Bush hides pot habit from kiddies

oh and im not pro bush or anti bush, i just mean alotta people want 110% perfect presidents.

I'm sure they cut out the part where he says "I never inhaled"


edit: opps, sorry shadow, i should read these things before posting from orig. comment, eh? for me

[edit on 2/21/2005 by Its_True_I_Promise]

who hasnt tried pot?

but really who really cares i think there is nothing incriminating on those tapes so for anyone who is really that upset that bush didnt make sure everyone knew he had tried pot during his campaign needs to get outta their bum ( imo )

Why is it nobody condemns the guy doing the taping? His actions are pretty low and the result is pretty predictable, anti-Bush people are latching on to his words and twisting them to their own ends. Is this really the best you can come up with though?

Not many people (that includes everyone here) could handle having private phone conversations taped and then released publicly.

How many parents told their kids half-truths, inconsequential lies or simply dodged the question to shape the path they (the kids) are on. I catagorically state that no parent ever has told their child 100% of the truth for their entire life. That just doesn't happen.

Thats all he is doing in that statement on mary-jane. He says (paraphrasing) that he doesn't want kids using a mistake he made as an excuse to make a mistake of their own. What is wrong with that? Don't tell me it is the lying rather than the dope that is the problem because that is absolute rubbish and a pretty hypocritical stance to take given the time frame and circumstances, imho.

You guys have gotta look closer.

This is just a sly endorsement of the idiot prince. This will not hurt his ratings at all.

What's the bet that it was Bush who got it released?

A lot of people seem to be missing the point here. No body really cares whether President Bush ever smoked pot or not, the "Pot" is not the issue.

The first issue is Integrity.

The unfortunate fact is that politicians in general are severly lacking in integrity these days, and these are our leaders. If you show me a politician you will be showing me a liar.

When questioned about his DUI's he was evasive and or flat out lied about them. When questioned about past drug usage, he was evasive or flat out lied about it.

I don't really care if my president has done things they regret in the past, as long as what they did didn't effect others (then cover them up due to a powerful position or family) and when questioned about them they tell the truth about it. The only other thing I require of my president in a situation such as this is that he/she have grown past those issues and no longer persue them while in office.

The second issue is how people are trying to make it a non issue.

The best phrase is "So what, he smoked pot, big deal!"

When Bill Clinton was questioned about his "Pot" smoking he was fried up on a grill for it by the republican party. Granted his "I didn't inhale" was a very stupid response, but then he broke ground for other presidents to have used drugs. Before him no one would admit it whether they did or not, and there was never any evidence to show otherwise (at least not while they were in office). When he was caught with his pants down again he was fried up on a grill.

The Republican party is saying how dare this man tape then Governor Bush and betray the family trust. They are villifying him. At the same time Linda Trip was seen as a Hero by the Political right, even though she did the exact same thing. So if you catch the democrates you are a hero, if you catch the republicans you are a vile, evil person.

What I also think is funny about this whole thing, when put in the context of "Well, Bill Clinton discraced the office of the President by lying under oath or by having sexual relations in the oval office".

How is that worse than a president lying about the conditions for going to war? Once at war, and having hundereds, followed by thousands of soldiers dying, then changing the stories when those original conditions turn out to be false (especially when their was plenty of evidence showing that the weapons were not there).

In the end they both screwed up royally.

The Third issue is Morality.

President Bush ran under the "Moral" President. There is a distinct pattern of lying that is coming from the president and his advisors. The last I checked according to any religious organization, lying to this scale is what moral people don't do.

It also leads question to harder drug usage that has been brought up in the past. Harder drugs, especially when combined with his alcoholism can create serious mental and cognitive problems later in life. Remember he is the "Freaking President of the United States", don't you want a president that has full capacity of his cognitive abilitiy?

On a personal side note,

How did the standards of the office of the President of the United States become so low so quickly. Nobody expects anything more than an idiot as president any longer and those that would be excellent presidents will no longer run for office because they don't want to deal with what's in their closet.

It's a sad, sad state of affairs these days.

Hmmm Lie about a blowjob affecting F-all people, get impeached.

Lie about WMD's killing thousands get re-elected.

Pretty sad state of affairs when the american people are happier killing "terrorists" than hearing about there prez getting some action.

Anyway, we all know what Clinton does with Cigars so maybe there is a chance he didn't enhale

Originally posted by 750Aero
A lot of people seem to be missing the point here. No body really cares whether President Bush ever smoked pot or not, the "Pot" is not the issue.

