Advantage: Incumbent (and I ain’t talking tennis)

[JimB.]

http://www.nationalreview.com/babbin/babbin200402190855.asp

"First, let's dispense with the idea that Bush was some sort of chicken hawk, hiding in the National Guard while others risked their lives. According to four of the pilots who flew with him, then-Lieutenant George W. Bush was a better-than-average pilot who did a dangerous job very well. "



Retired Col. Bill Campenni was one of President Bush's squadron mates. The Texas ANG had the F-102, and probably wished it didn't. According to Campenni, "The F-102 was underpowered and, unlike modern fighters, had a split front view through the canopy. It literally had a bar down the center, so you'd have one eye on each side of the bar. It also had a built in altimeter error of up to 500 feet, which made it interesting when you were at 500 feet out over the ocean at night." Flying and training in the '102 was a dangerous job that required a lot of smarts and flying skill.

Bob Harmon is another of Bush's former squadron mates. At the time, Harmon was an instructor pilot. He remembers Bush as a "young, affable guy" and an above-average pilot, very good for his level of experience.

The first American jet fighters to be deployed to Vietnam were F-102s of the 509th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. When Lt. Bush signed up for fighters and joined the 111th FIS, he stood ready to deploy to Vietnam, as did every other Air National Guard pilot. In fact, he tried to volunteer for Vietnam.

But the inexperience didn't prevent Bush — along with Bradley — from going to their squadron leaders to see if they could get into a program called "Palace Alert." "There were four of us lieutenants at the time, and we were all fairly close. Two of them had more flight time than the president and me, said Bradley." All four volunteered for Vietnam.................. Bush and Bradley were turned away, and the two more senior pilots went to Vietnam

Bush's old squadron-mates have the same confidence in him now they had when they flew with him. Bradley said, "I've always thought he was an intelligent, likeable, level-headed person." According to Glavin, "George was a smart man, an excellent pilot, and I'd fly with him again tomorrow, and I will vote for him in November." Which is about as high as praise gets among the jet jocks.

 

[peachgirl]

Originally posted by JimB.
Nice Try.

Those that fly in the military do not have licenses.

& I betcha' he COULD fly today. Maybe not that WELL, but he could. It's been 10 years since I last flew & I'm confident I could do it again right now.



Such as? As PG is want to say, "Please post a verifiable link with your facts"

It's not a try, it's a fact...license revoked or removed from flight status...it's all the same thing. He didn't fufill the minimum requirements to continue flying and this was before his early discharge.

Tell ya' what, he hasn't flown a plane in over 30 years...you fly with him. When you fly, it's pretty important that you do it well.

Oh and btw, Peachgirl has never, ever, not once said "verifiable link". Just wanted to clear that up.

I thought he did fly one that infamous day he said "Mission Accomplished"?

 

[charlie,nj]

Reporting for duty!

 

[beattyfamily]

Schwarzenegger is on!!!!!

 

[Peter Pirate]

...FYI, it was 1260, well into the 95%...

What??? It actually was 1206 (on a 1600 scale)...NOT good enough to get into Yale yet still above average. Tsk,tsk, tsk, more misinformation from the right...BTW, Al Gore scored 1355 despite all the republican reports that "W"'s was higher.

 

[TimeforMe]

Originally posted by JimB.
Did being GHWB's kid help him get in? Probably. But it didn't help him get OUT.

Ummmm, YEAH. Especially since there's a whole wing donated by the Bush family.

 

[TimeforMe]

Originally posted by beattyfamily
Whatever. What's the point? I have an opinion that you don't become President of the US if you are dumb and it just surprises me that others think you can. I really don't want to debate my opinion any further.

In other words, you don't want to "defend" your opinion any further. Fine. My point is that I've met many, many educated people in my life but it doesn't mean they're intelligent or qualified enough to run the country. W falls into this category.

 

[Elwood Blues]

Originally posted by TimeforMe
My point is that I've met many, many educated people in my life but it doesn't mean they're intelligent or qualified enough to run the country.

