New Tapes Say Bush May Have Smoked Marijuana (Gasp..! Bush Smoked Marijuana)

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=7682264 ^

[rs79bm]

By Sue Pleming ( <---- LIBERAL ALERT!) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush indicated in interviews secretly taped by a friend before he became president that he had used marijuana but would not admit it for fear of setting a bad example for children.

Portions of the tapes, recorded from 1998 to 2000 by author Doug Wead without Bush's knowledge, were aired on ABC News on Sunday and published by The New York Times. Their authenticity was verified by the media outlets but has not been independently checked by Reuters.

"I wouldn't answer the marijuana question. You know why? Because I don't want some little kid doing what I tried," Bush purportedly says on the tape.

He added: "But you got to understand, I want to be president. I want to lead. I want to set -- Do you want your little kid say, 'Hey, Daddy, President Bush tried marijuana, I think I will?"'

In the tape, Bush mocks former Vice President Al Gore -- who fought him for the presidency in 2000 -- for admitting he smoked marijuana.

White House officials did not dispute the tapes' veracity and indicated the president was disappointed by their release.

"These were casual conversations that then Gov. Bush was having with someone he thought was a friend, and that's what they are," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters traveling with Bush to Europe aboard Air Force One.

NOT AWARE

McClellan said Bush, who was governor of Texas when the tapes were made, was not aware he was being recorded and the White House found out only when contacted by the New York Times for comment.

"Look, I think that, one, the comments in the tapes speak for themselves. And two, I think that what I just said pretty much speaks for itself," McClellan said when pressed about the details.

"Those were issues that were addressed ad nauseam four years ago and they were conversations that took place more than four years ago," he said, adding that Bush had not been in contact with Wead for several years.

[Judith Anne]

I JUST WANT TO KNOW IF HE INHALED!

Let's see, back in 1992 you were around 3 or 4 years old....

[LauraleeBraswell]

But I caught up quickly didn't I?

Oh, Judith Anne. I also know about the moon landing and I didn't even have to be born yet.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Who cares if he inhaled or not.Every one tried something at one time or an other and may regret it later for what ever reason.

This is no big news,IMO.

[ICU812]

People who have had their house seized for doing the same thing.

Bush was selling pot?

Maybe. I don't know. As a libertarian it wouldn't particularly bother me if he did. But depending upon which state you are in you don't have to actually sell pot to get property seized.

[LauraleeBraswell]

It was just meant as a humorous response in reference to Clinton's "I smoked but I didn't inhale."

Those tapes actually made our president look even better. It turns out, he's the same person in private as he is in public. And unlike most politicians, he says what he firmly believes.

As for marijuana, he did not want to set a bad example for children by answering yes. "I don't want some kid doing what I tried." Oh, the horror.

[LauraleeBraswell]

Judith Annes point was that I couldn't possibly know about that- because I was only 3 or 4 at the time. Actually I was around 6. And I never said I remembered Clinton saying that. I was much too young to take note of it.


It's just an infamous line from an infamous politician.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

I should have addressed my comment to all.

[WHBates]

An honest person is a thing to behold. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger if we understand it and learn.

[Marysecretary]

But did he INHALE? That's the question we need to ask (sarcasm).

[Navydog]

Well....I come from the middle of nowhere....and I mean nowhere. Pot was more available than beer when I was in HS in the late 70's. That comes from a slice of American pie in the Bible belt.

[potlatch]

Meek, hard to believe but you actually made Kennedy look even uglier!!

[I'm ALL Right!]

1. We already knew this. He has already discussed this.

2. Monica Lewinsky has "secret tapes" of Clinton, and has spoken of them numerous times, but has the MSM reported this story...NOT ONCE. HMMMMM. Bias? YOU BETCHA!

[MeekOneGOP]

haha! :^D

[barkeep]

No, doing county time, although state jail was in the original offer. She got expired insurance, possession, and an old traffic ticket all off the same stop. Prosecution offered a year state jail, probably would have been less calendar time, but Deb didn't want to be out of reach of family and took a county jail sentence instead. Girl had the bad luck to be caught with a fresh cut homegrown, weighed in at nearly half Lb. Might have dried to a half ounce of smokable product, but gave to DA the option to go felony if she fought it. With the range available, a lot depends on the DA's attitude that day (pray his wife gave him a little last night). Small town, personalities get involved, and these two had a history.

[robertpaulsen]

Thanks. That sounds more like the exception rather than the rule.

When I think possession, or users, I'm thinking a half-ounce or something, maybe a couple of joints.

And yes, I'll concede there's some jail time going on for marujuana users. But when you said prison time, that kind of caught my eye.

[Know your rights]

Well....I come from the middle of nowhere....and I mean nowhere. Pot was more available than beer when I was in HS in the late 70's. That comes from a slice of American pie in the Bible belt.

Funny how some alleged "conservatives" embrace the "for the children" tactic when the subject is drug policy ... even though there's no proof that banning adult drug use keeps it away from children, and plenty of reason to think the opposite.

[TKDietz]

"State prison?

I'd be interested in the story."

I've seen several people go to state prison for simple possession of a personal use amount of marijuana. In my state at least it's a felony if you have ever been convicted on any other drug charge before. People don't go to prison here for first offense, but all go to jail until they can bond out and some are sentenced to jail upon conviction. If they get caught with a joint again though it's a felony and depending on which county they are in, whether they take their case to trial and are convicted, or whether they have any other type of criminal record, they certainly might end up in prison. Several have gone for nothing other than possessing a joint or two after having been convicted at one point in their lives for the same thing before. This isn't California. I live in the south. I've seen it happen on several occasions right here in the county where I work in the criminal justice system.

[TKDietz]

I thought he said if someone said he denied doing coke they'd be lying. Who knows? It wouldn't surprise me or even bother me that much to learn that he had done cocaine. According to SAMHSA, over 20% of people 18 and older who are full time employed in this country admit to federal surveyors that they have done cocaine at one point in their lives. I bet that number is low because my guess is that not everyone feels comfortable admitting their felonious conduct to the federal government. Bush was a wealthy wild party animal back in the days when cocaine was most popular in this country and many thought of it as a nonaddictive party enhancer for the young and rich. I think he probably did do it and that's why he refuses to deny it. It doesn't really matter though. We've all done things when we were younger that we wouldn't do today, especially those of us who went through our party warrior period.

[af_vet_rr]

Who cares if he inhaled or not.

I think there are some people who place him on a pedestal, who are probably bothered by this. I also think that for some, Presiden't Bush drug and alcohol problems either really hurts or really helps their position in the war on drugs.

The truth is, those people need to accept that he's just a man. He's not perfect, he's never claimed to be perfect, this is nothing new (it was talked about even when he first ran for governor, except the issue was coke and booze). He's admitted to his mistakes, when many others in elected positions on a national level have not.

To be honest, I'd almost think there was something wrong with him if he hadn't tried some of those things, when you take into account where he grew up, and where he attended school.

Some people are going to take this reply as being supportive of President Bush, and some are going to see it as attacking him. That in and of itself proves my point - nobody is perfect, and whether something is bad or not depends on who is doing the judging. I remember when I was seventeen or eighteen, I snuck some liquor out of the house and hid it in a barn. My uncle caught me, made me drink a large portion of it right then and there, and that pretty much solved any curiousity I had about the stuff. Not everybody gets caught and immediately learns their lesson.

[TexasCajun]

No Alert needed when posting from Rooters! ..it's a gimmie!