The first issue is Integrity.

The unfortunate fact is that politicians in general are severly lacking in integrity these days, and these are our leaders. If you show me a politician you will be showing me a liar.

Simple fact: Politicians cannot tell the truth every single time. Sometimes to cover their own ar$e, sometimes to hide the truth, sometimes as a strategy, sometimes because they have to to avoid worse consequences.

"If I'd written all the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people - including me - would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism." (Hunter S. Thompson)

Same for politics in many ways.

When questioned about his DUI's he was evasive and or flat out lied about them. When questioned about past drug usage, he was evasive or flat out lied about it.

Thats the point, the excerpt from the tape explains why he "lied" about it. As per my previous post.

I don't really care if my president has done things they regret in the past, as long as what they did didn't effect others (then cover them up due to a powerful position or family) and when questioned about them they tell the truth about it. The only other thing I require of my president in a situation such as this is that he/she have grown past those issues and no longer persue them while in office.

Again the tape makes it pretty clear that is the case and why he didn't think full disclosure of it would be beneficial.

The second issue is how people are trying to make it a non issue.

The best phrase is "So what, he smoked pot, big deal!"

When Bill Clinton was questioned about his "Pot" smoking he was fried up on a grill for it by the republican party. Granted his "I didn't inhale" was a very stupid response, but then he broke ground for other presidents to have used drugs. Before him no one would admit it whether they did or not, and there was never any evidence to show otherwise (at least not while they were in office). When he was caught with his pants down again he was fried up on a grill.

Quite right. I would however submit because of the tapes that Bush himself doesn't see it as a non-issue. Thats why he has worked out how to deal with it.

The Republican party is saying how dare this man tape then Governor Bush and betray the family trust. They are villifying him. At the same time Linda Trip was seen as a Hero by the Political right, even though she did the exact same thing. So if you catch the democrates you are a hero, if you catch the republicans you are a vile, evil person.

I think there is a significant difference between taping a conversation with an old friend compared to a partisan work colleague.

What I also think is funny about this whole thing, when put in the context of "Well, Bill Clinton discraced the office of the President by lying under oath or by having sexual relations in the oval office".

How is that worse than a president lying about the conditions for going to war? Once at war, and having hundereds, followed by thousands of soldiers dying, then changing the stories when those original conditions turn out to be false (especially when their was plenty of evidence showing that the weapons were not there).

In the end they both screwed up royally.

No contest, although I would say that no one has proven that Bush's lie was deliberate despite the speculation on it. I am not saying that is neccessarily the case, but any one who is 100% sure on it is overstepping the mark.

"In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity." (Hunter S. Thompson)

The Third issue is Morality.

President Bush ran under the "Moral" President. There is a distinct pattern of lying that is coming from the president and his advisors. The last I checked according to any religious organization, lying to this scale is what moral people don't do.

It also leads question to harder drug usage that has been brought up in the past. Harder drugs, especially when combined with his alcoholism can create serious mental and cognitive problems later in life. Remember he is the "Freaking President of the United States", don't you want a president that has full capacity of his cognitive abilitiy?

Politics isn't a question of morals, it is an exercise in practicality - well it is supposed to be anyway.

How did the standards of the office of the President of the United States become so low so quickly. Nobody expects anything more than an idiot as president any longer and those that would be excellent presidents will no longer run for office because they don't want to deal with what's in their closet.

It's a sad, sad state of affairs these days.

(I agree) Mainly because "we" (not meaning you and I specifically) keep voting for them. The types of politicians we vote in are our choice. Why I never subscribed to the "if you don't vote you can't complain lobby" because I always thought not voting was a complaint in a way. I'll vote when they put someone up I consider worth voting for.

Edit: I should mention I have gone this way with this post because I thought 750Aero's post was good and have tried to seperate those points in my response. This "quoting style" often comes across as confrontational and that wasn't my point, as I thought 750Aero's well written.

[edit on 21-2-2005 by whita]

my problem is he "refused to answer" the did you ever use coc aine question also.

1. I am George W. Bush and I am a megalomaniac (secretly taped at Megalomaniacs Anonymous meeting)

2. I lied, then I lied, then I lied again. (Bush adresses United Nations about everchanging Iraq goalposts)

3. Harder, faster. Faster? Yes. Yes. (Bush and James Guckert, taped in the Oval Office).

4. When I said I continued flying with my unit for the next several years, I wasn't lying. I was talking about the coke habit and masturbation.



(I decided to be gentle).

