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February 10, 2012
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David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
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Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
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Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
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Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
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David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
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Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
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January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Feb. 24, 2005
/ 15 Adar I, 5765
Oh, hurt us some more
By
James Lileks
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The evidence would seem to suggest that President Bush tried reefer as a young man.
Well, there goes his chance for a third term.
We refer of course to the secret tapes of Gov. Bush, made by an old pal, Doug Wead who, by some odd turn of events, has a book to sell. Bush comes off quite well on the tapes tart, straightforward, politically canny, and given to handing out frat-boy nicknames. (He calls Wead "Weadnik," but the tapes end before we learn if he called John Ashcroft "Croftmeister" or "Ashy-Ash.") In other words, the Bush some know and love, or the Bush some don't know and hate.
Perhaps The New York Times put the reefer reference high in its story, as it were, to focus national attention on the stunning revelation that young Bush did not walk the straight and narrow path before he got religion. Will the charges thrill the nastier depths of the Bush-hating blogs? It's hypocrisy, don't you know. Conservatives are against drugs, Bush probably tried some, and ergo they have no moral standing to conduct the war on drugs. Legalize them! Let a thousand meth labs bloom!
It's a strange sort of "gotcha," and might make more sense if President Bush had previously insisted he spent his formative years in a monastery copying out Bible verses.
In a way, the tapes' revelations illustrate the virtues of hypocrisy: "I don't want some little kid doing what I tried," Bush insisted. Every parent understands this: Your past may not contain the lessons you wish to teach. "Well, son, once I got so stoned my hands felt like canned hams, and I put the car in the river and sank to the bottom, but once I remembered it was a convertible, I swam right out. So heck, smoke up; here's the keys."
The tapes highlight another issue about which the right is frequently called hypocritical: Bush and gays. Which brings us to a matter burning up the lefty blogs: the Jeff Gannon case. He was a reporter for a little-known conservative news service who got access to the White House press room, and a controversy burbled up when this supposed Bush fave and possible (gasp!) Rove plant had a past connected to gay escort services.
Because Bush and the right oppose gay marriage at least by judicial fiat they are therefore homophobic, because there is no other possible reason to oppose redefining marriage. Zip. Right? Ergo discovering that a Bush-friendly reporter in the White House pool had a salacious gay past reeks of hypocrisy, because A) Bush called on him a few times, and B) surely he was planted by Lord Rove whose devious ability to micromanage every jot and tittle of modern political theater seems to have abandoned him here.
The tapes, however, show that Bush harbored no animus for gays. Wead says that a supporter was telling people Bush had promised not to hire gays. "No, what I said was I wouldn't fire gays," Bush says, irritated. In one passage Bush recounts a meeting with a minister who seemed to wish Bush would knock the gays for kicks 'n' grins. "I not going to kick gays," he said to Wead, "because I'm a sinner. How can I differentiate sin?" He later remarked that "this is an issue I have been trying to downplay. I think it is bad for Republicans to be kicking gays."
You could read the second statement as an expression of political calculation, but you can't ignore the first one. You can disagree with the terminology the "sin" bit strikes many as quaint, no doubt but you don't see a man who can't wait to start the pogroms. No matter; it won't endear him to his enemies. At this point, nothing could.
Wead says he has more tapes. Perhaps there's a playground conversation from second grade in which young Bush expresses his doubts that European diplomatic pressure will be sufficient to keep Iran from getting a nuke. Sure, release it all; never mind those pesky privacy problems. If this is the sort of damaging material Bush's foes have hoped for, Sith Master Rove can be thinking only one thing: More, please. Oh, hurt us some more.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in uplifting articles.
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JWR contributor James Lileks is a columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Comment by clicking here.
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© 2005, James Lileks
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