BUSH FLUNKED VIETNAM THEN AND NOW

By

Neal Horsley

(Christian Gallery News Service, October 5, 2004) On February 22, 2004 in an article entitled, “Why Bush Stopped Flying in Guard Unclear” Josh White of the Washington Post wrote, “The early 1970s was a time when Bush was living what Roome [Dean A. Roome of Bartlett, Tex., who lived in a two-bedroom Houston apartment with Bush in 1969-70] called the "Tom Cruise" time of his life -- driving a fast car, flying fighter jets and dating many women. That lifestyle has raised concerns that perhaps Bush neglected his duty or ran into trouble. Nothing in the records supports that theory,” the Post article concluded.

The French cynic Voltaire once said, “History is a joke the living play on the dead.” To say there is “nothing in the record” that proves George W. Bush “neglected his duty and ran into trouble” during the Vietnam War is much more than a joke played on the dead; it is a macabre and evil injustice that needs to be corrected. If Voltaire is right and what John Kerry, the national news media, and we the people are allowing President George W. Bush to do with the Vietnam War is a joke, it has to be seen to be one of the cruelest, most unjust jokes ever played in the history of the United States of America because as this article proves George W. Bush not only did everything in his power to avoid going to Vietnam but his use of illegal drugs while a pilot in the National Guard forced him to desert his military service during the Vietnam War altogether. In this article, the corpses of dead soldiers come back to haunt him; but it is not only the corpses of dead soldiers from wars long past that haunt this current Presidential election. The spirit of death haunts us all.

VIETNAM REVISITED

The Vietnam War (1965-1973) was the longest and arguably the most unpopular war Americans ever fought. In the early days of the 2004 Presidential Campaign, the Vietnam War reemerged as a focus of national news attention. For about a month prior to the first Presidential debate on September 30, 2004 questions about Vietnam dominated the nation’s news. Daily the national news media reviewed the candidates’ roles in the Vietnam War: Had Bush been AWOL? Had Kerry Been a Traitor? Then on September 20, 2004 CBS newsman Dan Rather admitted documents might have been forged that he had used on a “60 Minutes Wednesday” news story to raise suspicions about George W. Bush’s Vietnam War service.

A great national news hush followed.

By the time of the first Presidential debate, it was as if all the attention on Vietnam had never occurred. An examination of the transcript of that debate proves that John Kerry never once raised the question of Bush’s Vietnam service record and only made one short reference to his own record of service in Vietnam.

Kerry’s decision to ignore the Vietnam War is easy to understand. As wave after wave of publicity about both men’s behavior during the Vietnam War cascaded on the shores of America prior to the debate, President George W. Bush emerged Teflon-slick and high and dry. To many people George W. Bush looked like a patriot who supported the American troops in Vietnam while his political opponent John Kerry, who was technically a highly decorated Vietnam War veteran, emerged rat-soaked looking like a turncoat who ran from Vietnam thereby hastening a disgraceful and unnecessary American defeat. Dan Rather’s monumental error simply gave the majority the opportunity to treat the Vietnam War matter as a settled conclusion. Kerry’s decision to ignore Vietnam in the first Presidential debate proved conclusively that not only had George W. Bush turned the story of Vietnam into a condemnation of John Kerry’s service record but that George W. Bush had also elevated his own Vietnam service record to where he was perceived by most people as a genuine patriotic supporter of the Vietnam War whose Vietnam War service record proved he deserved a leg up as he mounted into the saddle for Four More Years as President of the United States of America.

If George W. Bush receives a boost from Vietnam, it will be the corpses of the soldiers in Vietnam that provide him that boost. This article contains evidence that will convince an unbiased observer that George W. Bush in 1972, while the Vietnam War was raging, fled his position as a fighter pilot in the National Guard because his use of illegal drugs made it inevitable that he would be arrested and court-martialed if he stayed. Does that sound like behavior the soldiers who died in Vietnam would choose to reward?

