Helen Thomas just contacted Vetwife on this clip via email

[vetwife]

I never heard it; will try to find out, helent
----- Original Message -----
From: Amanda Kato
To: [e-mail]
Sent: Sunday, July 11, 2004 4:45 PM
Subject: Bush saying he was in Nam


Dearest Helen,
At what function did Bush make this statement. Combat vets are outraged and rightfully so ! Please advise. He SAID HE WAS IN VIETNAM..Looking for the transcript.
Thanks so much. I went to the addy but found nothing. Can you help?
http://www.go-titlepro.com/downloads/BushInVietnam.mp3

Peace and sincerely,
Amanda (vetwife) Kato

I am so happy she got it and listened and can do something with it. She and I have corresponded a bit.

[NMDemDist2]

1. you go Amanda! n/t

[vetwife]

2. Blew me away she got back in touch with me so fast !

Classy lady and one Heck of a reporter !

[soup]

3. This is great news!

Helen Thomas is a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure.
and so are you Amanda. Thank you.

Sorry the links I found weren't the ones you needed.

[Jerseygirltoo]

4. The dummy

It sounds like Bush misspeaking as usual. Probably meant to say
'what I learned from Vietnam'. It's a telling Freudian slip though.

[calimary]

30. Don't forget - he also made the quip "I've been to war, I've raised twins,

I'd rather go to war."

To which I'd say - WHICH war WAS that, anyway, georgie-poo?

And by the way, GOOD that you contacted Helen Thomas. She's still the Dean of the White House Press Corps (or is that CORPSE!?!?!) and has more integrity in a single eyelash than all the rest of those poseurs have in their entire news departments. She's still one of the Good Guys. She gets LOTS of hate mail because of that. She's probably on limbaugh's short list when he generates his dittohead machinery to action, harassing the truth-tellers. So she DOES respond to the relatively few nice ones she gets. All the more reason to write to her more often - so she knows she's not preaching to an empty room. Or worse - a room full of knives aimed at her throat.

[vetwife]

5. Well we have to be careful and I wanted Mainstream Media to

know about it and check it out !

[Bozita]

6. If Helen writes about it, she provides cover for courageous reporters

Go, Helen, go!

[vetwife]

7. Absolutely..something few of us can do and she has

access to ask old Scott the question? And lots of investigative reporters ! Thanks for saing I am a force, I just try and get things to the right people !

[vetwife]

8. I said on The Guy James Show I was mad about this !

My priority is veterans .......
and their well being !
I take care of my family and help vets..That is all I do day in an day out ! And help Boot Bush !

[wicket]

9. I've written back and forth with her before too

She's so nice and she responds very fast! :)

[wicket]

10. Mediamatters

Also, I'm not sure if you have done this or not, but you should send that clip to mediamatters (mediamatters.org), I bet they would be VERY interested in it.

[vetwife]

11. Thanks...I want this thing out there if not doctored..

[wicket]

12. Mediamatters definitely won't doctor it

They've been doing a great job of exposing the lies of conservatives simply by letting them speak for themselves :) Definitely send it to them, it would be great if they used it because it would get it out to a large audience.

[wicket]

13. Whoops. I see what you meant

That the file should be out if it's not doctored, not that Mediamatters would doctor it. Sorry, I need my coffee hehehehe :)

[mandyky]

14. The clip is not doctored

I heard shrub say it with my own ears, when he made it. As I said before, I think it was the 7-2-03 Bring Em On speech, maybe they have transcripts somewhere.

[wicket]

16. I can't listen to the clip at work

What is he saying in it?

[mandyky]

18. He said

One thing I learned in Vietnam - as part of a speech - he was talking about guerrilla warfare and none traditional resistence - read that the war on terror.

I am looking for the transcipts now, maybe on WH.gov

[Bozita]

15. iirc, the clip is from a presidential press conference

One of the nationally televised evening bumblefests.

Video is certainly available somewhere.

[vetwife]

17. The clip says when I was in Vietnam I learned that

blah blah blah....

[vetwife]

19. Sent it off to media matters Wicket..Thanks

[wicket]

20. Awesome!

:)

[librechik]

21. Unfortunately, that clip is years old and has already been laughed at

mostly onthe internet, but also on the evening news. Nobody thought it was a big deal. Everybody thought it was just Dear Leader's God-given humbleness of tongue.

Sorry. Wouldn't it be great if we could just nail the bastard?

I will be surprised if even our hero Helen can get anything done with that. It's galling, but that's the way it is. Too bad he didn't say it yesterday.

Great activism, vetwife--I admire your grit.

[vetwife]

22. Thanks ...

I still won't let it go..We did not have a real combat vet running against him years ago and that alone is worth pushing the envelope !
There were no vet votes up for grabs. There is now. I know this is one area that turns a vet against someone quicker than anything !

