The Decatur Daily (Alabama) published an interview this morning with former Air Force Sgt. James Copeland, who insists that he saw George W. Bush doing his required drills at Dannelly Air National Guard Base in Montgomery, AL during the period CBS and Democrats claim he was AWOL:

Copeland, who lives in Hartselle, retired from the Air Force on Jan. 31, 1980. He was the disbursement accounting supervisor, a full-time position, for Dannelly Air National Guard Base in Montgomery from Oct. 28, 1971, to Oct. 27, 1975. His office was less than 100 yards from the hangar where Bush performed drills.

Rumors say Bush went AWOL while assisting Winton "Red" Blount in an unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate focus on 1972 and 1973.

Copeland, 65, remembers meeting Bush on two occasions. He does not remember the precise dates. On one occasion, Copeland said, Bush and Lt. Col. John "Bill" Calhoun came to Copeland's office with a question about Bush's pay. Copeland is not sure, but he believes the question had to do with where to mail Bush's checks.

Copeland also backs up previous AANG witness Lt. Col. John Calhoun, who earlier this year verified Bush's service in Alabama:

Copeland stressed that Calhoun's account of Bush's service in Montgomery would be accurate because Calhoun was in a position to work with Bush during every drill. Calhoun told The Associated Press last week that he saw Bush every drill time, which was one weekend each month.

Not only was Calhoun in a position to know of Bush's service, Copeland said, but Calhoun "was an ethical and honest officer."

And the Decatur Daily, in a demonstration of actual investigative journalism that the spoiled brats at CBS could only envy, actually looked around for witnesses at the Winton Blount campaign to see if Bush missed any campaign events because of his National Guard duties. Bingo!

Joe Holcombe, 71, of Joppa worked with Bush on the Blount campaign. He told THE DAILY last week that he remembers Bush missing at least one campaign meeting because of his National Guard drills.

Perhaps when the story of the 2004 campaign is written for history, the only one noted as the loser will be the candidate who didn't get into the White House. However, those of us who lived through it will recall that the biggest losers of all were the mainstream media outlets who rabidly pursued their partisan agendas, chasing after unsourced myths and promoting obvious forgeries to support their agenda, while ignoring over 250 combat veterans who went on record and supplied evidence regarding the malfeasance of their preferred candidate.

I'd call it Bonfire of the Vanities is the name hadn't already been taken. Perhaps we'll just call it The Year Of The Fallen Masks. (Hat tip: Amelia.)

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