Never mind the Killian documents. The documents the White House released are more than enough to build the case that George Bush was a rich boy who went to the ANG to avoid going to Vietnam--that place that Kerry, McCain, Murtha, Clark and a few others were vacationing--and then promptly went AWOL.

He was a bad pilot. Barely passed the entrance exam (25 out of 100). He got qualified on an F-102 and was certified combat ready in 1970 while serving in Houston. But, by '72, Bush lost all will to continue flying. First he couldn't land his F-102 on a simulator and had to make extra passes. He failed the simulator test twice. He was downgraded to a T-33 two-seat training craft. Then he put in for a transfer to a postal unit that had no training or aircraft. He was denied. He was then absent from Houston, missed his physical, was grounded.

He supposedly put in for the Tac Recon 187th in Alabama (the very day he was grounded no less). No record he ever reported there. No one there remembers him except one guy who claimed Bush was there several months before he even put the transfer in. Guys who definitely would have remembered him all say they never saw him ever. Yet Bush told America he served with the 187th in Alabama.

When his evals in Texas when filled out in March of '73, his senior had all facets of his training and duties marked as "NOT OBSERVED" and he goes onto explain that Bush "cleared the base" in March of '72 to go Alabama!! Yet we know he never reported there! Where did he go during that time?

Incredibly, Bush was discharged from Houston in October 73. He had not fulfilled his full 6-year obligation. He was allowed to get out several months early (gee, I served 6 years and I had to stay the full 6 years). He supposedly was going to some ANG station in Denver but there is no record he was ever there and what for? He was already discharged. He was out. The amazing thing about Bush's discharge papers however is that at the bottom where he was supposed to sign is the typewritten statement "NOT AVAILABLE FOR SIGNATURE" so Bush was not even at his own discharge!!! Where the hell was he??? He couldn't have been discharged from Houston in late '73 when his own seniors stated he had cleared the base in early '72!

In fact, the pay records do not show Bush being paid during much of that time. Despite the bizarre assertions of Scott McClellan that those documents proved Bush has served and was being paid, they proved nothing of the sort. He appears to have been AWOL. After he left Houston in early '72, Bush was essentially out of the service. He is not shown as having served in any meaningful capacity after that anywhere. He seems to show up sporadically here and there. Where was he most of the time and why don't his records say?? That they could neglect that information is beyond all belief and credibility.

For instance, there is a base dentist office record from Alabama that lists one Lt. George Walker Bush as having come in to get his teeth looked at in January of '73. Ah that proves he was in Alabama!! No. It raises the question of why he never checked in with the 187th and why no one who served there remembers him. Even stranger, he was supposed to have been back in Houston no later than December of 72. What was Bush still doing there in January of 73 and why is there no record of him being anywhere else on that Alabama base? Moreover, why do his records show him as being in Houston when the Alabama base dentist office had him listed as a patient at the same period???

When asked point-blank by reporters if Bush was ever sentenced to do community service that interfered with his Guard duties, McClellan refused to answer. He refused to answer! Was Bush in jail during his absence?

It might explain his statement to Nestor Kirchner, president of Argentine, when they met in Monterrey, Mexico on Janauary 13, 2004. Kirchner told Bush about some Argentine delegates that had been imprisoned by the military dictatorship to which Bush replied, "I was a prisoner too--but for bad reasons." What the hell did he mean by that??

What was the reason he was grounded (he never flew another aircraft after being grounded and indeed he never regained his flying status)? Could be his drinking. Bush himself admits he had an alcohol problem as late as age 40. But I wonder if it might be something else. Bush was actually a top-notch pilot in 1970. Certified combat ready on an F-102 fighter and getting a write-up in the local papers about it is pretty impressive. But Bush suddenly just went bad and from bad he went to worse.

I think he got word that his piloting skills were causing him to be considered for service in Vietnam. Bush himself is quick to point out that pilots in his unit were not exempt from Vietnam and could be rotated there. Was he about to be rotated there so he could prove his mettle on the battlefield? Did Bush have other ideas? It is odd how he put in for a postal unit with no aircraft or training BEFORE he was grounded. He had already made up his mind he didn't want to fly anymore. And you just have to wonder why.