[Bozita]

25. If Kerry's "diapers" statement can be recycled by the media, they can ...

... recycle this clip of the POTUS lying on national television.

I'm sure that most Americans would be hearing/seeing it for the first time.

[librechik]

44. you're right about that--it could be time for a revival

I'd like to hear it all over the airwaves!

[Misunderestimator]

23. Very Cool, Amanda.... I love how you take something you just heard...

and just RUN with it!!! I was stunned about that statement too.

:thumbsup: :loveya:

[vetwife]

24. Ms. Thomas seemed stunned as well.

You were there Saturday, you heard how mad I got. I want to look out for that show too because if it is word for word then it needs to hit mainstream media again..Remind the Vets for Bush..It will tick them off for sure. I know for a fact it will !

Thanks for the vote of confidence, I run for America or whats left of it !

[rog]

26. GOT THE TRANSCRIPT right here ... WH has edited it!

Evidently the White House thought this "slip" was important enough to edit in the transcript. It's from the "Prime Time News Conference" on October 11, 2001.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011011-7.html

Here's THEIR version of what he said:


Q Thank you. You've been careful to avoid saying how long the military strikes in Afghanistan might take place. But can you promise to say how long American -- can you avoid being drawn into a Vietnam-like quagmire in Afghanistan?

THE PRESIDENT: We learned some very important lessons in Vietnam. Perhaps the most important lesson that I learned is that you cannot fight a guerrilla war with conventional forces. That's why I've explained to the American people that we're engaged in a different type of war; one obviously that will use conventional forces, but one in which we've got to fight on all fronts.

I remember saying to you all that the first shot in the war was when we started cutting off their money, because an al Qaeda organization can't function without money. And we're continuing our efforts to reach out to willing nations to disrupt and seize assets of the al Qaeda organization.

We are in the process of rounding up al Qaeda members around the world. There are al Qaeda organizations in, roughly, 68 countries. And over 200 have now been apprehended. And every time I talk to a world leader, I urge them to continue finding the al Qaeda representatives and bring them to justice.

As far as the use of conventional forces, we've got a clear plan, and it's to say to the host government that you have been given your -- and by the way, I gave them ample opportunity to turn over al Qaeda. I made it very clear to them, in no uncertain terms, that in order to avoid punishment, they should turn over the parasites that hide in their country. They obviously refused to do so. And now they're paying a price. We are dismantling their military, disrupting their communications, severing their ability to defend themselves. And slowly, but surely, we're smoking al Qaeda out of their caves so we can bring them to justice.

People often ask me, how long will this last? This particular battlefront will last as long as it takes to bring al Qaeda to justice. It may happen tomorrow; it may happen a month from now; it may take a year or two. But we will prevail. And what the American people need to know is what our allies know: I am determined to stay the course. And we must do so. We must do so. We must rid the world of terrorists so our children and grandchildren can grow up in freedom. It is essential. It is now our time to act. And I'm proud to lead a country that understands that.


Interesting. Good thing you found the sound clip

By the way ... you can search a website using Google. Here's what I entered in the search box.

site:whitehouse.gov lesson vietnam

.rog.

[LittleApple81]

27. Memory holeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.... again, trite but true 1984.

[Bozita]

28. Good job, Rog! -- Now we need to get the video -- Revenge IS sweet

[rog]

31. GOT THE VIDEO right here

Direct link to the RealMedia file at c-span ... I'm watching it now.

rtsp://cspanrm.fplive.net/cspan/ldrive/ter101101_bush.rm

Paste that into "open location" (under the "File" menu item) in your RealPlayer.

Or you can go to c-span and do a video search on "bush press conference" ... amazingly, this one from 2001 comes up first in the search.

I'm going to watch until this question comes up ... it will be interesting to compare it to the WH transcript.

I forgot how weird this press conference was.

.rog.

[calimary]

32. Yeah - PLEASE report back.

Great work!

[rog]

33. The statement happens about 11 minutes into the p/c.

... and it's as the WH quotes in the transcript. So either the WH has edited the video (I'm on dialup, so I can't detect those nuances), or the .mp3 clip has been cut-and-pasted ... not hard to take "in Vietnam" from the first sentence and paste it somewhere else.

Anyone else have an idea about what's going on?

This press conference was SO weird ... like Bush and the press corps were all on drugs.

It struck me that he referred to Afghanistan as "the first battle in the War Of The Twenty-First Century."

Man ... we are in some deep doo-doo.

.rog.

[LittleApple81]

34. the first battle in the War Of The Twenty-First Century: They have been

TELLING THE TRUTH AND WE HAVE NOT PAID ATTENTION!!!! I got goosebumps when I heard * saying that, out in the open, and nobody questioned him any further.
I got the audio file and found out exactly what you did: the sound file matches the transcript.

