MIKEMUN

Bush hints he 'tried marijuana'
By Michael Buchanan
BBC News, Washington



Bush was still governor of Texas when the tapes were recorded
Private discussions held by George W Bush before he became president suggest he used marijuana but would not admit it for fear of setting a bad example.
The conversations were secretly taped by a former aide to Mr Bush who has now revealed some of the recordings.

In the tapes, Mr Bush mocks Al Gore, his opponent in the 2000 elections, for admitting to smoking the drug.

The White House has not disputed the authenticity of what a spokesman said were "casual conversations".

Dodging the question

As George Bush, then governor of Texas, was weighing up a run for the White House, he held a number of private discussions with Doug Wead, a former aide to Mr Bush's father. Do you want your little kid to say 'Hey daddy, President Bush tried marijuana, I think I will'?

George W Bush

The conversations, which took place between 1998 and 2000, were recorded by Mr Wead without Mr Bush's knowledge.

On the tape, the future president discusses his refusal to answer questions about whether he took marijuana.

"I wouldn't answer the marijuana question," he says.

"You know why? 'Cause I don't want some little kid doing what I tried."

He feared that any such admission might affection his standing if he won the presidency.

"You gotta understand, I want to be president, I want to lead," he tells Mr Wead.

"Do you want your little kid to say 'Hey daddy, President Bush tried marijuana, I think I will'?"

Key Christians

As well as mocking then Vice-President Al Gore for admitting to smoking the drug, Mr Bush is heard dismissing him as pathologically a liar.

What is perhaps most remarkable about the conversations is how early on Mr Bush realised that reaching out to Christian conservatives would be crucially important to his political fortunes.

The tapes also indicate the lack of regard many Republicans had for the United Nations.

"These were casual conversations that then Governor Bush was having with someone he thought was a friend, and that's what they are," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.



Lull will probably have a field day with this one...Thought it was funny...Media again blowing things out of proportion..

jon_j_rambo

Bush is a pothead?

Bluesman

The funny part about this attempted character assasination is that it makes Bush look good. Is this the best the Left has got? Using a spurned political hack's illegal and immorally-obtained tapes of private conversations to embarass a Republican President with pretty much what he has acknowledged in public?

This is their Sunday punch? I'm not impressed.

Especially when one gets some more details of what Bush said about homosexuals (from the New York Times' story on the transcripts of the tapes):

Bush comes out looking good, here. What he has said in public is pretty much what he says on the tapes. He is not revealed to be underhanded and deceitful (unlike some taped Democratic politicians I could name...).

Look into this story, WABers. If this doesn't give you GREATER respect for the President, you're too unreasonable to argue with anymore.

__________________
"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
- George Orwell

ChrisF202

Bush only tried weed. Who in this country (besides me) hasent tried weed?

jon_j_rambo

Bush is saying this Bible verse --> "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" --- Romans 3:23

Julie

True....I also smoked it on a regular basis in my younger days....gave it up when I REPENTED !

Even today, people I'm in daily contact with smoke it, even in my presence as if it were legal here, even though it isn't. Doesn't bother me.

I personally do not judge ones by their past, since everyone in this world has made mistakes that they can never change, only learn from.

If Hillary runs in 2008 (which is highly likely), I only hope Bill has learned to be more "discreet."

jon_j_rambo

@Julie --- If you smoke week alot & repented. Why doesn't it bother you that others do it in front of you? Repentence is from sin, you should tell those potheads to repent. Smoking Maryjuana is a crime!

Julie

I smoked pot when I was young mainly because it was the "cool" thing to do at my age. Now at the age of 43, being "cool" just isn't at the top of my priority list. Most older people that smoke mj mainly do it as a pain relaxer. I'm around alot of middle-aged men who still do heavy labor that aren't spring chickens anymore if you know what I mean. The young men on the crew probably smoke it because it is cool. So, they all smoke it together for various reasons.

In any event, I will only be held responsible for MY sins on Judgment Day sweetie, not theirs.

jon_j_rambo

Actually Julie, God has forgotten your sins if you have been born again. They are cast where the East meets the West.

It's no a matter of whether "you get to heaven", that has been concluded thru the Gospel if you're saved. The question really isn't just maryjuana either, are you telling your friends how to get saved? How to repent? Do you share your testimony? Somebody had to tell you how to get saved, you need to start telling others.

By not making a stand, & allowing this potheads to smoke in front of you will tatter your testimony. Get a backbone, quit trying to be cool just to fit in.

There's no hope in the pope,
There's no hope in the dope,

-Legend

Bluesman

THAT post is in flagrant violation of WAB Forum rules.

jon_j_rambo

@Bluesmans --- Against your rules? The article is about Bush, Weed, Sin, not wanting others to smoke Weed. The article also talks about not judging "gays, because we have our favorite sins". Christains are able to discuss sin, our sin, other's sin, & how to deal with our lives now & the afterlife. This article is a great topic, Bush is shown in good light. A sin is a sin in the sight of God, how we deal with it is up to our free will, well, as guided by the Holy Spirit hopefully.

MIKEMUN

Yeah,Julie.How is that religion Forum going on??

Julie

I would say a "work in progress" Mikemun. You know, 3 steps forward, 2 steps back.

Bluesman

Not MY rules...

4. deregatory remarks concerning religious beliefs


If you want to promote YOUR religious beliefs, apparently no one can make you stop, no matter how offensive you may get. But tearing down somebody else's belief system is against the rules.

Do you get that?

jon_j_rambo

only Jesus gives Hope