David Corn
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
How many times have you heard a
Clintonphobe brand the President a dope-smoking this or that? All those
GOPers and conservatives who once were incensed that Clinton toked now
don’t seem to give a hoot whether Bush the Younger lit up, did lines or
popped. Allowing W. to skip out on the did-you-do-drugs question, the
party has embraced him as the prodigal son. Let’s call this progress, a
sign that uptight Republicans have eased up on their obsession with
drugs.
Still, has Bush really dodged the Big-D bullet? He’s tried to grant himself blanket immunity, saying he had his wild days but that when he turned 40, he cast off the booze, went born-again. Drugs, though, are not part of his self-confession. When queried on the subject, he does a Texas two-step.
Diane Sawyer last month asked Gov. Bush why he won’t address the matter, and he replied, "Because there’s a Washington game that tries to get people like me to chase every rumor. See, the game is to try to destroy somebody’s reputation and what I am going to tell people is that 20 to 30 years ago I made mistakes, but what people need to know about me is that I’ve learned from my mistakes. And there needs to be a consistent message from people in my generation that says to kids, drugs will destroy your life, abusing alcohol will destroy your life."
It’s only out of concern for the kids that he won’t play this "Washington game."
How considerate.
But, for merely argument’s sake, assume Bush was a fierce cokehead during the high-flying oil-boom days of the 1980s, then he learned to say no and becomes president of the United States. That’s a great story. It’s inspirational. It tells children that even if you stray into the dark corners of recreational drug use you still can grow up, shake the habit and be president. That’s much more believable than the lie that all drug use is evil, wrong and destined to ruin your life.
Bush could deliver a real-life message regarding drugs, but he’s being too coy. Shortly before he told Sawyer he wouldn’t participate in the game of drug-use gotcha, he said to USA Today, "I’m not ready for rumors and gossip. I’m ready for the truth. Surely people will learn the truth." If Bush wants the truth to beat out rumor, that can be achieved easily. All he has to do is spill it. If he wants the public to know the truth about his drug use -- and not the rumors (and there is plenty of delicious but unconfirmed chitchat on this front) -- he can arrange that.
After this nation was subjected to too many details about Clinton’s private amusements, it would be natural if many Americans were disinterested in W.’s past personal behavior.
But Bush has not shied away from making the personal behavior of others a political issue. A year ago when he spoke before conservatives in Los Angeles, he noted that 30 percent of all births in Texas were in single-mother families, and he called these families "fatherless, jobless and G-dless."
G-dless?
Who’s playing judge here? Was he saying that out-of-wedlock children are
damned? Must one be married to live within the loving embrace of G-d? In
the same speech, Bush said, "We are living in a time of moral
indifference. I advocate abstaining from sex until you find your right
life partner." Now that he’s married, he wants there to be no sex among
the unmarried. If he wants to be elected national preacher, it’s fair to
wonder how his past walking holds up to his current
JWR contributor David Corn, Washington Editor of The
Nation, writes the "Loyal Opposition" column for The New York Press.
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