Isn't ANYBODY but us talking about Bush's drinking?

[CTyankee]

It's discussed on liberal blogs and websites and on liberal talk radio but there are some liberal people who simply won't accept a story by the National Enquirer.

Has anyone seen any mainstream press on this? Is it just going to die from lack of exposure?

[buff2]

1. Jay Leno has been talking about it

For what that's worth.

[crispini]

2. The rumor was that there was a "real" MSM story in the works.

But who knows?

[applegrove]

3. A likely canard! Why fall for it.

[liberalitch]

4. I think it's doomed.....

we need to publicize understandable information for the public (from a reputable source.... AMA, or something) concerning EXACTLY what it means to a "dry drunk" as opposed to an alcoholic in recovery.

[mattclearing]

25. But what if he's just a drunk? n/t

[liberalitch]

26. If you're a dry drunk then you're not "in recovery".....

So you're more likely to slam a shot!

[ieoeja]

5. I'm not because ...

... I don't care. Frankly, I've only known one teetotaling politician, and he was a sanctimonious Republican and huge backer of draconian laws of all kinds. I don't trust sober politicians.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

10. "If by whiskey"

An apocryphal politician was once asked during a debate whether he approved of a measure to prohibit whiskey sales on Sundays. His response was, "if by whiskey you mean that liquid that can warm a cold man, bring solace to his heart, and help him pass a jovial evening with his friends, then no, I do not agree. If by whiskey you mean that liquid which can make a man destroy his family and himself, then most certainly I agree."

A healthy appreciation and respect for alcohol and a well-made drink is, in my opinion, essential for true happiness in this world.

[SteppingRazor]

6. Meh. I'm a bit uncaring on it myself...

The only thing that makes this interesting is that he supposedly quit. Who cares if the guy boozes? If he was a great leader but was nevertheless half in the bag 24/7, I wouldn't give a damn. It's what Bush has done to America and the world that should be focused on, not what he does to himself.

[CTyankee]

16. I don't think being impaired is good for anybody

We don't allow people to get away with driving a car while impaired. Why should we say it's ok to run the country impaired?

[SteppingRazor]

43. Because alcohol is legal and so is....

getting blasted in the privacy of your own home.

I say again -- if we had a brilliant president who made fantastic decisions that benefited most Americans but who also drank heavily, I'd be perfectly happy. It's the policy decisions of this president that are important, not the personal ones.

[CTyankee]

44. While I agree that it is the policy decisions that matter

and I would not want to see a new Prohibition or laws against getting tanked in the privacy of your own home, I do have a problem with the notion of a president running the country while impaired by any substance. Don't get me wrong: I enjoy wine with my dinner every night so I am hardly a teetotaler, but it just seems to me that getting drunk or high or stoned just makes you useless. (Of course, with Bush, useless is his natural condition!).

[NV Whino]

7. I seem to recall an article in the Guardian

but I could be wrong. On the other hand, the Brits are usually more on top of things.

[rniel]

8. I don't really care

If he was a good leader that drank I wouldn't care. I only care because he's ruining my country.

[this_side_up]

9. Letterman

Top Ten Signs George W. Bush Is Having A Bad Vacation


10. "Has the haggard look of someone getting only nine hours of sleep a night"



9. "Arrested at Crawford Mobil station after trying to 'pump and run'"



8. "Asked if Cheney would let him help run the country"



7. "So bored he actually read a couple of pages of an intelligence briefing"



6. "He's drinking more than the twins"



5. "He's cutting it short from 12 weeks to 8"



4. "Just asked Pat Robertson to assassinate his travel agent"



3. "Flew down to Miami and put a cap in Suge Knight's knee"



2. "Accidentally gave Laura the Necklace engraved 'Condoleezza'"



1. "Spent past week setting up new television so he can watch Dave in Hi-Def"

[renate]

12. good for Dave--he's not even pretending to be apolitical any more

Dave,

[this_side_up]

13. :) Yes, I like DL as a person and entertainer

And he did push a lot of wake-up buttons with this.

I do wish he'd go back with the clips of GWB: Statesman,
Orator, Economist, etc. especially with all of the
recent clips where the moron is drunk and/or high
on whatever.

Since he has not done those since July? I think
CBS jumped on him.

Sad. The censorship.