You mean you actually met Kerry???

 

[TimeforMe]

Actually, I have and Bush Sr., too. Formal education does not equal intelligence--that's the point.

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by TimeforMe
In other words, you don't want to "defend" your opinion any further. Fine. My point is that I've met many, many educated people in my life but it doesn't mean they're intelligent or qualified enough to run the country. W falls into this category.

Why should I defend my opinion to you? Is this a debate board or thread?? What really is the point in that?

IMHO, I do not think you can become the President and be dumb especially if you learned to fly jets, went to Yale, and became the Governor of Texas. It's my opinion. See ya!

 

[Aristocath]

You can be dumb and become the governor of Texas. Look in our history books and you'll find several instances of idiots being elected. I am a proud native Texan and former Texas History teacher and this is just a sad fact. I'd cite them all for you now but I have got to go to bed.

Cathy

 

[JimB.]

It actually was 1206 (on a 1600 scale)...

Ooops.. syntax error. sorry.

But this little tidbit from the following link..............

http://boards.historychannel.com/threadedout.jsp?forum=30048&thread=300020899

Then there's George Bush SAT score of 1206 (which is "the equivalent of a 1280 under today's dumbed-down scoring system").

That's a superb score. In fact, as "Linda Gottfredson, co-director of the University of Delaware-Johns Hopkins Project for the Study of Intelligence and Society, told United Press International: "I recently converted Bush's SAT score to an IQ using the high school norms available for his age cohort. Educational Testing Service happened to have done a study of representative high school students within a year or so of when he took the test. I derived an IQ of 125, which is the 95th percentile." In other words, only one out of 20 people would score higher."

 

[MinnieYC]

Originally posted by JimB.
What was his score?? FYI, it was 1260. Well into the 95% +. Did being GHWB's kid help him get in? Probably. But it didn't help him get OUT.

A 1260 is nowhere near the 95% level. Considering that every year, Yale rejects many applicants with perfect 1600 scores, and that the average SAT of a Yalie is about 1500, I believe, if a student gets in without even a 1300, something may very well be happening...

Once you're at Yale, it's hard to earn As or Bs, but not hard to pass, as long as you avoid certain courses. My source? My first-hand experiences, plus those of DH and most of our friends.

 

[WillyJ]

Bush recieved points that allowed him to be accepted at Yale but his father being a Yale grad; his grandfather being a Yale grad; and because of his superior. .

Cheerleader skills. .

 

[Bobbles]

Instead of throwing negative references to President Bush's or Senator Kerry's past or their personalities, I have decided that it is simple enough for me to say that I just don't agree with President Bush's policies in Iraq and will vote for Senator Kerry.

I think some serious errors in judgement were made leading up to the war.

It's kind of when your quarterback is having a bad season, replace him.

Sometimes I wonder why we can't have primaries even for an incumbent president. I guess the cost would be pretty extreme in several ways.

 

[Bobbles]

Originally posted by JimB.
What was his score?? FYI, it was 1260. Well into the 95% +. Did being GHWB's kid help him get in? Probably. But it didn't help him get OUT.

The liberal icon, the late Senator Paul Wellstone scored less than 900.

Bill Bradley is reported to have scores >485 on the verbal portion. Oh, BTW, he graduated from Princeton. Wonder who pulled strings for him?

BTW, what were Kerry's SAT scores??

I know how hard it is to trust the internet these days, but where did you get the 1260?

http://www.insidepolitics.org/heard/heard32300.html

Is this data wrong?

This is not meant to slight President Bush's SAT score. Just questioning JimB's data.

 

[Planogirl]

Originally posted by Aristocath
You can be dumb and become the governor of Texas. Look in our history books and you'll find several instances of idiots being elected. I am a proud native Texan and former Texas History teacher and this is just a sad fact. I'd cite them all for you now but I have got to go to bed.

Cathy

I was just thinking that. Bush aside, we've definitely had some winners.