Lonely Town”; “No One Cares”; “Here’s to the Losers”; “Say It Isn’t So”; “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning”; “The Hurt Doesn’t Go Away”; “Goodbye, Lover, Goodbye”; “We’ll Meet Again”.