Politics from North of the 49th Parallel
Published on September 14, 2004 By IanGillespie In Politics

OK, that's a little harsh; a bit of fun on my part. It's some pretty ugly rhetoric -- even in jest -- but likely no worse than what we'll be hearing soon enough on CNN.

Last week saw a renewed effort to impugn George W. Bush's service in the Air National Guard -- and thereby, his integrity as a whole. This scandal hardly made a ripple, but it may only be a hint of what's to come.

Washington has been teeming with rumours that far more sensational charges have already been unearthed. Today, those charges will finally be brought to light by a sure-to-be-best-selling book, "The Family" by the notoriously devastating biographer Kitty Kelley.

Given the sudden flop of last week's scandal, it's apt to compare the new allegations made by Kelley to the Guard allegations already disposed of so effectively by the Bush camp.

The resurgence of TANG stories began with an AP report confirming that Bush missed several months of Guard duty between April and October of 1972. Ironically, Bush's missed drills included "a mission to safeguard against surprise attack". (So, he's got quite a history of fucking that stuff up, doesn't he?)

The Boston Globe quickly followed up with a story revealing that after moving to Massachusetts to attend Harvard, Bush failed to finish his sixth year of service -- despite making a commitment to resume training within 60 days.

60 Minutes II then hit the Bush administration with a double whammy of its own. Dan Rather scored former Texas Lieutenant Governor Ben Barnes' first national interview about keeping Dubya out of Vietnam. Later, CBS added some spice with a few newly discovered, or possibly forged, documents, including a memo ordering Bush to take a flight physical -- an order he never obeyed.

Now that's all very interesting, but well -- no, it's not. That stuff's not interesting. It's boring. It's boring as all hell. It's all documents, and dates, and regulations.

To generate real interest in this stuff you'd at least need a highly organized group of Swift boat liars, or even a reporter willing to ask questions of a "war president".

But it doesn't look like that's gonna happen. We're might just have to rely on sex and drugs for our entertainment this election season. Thankful, we've got Ms. Kelley for that.

From the Sunday Herald:

"Kelly [sic] -- the bitch of biographers who has already assassinated the characters of such luminaries as the Reagans, Frank Sinatra, Jackie Onassis and the Windsors -- says she spoke to the President’s sister-in-law Sharon Bush, who divorced the President’s brother, Neil."

"Sharon Bush apparently told Kelly: 'The President did coke at Camp David when his father was President [1989-93] and not just once either.' ... Sharon Bush, however, is now denying that she made the cocaine claim to Kelly [Sharon Bush denies having made this claim despite Kelley's editor having been present at the time.]."

"Proof of coke use in the late 1980s and early 1990s would mean that Bush used the drug after his reported conversion to Christianity. If that was proved to be the case then the one thing that protects Bush from his hard-partying past -- his born-again status and his repentance for past sins -- would fall to bits."

But wait, there's more:

"Even more damaging is the allegation... that she has gathered 'a great deal of circumstantial evidence' that the President helped arrange for a girlfriend to have an abortion in the 1970s [before Roe v. Wade]."

"Kelly says four friends of the woman who had the abortion provided affidavits to the authoritative US current affairs magazines Time and Newsweek about the abortion but the magazines did not run with the story."

And just for fun, there's this:

"There are even claims that First Lady Laura Bush was a drug dealer in her youth.... Kelly says she was the 'go-to-girl for dime bags' of grass at the Southern Methodist University. Kelly quotes a PR executive, Robert Nash, who says: 'She not only smoked dope but she sold dope.'"

It's sad, not only to see American politics devolve to the point that substance is trumped by scandal, but devolve to the point that even scandal is trumped by more tawdry, personal scandal.

To say that I'm 'of two minds' about this would be an understatement -- I'm of several.

On the one hand, I would never condone the use irrelevant personal smears, but on the other, George W. Bush is a dangerous man, I won't be crying myself to sleep the night he's brought down no matter what the circumstances.

On the one hand, I would never ascribe to an 'injustice for all' view of political retribution, but on the other, perhaps this is the only way by which some will ever learn.

American voters probably don't that believe coke-snorting abortionizers are irredeemably evil, but they certainly long for a breed of leadership that has long since been lacking. Ironically, that is why smears tactics work: they blind us to true leadership. No manner of counter smear will ever lay bare the hypocrisy of such attacks, but exposing what hypocrisy we can will illuminate the simple truth that human weakness knows no party. And those who revel in the politics of personal destruction should remember that.

Ultimately, success or failure is ours. We were young once, and our heroes seemed larger than life. We are older now, and in the omnipresent microscope of media no one seems larger than human. But just as courage cannot exist without fear, human frailty does not diminish our leaders, it provides the contrast that allows them to achieve greatness. We ought to try and remember that, if only occasionally.