And he did this Toip 10 August 19. Way before the NE

[chat_noir]

15. Letterman

"Now here's some sad information coming out of Washington. According to reports, President Bush may be drinking again. And I thought, 'Well, why not? He's got everybody else drinking.'"

"Now is a great time for President Bush to go on vacation because Iraq is pretty much under control. But a White House spokesman said Bush is using his vacation to reconnect with regular people. So you know what that means -- he's drinking again."

"I saw the president on TV. I think he's only had three press conferences during prime time. I though he looked calm. I thought he looked confident. I thought he looked focused. That's right, he was drinking again."

"In the speech President Bush said that as a country we have a calling from 'beyond the stars.' You know what this means? He’s drinking again."

"President Bush wants to build a space station on the moon. And from the moon, he wants to launch people to Mars. You know what this means. He's been drinking again."

"According to the folks at the White House the federal budget deficit is now a whooping $427 billion dollars. For a guy who quit drinking President Bush sure knows how to run up a tab."

[npincus]

11. Google 'Bush" and "Booze" and you get a million links: just a few here

http://politicalhumor.about.com/b/a/204669.htm

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/ne/20050921/112731480018.html

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/1046

http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/64231

http://boston.craigslist.org/pol/99134106.html

http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewNote5.cfm?REF=215

[snowbird42]

14. I posted this , this morning

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7...

Thompson has been right before

[Doctor_J]

17. Sounds just like Nixon

[rinsd]

21. So has Drudge....the Enquirer has more cred around here than CHB (nt)

[mainer]

18. National Enquirer is often out in front of the pack

They got sued badly in decades past, and have learned their lesson. They now fact check things to death. If the Enquirer says it, the MSM knows there's some truth behind it.

[rinsd]

22. Not this shit again....

Please go to the Enquirer's website and search clinton.

Then you can talk about fact checking and reliability etc.

[Ferret Annica]

32. Here is a thread on LibertyPost...

...that I worked in my FReeper nick of Ferret about the NE story:

http://libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=11019... title: BUSH'S BOOZE CRISIS

[mainer]

19. Link to the Enquirer "bush drinking" story

BUSH'S BOOZE CRISIS

By JENNIFER LUCE and DON GENTILE

Faced with the biggest crisis of his political life, President Bush has hit the bottle again, The National Enquirer can reveal.

Bush, who said he quit drinking the morning after his 40th birthday, has started boozing amid the Katrina catastrophe.

Family sources have told how the 59-year-old president was caught by First Lady Laura downing a shot of booze at their family ranch in Crawford, Texas, when he learned of the hurricane disaster.

His worried wife yelled at him: "Stop, George."

Following the shocking incident, disclosed here for the first time, Laura privately warned her husband against "falling off the wagon" and vowed to travel with him more often so that she can keep an eye on Dubya, the sources add.

"When the levees broke in New Orleans, it apparently made him reach for a shot," said one insider. "He poured himself a Texas-sized shot of straight whiskey and tossed it back. The First Lady was shocked and shouted: "Stop George!" ...

(MORE)



http://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/63426

[GayCanuck]

20. relaspes

are common for alcoholics; I should know, I've been through a few myself. I'd be shocked if it wasn't true.

[zann725]

23. Not as long as Shrub keeps slurring words, such as "nukular power PANTS"

Stephanie Miller show keeps replaying that one! Priceless.

[DesertRat]

46. Nucular power pants

Does anyone have a clip of Bush saying Nucular power pants? I heard it on Stephanie Miller and it's priceless, one of my favorite Bushisms.

[Chemical Bill]

24. It's not like he's in charge. n/t

[Geek_Girl]

27. I don't think Bush has ever stopped drinking

The National Enquirer story almost made him seem sympathetic. As far as I'm concerned, Bush was is and always will be an alcoholic substance abusing frat boy who has never found jesus and never quit drinking.

The story about him becoming born again is made up BS for the religious sheeple.

[cassiepriam]

28. I agree, it is quite likely he never stopped....

I have heard that there are pictures of him with alcohol going back
since he has been in the WH.

[beyurslf]

29. I have to admit I am not inclined to believe a story in the NE. Look at

all the "Hillary is a lesbian" or "Bill and Hillary in divorce fight" headlines they have had. I may not like Bush. I may think he drinks his ass off every weekend. But the NE is hardly the place to prove it.

