Interview · moment 4 of 23
Covering Up Bush's National Guard Record
from Incompetence and Ruthlessness · #8
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
2 minGuest
Baker details how the investigation into Bush's AWOL National Guard service pulled him into researching the whole Bush family, discussing the incompetence-and-ruthlessness combination behind their cover-ups.
- 8:02Bush dodged the military while his father was a prominent government official and managed to cover it up.
- 8:30The story of a party guy who sobered up, found Jesus, and became president is quintessential American.
- 8:55The administration doctored evidence to get into the war and appeared intentionally unwilling to explain themselves afterward.
- 9:25They're not particularly competent at what they do — an odd mix of incompetence and ruthlessness combined.
- 9:52Tim asks whether the guest, as a reporter, considered himself in the mainstream of American political thought before writing the book.