Comments (Page 3)
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on Sep 15, 2004
I smoked the marijuana but I did not inhale.

(in best Beavis voice)

Yeah! Yeah!

Me too! Me too!

on Sep 15, 2004



Reply #29 By: ShoZan - 9/15/2004 6:32:05 PM
I smoked the marijuana but I did not inhale.


Oh , I just knew that would come up!

I know exactly how Clinton felt. He explained that in a recent interview , and I said " You are so RIGHT "

I don't smoke. I never have. One day , my girlfriend tried to get me to take a puff of her "weed" . I am also allergic to the smell of marijuana.

I told her no , but she insisted. So , I said , if I take one puff, will you leave me alone and not bug me about it again?

So , I put the cigarette in my mouth and I breathed in . She said " Now inhale "
I said " What in the heck are you talking about , didn't I just inhale when I breathed in the cigarette ? "

No , you've got to take it into your lungs - she said. That was it , I'd had enough.

Try and tell a non smoker how to "take it into their lungs " That was my one and only puff. I didn't inhale, either.

So, once again - reason prevails over this Republican BS.
on Sep 15, 2004
I wonder what kind of logic people have to paint Bush as some idiot who's such a SUPER GENIUS that he's able to be commit all the scandals of which liveletlive accuses him and still be President (and have a good chance of being one for another four years).




Because Bush has faked his way through life , and through power and priviledge and money , has been able to get away with everything.
He used his Father's method of just ignoring the question to deceive and lie and manipulate. He lied about his DUI arrest , and then about the cocaine.
he lied about the war being a last resort, and he lied about WMD. He lied about his Military records and he lied about 9/11. He had to have Dick Cheney there to hold his hand while he was questioned by the 9/11 panel , and he refused to be questioned under oath. Just one of HIS many flip flops.

But it's his handlers ( like Karl Rove and Karen Hughes ) that have had to try and teach him to speak slower so he doesn't screw up as much , and not to use the word
"folks" for terrorists. In other words, Bush is a puppet , with no intelligence and very little heart.

Karen Hughes was on TV recently laughing about how she had to tell W that it's not a good thing to call terrorists " folks " - she thought it was funny.

I think it's pathetic that a grown woman has to tell a grown man that terrorists aren't "folks".
on Sep 15, 2004
So, once again - reason prevails over this Republican BS.


Ask Clinton next time you see him if he ever smoked Cigarettes, or how about Cigars, oh wait he doesn't KNOW how to inhale, ha, but its alright to continue with Bush is a coke fiend, I see you illogical viewpoint there, can't take a jab against your side.

Once again you slap me in the republican genre, when I am not republican, shows how far left you have gone, can't see the middle.

I think Bush was a Coke addict, he loved Coca-Cola too much, and that pisses off Pepsi Drinkers, and myself being an Avid supporter of Dr. Pepper am pissed as well, one more reason for me not to vote for Bush because he likes Coca-Cola, while Kerry likes Pepsi, well damn I want my Dr. Pepper gentelmen and ladies.
on Sep 15, 2004

Reply #33 By: liveletlive - 9/15/2004 7:46:17 PM
I wonder what kind of logic people have to paint Bush as some idiot who's such a SUPER GENIUS that he's able to be commit all the scandals of which liveletlive accuses him and still be President (and have a good chance of being one for another four years).





Because Bush has faked his way through life , and through power and priviledge and money , has been able to get away with everything.
He used his Father's method of just ignoring the question to deceive and lie and manipulate. He lied about his DUI arrest , and then about the cocaine.
he lied about the war being a last resort, and he lied about WMD. He lied about his Military records and he lied about 9/11. He had to have Dick Cheney there to hold his hand while he was questioned by the 9/11 panel , and he refused to be questioned under oath. Just one of HIS many flip flops.

But it's his handlers ( like Karl Rove and Karen Hughes ) that have had to try and teach him to speak slower so he doesn't screw up as much , and not to use the word
"folks" for terrorists. In other words, Bush is a puppet , with no intelligence and very little heart.

Karen Hughes was on TV recently laughing about how she had to tell W that it's not a good thing to call terrorists " folks " - she thought it was funny.

I think it's pathetic that a grown woman has to tell a grown man that terrorists aren't "folks".


Ya know, I'm gonna be dancing in the streets when "you" AND "your" candidate fall on your collective butts!
on Sep 15, 2004
George W. Bush - the only President with a criminal record


John Kerry - WAR criminal record (if you really want to go into the past of both candidates, which you obviously do)

Just one of HIS many flip flops.


how are these flip flops??