[rog]

36. Thanks for that insight

re: "They have been telling the truth and we have not paid attention."

Absolutely. We should hammer this ... in addition to talking about the lies. They have told the truth over and over, but most of the folks out there (not the people here at DU) just don't get it.

I appreciate all of your posts, LittleApple ... thanks.

.rog.

[rog]

39. Just as an aside, what's with this "women of cover?"

He said that TWICE ... "Women of cover afraid to leave their homes."

They transcribed it verbatim at the WH.


"I was struck by this: that in many cities, when Christian and Jewish women learn that Muslim women -- women of cover -- were afraid of going out of their homes alone, that they went shopping with them, that they showed true friendship and support -- an act that shows the world the true nature of America."

"The story I talked about earlier was one that really touched my heart, about women of cover fearing to leave their homes."


Have I just missed this term? I have never heard Muslim women referred to as "women of cover."

I ALSO forgot that this was the "Send A Dollar To The White House" speech, where he asked children to send him a buck to "help the children of Afghanistan." Anyone remember the Soupy Sales riff where he told kids to go around the house and "collect those pictures of George Washington" and send them to him? He got in big trouble for that one!

And on a more serious note, there's this exchange about withdrawing from the ABM Treaty.


I'm going to ask (Putin) to envision a world in which a terrorist thug and/or a host nation might have the ability to develop -- to deliver a weapon of mass destruction via a -- via rocket. And wouldn't it be in our nation's advantage to be able to shoot it down? At the very least, it should be in our nation's advantage to determine whether we can shoot it down. And we're restricted from doing that because of an ABM Treaty that was signed during a totally different era.

The case cannot be even -- the case is more strong today than it was on September 10th that the ABM is outmoded, outdated, reflects a different time. And I'm more than -- I am more than anxious to continue making my case to them. And we will do what's right in regards --

Q If he does not agree with you, would you withdraw from the ABM Treaty this year?

THE PRESIDENT: I have told Mr. Putin that the ABM Treaty is outdated, antiquated and useless. And I hope that he will join us in a new strategic relationship.


It was extremely interesting to revisit this press conference.

.rog.

[LittleApple81]

40. I found people making fun of Dubya, but then I found this book on

black women which used the same term:
http://www.ochealthinfo.com/behavioral/cultural/library/books/book085.htm

Women of Color: Integrating Ethnic and Gender Identities in Psychotherapy
Edited b y Lillian Comas-Diaz and Beverly Greene
1994 The Guilford Press
518 pages (Hard-cover)
A long-awaited addition to the literature, this important new volume comprehensively addresses mental health issues relevance and gender sensitivity can and must be incorporated into clinical work. The contributors are experts with extensive clinical experience with the specific groups of women they discuss, and many are themselves members of these groups, adding a unique and valuable dimension to their work. Inclusive in its approach and rich with illustrative case examples, issues that affect both familiar and frequently over-looked groups of women.

[rog]

41. Do you think that may be a typo?

Because this doesn't seem like a complete sentence to me:


Inclusive in its approach and rich with illustrative case examples, Women of Cover issues that affect both familiar and frequently over-looked groups of women.


There's no verb in that sentence.

Perhaps they meant to say, "Women Of Color (the book title) covers issues that affect both familiar and frequently over-looked groups of women."

Here's an interesting discussion of this incident from "On The Media" ... a show from WNYC. Daniel Max writes for the New York Times Magazine.

http://www.wnyc.org/onthemedia/transcripts/transcripts_102001_cover.html


We spoke to DANIEL MAX recently, mainly to inquire about "women of cover" - a term that popped up twice in a subsequent news conference. But while we were at it, we wanted to know about the provenance of other Bush-isms. The Evil One. Smoke them out of their hole. Make no mistake. Were these the formulations of image-makers, or of the president himself?

DANIEL MAX:: It really depends on the phrase. If you watch these things closely, you can at some times trace certain kinds of phrases to certain people in the White House. "Crusade" I think was the president himself, I think it was just something that came out of his mouth. So was "make no mistake". I mean I think it’s one of those situations where he perhaps is even thinking I’m not going to say “make no mistake” again and then whoop. Out it pops. The other kinds of phrases, I mean the idea of evil was almost an example of group-think from the administration his counselor Karen Hughes, his chief speech writer Mike Gerson - they all kind of think very much in these terms - they believed even before the attacks that America had a purpose in the world that was a moral purpose - I think that’s where we got the idea of the day of remembrance and prayer that came after the attacks.

BOB GARFIELD: In the prime time news conference that he gave, he referred to women of cover: BUSH: (tape) I was struck by this that many cities when Christian and Jewish women learn that Muslim women, women of cover, were afraid of going out of there homes alone, that they went shopping with them that they showed true friendship and support.