Originally posted by Intelearthling
I think he thinks that if was to answer this question straight out, he'd be bragging on things that a person shouldn't be bragging about.

What do you want him to say? "Yeah, I smoked the hemp and had a damned good time while I was doing it!"
[edit on 21/2/05 by Intelearthling]

No need to brag.

How about "Yes I smoked marijuana when I was younger, I realised that the life I was leading back then was getting me know where. Now I have realised that there are more important things in life, like being the leader of the free world."

It seems hypocritical considering the reatoric his government continues to spout about pot. He has to know that it isn't that bad.
Somebody, somewhere (probably Dad) told him that Hemp products compeat with oil, soaps, polyester fabrics, and a number of potrolium products. They also told him that it is a good way to inject young people into the prison economy. Or maybe not, maybe he really did do it for the kids.
'your right dad, drugs are bad.'


[edit on 22-2-2005 by Halfofone]

Originally posted by jprophet420
my problem is he "refused to answer" the did you ever use coc aine question also.

He may be president but he's also human. And if you're a perfect human then.....you're not really human. So being that he and everyone else is not perfect, there's going to be stuff that we don't want people to know.
Funny how we always complain about the government and/or government officials invading our privacy, but then we want to invade theirs. He did answer the questions of is he still drinking or doing drugs NOW and he's not......that's all that matters now.

A regular citizen and a public figure should be treated differently. As just some guy it doesn't matter if I'm smoking a crackpipe with a needle in my arm. Provided there's noone else involved it's a fairly vicitimless crime.

However if I were responsible for the free world the people have a right to know if I'm capable of making unbiased unclouded decisions.

More and more we see examples of the dying of voter intelligence.

Instead of focusing on the only question our minds should have, which is, "Please tell me what you plan on doing as leader of this country and explain to me why my vote should go to you." we find ourselves distracted by idiotic drivel.

It matters how a question is answered, yes. Answering honestly only helps as a general rule. However, the question should not be of interest anyways. Why is it suddenly of interest to me as a voter if the people running for President ever, while sitting in a college dorm among a bunch of frat people, smoked weed. Who the hell cares? How is that relevant to my pick for President of the United States?

It seems to be a recent thing as I recall Clinton and Bush II being asked it. Perhaps because no one wondered at the time if Bush I or Reagan ever did due to their advanced age? I don't know.

So Clinton smoked pot and didn't inhale. Yay! The idiots had something to talk about during his tenure. Every time they didn't like Clinton's actions someone would inevitably crack an "Ah did not inhale" joke. The effects it had on his service as President were astounding! Can you name one? I can't. It was irrelevant. It was a sidetrack, perhaps intended to get morons involved in politics.

Our political system is such a joke. This last election was either a funny movie or a sign that we're all going to die. No one gave a damn about an issue. It was amazing. It was more important who had a longer head, or beadier eyes, or who slipped and cursed, or that one's wife has a bad temper and the other was in a car accident once.

Dumbing down. That's all. The issue should read Bush/Clinton/whoever hides pot habit because it is none of anyone's god damn business.

I choose candidates in an election with my above posted question. What are you going to do for us? What are you going to do with this position, if you get it? What about your answer makes you better than him?

But instead the dumbing down of the electorate continues. Folks, if you're picking candidates based on if they smoked weed, who they've slept with, or if they masturbate too much (MA, I'm still trying to comprehend what was up with that post) then I think you need to seek help or do the rest of country a favor and not vote.

The USA needs help politically. We need people who actually care about the nation's future to be the ones guiding it. Not people who think life is just a tabloid story.

Stop asking "Did you smoke pot". Start asking "What do you feel about Iraq, or the economy, or social security, or civil rights etc etc etc".

Originally posted by ThatsJustWeird
Funny how we always complain about the government and/or government officials invading our privacy, but then we want to invade theirs. He did answer the questions of is he still drinking or doing drugs NOW and he's not......that's all that matters now.

I don't care what he eats for breakfast, what gets him off, what he smokes, what he wears, or weather or not he prefers the missionary position.
But I do care when his policies conflict with his actions, past or present, and especialy future. I guess I just have a problem with the fact that someone who has expirianced the smoke continues to demonize it.

I cannot stand the Idea that George Bush, or ANYONE else, knows what is best for me and my children. You talk about privacy and freedom but defend a man who would bring more control than the U.S. has ever known?
I would hope that my children would look to me for guidence before any public figure. Leave the parenting to the parents, set a good example, and lead with integrity, but don't protect us from the devil you create. Any negitives can be fixed by legalizing it.