I think it's pathetic that a grown woman has to tell a grown man that terrorists aren't "folks".


folks = people.... correct me if im wrong but terrorists are people.... and how is that pathetic? Bush grew up in Texas, he talks different than you...
on Sep 15, 2004


he lied about the war being a last resort


Really? Did he lie? Or did he use the best available intelligence to reach the best available conclusion? Was the war a last resort? Nobody else was stepping up to the plate in Iraq, least of all the UN. What other resorts would you have suggested?

he lied about WMD


Again, did he lie? Did he fabricate photos and documents, and deliberately lie to Congress and the UN to get what he wanted? No. Quite simply, the best intelligence at hand suggested that Iraq did in fact still have WMD and was not obeying the UN concerning such materials. Congress, like the Bush administration, saw this as a threat serious enough to authorize the use of force. The UN saw this as a threat serious enough to issue UNSCR 1441, which, unfortunately, they then refused to follow through with. (I posted something a little more in-depth concerning this just the other night, found at Link)

Does this mean Bush lied? No.

He lied about his Military records and he lied about 9/11


Please, what was it he lied about? Is it fact that he did so? Or is it conjecture and hearsay?

Please provide proof for your comment. And please, please please please, don't tell me it is "my job to find the facts." If you are going to make accusations, it is your responsibility to provide proof. Don't call people ignorant or patronize them when they ask you to prove your accusations. If you want to inform and convince them of the truth, you must prove it to them, not make a statement like

You always want me to check the facts for you. You have the same amount of keys on your keyboard. I know it's hard for you , but try - just try. Someday you'll know the truth.


Quite simply, that is rude and irresponsible. Nobody is asking you to check the facts. They are asking you to back up your statements.



I think it's pathetic that a grown woman has to tell a grown man that terrorists aren't "folks".


This has nothing to do with Bush's intelligence. Simply because he articulates his thoughts in a different manner from you, is no reason to call him pathetic or less intelligent. If he wants to call terrorists "folks," that is his prerogative. Also, what is the context? It is easy to spin things when out of context. If Bush was talking about terrorists, and made a statement such as, "Those are bad folks," then what is your beef? If I say, "Those terrorists are bad dudes," or, "Those are some mean fellas," is that not ok either? Am I stupid for saying such a thing? Not hardly.

And using the word "folks" shows he has "very little heart"? Please explain.
on Sep 15, 2004
DOWN WITH COCA-COLA!

DOWN WITH PEPSI!!!

VIVA LA DR. PEPPER!!!

LET THE SODA POP WARS BEGIN!!!!

on Sep 15, 2004
You always want me to check the facts for you.


I'm not asking you to check any facts for me. You are stating things that have already been discredited. If you were claiming things that hadn't been hashed over dozens of times and debunked, you might have a leg to stand on, but you discredit yourself with accusations that have already been proven either false or without merit. With no supporting evidence, they are called baseless accusations. The fact is, you try to deflect burden of proof because you can't prove any of your accusations. The best you could come up with, if you tried, would be supposition, innuendo, and speculation.




As far as your negative connotations for someone using the word 'folks', you're a bigot. You apparently believe someone's colloquialisms mark them as stupid. So how do you feel about people that use hip hop talk? Or people from upper Michigan? Are they stupid too? Or how about people that don't know the english language well. Are they stupid also?
on Sep 15, 2004

DOWN WITH COCA-COLA!

DOWN WITH PEPSI!!!

VIVA LA DR. PEPPER!!!

LET THE SODA POP WARS BEGIN!!!!


As a moderate, I can honestly say that anybody who chooses Coca-Cola is a fanatical idiot for Pepsi is the only intelligent choice out there and if you think otherwise you belong in a concentration camp!


(Seriously though, I prefer Dr. Pepper to the rest)

on Sep 15, 2004
Lol Pictor, glad to see we are on the same page. Check my post 2 above yours
on Sep 15, 2004
Reply #41 By: guy in the sky - 9/15/2004 9:24:56 PM
Lol Pictor, glad to see we are on the same page. Check my post 2 above yours


Yeah. This guy seems to have some definite preconceptions about folks!
on Sep 16, 2004
As far as your negative connotations for someone using the word 'folks', you're a bigot. You apparently believe someone's colloquialisms mark them as stupid. So how do you feel about people that use hip hop talk? Or people from upper Michigan? Are they stupid too? Or how about people that don't know the english language well. Are they stupid also?




As usual , you come after ME , when you should have read who the real culprit was. But that's the way you guys work. We realize that by now.

Karen Hughes , the same woman who shamefully stood on TV and said the votes not counted were similar to votes not counted in other recent elections.
( Read : We knew we had a problem , but we are too dumb to correct it before a major election, so it's no big deal )

Karen Hughes, Bush's trusted advisor , was the one on TV laughing at how Bush shouldn't use the word "folks" to describe terrorists.
Why don't you send her a nice fat email instead of blaming me for your lack of reading skills.
on Sep 16, 2004
I think it's pathetic that a grown woman has to tell a grown man that terrorists aren't "folks".


I read that just fine, how about you?
on Sep 16, 2004
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