BUSH WAS THE FORTUNATE SON

This article will prove that George W. Bush, like the large majority of young people in 1972, was a doper. Most people do not know that about him. It is well known that George W. Bush was a member of a family whose members had played a prominent role in western civilization for centuries. That social position was both a blessing and a potential problem. On the one hand, his social position opened doors to exclusive clubs, but on the downside George W. Bush’s position of social prominence meant it would be difficult if not impossible to avoid a scandal that would have had life-changing consequences for himself and his politician father should his use of illegal drugs cause him to be drummed out of the Air Force while the Vietnam War was raging. In order to avoid such a scandal George W. Bush fled military service during the Vietnam War…and has been covering it up ever since.

To understand this article, you must put George W. Bush into perspective, a perspective that sees him as he was during the Vietnam War. George W. Bush was different from the myriads of youthful illegal drug users in the early 1970’s. He was not just your basic doofus doper: he was the very epitome of the fortunate son John Fogerty sang about in this Credance Clearwater Revival (CCR) song:

Some folks are born made to wave the flag,

Ooh, they're red, white and blue.

And when the band plays "Hail to the chief",

Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord,

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, son.

It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no,

Yeah!

Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,

Lord, don't they help themselves, oh.

But when the taxman comes to the door,

Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes,

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no millionaire's son, no.

It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no.

Some folks inherit star spangled eyes,

Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord,

And when you ask them, "How much should we give?"

Ooh, they only answer More! more! more! yoh,

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no military son, son.

It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, one.

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, no no no,

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate son, no no no.

A WORD ABOUT EVIDENCE

I do not base my accusation that George W. Bush was forced out of the military because of his use of illegal drugs on the testimony of unnamed sources or unsubstantiated allegations. That has already been tried and failed to explain the truth about Bush’s use of illegal drugs. To date, two books have been published that allege George W. Bush not only used cocaine and marijuana but also allege that he was actually arrested for cocaine possession. Neither of those books produced documentary evidence to prove their accusations. Furthermore, even though people have told reporters off the record about Bush’s illegal drug use, no one willing to be named in public has come forth with eyewitness testimony. For example, recent magazine articles contained numerous personal testimonies from unnamed sources who described Bush in the early seventies like this, “He didn't do heroin. Grass is not a big deal anymore -- is it?" or like this, “Many of those who came into close contact with Bush say he liked to drink beer and Jim Beam whiskey, and to eat fist-fulls of peanuts, and Executive burgers, at the Cloverdale Grill. They also say he liked to sneak out back for a joint of marijuana or into the head for a line of cocaine.”

The report you are reading does not rely on those unsubstantiated and undocumented rumors; it offers a fresh look at the evidence that is already on the record, a look filtered through my personal experience in the drug culture of the late 60’s and early 70’s. That means the proof I offer depends on circumstantial evidence; but that should not disqualify it. Sometimes evidence is shown to the jury that is circumstantial in nature but still can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the suspect is guilty. In fact, while he was Governor of Texas, George W. Bush executed people who were put to death using nothing more than circumstantial evidence.

I bring this evidence to you now because I am perhaps uniquely qualified to help you understand such evidence. When it comes to circumstantial evidence of illicit drug use during the Vietnam era my experience in that field is such that if anyone can discern truth from such circumstantial evidence, it is I.

I obtained this ability partly from my work with Prison Fellowship, Inc., the largest Christian prison ministry in the world, where as Southeast Regional Director from 1978 to 1983, I interacted with tens of thousands of convicts in hundreds of prisons in the USA, many of whom were in prison for drug related offenses committed during the Vietnam War era. But mostly I obtained my knowledge of drug use and the Vietnam War era drug culture by using and selling the drugs myself during the Vietnam War era. Beginning in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury in 1966 until my own incarceration in 1976, I submerged myself in every way imaginable in the illicit drug culture of the Vietnam War era. For example I was sent to prison in 1976 for possession with intent to distribute three pounds of hashish oil, the most potent liquid form of distilled marijuana. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) testified at my trial that the hashish oil I was arrested with did not give a clear picture of my actual role in the illicit drug culture because I was actually the head of the largest marijuana distribution ring in the eastern United States, a testimony I did not contradict at my trial since to do so would have exposed me to a charge of perjury. But I can say now that I never sold anything until I had tested it exhaustively in my own body.

