Posted on 01/30/2015 9:50:27 PM PST by Plummz
DALLAS — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) accused Jeb Bush of hypocrisy after The Boston Globe reported the former Florida governor was a heavy marijuana smoker while at an elite prep school.
Bush opposed a Florida medical marijuana ballot initiative last year even though he partook liberally of the herb while in high school.
“You would think he’d have a little more understanding then,” Paul told The Hill while en route to a political event in Texas.
“He was even opposed to medical marijuana,” Paul said of Bush, a potential rival in the 2016 Republican presidential primary. “This is a guy who now admits he smoked marijuana but he wants to put people in jail who do.
“I think that’s the real hypocrisy, is that people on our side, which include a lot of people, who made mistakes growing up, admit their mistakes but now still want to put people in jail for that,” he said.
“Had he been caught at Andover, he’d have never been governor, he’d probably never have a chance to run for the presidency,” he added.
Bush told The Globe in a recent interview about his four years at Phillips Academy in Andover, one of the nation’s most prestigious prep schools, “I drank and I smoked marijuana when I was at Andover,” explaining the behavior was “pretty common.”
The Globe cited a former classmate, Peter Tibbetts, who said he first smoked marijuana with Bush and also consumed cannabis, a concentration of the plant’s resin, in Bush’s dorm room.
Tibbetts recalled Bush cranking up Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride” on the stereo while he and his classmates got stoned.
Bush has previously acknowledged using marijuana, which he has called “stupid” and “wrong.”
He issued a statement in August urging voters to reject a proposal allowing the use of marijuana to treat debilitating diseases.
He argued it would undermine the state’s image as a “family-friendly destination for tourism and a desirable place to raise a family or retire.”
“Allowing large-scale marijuana operations to take root across Florida, under the guise of using it for medicinal purposes, runs counter to all these efforts,” he claimed.
Paul dinged Bush for now opposing the legalization of marijuana for medical use.
The Kentucky senator has spoken extensively about the need to review the efficacy of the nation’s war on drugs and reconsider harsh prison sentences and other penalties for non-violent offenders.
“I think in politics the biggest thing, the thing that voters from any part of the spectrum hate worse than anything is hypocrisy. And hypocrisy is, ‘Hey I did it and it’s okay for me because I was rich and at an elite school but if you’re poor and black or brown and live in a poor section of one of our big cities, we’re going to put you in jail and throw away the key,’” Paul said.
Paul has hinted at using marijuana in the past.
He told a Louisville television station in December that he “wasn’t a choir boy” when asked if he used the drug in college.
“Let’s just say I wasn’t a choir boy when I was in college and that I can recognize that kids make mistakes, and I can say that I made mistakes when I was a kid,” he said, according to an Associated Press report of the broadcast.
Paul introduced an amendment in July that would shield states that enact medical marijuana laws from federal prosecution. It covered 33 states including California, Kentucky and New Hampshire. He has called decade-long jail sentences for possession or sale of marijuana “ridiculous.”
‘DALLAS — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) accused Jeb Bush of hypocrisy after The Boston Globe reported the former Florida governor was a heavy marijuana smoker while at an elite prep school.’
Rand certainly could make some sense if only Bush still kept smoking.
A fact that he is not anymore actually gives Jeb some credibility on a subject. Where is a hypocrisy?
Yeah, because we can’t possibly learn anything after high school. What an idiot.
the real hypocrisy is how the media will "report" this. I'll bet farm that they will say things like, " our leader can't be a former drug user", yet with pictures of the current resident of the White House, they issue a pass and play it off as "no big deal". Yet when this happens the right just gets a dear in the headlights look on their face and says nothing - thus giving the press more power to do such things.
“Sorry Rand, but a Pothead Coalition can’t get you to the White House. Most of your voters will be too stoned to get to the polls.”
But what about support from the African American community? They are enraged by police violence, “broken windows” policies and lengthy prison sentences for minor drug offenses. It has destroyed millions of black lives and ensured that they will never be productive members of society. Or have a slice of the American dream. Just a life of poverty with no way out. They have watched it happen to their children, relatives and neighbors. That leaves a mark!
Paul has met with them to discuss their concerns. He was actually INVITED by the NAACP to hold a townhall at Ferguson. He was the also the only elected Republican ever to speak at the Urban League. He has regularly spoken at historically black colleges. People went away impressed that a Republican actually cared about their concerns. That says a lot.
Republicans typically don’t wanna hear, know or understand about black concerns. Like we don’t want or need that constituency. Sadly, threads on here will show that. Romney’s 47% comment is another fine example.
Can you name another candidate that is reaching out to their community and is willing to discuss their concerns?
What hogwash. The police are equal opportunity crime stoppers. If you break the law you can count on being arrested regardless of your skin color. You sound just like the rest of the brain washed progressives who read talking points and are dumb as hell. For your INFO blacks do not run the numbers except in black neighborhoods. Obviously, you know zip about who is /are the major bookies in your city and who runs the show. Your example of drinking in a s back yard vs. on the front porch is self explanatory. If you open a beer on a front porch downtown and cars plus pedestrians see you-that is public drinking. You are not on the Huffington Post.
So many things to attack Jebbie on in the first debate. So little time. :-)
Our exchange is over. I do not have time to waste on posters who resort to personal attack.
California has issued fewer than 80,000 medical MJ cards - pretty small-potatoes scam in a state of 38,000,000.
Exactly. The fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree.
You can’t change the fact that Rand Paul is an immature punk, when do you start arguing that he isn’t?
Rand Paul, though he doesn't agree 100% with him, stood by Ted Cruz for those magnificent 21 hours. At times, I thought his somewhat confrontational questions kept Cruz intellectually sharp. He brought up the danger of drones further eroding our privacy. Doesn't all that count for something?
Did you report this felonious activity to authorities? If so, what did they say?
If you didn't report it, aren't you committing a misprision of felony?
If Jeb checked himself into prison for ten or 20 years, then he wouldn’t be a hypocrite. Maybe he did and I missed it?
I’m refererring to Ayn Rand.
Interesting. You are misinformed.
nope , just hearsay
Indeed he is. But if Rand is going to raise the "hypocrisy" card against others, its perfectly reasonable for another Republican to bring up the fact that Rand presented himself as an anti-establishment Tea Party candidate to get himself a Senate seat, then turned around and endorsed the ultimate GOP insider over his Tea Party rival.
The question is whether any Republican candidate on stage with Rand would go down that road. My guess is they don't have the balls to bring it up.
I went to Andover. I started five years after Bush graduated. It was politically neutral when I was there and the school had gone coed. Probably a third of the kids used drugs, not 90% or half.
Jeb Bush sounds like a real loser. Bad grades, did drugs, not much involvement. But as for the bullying ...everyone played practical jokes
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