Ben Barnes: John Kerry’s Unbelievable Last-Ditch Weapon

[See also: Ben Barnes Says He OK'd Bush for Guard]

So now CBS is helping the Dems try to sell their spiel about Republican Congressman George H. W. Bush having used his influence with an influential Texas Democrat to get his son into the Air National Guard. Learn more about upstanding paragon of virtue Ben Barnes:

Ben Barnes: John Kerry’s Unbelievable Last-Ditch Weapon

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[B]efore anybody swallows the story Ben Barnes tells, America needs to know some things about Mr. Barnes that CBS and the rest of the establishment media are unlikely to mention.

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"[A]fter he was involved in a bribery and stock fraud scandal in the early 1970s,” wrote leftwing Mother Jones Magazine, Barnes “never held office again. He was involved with a number of banks and thrifts that were mentioned during the S&L crisis, and forced into bankruptcy when the Texas thrift industry cratered in the late 1980s.”

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As CNN reported in 1999, “the Los Angeles Times said it found no evidence that either Bush or his father, former President George Bush, had personally tried to influence or pressure anyone to get the younger Bush a place in the Texas
Guard.”

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WHO IS BEN BARNES? -- A Deep-Pocketed Kerry Partisan Who Can't Keep His Stories Straight

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Sharpstown Bank Scandal In 1971 Ended Barnes' Political Career. "The Sharpstown Scandal: This scandal involved quick-profit stock sales for lawmakers and state officials in 1971-72. Houston financier Frank Sharp arranged the stock loans from his Sharpstown State Bank, purportedly to grease the passage of two banking bills. Two dozen former and sitting officials were accused, and others suffered by association. House Speaker Gus Mutscher and another legislator were convicted of conspiring to
accept a bribe. Gov. Preston Smith lost the governorship after his profit was disclosed. Half the Texas House was voted out of office or didn't seek re-election. And Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, a rising political star, was caught in the housecleaning when he tried to win the governor's seat. LBJ had even predicted that Barnes would make it to the White House."

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