This is a picture of me—street name, Cowboy Neal-- playing my Martin D-35 at the Democratic Convention in Miami in 1972. The picture was taken at Resurrection City in Flamingo Park under a tree with a large sign announcing “The Pot People’s Party.”

This experience with drug use and the drug culture allows me to look at circumstantial evidence and actually know by inference some things that others could know only by direct experience. For example take ex-President Bill Clinton. When Bill Clinton said that he had tried marijuana for the first time during the Vietnam War era but had not inhaled, I knew as sure as I knew the sun came up this morning that he was lying. How did I know? My early introduction to the emerging drug culture and my active role in its distribution meant I had been in the presence of literally thousands of people when they smoked marijuana for the first time. Over and over again I had seen two scenarios for first time users: 1. If a person puffed but did not inhale, the reaction of the experienced users in the group would be to helpfully tell them, “Go ahead. Inhale. You won’t get off if you don’t inhale.” If the first time user persisted in not inhaling, the mood of bystanders immediately became serious--ominous: “Hey, c’mon. It won’t hurt. What’s up?” People became serious quickly because serious matters were at risk when people gathered to smoke marijuana, matters like arrest and incarceration--in the sixties and early seventies, incarceration for years. If it was a girl smoking for the first time, the experienced users were generally patient, willing to grant that some girls might not be able to handle the harsh, cough-inducing marijuana smoke. But boys who did not inhale--unless the boys were homosexuals who presented themselves as a girl—invariably experienced scenario number 2: “What’s up with that? Why won’t you inhale? You a nark? Is that what you are, a nark?” All eyes would turn to the male who refused to inhale. If they persisted in not inhaling, they would be rejected immediately by the group and marked from that moment forward as a nark or a nark wannabe and shunned. In a word they were not cool, nor could they expect ever to be cool as long as they did not inhale.

A word about Bill Clinton and cool. Everybody--even the mother of all geeks, Bill Gates--uses the word cool today. But that was not the case during the Vietnam War. Then cool was a word reserved for people who could be trusted around marijuana users, trusted not to snitch. Usually it meant they used illegal drugs themselves. It was only after the Vietnam War that the word came to be the ubiquitous term we know today.

From his earliest entry into American politics, Bill Clinton was known to be cool in the original sense of the word. P. J. O'Rourke writing in The Atlantic Monthly in an article entitled “Was Clinton Cool” talked about how Bill Clinton’s campaign for President in 1992 “was taken on a sixties yardstick of hip and cool.” While the national news media normally did not describe Bill Clinton in terms of cool, privately it was the first thing said about him.

The Rolling Stone interview with Clinton in 1992 was conducted by Jann Wenner, the publisher of Rolling Stone and Hunter S. Thompson, described by P.J. O’Rourke as “hipness and coolness itself.” The Rolling Stone interview was important because there was no more public way to demonstrate that instead of being shunned as a non-inhaler always was, anti-war dope smokers in the Rolling Stone bastion of cooldom embraced Bill Clinton.

That left only one possibility if Clinton had not inhaled: Bill Clinton was a male pretending to be a female and therefore exempt from the obligation to inhale to keep from being labeled a nark. Monica Lewinsky eliminated that possibility. To me the conclusion was obvious and inescapable, Bill Clinton inhaled just like I did, long and deep and regularly. In fact, since I knew he inhaled, I also knew that there was nowhere near six degrees of separation between myself and Bill Clinton back in the dope smoking days: Probably two at the most. That’s because I never sold anything but the best marijuana. Since Clinton was a member of America’s elite who prided themselves on having access to the best of everything, I had good reason to assume Bill Clinton had smoked more than a few of the Columbian buds I had strewed across the USA back in 1971 and 72.

This brings us full circle back to George W. Bush circa 1972.

Just as I knew some facts about Bill Clinton by looking at circumstantial evidence, so too do I know some things about George W. Bush. But there is a hitch.

