Untitled Document
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 dodgedOf 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.
So, Posada weakened Bush's last claim to strength, fighting terrorism.
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?