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 1)
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on Sep 14, 2004
Word is that Sharon Bush asked Ms Kelley for the interview tapes to prove Ms. Kelley's statements. But Ms Kelley says the tapes had been earased. If you had one of the most inporant interviews of your life, would you earase them?

Reporters keep tapes for this very reason.
on Sep 14, 2004
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
Wholly cow what a load of crap!  I guess if Kitty wants to make herself out to be the queen bitch of gossip, attacking the one public figure everyone agrees they like, i.e. Laura Bush, is the the right way to go about it.  It all just seems like a pathetic attempt to essentially say "Yeah, our guy can't can't answer stuff about his character but look what your guy did 30 yrs ago".  It is all coming off as very sophmoric and sad.
on Sep 14, 2004

Reply #1 By: Lee1776 - 9/14/2004 10:06:35 AM
Word is that Sharon Bush asked Ms Kelley for the interview tapes to prove Ms. Kelley's statements. But Ms Kelley says the tapes had been earased. If you had one of the most inporant interviews of your life, would you earase them?

Reporters keep tapes for this very reason.


"Most" of the reputable news centers are (at least in this country) refusing to do an interview of her about the book.
on Sep 14, 2004
"Most" of the reputable news centers are (at least in this country) refusing to do an interview of her about the book.


Except, CBS that has three scheduled.

I think they are realy showing how thier integrity is going down hill fast.
on Sep 14, 2004
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.


No matter what the circumstances?

I presume that would include murder/assasination?

A little harsh, don't you think?

This type of radical attitude could very well be part of what is causing the shift to conservatism in the general population for the last 20 years or so.

The Democrats have become such a negative party. A shame since they really were about positive ideals back in the '60's. Can anyone imagine MLK espousing any means possible, including violence? Or saying he 'hated' a sitting president?
on Sep 14, 2004


It is well known from the FIRST campaign that George W. Bush used cocaine.

This was an issue that his Republican competitors insisted he must "come clean" on , until he won the nomination , then of course, they were all hush hush.

If someone walked up to you and asked if you used cocaine, a person could say yes or no. I could definitely say NO.

Bush was asked the question, and he didn't answer it. He did his ol' two step saying something like : " I've made many mistakes in the past , but I learned from my mistakes"

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HE SAID - WHEN IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT HE HAD LIED ABOUT BEING ARRESTED FOR DWI / DUI .

George Bush belongs in jail ( and so does Neil Bush ) , not in the White House. What a poor role model he is for your kids. Drunk, Drugs, lying, being so innept that thousands of Americans were killed on 9 / 11 , and sending American children to a war that wasn't even needed. Then there's the thousands of Iraqi's killed and
the hatred everyone feels for Bush , and us. Bush : the only President with a criminal record.
on Sep 14, 2004



BTW , on the news yesterday it was stated that Kitty Kelly checks her facts so carefully that she has never been successfully sued.
on Sep 14, 2004
You have a short memory
CLINTON
millions spent to derail the President for irrelevant personal behaviors
The President who nevertheless successfully stopped the Millenium terrorist bomb plot because HE ASKED THE RIGHT QUESTIONS AND GOT RESULTS

The GOP has been running hate based elections since 1928. Don't lecture here.
on Sep 14, 2004
No matter what the circumstances?

I presume that would include murder/assasination?

A little harsh, don't you think?

This type of radical attitude could very well be part of what is causing the shift to conservatism in the general population for the last 20 years or so.

The Democrats have become such a negative party. A shame since they really were about positive ideals back in the '60's. Can anyone imagine MLK espousing any means possible, including violence? Or saying he 'hated' a sitting president?


It's definitely made me lose respect for the Democrats. Who knows, if a Democrat decides to "silence" the opposition, these people might say to themselves "it was necessary for they were under mind control for not believing exactly what I believe!"

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.


What's funny is that if the same thing is done to Kerry (or if the election is "stolen" from him), the same people that'll accept corruption to take down Bush will be crying blood murder because they've psychopathic hypocrites.
on Sep 14, 2004
I feel like this "revelation" is too little too late, look how Bush defenders are already decrying the accusations.

"That stuff didn't happen! Bush is a righteous guy, even if this stuff did happen, he's not doing it now, this is just smear, it has no effect on the veracity of Bush's words!" etc. etc. .

Whatever...
on Sep 14, 2004
That stuff didn't happen! Bush is a righteous guy, even if this stuff did happen, he's not doing it now, this is just a smear, it has no effect on the veracity of Bush's words!
on Sep 14, 2004
on Sep 14, 2004

Reply #6 By: liveletlive - 9/14/2004 2:09:50 PM


It is well known from the FIRST campaign that George W. Bush used cocaine.

This was an issue that his Republican competitors insisted he must "come clean" on , until he won the nomination , then of course, they were all hush hush.

If someone walked up to you and asked if you used cocaine, a person could say yes or no. I could definitely say NO.

Bush was asked the question, and he didn't answer it. He did his ol' two step saying something like : " I've made many mistakes in the past , but I learned from my mistakes"

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HE SAID - WHEN IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT HE HAD LIED ABOUT BEING ARRESTED FOR DWI / DUI .

George Bush belongs in jail ( and so does Neil Bush ) , not in the White House. What a poor role model he is for your kids. Drunk, Drugs, lying, being so innept that thousands of Americans were killed on 9 / 11 , and sending American children to a war that wasn't even needed. Then there's the thousands of Iraqi's killed and
the hatred everyone feels for Bush , and us. Bush : the only President with a criminal record.


I was going to stay out of this one. But I can't any longer. This BS is an outright lie! On this one I'm going to demand proof! And please don't give me proof from any pro-kerry/anti bush site!
on Sep 14, 2004



There's not one lie in that post - it's all true. I remember it all after watching many newscasts , and I do watch alot of news.

Where were you that you missed all of this? I saw Bush say it to a reporter. Why do you people who call those who tell the truth "Liars", when you are to lazy to find out on your own?

Because you know it's true.
on Sep 14, 2004



Oh, I forgot - The "liberal media " ( ha hahahaha ) makes Bush look better by deleting all of the things that make him look bad - every day I see it.

They don't have the time to waste their broadcasts on his blunders.
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