It was fairly easy to show you how I knew Bill Clinton was lying about his use of illegal drugs. All I had to do was show you a snapshot of what it was like when first time users smoked marijuana. But for me to show you how I know that George W. Bush deserted his military obligations because of his use of illegal drugs, I must give you a much broader overview of the drug culture that emerged in the USA in lockstep with the Vietnam War. Just as it required you to see Bill Clinton in the context of the drug culture before you could know, as I do, that he inhaled, so too must you see the role that young George W. Bush played in that drug culture in 1972 if you are to know why his illegal drug use caused him to flee military service.

THE DRUG CULTURE GREW AROUND GEORGE W. BUSH

The drug culture did not simply explode onto the American scene everywhere at once. From its earliest days, the drug culture and the Vietnam War were like two sides of the same coin: it is impossible to talk about one without also talking about the other. As the Vietnam War really began to grow in 1966, the Drug Culture grew with it. By 1972 when George W. Bush had to make his fateful military decisions, the drug culture that started in San Francisco had spread until there was not a State, city, town or rural area in the country left unaffected by it.

By 1972 even Montgomery, Alabama, the site of the first capitol of the Confederate States of America and the destination of Rev. Martin Luther King’s famous march from Selma, was a part of the drug culture. Glenn Wilson, a writer for the “Southern Daily,” found a creditable witness willing to talk about Montgomery in those days. He wrote, “According to Cathy Donelson, a daughter of old Montgomery but one of the toughest investigative reporters to work for newspapers in Alabama over the years, the 1960s came to Old Cloverdale in the early 1970s about the time of Bush's arrival. ‘We did a lot of drugs in those days,’ she said. ‘The 1970s are a blur.’"

Cloverdale was the community in Montgomery where George W. Bush lived in 1972. One story that focuses on Bush’s time in Cloverdale provides insight into what his life was like in those days. This story has been published in most major newspapers in Alabama so it has a pedigree that makes it hard to deny. We hear the story from an article called “Alabama Getaway,” written by Paul Alexander. “One day in the late fall of 1972, James Pryor Smith walked into the roomy two-bedroom house that belonged to his aunt…and he could hardly believe his eyes. Located in the heart of Cloverdale - an exclusive, old-money neighborhood in Montgomery, Alabama - the house, his son Neil remembers now, "was a total wreck." A chandelier was badly damaged, there were holes in the wall and the place was full of empty liquor bottles. "The cleaning bill alone was $900," Neil Smith says, "which was no small thing in 1972." One detail about the mess stood out. "The bedding had to be hauled out into the street," says Jackson Stell, a friend of Pryor Smith. "Pryor said there must have been no sheets on the bed, the mattress was so horribly soiled."

"The trash and damage clearly came from drunken partying," says Mary Smith, who was married to Pryor at the time. "Pryor was very specific that this was related to booze."

“Pryor Smith was livid...The twenty-six-year-old tenant - his name was George W. Bush - had sounded like a reliable young man. He was a Yale graduate who came from a good family. His grandfather, Prescott Bush, had been a United States senator from Connecticut. His father, George H.W. Bush, was a former congressman from Houston who had gotten rich in the Texas oil business. Young Bush was coming to Montgomery to serve as the state organizational director of Blount's United States Senate campaign. After Pryor Smith had the house cleaned and repaired, he sent a bill to Bush - twice. Bush never responded.”

The story about the house Bush trashed is a perfect example of a character defining story. George W. Bush’s defenders are quick to poo-poo such stories. If they do not deny them outright, they act like the stories have nothing to tell us that is relevant to George W. Bush as he is today.

Bush’s defenders are wrong. Similar stories have defined the character of rock bands for years. It is most significant that George W. Bush does not deny the authenticity of the story about the house he trashed in Montgomery in 1972. This story, if true, spotlights the fact that in 1972 George W. Bush had a drug problem. In this story, the drug is alcohol. The evidence that follows will prove to you that not only did George W. Bush have a problem with alcohol in 1972, he had a much more serious problem with his use of illegal drugs in 1972. In fact, George W. Bush had such a problem with his use of illegal drugs that he was forced to find a way to slide out of the military, effectively deserting his military duty, in order to avoid being caught red-handed using illegal drugs and drummed out of the service in public disgrace.

