Did Bush get Special Privilege getting into the National Guard?

Virginia Postrel shared a conversation she had with a Democratic friend concerning Bush's National Guard Service. It got me to thinking.

The Democrats are obsessing on whether Bush might have gotten Special Treatment by being accepted in the National Guard. As a right-wing guy, I have to say, "Probably." But that doesn't necessarily mean that Bush or his father are lying.

One can imagine the following conversations:

W. Bush: "Dad, I don't want to get drafted. Do you know how I can get into the National Guard?"

H.W. Bush: "I'm not sure, son. Let me check into it."

Next Day...

H.W. Bush: "Hello? How are you (Texas pol friend). Hey, I have a question. George Jr. wants to get into the National Guard. You know people in the Guard. What his best route?"

Tex pol friend: "Well, if he just simply applies, there is a long waiting list. But I think I heard that if he'd be willing to go on active duty as a pilot for two years, the list is a lot shorter."

H.W. Bush: "Thanks Buddy. I'll let him know."

Later that night...

H.W.Bush: "Hey, Jr. I talked to (Texas pol friend) today, and he says if you just apply, chances are you are going to get drafted. But if you volunteer for 2 years of active duty to become a fighter pilot like your old Dad, you have a much better shot."

W. Bush: "Great. Thanks Dad. I'll do that. It might be fun to be a pilot anyway. The girls always love a pilot." (Smirk.)

(Note: Just the information that there might be a short-cut to getting accepted into the Guard is one form of privilege. The information was probably available to anyone, but someone "connected" might be more likely to possess that information. Did George H.W. Bush know the right people to ask? Very likely. So in one respect, W. might be the beneficiary of special privilege, but that doesn't require a sinister plot.)

Later...

Texas Pol Friend: "Hey George (H.W. Bush), what ever happended with Jr?"

H.W. Bush: "Well, I told him what you said, and he is suddenly very interested in becoming a fighter pilot." Laugh, laugh. "He's going to take the pilot's exam next week. I sure hope he does well. That's a lot better scenario than toting a gun around in the jungles of Vietnam. Then he could become a pilot like me, and we could swap stories."

Later...

Texas Pol Friend: "Hello, (TANG Commander). Hey, I was just calling to find out how a son of a friend of mine did on his application to be a pilot in the Guard."

TANG Commander: "Oh, who's that?"

Texas Pol Friend: "Well, you know who George Bush is?"

TANG Commander: "The Congressman from Houston?"

Texas Pol Friend: "Yeah, that's the one. He's a buddy of Nixon's. His father, Prescott Bush is the Senator from Connecticutt who used to play golf with Ike."

TANG Commander: "You don't say."

Texas Pol Friend: "If its not too much trouble, can you let me know how his son does. Bush is a good friend, and it would be great to be able to tell him his boy made it."

TANG Commander: "Sure, no problem. What's his name." Hang-up. "Dang-burned politicians! Hey, (Jr. TANG officer.) You know who George Bush is?"

Jr. TANG Officer: "The guy from Houston. The Congressman, sir."

TANG Commander: "Yeah, that's the one. Well, seems he has a boy trying to get out of being drafted. Somebody must have told him about the preference for those volunteering for flight training, because the boy has apparently taken the exam, and (Texas Pol Friend) just called me to see how he did on his test."

Jr. TANG officer: "Another son of privilege, huh sir."

TANG Commander: "Yeah, you know the drill. His dad is a friend of Nixon, too. Well connected. His grandfather used to play golf with Ike. I think I remember his Dad was a pilot in WWII. Maybe it runs in the genes. Why don't you grease the wheels on this. If anyone has any questions, let me know. Let's just hope the apple didn't fall too far from the tree."

Jr. TANG Officer: "Yes, sir."

Later...

Jr. TANG officer: "Sir, do you remember that pilot applicant, George W. Bush, Jr., you asked me to check up on?"

TANG Commander: "Yes, what's the story?"

Jr. TANG Officer: "Well, he's from Yale, and he passed the pilot training test. I talked to (unknown officer) at the selection board, and he has made sure Bush is on the list for selection."

TANG Commander: "Good. That's one less politician I'll have to worry about. I'll let (Texas Pol Friend) know, and he'll get to break the good news to Congressman Bush. Hopefully, they'll return the favor some day. Remember (Jr. TANG Officer), politics is part of the game. It shouldn't be, but that is how the world works. Remember that, and you'll do well in the Air Force."

Jr. TANG Officer: "Yes, sir. I will."

And there you have it. Neither George W. Bush nor his father "asked" for Special consideration, but he still benefitted from it. The father expresses a hope to a connected Texas Politician Friend that George Jr. makes it, and the connnected friend calls to make sure it happens. But the caviat is that W. Bush must make sure not to embarass his Dad or his friends.

Bush is known as a likeable guy, so he probably made many friends in the TANG. And his glowing reviews are probably warranted. That is, he didn't let the old man or his friends down.

Later, when the Vietnam war is dwindling down, and there is a glut of pilots coming back from Vietnam, Bush applies for transfer to Alabama to work on a political campaign. At the time, this is no big deal, and the application reminds everyone that Bush is connected. Once again, why make waves? At this point, his father is Ambassador to China, and Nixon is still President, so give the kid what he wants. Again, no explicit request for favoritism, but it still might have been extended.

So the question that remains is, did Bush do anything wrong? The answer is, probably not. Since Bush never asked for special privilege, he can factually deny asking. And it wouldn't be politically expedient to admit that he probably benefitted from his Dad's connections, even if he suspects he did.

There is no scandal here. There is only a reinforcement of the saying, "Its not what you know, its who you know." There is no evidence that W. failed to complete his duty. There is only an assertion that he got special privileges that the average guy didn't. Well, duh. It doesn't necessarily follow that he goofed off, and skipped out on his duty.

Everyone on the left is trying to get Republicans to admit that Bush benefitted from Special Privilege. Well, I cannot prove he did, but it seems highly likely to me that he did. If someone whose father is personal friends with the President Nixon, whose grandfather was personal friends of Eisenhower, and whose maternal ancestor was the 14th President of the United States(Franklin Pierce) didn't get some wheels greased, then no one did. But the reality is he probably would not have to explicitly ask for it. It would just happen.

And as long as he fulfilled his military obligations, there is no real scandal here. That is why the left is trying so hard to prove he was a slacker. They have no evidence, only mere assertions, suspicions and probably a little jealousy. In truth, the fact that he was a child of privilege mitigates against that possibility of him being a slacker, because upholding the family honor is a well-known concern among children of privilege.

John Kerry, another son of privilege, also tried to get out of Vietnam through deferments. But when he was cornered, he joined the Naval Reserve, got shipped to Vietnam, and probably served with the goal of holding up the family honor in the back of his mind. Why else would he bring the cameras. He learned about the three Purple Hearts loophole, got hit three times, a skedaddled back stateside as soon as possible. No dishonor here either. Any dishonor attributable to Kerry is not due to his service in Vietnam, but his activities as a anti-war activists, and his incendiary speeches before Congress.

But as a side question, if both Kerry and Bush tried to avoid Vietnam, and Bush was successful while Kerry was not, does that indicate that Kerry was/is smarter than Bush?