Washington Post 1999:
COHEN: "BUSH IS A FIFTH AMENDMENT COKEHEAD."
"Using cocaine is a crime for which many go to jail. The issue, then, is not so much what Bush did in the past but whether he is a hypocrite in the present. After all, he is tough as nails on drugs, having supported state legislation mandating jail for anyone caught with cocaine, even less than a gram. Would a bystander with the hearing of a German shepherd have heard him murmur, 'There but for the grace of God go I?' It would be nice to know. I happen to think Bush is a Fifth Amendment cokehead. If he had not used the stuff, he would certainly say so. After all, it's not as if he is such a reticent fellow. He has told us much about his past -- his drinking, his carousing, his lost youth, his meandering career path and how he gave up booze and found God. This is a stirring tale, and I am moved every time I hear it. But to quote yet another magazine (the National Review), 'If politicians want us to respect their privacy, they will first have to respect it themselves.' This, clearly, Bush has not done. He tells us, for example, that he never committed adultery but becomes indignant when the pesky press asks about cocaine use. It is an inconsistent position and leaves us all a bit in the dark: What, if anything, has Bush learned from the life he once led? Why, for instance, does he think that people who use cocaine recreationally ought to go to jail? What about marijuana or, for that matter, heroin? Does he think that if -- just if -- he once used marijuana or cocaine he should have done jail time? Can he empathize with others or, possibly, has his own experience convinced him that we ought to have jail as a deterrent? Should 600,000 people be arrested annually for breaking the marijuana laws? We would like to know." Washington Post, 8/19/99
POLITEX: BUSH PLAYING GAME OF "OBFUSCATION" ABOUT DRUGS. While Bush has told reporters that he doesn't want to play the Washington, D.C. game of "Gotcha," he wants reporters to play the Austin, Tx. game of "Obfuscation." Just as Bush says U.S. citizens are sick of "Gotcha," Politex says Texans are sick of "Obfuscation" Take Funeralgate. In a July affidavit Bush indicated that there was no need for him to honor a subpoena because he has "had no conversations with SCI officials, agents, or representatives concerning the investigation or any dispute arising from it.'' .Over a week ago the content of a brief (20 seconds, we've been told), conversation between Bush and Funeral-Home boss Robert Waltrip was quoted by Waltrip's lawyer. Neither Bush nor his spinners contradicted the specifics of the conversation, and they have said all along that the conversation had nothing to do with a citizen's suit against Texas and Waltrip. On Wednesday the lawyers for the suit claimed that, based on the quotations provided by Waltrip's lawyer, Bush filed a false affidavit regarding the conversation. On Thursday Bush "said he could not recall what was discussed" in his conversation with Waltrip. (Reuters, 8/19/99 ) Here's another. Early in the week Texas Rep. Glen Maxey (D), the only openly gay Texas legislator, told the Houston Chronicle that during the session Bush " put his hands on my shoulders and he pulled me in where almost our noses were touching, It's almost an uncomfortable level where he gets really close and personal, nose to nose. And he says to me, 'I value you as a person and I value you as a human being, and I want you to know, Glen, that what I say publicly about gay people doesn't pertain to you,' '' Bush has yet to deny Maxey's report, but Bush spinner Scott McClellan claims it never happened: ""He congratulated him on passing the Children's Insurance bill. That was the extent of the conversation.'' McClellan did not reveal the source of his information.
Now, we wonder how long it will take the nation to get sick of Bush's game of "Obfuscation." Here's how it has worked with his cocaine crisis. According to Washington Post reporter Dan Balz, "Bush has privately reassured some top supporters that his 'youthful mistakes' did not involve hard drugs and would not disqualify him to be president, according to several sources." If that's really the case, why can't Bush assure the American people? Is it because the only people that really count in Dubya's world are people with big money? Why can't Bush tell the average citizen that "his 'youthful mistakes' did not involve hard drugs"? Why is he playing "Obfuscation"? With respect to his drip-feeding of cocaine facts to the American people, few TV talk show reporters have addressed Bush's reason for providing information as he did. Those who have addressed that topic suggest that the Bush temper took over his common sense, and once the original "Not in 7 Years" story was out of the bag, Bush and the spinners spent the next 48 hours revising the story, evantually turning it into "Not in 25 Years." One scribe suggested that's what can happen at any time when Bush makes a campaign stop without one of his press spokespersons nearby. Another factor was that Bush was being pressed for an answer by the reporters and he grew angry. According to Balz, Bush's original "7 years" response was in answer to a a question about what he would do as President, not what he had done in the past, and Bush decided that it was relevant. By the following day, his spinners evolved the answer to cover the last 25 years, but Bush never said that, which is why the New York Times headline read that Bush "implied" 25 years. Wednesday and Thursdaay were filled with many statements, clarifications, and contradictions by Bush and his spinners, indicating how the game of "Obfuscation" is played in Texas. However, the final obfuscation is that Bush finally never really addressed his own question: could he pass the current White House test? Based on what Bush has said thus far, the answer is, no: "Bush's answer yesterday fell short of the standard required of senior government officials both in the Bush administration and in the Clinton administration, who must reveal drug use back to age 18," wrote Balz. Further, Bush has never addressed the specific question reporters have been asking for months: Did he ever use cocaine? "Yes" or "no" would suffice. We don't want to play the Austin, Texas game of "Obfuscation." 8/21-23/99 |
