|
George
W. Bush's Call for Volunteers in the Service of America
April 9, 2002
By Christian Dewar
(From the Department of Do as I Say, Not as I Do)
In his State of the Union address, George W. Bush called
for the citizens of the United States to demonstrate their
patriotism by volunteering 4000 hours of their time to the
service of their country. Loyal Americans were encouraged
to join Bush's recently established U.S. Freedom Corp or the
Peace Corp. His administration subsequently established the
'Record of Service' which would allow volunteers to keep track
of their donated time through a password protected online
account. Presumably this feature for securing confidentiality
is to prevent Bin Laden from hacking into their computers
and deleting time served in an effort to undermine morale
and national unity.
Volunteering time in the service of our fellow human beings
is a good and worthy cause and is to be applauded but what
may have seemed as a disconnect to those who have followed
Bush's life history closely was what was strikingly absent
from Dubya's call to action: an account of his own year of
service at an inner city center for youths at risk in Houston.
One would think that the president would have touted his own
charitable efforts as an example of his selfless resolve to
help the less fortunate. It is in the nature of a politician's
constitution to loudly trumpet their accomplishments in an
effort to appear more worthy of office, so it may at first
seem odd that Bush would not broadcast his own altruistic
efforts in the ghettos of Houston. This would seem especially
true when it involved working with minorities, a valuable
voting bloc that he has doggedly courted, except when his
brother was busy disenfranchising them during elections. On
examination of his history, it appears that the reason for
his reticence to play up his charitable works may be the same
as his reluctance to use his service record with the Texas
National Guard to encourage enlistment into the armed services.
Both of these eras in his past would not simple open a can
of worms so much as open an entire dumpster full of the slimy
little creatures.
After the events of September 11th, the Bush administration
has reached a shrilling level of militancy. Not merely content
to track down those responsible for the terrorist attacks,
he has committed troops not only to Afghanistan and countries
to the north of that vast battlefield, but also to Columbia,
the Philippines and Georgia. Bush minions are threatening
the 'Axis of Evil'. They are calling for first strike nuclear
attacks. It may seem remarkable to casual observers then,
that Bush hasn't highlighted his own military service in an
effort to bolster recruiting efforts by the military. This
is the last thing Bush wants. It is a dismal record that raises
serious questions about Bush's years in the service. When
his student deferment was about to expire, powerful friends
intervened to pull strings on his behalf. Despite a waiting
list of approximately a year and a half, Bush was accepted
into the Texas National Guard on the same day he applied!
He specifically did not volunteer for overseas duty when given
the opportunity. Bush's attendance during his service was
sketchy at best. He was allowed many absences to serve on
various political campaigns. Dubya was showered with favoritism
and there are allegations that he was AWOL for a considerable
period of time. Vietnam vets have even offered rewards to
anyone who can prove that Bush was present at some of the
bases he claimed to have been stationed at. Most damaging
are reports from some sources that he was no longer allowed
to fly when he refused to take a medical exam which included
drug testing. Ultimately, he was allowed to retire from the
Guard months before his commitment expired.
In the 1970's Bush uncharacteristically volunteered to work
at the P.U.L.L center in Houston an antipoverty charity program
where his father was an honorary chairman. This was the first
time the Dubya had ever demonstrated any 'compassionate conservatism'
towards the less fortunate. Up until that time, Bush was known
as the quintessential frat boy, devoted to partying and chasing
skirts. There were the rumors of alcoholism, drugs, lost weekends
in Mexico, dancing nude on bars and an endless parade of fast
women. Working with black and Hispanic children did not exactly
seem to be something that he was inclined to do by nature.
After his stint at this job, Bush never again volunteered
to help the needy and it appears that he quickly resumed his
lifestyle as a hard core playboy.
According to the book, 'Fortunate Son; George W Bush and
the Making of an American President', by J.H. Hatfield, this
unusual digression in his life's history may have not really
been volunteerism after all. According to Hatfield's sources,
George W. Bush may have been busted for cocaine and a sympathetic
judge prevailed upon to expunge the record with the stipulation
that he would perform community service. This allegation is
not new and has also been raised by other news sources such
as the online 'Salon' but it merits reexamination after America's
new war and Bush's appeal for a nation of volunteers. One
of Hatfield's sources who he claim's was a former Yale classmate
and a family friend who partied with the future president
in the late '60's and early '70s in Houston, is quoted as
saying "George W. was arrested for possession of cocaine in
1972, but due to his father's connections, the entire record
was expunged by a state judge who the elder Bush helped get
elected". This source then went on to say, "It was on of those
'behind closed doors in the judge's chambers' kind of thing
between the old man and one of his Texas cronies who owed
him a favor. In exchange for successfully completing community
service at Project P.U.L.L., where Bush senior was a heavy
contributor and honorary chairman, the judge purged George
W.'s record."
Hatfield writes that "a long time Bush friend and unofficial
political advisor, also acknowledged that Bush had indeed
been arrested for cocaine possession in 1972 and had had his
record expunged by a Houston judge after George W. worked
as a youth counselor for several months at Project P.U.L.L.
This source claimed that Bush "did the community service and
the judge, a good ol' Texas boy and friend of George's politically
influential daddy, purged the record. It happened a lot in
Texas years ago, and George damn sure wasn't the first rich
kid who got caught with a little snow, and because of his
family's connections, had his record taken care of by the
judge."
A third source of information on Bush's volunteer efforts
was described by Hatfield as a "high-ranking adviser to Bush
who had known the presidential candidate for several years".
According to Hatfield, this source told him that "W. got caught
with cocaine in 1972 and because his daddy was oil rich and
influential in Harris County politics, he got his son off
with a little community service at a minority youth center
instead of having to pick cotton on a Texas prison farm."
When the book, 'Fortunate Son' was about to be released,
a tremendous effort was made on behalf on the Bush campaign
to suppress the book. Lawsuits were threatened and eventually
the publisher offered to turn the book into 'furnace fodder'.
While never directly addressing the substance of Hatfield's
charges, they attacked the author in the press, releasing
arrest records revealing the author's imprisonment for a murder
conspiracy (never mind that his is irrelevant to whether the
book is factual or not) and ultimately succeeded in besmirching
the writer. Despite subsequent lawsuits and political pressure,
the book has now been released by a new publisher, Soft Skull
Press. Readers may decide for themselves whether there is
any credibility to these allegations.
It certainly seems that if there were not some substance
to these charges, the Bush administration would have seized
upon his service record and his charitable work to burnish
the president's standing and reputation and to encourage Americans
to enlist and volunteer. That they have been so silent certainly
leads one to suspect that there may be some truth behind these
dark and unseemly rumors. In the mean time, it will be up
to the rest of Americans to volunteer for our nation's wars
and charitable endeavors.
|
