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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (4061)	8/21/1999 6:44:00 PM
From: chalu2	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

But seriously, Michelle, this is now getting interesting. Let us assume Presidential Candidate X makes one of the following five statements: A. "Twenty five years ago, I committed arson and burned down a building I owned so that I would receive the insurance proceeds. It was wrong, and I will regret it for the rest of my life." B. "Right after college, I was in a difficult bind for money. A friend and I committed an armed robbery in which we obtained a small amount of cash, and a 7/11 employee was shot. He recovered fully from his wounds. It was wrong...." C. "As a trustee of a will, I embezzled funds 25 years ago in order to pay off a mortgage debt. Otherwise, I would have lost my house. It was wrong..." D. "As a much younger man, I passed secrets to the Communist Chinese. It was wrong..." E. "Im my youth, over 20 years ago, I was a recreational user of marijuana, cocaine and, on one unfortunate occasion, LSD. It was wrong...." From what I can tell, even the most hard core conservatives seem willing to forgive E, but would never forgive A, B, C or D. At least not in a Presidential candidate. Now all of these are felonies, but only one is a forgivable felony. Why? Because we like the candidate, or because public opinion is shifting on how drug users should be treated? If we now believe that drug addiction (like alcoholism) is an illness, then the sick should be let out of prison into treatment programs. I think all Republican and Democrat candidates should adopt this stance. That GWB strengthened possession penalties while in office does not speak well of his character, as he's been there and done that, even if long ago. And I'll reiterate that if cocaine users sit in prisons, then room should be made made for alcoholics, chain smokers and compulsive gamblers.