Luis Posada and Bush’s drinking (Yes, we know it's baloney. Carry on.)

How did a judge’s decision not to deport the terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela connect to the report that George W. Bush has again hit the bottle?

The answer begins in the fact the Bush never entered a recovery program for his alcohol and drug addiction, which he supposedly gave up at age 40 while jogging. God talked to him, or Jesus or some envoy. This born again phenomenon apparently substituted for AA – along with exercise and praying.

W had ongoing problems, of course, in Iraq and Afghanistan. At home, his poll ratings fell to 40% or less by September. Yet, Bush continued on Karl Rove’s path, derived from Napoleon, Frederick the Great and the Nazi Party model of politics: forget about facts, truth, integrity, ethics; rely on audacity and aggression. This formula won him two elections, placed the gutless Democrats on the defense and secured the “stupid male vote,” the dumbos who adore Dr. Laura and Rush Limbaugh and vote against their own interests.

The impregnable success model, however, eroded quickly and, according to the The National Enquire (“Bush’s Booze Crisis,” Sept. 21), Laura Bush caught George throwing down a drink at his Crawford ranch. Drinking began after aides informed him of the Hurricane Katrina disaster and FEMA’s failure to deal with the aftermath.

Laughing about the source? Before the “respectable” press got wind of it, The Enquirer revealed Rush Limbaugh’s oxycontin habit (“Limbaugh Caught in Drug Ring,” Oct. 2, 2003).

Now, Jennifer Luce and Don Gentile report that “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 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!’” After listening to a September 12 exchange with a journalist, Laura may have already suspected he had started nipping.

“Did they misinform you when you said that no one anticipated the breach of the levees?”

“No,” Bush responded. “…When that storm came by, a lot of people said we dodged a bullet. When that storm came through at first, people said, whew. There was a sense of relaxation, and that’s what I was referring to. And I, myself, thought we had dodged a bullet. You know why? Because I was listening to people, probably over the airways, say the bullet has been dodged…Of course, there were plans in case the levee had been breached. There was a sense of relaxation in the moment, a critical moment. And thank you for giving me a chance to clarify that” (White House Web Site Sept. 12).

This mangled attempt at oral clarity hardly compensated for his non-handling of Katrina’s aftermath. And bloodshed in Iraq dominated daily headlines. Popularity ratings went south. Gas prices went north. W went boozing.

“The sad fact is that he has been sneaking drinks for weeks now. Laura may have only just caught him — but the word is his drinking has been going on for a while in the capital,” said an Enquirer source. “The war in Iraq, the loss of American lives, has deeply affected him… The result is he’s taking drinks here and there, likely in private, to cope.”

The nation has endured drunken Presidents, like Ulysses Grant and Warren Harding. But a “dry drunk?” Dr. Katherine Van Wormer, co-author of Addiction Treatment: A Strengths Perspective, applied this term to Bush, meaning he stopped drinking but still thinks constantly about relieving his anxiety with alcohol (Counterpunch Jan. 22, 2003).

On September 20, he returned to “N’Oleans” which he remembered fondly from his drinking days. Bush promised to “get the debris removed, get the water up and running and get the bridges rebuilt. But what you need to do is develop a blueprint for your own future. We look forward to hearing your vision so we can more better do our job.”

“More better?” More disturbed, thought Laura. The following day, W unleashed another missile. “If you want to grow something, you shouldn’t tax it. If you want to encourage small business growth, we ought to incent it to grow in that part of the world. Somebody said the other day, well, that’s a tax break. That region is going to have zero income anyway.”

“That region” conjured up images of poor people suffering. If he stayed for photo op-s, he would have to shake dirty hands and hug smelly bodies. So, he remained “on vacation,” watching TV golf, not images of floating bodies and desperate people.

The dry drunk got wetter. Van Wormer listed other traits: “A rigid, judgmental outlook, impatience, childish behavior, irresponsible behavior, irrational rationalization, projection and overreaction.” Dr. Van Wormer thinks Bush exhibits these traits and “some indications of paranoia.”

She selected as an example Bush’s declaration: “We must be prepared to stop rogue states and their terrorist clients before they are able to threaten or use weapons of mass destruction against the United States and our allies and friends.” Such a statement indicated “projection is evidenced here as well, projection of the fact that we are ready to attack onto another nation which may not be so inclined.”

He also displays his “judgmental outlook” in a statement on Israel. To fight evil, Bush turns Biblical. “Look my job isn’t to try to nuance. I think moral clarity is important... this is evil versus good” (Counterpunch, Oct. 11, 2002).

Such pronouncements of an uncompromising terrorism fighter evaporated on September 27 and provided W more reason to drink. On that day, a U.S. immigration judge denied Venezuela’s request to extradite Luis Posada Carriles. The U.S. government lawyer offered no opposition to the judge’s ruling, although it carried heavy implications.

Posada, who Hugo Chavez’s government labeled “the Osama bin Laden of Latin America,” grinned. So did Osama bin Laden when he heard Bush’s October 6 remarks?

“The United States makes no distinction between those who commit acts of terror and those who support and harbor them, because they’re equally as guilty of murder. Any government that chooses to be an ally of terror has also chosen to be an enemy of civilization. And the civilized world must hold those regimes to account” (Speech to the National Endowment for Democracy, Oct 6, 2005).

