Basu: Homer, Marge, Wead or W. - it's about hypocrisy

[leQ]

at the des moines register, a writer by the name of rekha basu hits the nail on the head unlike she has ever done before. i have always enjoyed reading her column, and thought she went off the mark on several occasions, but with today's column, she done hit it square out of the park.

i gained an understanding of bush that i didn't have before. thanks rekha!

But there's more hypocrisy in Bush's repeated refusal to acknowledge past drug use when asked, even as Clinton, Gore and countless others in the hot seat confessed to smoking pot and took their hits for it.

Toking up or doing a few lines in the '60s would not make George W. any less qualified to be president. Lots people of our generation at least gave pot a try. But by not admitting to it, the president leaves others who have, hanging out there by themselves - perpetuating the myth that they are less moral.

Morality is Bush's trump card. But what if that's based on a fiction? Does anyone care that Bush chose instead to "blame my opponents" for spreading dirt about him, as he is heard saying on the tape?

Does anyone care that as governor of Texas he supported legislation to jail people caught with less than a gram of cocaine?

In a 1999 column - right around the time these tapes were being recorded - I wrote this about what Bush had to lose by coming clean on past drug use: "As a nation, we're still awfully hypocritical on the subject of drugs. If Bush says a little drug experimentation at age 28 was no big deal, then he may be forced to admit that it's also no big deal for other people. If he asks the public to forgive him his mistake, then he must be prepared to forgive others their mistakes."

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050223/OPINION01/502230302/1035/OPINION

i couldn't make up my mind about which 4 paras i wanted to pass along, as the whole article is worth reading.

[Inland]

1. Today's chi tribune op-ed said Bush should lie, for the kid's sake.

Admitting drug use would tell kids that drugs aren't so bad, since one can use drugs and still become president. So when Bush refuses to discuss drug use, it's for the good of the children.

And the point being, as a parent, you want to be able to deny your kids something you yourself did.

Which makes sense, until you realize, as the writer did, that Bush is denying adults something he himself did, and sending them to prison for it.

It seems clear that our leaders see hypocrisy and lying as a valid behavior. If Bush coked up, then he should shut up about it, because to admit it would make him an open hypocrite rather than a secret one.

One more example of the righties making deception for the sake of political expediency acceptable.

[Democrats_win]

2. We admire Washington for the cherry tree, we won't admire bush's lie.

Once you start lying, you have to lie keep the other lies intact. Its like a drug addict looking for a fix. We may never know the true scope of the lies of George W. Bush.