BOB GARFIELD: First I thought he had misspoken, he was trying to say “women of color” but no he had clearly on the second time said “women of cover” to refer to Muslim women who wear various kinds of garments to cover their faces and their skin to varying degrees. Do you have any idea where that came from?

DANIEL MAX:: There are a couple of schools on this. One is that it’s along the lines of a "return to normalcy." That is to say we’ve got a new coinage that may become more popular than previous ways of referring to Muslim women. Another possibility is that it just popped out of his mouth. There are a number of ways one can imagine him coming to this, a number of verbal tics that might have been involved . Maybe he was thinking of as you say women of color maybe it was women of valor - maybe it was cover girls. I have absolutely no idea - that’s a stretch, but - in a certain way it’s a kind of wonderful attempt - my editor has described it as Karen Hughes by way of Lani Guinier. I think the Ford Foundation might have had a hand in that phrase too. It’s kind of wonderfully modern and we all suspect that somewhere there exists somewhere a thesis with that in the title.


.rog.

[LittleApple81]

42. I don't know. Probably.But the last paragraph in your post is LOL funny.nt

[librechik]

45. so it wasn't a joke

I'm confused. I always trust the Howler.

on edit. looks like the Howler was looking at the other quote, the one about the twins. Now that's a joke! But it's also a lie! He'd never been to war!

can't lose with a liar like W. You can throw darts at any page of transcript where he's talking, and always hit a whopper!

[snippy]

29. Outstanding work vetwife.

A related lie that has annoyed me more than the typical incessant lying of the Bush administration and campaign people is Marc Racicot's repeated statement that Bush volunteered to go to Vietnam.

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

35. And don't forget his "been to war/raised twins" comment

"President George W. Bush has been quoted as saying 'I've been to war.' Although the original article can no longer be accessed online, the Wayback Machine provides the following:

On January 27, 2002, CNN.com / allpolitics.com / TIME carried the Associated Press headline "Bush compares raising twins to war."

"CHARLESTON, West Virginia (AP) -- President Bush says between going to war and raising twins, he'd choose war.

"Bush's visit to West Virginia last week included a chat with Bob Kiss, Democratic speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates.

"While they hail from different parties, they found plenty to talk about -- although while both have twins, Kiss' 5-week-old twin boys aren't quite old enough to cause much trouble.

"Kiss told Bush that if he wasn't doing anything the next morning, he could come by for their 3 a.m. feeding. Kiss said Bush joked, 'I've been to war. I've raised twins. If I had a choice, I'd rather go to war.'"

http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=I've_been_to_war.

There are also other sources talking about this on google.

[Karenina]

37. Kick!

:kick:

[LittleApple81]

38. The daily howler makes fun of this because IT WAS A JOKE:

ABSOLUTELY FATUOUS (PART 2)! Incredibly, the Monthly thinks that a meaningless joke is George Bush’s fifth biggest whopper:
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2003

STRAIGHT FROM THE PRESS CORPS’ PRIVATE PLANET: Here at THE HOWLER, we’re still stunned by the Washington Monthly’s utterly fatuous “Mendacity Index” (see THE DAILY HOWLER, 9/2/03). How fatuous is your insider press corps? As you’ll recall, the Monthly’s “experts” picked the “six biggest lies” of each of the last four presidents. According to the Monthly’s experts, here is one of the six biggest lies George W. Bush ever told:
Going to War.
During a visit to West Virginia in January 2002, Bush joked, “I’ve been to war. I’ve raised twins. If I had a choice, I’d rather go to war.” During the Vietnam War, however, Bush served with the Air National Guard in Texas, and had specifically noted on his Air Force officers test that he did not wish to serve overseas.
To make things easier, we marked a key word. The key word we highlighted? Joked.
SNIP...
But drink in the foolishness, HOWLER readers! According to the Monthly’s experts, a meaningless JOKE which Bush told Kiss is the fifth biggest lie he ever told! That’s right—you can check the rankings yourselves. The Monthly’s “experts” consider this “lie” more serious than Bush’s “trifecta” statement—a misstatement repeatedly made in public to shore up his political standing.

Please remember the key point in this: You simply can’t measure a president’s honesty by pie-eating contests of this type. But what kind of people engage in such clowning? Your perfumed press corps takes part in this farce—people unable to think very clearly, and people unable to care.

more at link:

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh090303.shtml

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

43. I always assumed it was a joke, but I think it shows that he has a habit

of saying thoughtless, braggardly things. It's not clear if he's referring in the joke to Vietnam or maybe, Afghanistan, but it seems stupid and disrespectful to even hint that he "went to war" and compare himself to people who actually have been in combat.

I think it's similar to when he was at the Olympics, talking to the young female athlete and swaggered away, saying, "Excuse me, I've got a war to fight." He's just such a thoughtless, embarrassing ass to be in the office of the president!