SO WHAT IF BUSH HAD A DRUG PROBLEM A MILLION YEARS AGO?

What does it matter whether young George W. Bush used illegal drugs? Many people act like it doesn’t matter at all. The Providence Journal-Bulletin in an editorial on 24 Aug, 1999 said, “That a Baby Boomer may have used drugs in the '60s or '70s is not stunning. If this were to be grounds for being banned from running for public office, the Republic would have quite a shortage of candidates now…Those people are running the country now. So be it.” One reviewer of the Bush biography “Fortunate Son,” which contained an allegation that Bush had been arrested for cocaine possession stated, “As for Bush's coke thing, well that was back in the day so I don't really care about that.”

Until George W. Bush started using the corpses of American service men killed in Vietnam to get a leg up on four more years as President, I tended to agree that what he did during the Vietnam War was irrelevant. But when I realized Bush actually was willing to allow his public image to be constructed so that he looked like he had some claim to receive benefits from the deadly sacrifice made by those soldiers, I could not stand quiet in the face of that injustice. What happened back in “the day” is important if “the day” was a day when the corpses of American soldiers were being stacked like cord wood cut by a horrible buzz saw. Now that George W. Bush is using his Vietnam War service to get a leg up on four more years as President, there are about 58,000 corpses to show why the Vietnam War should not offer George W. Bush that leg up. To keep the sacrifice made by those soldiers from being desecrated, you need to see what George W. Bush has done.

GEORGE W. BUSH: HIS FATHER’S SON

In order to put George W. Bush into perspective it is necessary to see that he is neither a simpleton nor simple to understand. Add the complicated story of the Vietnam War era together with the complications created by being the eldest son and heir to the Bush clan legacy and you begin to see why explaining George W. Bush is no simple matter.

Every son starts out wanting to be like his father. But there were few fathers who looked more worthy of imitation than George W. Bush’s father. Handsome, War-Hero, Athlete, Millionaire, Successful Politician—George W. Bush’s daddy had it all.

It is impossible to understand either George W. Bush’s behavior during the Vietnam War or the huge problem created by George W. Bush’s use of illegal drugs until you understand that, with the exception of the use of illegal drugs, virtually every milestone George W. Bush has erected was one first erected by his father. Check them off one after the other--Andover, Yale (same fraternities, same clubs), fighter pilot in the military, President of the United States of America.

But events did not make it easy for George W. Bush to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Like most families in the USA, the Vietnam War created a generation gap within the Bush family.

Nothing reveals the gap that existed between father and son during the Vietnam War like this vignette which gives a glimpse into how the elder Bush, George H.W. Bush, viewed the Vietnam War. Ed Rollins, a Republican operative during the Presidency of elder Bush talked about the elder Bush’s campaign against Bill Clinton in 1992, “Bush Sr. didn't believe the country would throw out the commander of the Gulf War for this cracker governor from Arkansas," Ed Rollins says. "He actually told people that…” Roger J. Stone, Jr., a Republican campaign strategist who worked in the campaigns of Nixon, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush, explained that during the campaign against Clinton, the elder Bush was in denial. Stone said, “…right up to the closing days of the campaign, the only person in America who didn't know Bush was going down in flames was George [H.W.] Bush…He simply didn't think voters would turn down a war hero for a draft dodger."

That story proves that to George W. Bush’s father, even as late as 1992, the Vietnam War was a simple matter of those who supported the country and those who were “draft dodgers.” And in the elder Bush’s world, it was inconceivable that the American people would reject him and choose a “draft dodger” to run the country.

But, as the facts prove, it was not that simple to George W. Bush. In fact, George W. tried to tell his dad in 1992 that a majority of the American people did not view the Vietnam era as he did. But his dad would not listen.

