America is finally beginning to ask why President Bush and his associates have been so critical of John Kerry's Vietnam War record. After all, Kerry volunteered, saw combat, was wounded and was awarded medals. To be sure, a lot of medals were awarded during this police action but you had to be at the war to dance.
On the other hand, President Bush used his father's influence to keep him out of Vietnam. Recent news reports indicate that Bush was basically AWOL for much of his National Guard service in Texas. He even took a leave of absence to help a friend plan his daughter's wedding. Bush has no apologies for this action, Rather, he suggests deserting his military post for a wedding meant he was in favor of family values.
Nor does Bush apologize for taking a National Guard paycheck he hadn't earned--military men call this "backing into the payline." Bush the Younger says his family paid enough in taxes to keep the National Guard afloat and what he earned was hardly beer money. He still backs into the payline but doesn't drink beer.
Psychologist Clarence Crawford, who teaches forensics at Texas Tech, says "In Texas it is enough to dress the part without participating in the actual events. Look at all the men wearing cowboy boots and hats and carrying guns in Texas. Most of it's for show. If these guys saw a rattler, they'd freeze.
"Remember when Bush landed on the aircraft carrier in his flight suit and saluted under a Mission Accomplished banner. To Bush this was the real thing, the John Wayne moment, everything carefully scripted and choreographed.
"This is how Bush and Cheney view the war in Iraq. We've lost 1,000 soldiers and God knows how many wounded. Insurgents have taken control of most of the country. Yet the president and his team are in absolute denial.
"One reason for this is that Bush and Cheney have little or no knowledge of combat. Bush avoided Vietnam and Cheney ducked service by getting five college deferments. War is not a reality to these men; it's a political instrument to get them both re-elected.
"They figured Irag would be a walk in the park--and it was for the first few months. These men did absolutely no planning for the aftermath of the war. Forget Bill Clinton's transgressions; Bush and Cheney should be impeached for lying to the American people. The war has been a Big Lie from the beginning. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. There are no WMDs. There was no actionable Al Queda/Iraq connection. Moreover, even when faced with the facts Bush refuses to admit he made a mistake.
"He is deeply in unreality and denial. He attacks Kerry because his own service record is so hollow and weak. Remember he attacked McCain. Real valor makes him feel small so he must besmirch the face of courage.
"Bush has little to offer the country except his War on Terror, which he has largely ignored. We have spent $200 million and 1,000 young lives on a war that has spawned more terrorism. Afghanistan, a real hell-hole of terror, has received scant American attention or money.
"Irag was the inevitable target because it was easy picking, it avenged an attack on Bush's father, it showed the president was bold and warlike. Bush assumed landing in Irag was like landing on a carrier and that everything would be perfectly staged.
"For him terrorism is a useful term and covers just about everything. He and Cheney have come close to calling Kerry a terrorist. Those protesting the Republican convention were all potential terrorists. His adminsitration has called abortion advocates "terrorists against life." Cheney has called people who have argued against the Patriot Act "defenders of the terrorist cause."
Cheney has suggested those who vote for Kerry are in effect supporters of terrorism.
"These remarks are totally unacceptable, unwise, untrue, and dangerous. And the remarks say an awful lot about the state of mind of the presidency. There is a bunker mentality that sees every opponent or obstacle as terror-related. The presidency is in a dangerous psychological state.
"As a psychologist I suggest that this administration, so long ruled by political props, theater, and the accoutrements of power, might be losing its collective mind and be badly in need of therapy.
"From a psychological point of view unbridled sex in the White House is much more desirable than denial, distorted language, tortured syntax, name calling, and sacrificing the youth, honor and treasury of the country.
"A wise man wrote that a renewal of a country must begin with a renewal of its language."
The White House refused comment on these remarks but announced President Bush will visit Vietnam shortly to announce another chapter in his war on terror.