Gandalf Grey
2004-09-09 16:46:15 UTC
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=559273
Bush faces pressure over drugs and draft
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
08 September 2004
After weeks in which John Kerry's military record has been picked to pieces,
President George Bush now faces a double blast of scrutiny over his own
past, raising new questions over his avoidance of the Vietnam draft and his
alleged use of drugs.
The first salvo is due to be fired on CBS tonight, when Ben Barnes, a
Democrat and the lieutenant governor of Texas in 1968, will explain his role
in securing for the 22-year-old Yale graduate Bush a coveted place in the
state's Air National Guard - a unit so full of the sons of Texas's rich and
powerful that it was known as the "Champagne Unit".
The saga of the future President's failure to go to Vietnam has inevitably
returned to the headlines here as counterpoint to the controversy over his
opponent's war record, amid accusations by a group of veterans that Mr Kerry
has lied over his service in Vietnam, for which he received five
decorations.
In recent months Mr Barnes has said he feels "very ashamed" about helping Mr
Bush and the sons of other prominent Texans, and is said to have told
friends that he did it to "collect chits" from powerful families. In the
interview he is expected to expand on these comments.
In a predictably scathing reaction, the Bush campaign - long prepared for a
counterattack on the Vietnam issue after the furore over the ads about Mr
Kerry - has dismissed Mr Barnes as a "partisan Democrat", peddling a rehash
of old allegations against the President. Last week George Bush Snr, the
former president, described charges that he pulled strings for his son as
"total lies". Mr Barnes himself has acknowledged he received no direct
approach from the Bush family to have George W admitted in the Texas
National Guard - a virtual guarantee that he would not be sent to Vietnam.
More trouble may be heading Mr Bush's way with the publication next week of
The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty, by the controversial
muckraking biographer Kitty Kelley, which purports to give more details of
the President's past misbehaviour, including the allegation he used cocaine
at Camp David during his father's Presidency between 1989 and 1993.
Rumours of youthful drug taking by Mr Bush have often surfaced. Though he
has admitted to being an alcoholic until he gave up drinking completely in
1986, he has sidestepped the cocaine stories. Questioned on the issue during
the 2000 campaign, he acknowledged merely that he had made "some mistakes"
and that he had learned from those mistakes.
The latest book by Ms Kelley, said to be the fruit of four years' research,
follows previous unflattering studies of Nancy Reagan, Frank Sinatra and the
British Royal family.
Using the same tactic as against Mr Barnes, the White House commented that
The Family appeared to be filled "with the same trash discredited years
ago".
The most sensational allegation in the book is that the Presidential son
used cocaine at Camp David. The source is reportedly Sharon Bush, his former
sister-in-law, who was involved in a messy divorce in 2003 from the
President's younger brother Neil after 22 years of marriage.
Ms Kelley says that the Bush family used their power and wealth to cover up
scandals.
She alleges that George W Bush began to drink at high school, and continued
to do so at Yale.
She quotes one former student as saying, "Poor Georgie, he couldn't relate
to women unless he was loaded."
Perhaps the book's most improbable claim is that Laura Bush, now the model
of primness and propriety as First Lady, both sold and smoked marijuana
during her days at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
--
--
FAIR USE NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which
has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am
making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of
environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and
social justice issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any
such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so
long as I'm the dictator." - GW Bush 12/18/2000.
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop
thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do
we."
--George Bush. Aug. 5th., 2004
"Because America is powerful, we must be sensitive about
expressing our power and influence."
---George Bush, 3/4/01
Bush faces pressure over drugs and draft
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
08 September 2004
After weeks in which John Kerry's military record has been picked to pieces,
President George Bush now faces a double blast of scrutiny over his own
past, raising new questions over his avoidance of the Vietnam draft and his
alleged use of drugs.
The first salvo is due to be fired on CBS tonight, when Ben Barnes, a
Democrat and the lieutenant governor of Texas in 1968, will explain his role
in securing for the 22-year-old Yale graduate Bush a coveted place in the
state's Air National Guard - a unit so full of the sons of Texas's rich and
powerful that it was known as the "Champagne Unit".
The saga of the future President's failure to go to Vietnam has inevitably
returned to the headlines here as counterpoint to the controversy over his
opponent's war record, amid accusations by a group of veterans that Mr Kerry
has lied over his service in Vietnam, for which he received five
decorations.
In recent months Mr Barnes has said he feels "very ashamed" about helping Mr
Bush and the sons of other prominent Texans, and is said to have told
friends that he did it to "collect chits" from powerful families. In the
interview he is expected to expand on these comments.
In a predictably scathing reaction, the Bush campaign - long prepared for a
counterattack on the Vietnam issue after the furore over the ads about Mr
Kerry - has dismissed Mr Barnes as a "partisan Democrat", peddling a rehash
of old allegations against the President. Last week George Bush Snr, the
former president, described charges that he pulled strings for his son as
"total lies". Mr Barnes himself has acknowledged he received no direct
approach from the Bush family to have George W admitted in the Texas
National Guard - a virtual guarantee that he would not be sent to Vietnam.
More trouble may be heading Mr Bush's way with the publication next week of
The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty, by the controversial
muckraking biographer Kitty Kelley, which purports to give more details of
the President's past misbehaviour, including the allegation he used cocaine
at Camp David during his father's Presidency between 1989 and 1993.
Rumours of youthful drug taking by Mr Bush have often surfaced. Though he
has admitted to being an alcoholic until he gave up drinking completely in
1986, he has sidestepped the cocaine stories. Questioned on the issue during
the 2000 campaign, he acknowledged merely that he had made "some mistakes"
and that he had learned from those mistakes.
The latest book by Ms Kelley, said to be the fruit of four years' research,
follows previous unflattering studies of Nancy Reagan, Frank Sinatra and the
British Royal family.
Using the same tactic as against Mr Barnes, the White House commented that
The Family appeared to be filled "with the same trash discredited years
ago".
The most sensational allegation in the book is that the Presidential son
used cocaine at Camp David. The source is reportedly Sharon Bush, his former
sister-in-law, who was involved in a messy divorce in 2003 from the
President's younger brother Neil after 22 years of marriage.
Ms Kelley says that the Bush family used their power and wealth to cover up
scandals.
She alleges that George W Bush began to drink at high school, and continued
to do so at Yale.
She quotes one former student as saying, "Poor Georgie, he couldn't relate
to women unless he was loaded."
Perhaps the book's most improbable claim is that Laura Bush, now the model
of primness and propriety as First Lady, both sold and smoked marijuana
during her days at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
--
--
FAIR USE NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which
has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am
making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of
environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and
social justice issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any
such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so
long as I'm the dictator." - GW Bush 12/18/2000.
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop
thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do
we."
--George Bush. Aug. 5th., 2004
"Because America is powerful, we must be sensitive about
expressing our power and influence."
---George Bush, 3/4/01