RETRACE THE IMPACT OF THE VIETNAM WAR ON GEORGE W. BUSH

By the time George W. Bush went to Yale in 1966, the Vietnam War had begun to tear families apart all across the USA because the war was costing the lives of hundreds of American soldiers a month. Yale was one of the first universities in the nation to go into an extended upheaval over the Vietnam War. "Yale was on the cusp of change," says Lanny Davis, the former special counsel to Bill Clinton, who was one year ahead of Bush at Yale. "By the end of my time at Yale, there was a light-year of change because of the antiwar and countercultural movements -- movements many Yale students joined."

George W. steered clear of the famous anti-war protests at Yale and in fact when he graduated in 1968, he determined to enter the military and become a fighter pilot like his father. Pictures from that time show a confident, clean-cut, gung ho young Bush who did not appear to be conflicted by the Vietnam War.  But looks can be deceiving.

In 1999, during a Washington Post interview, Bush was asked, “What'd you think about the [Vietnam] war?” He answered, “Well initially I supported the government. My first reaction was ... I'll support my government.” The interviewer then asked, “Did you differentiate between supporting the government and supporting the war?” Bush answered, “I didn't differentiate at first. I then, as you know, went in the service and over time, though, I, like many others, became disillusioned. I must confess I was not disillusioned right off the bat.” The interviewer asked, “We understand your father felt the war should be supported, and that he was put off by the tactics of the anti-war protesters.” Bush answered, “I probably felt the same way at the time ... I do remember I think it was the Cambodian bombing, where I began to become, it became apparent over time that decisions were made not in the best interest of our military. It became evident that this was a political war, not a military war. There was a certain predictability and so the military mission was not paramount. It was a political mission. And there was no clarity of purpose ... and it took awhile for that to sink in my way of thinking.” Bush was then asked, “Did you ever consider enlisting in active duty?” He answered, “Yeah, I did but I got into Guard as a pilot. I got a pilot slot.”

HOW GEORGE W. BUSH (AND MOST OF THE REST OF US) DEALT WITH DISILLUSIONMENT

Like many millions of young people during the Vietnam War, George W. Bush admitted that, “I…over time, though, I, like many others, became disillusioned.”

Anybody who wants to understand the Vietnam War era must try to understand disillusionment. As you understand disillusionment many pieces of the puzzle about both the drug culture and the Vietnam War itself begin to fall into place.

As I said earlier, I have much experience with drug use. All my experience led me to an inescapable conclusion: Drug seeking behavior is a symptom of disease. Today this is the standard operating premise for all drug treatment programs. But during the Vietnam War there was hardly anybody in the country who seemed to understand that the drug culture that was growing in every nook and cranny across the United States of America was growing because millions of people in this nation were literally sick of the Vietnam War.

Disillusionment was the symptom of that sickness. Present in virtually every person engaged in drug seeking behavior during the Vietnam War, present even in George W. Bush, the very embodiment of the Fortunate Son, disillusionment threatened to destroy the United States of America. A generation that had been raised to believe that America was the hope of mankind, a generation that had been raised to believe that the nation that had won the Second World War was literally God’s gift to the world, that generation was forced to come face to face with the fact that the nation was not necessarily like that at all--Could in fact be an evil, ruthless, cold and heartless nation with no claim whatsoever to the loyalty of its young people.

Disillusionment is a terrible disease when the thing causing your disillusionment is also something that you love deeply. Drugs give some temporary relief under those circumstances. If George W. Bush should ever be moved to tell us the truth about his use of drugs, since he has already confessed his disillusionment about the Vietnam War, I have no doubt that he would explain that disillusionment as the underlying reason for why he used all sorts of drugs at the time, some of which were illegal. But that is only a theory because, to date, George W. Bush has refused to tell the truth about his use of illegal drugs.

HIS REFUSAL TO TELL ABOUT HIS DRUG USE SPEAKS VOLUMES

In early May 1994, a Houston Chronicle reporter asked Bush whether he'd ever used illegal drugs. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't," Bush said. "What's the difference?" The day after the Chronicle story broke, Bush held a news conference in Lubbock. "What I did as a kid? I don't think it's relevant," he said. "I just don't . . . don't think it matters…”

It matters. If you will review the evidence with me, you will see that, paradoxically, his refusal to tell us whether he used illegal drugs is one of the most important pieces of circumstantial evidence that proves he did actually use illegal drugs.

