As long as reliving what we did in the late 1960s is all the rage, here’s a thought.
Ben Barnes was the Speaker of the Texas State House back in 1968. And he was the one who pushed young George W. Bush to the head of the Texas Air National Guard queue after dad’s friends came calling. Remember, dad was a congressman from Houston.
Back in 1998, wrote Mike Isikoff in Newsweek in July 2000, “concerned that Barnes might go public with his allegations, the Bush campaign sent Don Evans, a friend of W’s, to hear Barnes’s story. Barnes acknowledged that he hadn’t actually spoken directly to Bush Sr. and had no documents to back up his story. As the Bush campaign saw it, that let both Bushes off the hook.”
Now, as fate would have it, Ben Barnes is a Democrat. Was then, is now. And he supports John Kerry.
But he’s never really spoken openly about how he helped Bush hop in front of everyone else or other aspects of the president’s abbreviated military service, about which he is said to know a great deal.
Maybe now would be the time?
Texas politics is different from Washington politics. Dems and Republicans are often tight. And I believe Barnes’ is a state lobbyist nowadays. So while supporting the Dem nominee may be an acceptable deviation, nailing the president on the Guard issue in what is now a Republican-dominated state probably wouldn’t be good for business.
But maybe now’s the time for him to step up to the plate …
Can’t we get Molly Ivins or some other worthy to put in a call? Maybe just ask him what he thinks of the Swift Boat business.