How to coincide these remarks with not deporting a terrorist? “God should have known that those anti-Castro Cubans, whom I owe for two elections, would not let me deport Posada. They call him a `zealous patriot’.”

Since Posada escaped trial for his lead role in the October 1976 bombing of a Cuban commercial airliner over Barbados in which all 73 people aboard died, Bernardo Alvarez, Venezuela’s Ambassador to Washington, accused Bush’s administration of using a “double standard” on terrorism.

At his Texas trial, the White House and Homeland Security collaborated with Posada by failing to counter his lawyer’s virtually unsupported claim that Venezuela would torture him. Indeed, the State department’s most recent report exempted Venezuela from the list of states that practice torture.

Ironically, U.S. officials have routinely torture prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. One State Department official spoke anonymously, “Here we have someone who we know is a terrorist, and it’s clear that we’re actively protecting him from facing justice. We have zero credibility.” (Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service, Sept. 29, 2005).

Posada weakened W’s terrorist reputation. Then a Texas prosecutor weakened his power in the House by charging Tom DeLay with multiple felony charges. “The Hammer,” as frightened legislators called DeLay, had rammed through Bush’s tax cuts for the richest people in the country.

In addition, the SEC began to probe Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s sale of stock in Hospital Corporation of America from his blind trust, just days before poor earnings sent HCA shares sharply down.

“Billy” claimed he sold the shares to avoid “conflict of interest” should he decide to run for president. But his kin also sold their HCA shares on that day. None of them aspired to public office. Frist denied that he saw clearly into his blind trust. Few believed him.

Then, the press chastised W for naming Julie Myers to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She was General Richard Myers’ niece, who married Homeland Security head Mike Chertoff’s chief of staff. So what that the agency was part of Homeland Security!

With his approval dropping, Social Security reform entombed and facing increasing voter dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq, Bush also took heat for rising gas prices.

Dr. Justin Frank (Bush On The Couch: Inside The Mind Of The President) thought “that Bush is drinking again. Alcoholics who are not in any program, like the President, have a hard time when stress gets to be great” (Enquirer Sept. 21).

Posada grinned. Bin Laden guffawed. Bush drank. The drama of our time: two terrorists and a lush?

As did I 18 years ago. I went to a few AA meetings but I am frankly not a "group person" It works well for many people but it just wasn't my thing. I find that the fear of losing all that's important to me family, business etc. is a mighty powerful motivator and works for me. There are several paths leading to the same destination.

I hope you did not take offense at my previous post. I have nothing but admiration for your 18 years of sobriety. Very, very few alcholics reach that landmark.

Most die,are imprisoned, or they become insane.

The real thrust of my posts was to question whither or not GWB is a recovering alcoholic, or most likely, a heavy drinker that decided to stop.

There is a real difference. If a recovering alcoholic takes a drink, the allergy to alcohol will most likely lead to renewed disfunctional behavior. Not so for a reformed heavy social drinker.

Again, congratulations on your sobriety. I'm envious.

Thank you, none taken. The best definition I have heard for whether or not your an alcoholic is if your drinking reaches a point where it jeopardizes your ability to function in in business and personal relationships. From my understanding. Bush's drinking at one point met both criteria.If he was not an alcoholic he was indestinguishably close to being one.

I think people get to hung up on the label alcoholic. I felt like an alcoholic when I was drinking too much wine every chance I got. Now that I haven't had a drink in almost two years I don't feel like an alcoholic at all and I don't put that label on myself. I prefer all the other positive labels I can think of to define myself. I have a feeling that's probably the way our President looks at his situation too.....so as long as I am not drinking I am not an alcoholic.....cuz alcoholics drink. I know thats maybe a twisted way to look at it BUT IT WORKS FOR ME and I just don't drink because of the 100+ good reasons I have not to :)

Here's something to contimplate:

I’M YOUR DISEASE

I hate meetings. I hate a higher power. I hate anyone who has a program. To all who come into contact with me, I wish you suffering and I wish you death.
Allow me to introduce myself. I’m the disease of alcoholism. CUNNING, BAFFELING AND POWERFUL, that’s me.
I love to catch you with the element of surprise. I love pretending I am your friend and lover. I have given you comfort, have I not? Wasn’t I there when you were lonely? When you wanted to die didn’t you call me? I was there.
I love to make you hurt. I love to make you cry. Better yet I love to make you so numb you can neither hurt nor cry. When you can’t feel anything at all, this is true glory.
I will give you instant gratification, and all I ask of you is long term suffering. I’ve been there for you always. When things were going right in your life, you invited me. You said you didn’t deserve these good things, and I was the ONLY ONE who would agree with you. Together we were able to DESTROY ALL THINGS GOOD in your life.
People don’t take me seriously. They take strokes seriously. They take heart attacks seriously, even diabetes they take seriously. Fools that they are they don’t know that without my help, many of these things would not be made possible.
I am such a hated disease, and yet I do not come uninvited. YOU CHOOSE TO HAVE ME. So many have chosen me over REALITY and PEACE.
More than you hate me; I hate all of you who have a twelve step program. Your program, your meetings, your higher power, ALL WEAKEN ME, and I can’t function in the manner I am accustomed to.
Now I must lie here quietly. You don’t see me. BUT I AM GROWING BIGGER THAN EVER. When you only exist, I may live. When you live, I only exist. BUT I AM HERE….and until we meet again, if we meet again, I WISH YOU SUFFERING AND DEATH.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.