The Washington Post on July 25, 1999 printed excerpts from an interview with then-Candidate George W. Bush. The Post asked, “We need to ask the cocaine question. We think you believe that a politician should not let stories fester. So why won't you just deny that you've used cocaine?” Bush replied, “I'm not going to talk about what I did years ago. This is a game where they float rumors, force a person to fight off a rumor; then they'll float another rumor. And I'm not going to participate. I saw what happened to my dad with rumors in Washington. I made mistakes. I've asked people to not let the rumors get in the way of the facts. I've told people I've learned from my mistakes – and I have. And I'm going to leave it at that.” WP followed up, “But you addressed the rumors about your [father's infidelity] that you personally believe should be addressed in 1988.” Bush replied, “Well, then others can address the rumors about me.”

It is very significant that Candidate Bush did not refuse to answer all questions about “rumors” but only questions about “rumors” of his illegal drug use. For instance, prior to his first run for President, there had been a “rumor” for years that George W. Bush had an arrest record. For years insufficient evidence had been produced to move the story beyond the rumor stage. Then, during the first Presidential campaign in 2000, evidence of an arrest for DUI was presented that proved the rumor was fact. Conceding the obvious, George W. Bush began to answer questions about that “rumor” and acknowledged that in 1976 he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol near his parents’ home in Kennebunkport, Maine. (Bush, who was 30 at the time, pleaded guilty, paid a $150 fine and his driving privileges were temporarily suspended in Maine.)

It is most revealing that from that point forward Bush forthrightly answered questions about that arrest. According to a CNN report on Nov. 3, 2000, Bush said about that arrest, “I’m not proud of that. I made some mistakes. I occasionally drank too much, and I did that night. I learned my lesson.” Bush said he was not jailed after the arrest. He said earlier in the week, “I quit drinking in 1986 and haven’t had a drop since then. And it wasn’t because of a government program, by the way -- in my particular case, because I had a higher call.“

The “higher call” he referred was his conversion to Christianity. The “arrest rumor” revealed the strategy Bush would follow from then on: initially he would say he refused to answer questions about “rumors,” but once a “rumor” has been clearly revealed by irrefutable fact, then Bush will concede the rumor and talk about it, using his “born-again Christian” defense to mitigate his behavior.

But there was one more facet to his strategy. If “rumors” refused to go away, but only circumstantial evidence could be found, Bush would attempt to defuse the rumor by releasing enough hard information to allow the public to have an idea about what had actually happened but not enough information to remove deniability on any remaining threatening consequences created by the rumor.

I know that’s a complicated strategy to understand, so I’ll give you an example that shows the strategy in action. Even though then-Candidate Bush had said he absolutely would refuse to answer questions about illegal drug use, when questions about illegal drug use refused to go away, George W. Bush adjusted his response so that he in fact released information about the illegal drug use question without ever actually admitting anything.

The running news story for the week ending on September 39, 1999 was about George W. Bush’s refusal to answer questions about allegations he had used illegal drugs. As the week began, Rowland Evans of CNN asked, “Governor, there are and have been rumors, lots of them, of your possible past use of hard drugs. Sir, is it not now in your interest to tell us flatly if these rumors are or are not true?” George W. Bush replied, “You know, really, I -- when I first got going in this campaign, I started hearing about these ridiculous rumors. I made my mind up at that point in time not to chase every single rumor that had been floated about me. The game of trying to force me to prove a negative and to chase down unsubstantiated, ugly rumors has got to end. And so therefore, I'm going to end it.”

Bush was then asked whether as President he would insist that he have his appointees undergo full FBI background checks, which include questions about drug use. He would, he replied, then he added. “Could I pass the challenge of a background check? My answer is absolutely,” Bush said. “Not only could I pass the background check and the standards applied to today’s White House, but I could have passed the background check and the standards applied on the most stringent conditions when my dad was President -- 15-year period.”

And there you see the strategy. Even though he said he would not answer questions about illeg