[loyalsister]

30. I don't think we should

People either sympathize or see it as overcoming adversity.
People have dealt with substance abuse themselves or with family or friends too much to hold this against him.
People who started out sort of neutral towards him- giving him the benefit of the doubt, take what we say badly. This stuff about him being dumb makes just people feel sorry for him. Because, he's sort of like a "regular guy" trying his best at a hard job. Then, he has problems just like anyone else when substance abuse is factored in.
We know he is ANYTHING but a regular guy with regular problems.
But, I think trying to capitalize on these particular weaknessess only contributes to the faux populist image he has cultivated.

[ladylibertee]

31. No, I do not think so.If he CLAIMS he's holy christian, he's gotta act

like it.Alcoholism is a serious thing and if he is making decisions that effect the country under the influence then hell, he ought not be there.

[loyalsister]

33. ugh!!

rightous fundamentalism is every bit as ugly in people who support and oppose Bush.
If it's about decisions, make it about decisions. That's what I'm worried about- policy and decisions. Getting distracted by other things is taking our eye off the ball.
Unless someone there brings it up with concerns AND proof, this is a no-win issue.

[ladylibertee]

34. Well, I like how Howard Dean approached it.Check this out:

snip

Koppel: Let me ask you to keep your hat as Democratic National Chairman on for a moment, and give me a frankly partisan assessment of how, if at all, this can help the Democrats.

Dean: Well, I don’t think it helps the country at all—that’s the big issue. I mean, in times like these you kind of wince. This is not good for America. We’ve had some terrible blows: we’ve had the President’s blunders in Iraq, we’ve had the disaster Katrina which embarrassed us in front of the whole world, and now the whole world again gets to see the leadership in both the White House and the House and the Senate be indicted or investigated or arrested for corruption. It’s not a great time for America. I think Americans are sick of this. And I can tell you one thing; when we get back in power, which I believe is going to be in 2006 in the congressional, we’re going to have some ethics reform in Washington. We’re going to get tough, and we’re going to get tough on everybody, not just Republicans. Enough of this in Washington! We ought to have substantial ethics reforms in Congress and to get serious about this.

[loyalsister]

39. I like that too

We need to reclaim the word REFORM! It was stolen in Missouri when they created the "Medicaid reform commission." And of course they have been using "tax reform" and "welfare reform" forever.
We need to claim the role of progressive reformers. Congressional ethics reform is a good starting point. I don't think substance abuse is necessarily an ethical issue. I would hate to see us demonize it that way.
I have worked so hard to try to help people who have comorbid mental illnessess gain some legitimacy. There are many times that they self medicate and I have stood up for them. I have worked very hard to try to convince people that it is not evil it is just an illness.
I would not participate in the hypocricy of bashing someone for it just because I don't like their policies. I really think the policies should be the focus.

[ladylibertee]

40. Well, sure. However,Ya gotta admit.It makes for great gossip.Besides,

this is the DU website, not a conference room at the DNC Headquarters.LOL Ya know?I mean, I am quite sure the major dem's have a better strategy than Bush on Boose.

[loyalsister]

41. I'm not worried about the choir

This is a public site. Lots of people come here to browse.
My point was that that pointing out those weaknesses reinforces the false image he has created. In other words, he ultimately benefits from it.

[ladylibertee]

42. I see your point.But we all know fact from fiction.This is why our

democratic leades wont even talk about this because they have bigger better ammo.LOL

[ladylibertee]

Well, I like how Howard Dean approached it.Check this out:

sorry,

[ladylibertee]

35. Well, I like how Howard Dean approached it.Check this out:

snip

sorry

[ladylibertee]

36. OOP's I meant that for someone else

[Yupster]

45. He's a Methodist like me

Drinking A-Okay with us.

[PantPlant]

37. I don't care if Bush drinks

Complete and utter non-issue.

Why are you caring about it?

What fuckin differecne does it make?

I drink, but only to excess, am I on your criminal list now?

Give it a rest and go on to real stuff.

[Ferret Annica]

38. Live one, ain'tcha?

"I drink, but only to excess, am I on your criminal list now?"

If you are President, you are on mine.

An alcoholic has a disease that should be treated by someone other then the victim of the illness him or herself. And they should definitely not drink again.