Should We Question How Bush Lost His Wings At The Champagne Unit?

[DrFunkenstein]

Bush was not the only son of rich and powerful families, from both parties, to get a spot in the Texas Guard. His unit near Houston was sometimes called the Champagne Unit because of its famous names. Lloyd Bentsen III, a first lieutenant and son of the future senator and Cabinet secretary, was there, as was Capt. John Connally III, son of the former governor and Cabinet secretary.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&e=1&u=/ap/bush_barnes

In the memos, Killian complained of pressure from higher-ups to give Bush positive evaluations and said Bush talked about how to avoid taking a physical exam in 1972, when Bush eventually skipped six months of training and lost his pilot's wings for missing the exam.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&e=3&u=/ap/bush_national_guard

First he refused to confirm or deny it. Later he would say only that "when I was young and irresponsible, I was young and irresponsible." Next he said that the issue wasn't relevant. Then he said that he wouldn't address "rumors." Then he said that he could pass a standard security check dating back seven years. Finally, he said that he could've passed the security check in his father's White House -- fifteen years.

http://www.progress.org/archive/drc12.htm

According to a new book, three independent sources close to the Bush family report that Governor Bush was arrested in 1972 for cocaine possession, and taken to Harris County Jail, but avoided jail or formal charges through an informal diversion plan involving community service with Project P.U.L.L., an inner city Houston program for troubled youths at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Houston's dirt-poor Third Ward. (In another new book, reporter Bill Minutaglio, writes that the year of community service was arranged by the Governor's father, ex-president Bush, after he caught Bush Jr. driving drunk.)

That year certainly is out of character with the rest of Bush Jr.'s life. Before and after 1972, he was a rich, hard drinking playboy. Suddenly, and only that one time in his life, he worked for a liberal charity in an inner city ghetto. As soon as the year was over, he resumed his previous pattern and has done no charity work since.

http://www.realchange.org/bushjr.htm#cocaine

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Absolutely that issue should be brought up

A president losing his wings because he refused to takea drug test? I think that's pretty significant.

I don't think it matters - it was a long time ago - but it DOES matter because he lies about it, and covers it up. If he would buck up and say "Yeah, that's what I did. it was dumb, I regret it" I'd still hate him just the same, but at least it would be one honest thing he's done.

But with all the hypocrisy and bullshit being flung around by that asshole fuck, this is VERY important stuff.

[DrFunkenstein]

2. Here Is Kerry On Bush's Coke Use

On Monday, Kerry was asked by reporters to explain why he thought that questions surrounding George Bush regarding whether or not he had used cocaine were more substantively relevant than Gore's use of marijuana. Kerry, noting that Al Gore had already admitted his use of marijuana, said:

"(H)e (Gore) said 'I used it.' So that's not an issue... And I don't think Al Gore intends, you know, to make prior use an issue of other people, except to the degree that it affects public policy."

Pressed later on the question of the Bush cocaine rumors, Kerry laid out his thinking on why Bush's drug use, if substantiated, is indeed an important issue for voters to consider:

"The issue about George Bush is not the fact that he may have used it, said Kerry. "The issue about George Bush is, how can you, if you have (used cocaine), have a position that is so at odds in terms of being a governor where you send a lot of other people who may have done the same thing you do to jail. That's the issue. It's not a question of whether he used it or when he used it, it's a question of what his policy is today and whether that's hypocritical and dangerous."

The Week Online spoke with Kerry Spokesman David Wade, who reiterated the Senator's position.

"The Vice President has long admitted that he has used marijuana," said Wade. "Governor Bush, on the other hand, will say only that when he was young and irresponsible, he was young and irresponsible. But when Bush has had the opportunity to score political points in Texas by promulgating tough, extremely punitive new laws against drug users, he has been happy to do so."

http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4508.shtml

You have talked in the past of smoking pot when you returned from Vietnam. What do you think of the way the pot laws are prosecuted today?

We have never had a legitimate War on Drugs in the United States, ever, and we won't until we have treatment on demand for addiction and until you have full drug education in our schools. The mandatory-minimum-sentencing structure of our country is funneling people into jail who have no business being there.

And every year, the number of people arrested for marijuana offenses goes up.

I've met plenty of people in my lifetime who've used marijuana and who I would not qualify as serious addicts -- who use about the same amount as some people drink beer or wine or have a cocktail. I don't get too excited by any of that.

Would you favor decriminalization?

No, not quite. What we did in the prosecutor's office was have a sort of unspoken approach to marijuana that was almost effectively decriminalization. We just didn't bother with small-time use. It doesn't rise to the level of nuisance, even. And what we were after was people dealing with heroin and destroying lives, and people who were killing people. That's where you need to focus.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story?id=5939886&pageid=rs.PoliticsArchive&pageregion=mainRegion&rnd=1092930440441&has-player=unknown

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. Wow - good stuff!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

4. Bush would be promoting his experience in Project P.U.L.L. if

all it involved was community service in a black and low-income area. In fact, he would have shoved it at us constantly, along with people he'd met in that work. Bush would do ANYTHING to get black votes and be seen as a compassionate conservative. But apparently he doesn't want anyone to go there.

[DrFunkenstein]

5. Compassion Means Helping Black People