Bush's Booze Crisis (Natioinal Enquirer)

[Liberal_Andy]

http://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/63426

Sorry if dupe.

[wakeme2008]

1. IMHO he never stopped drinking BEER AND WINE

just my opinion.

[Botany]

2. I have always wondered about the "pretzel?"

"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!"

:beer:

[tainowarrior]

3. umm...and he has the finger on the button?

:scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared:

[TallahasseeGrannie]

4. If he is (was?) really

a teetottler (sp?) I think he is the only one other than Jimmy Carter, at least recently.

Interesting and potentially scary.

But I still am not impressed with the Enquirer as a source.

[Liberal_Andy]

7. Well maybe, but...

I remember discounting their reporting during the Clinton years, only to find out later, there was some truth there.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

14. I'll give you that

I do think they might have gotten some actual reporters lately. Someone pointed out in another thread on this that he thinks they are no worse than the NYT.

[Mizmoon]

5. I think the WHite House made it up and "leaked" it

It humanizes ole dubya - makes it seem like he feels for the people when he actually just plays guitar while they drown.

[seabeyond]

6. humanizes? not if you have a true alcoholic in your family n/t

[Mizmoon]

8. yeah but the whole scenario feels false

Laura walks in on him taking ONE shot and shouts, "George, no!"

Oh phuleeeze ... I'm a recovering alky myself. When we want to drink we don't do it where anyone will catch us and we don't stop at one shot.

The whole scene is fake and set-up in such a way that the average guy thinks that Bush cared so much he almost fell off of the wagon but didn't really.

[Jackpine Radical]

9. Don't confuse the National Enquirer with the other tabloids.

The National Enquirer hasn't been proved wrong on this kind of story in many years. They got burned very badly years ago in a libel/defamation lawsuit & have been very reliable in getting their gossip right ever since. They are the ones who broke a bunch of nasty-but-true Enron stories a few years ago. They were also anthraxed after printing stuff about the Bush twins. Stuff that turned out to be 100% on the mark. Believe them. About the drinking, anyway. Not necessarily about how compassionate the Resident Psychopath is or how much he bleeds for the dead troops. That stuff is no doubt fluff. But the core of the story will turn out to be dead-on. You don't publish stuff like this in the current journalistic climate without having your ducks in a row. And maybe a far worse story that you're holding back as a second-strike in case Rove goes after you.

[noonwitch]

11. They have been careful since Carol Burnett sued them and won

When they reported on her daughter's drug problems. I guess they printed some stuff that wasn't true and she sued them for libel and won.

[goclark]

12. Totally Agree - they don't want to be sued again

especially when they want to appear to support Bush.

IMO they are trying to put enough 'he cares about us" in the story so that his base will say, " OK,let's just brush this story under the rug."

But this story will be VERY BIG because they are holding back and their lawyers have far more than this little inter change that a servant may have heard.

The servant probably had to get others to back up her story and there is more to come.

Lately, the NE is like Kitty Kelly, they have not been sued to any large status.

Carol Burnett's daughter WAS ON DRUGS the NE did not frame it enough to not have her win the case. The DRUGS were still there as I recall.

I read the NE all the time - if you have not, try it at the drug store and then read PEOPLE the same week. The NE usually has it first.

[Rambis]

10. Bullshit

He ha never stopped drinking everyone in Washington knows that. This is a fake story because of this line....

"The war in Iraq, the loss of American lives, has deeply affected him. He takes every soldier's life personally. It has left him emotionally drained.

* has no emotion.

[Jackpine Radical]

13. Permit me to quote myself from my post above.

"Believe them. About the drinking, anyway. Not necessarily about how compassionate the Resident Psychopath is or how much he bleeds for the dead troops. That stuff is no doubt fluff."

I don't know that Bush's drinking is "common knowledge" in DC. It sure isn't in the country at large, and has been the object of much speculation but no certainty on this board. Therefore the NE story is very noteworthy.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

15. I never

heard about GW's continued drinking until I started reading DU.

Not arguing with you, but you say "everyone in Washington." Is there a source or something, or is it mostly pillow talk, cocktail circuit, etc.?

I'm sure the rumor mill in DC is a wild and crazy place!

I bought into the "reformed boozer" for years, particularly in light of his manic exercise programs.

I'd guess if he is still drinking he is not a serious alcoholic because he is still in good physical condition.

Now, don't take any of this as defense of the guy: His drinking status is interesting to me mainly because of alcoholic family members. He's a jerk, dry or drunk.

[deutsey]

16. Thom Hartmann just played that clip of Bush at a wedding reception

where Bush appears to be tanked, despite his claim that he stopped drinking a couple years before.

Just FYI.

He's making a good circumstantial case that Bush has been boozing throughout his presidency (citing the pretzel incident).

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. Puppeteers searching for a way to ease * out: sympathy for "hard work"?

[ThomWV]

18. A Born-Again Alcoholic - What's He Doing With Booze At The Ranch?

I'm an alcoholic myself, there hasn't been a drop of alcohol in this house in the past 8 years - since the day of my last drink. It seems awfully improbable to me that if Bush is what he claims to be that there would have been any alcohol at the Ranch either - in fact not a chance in hell. I don't care if he has to greet and meet back at the hog-farm, he still wouldn't have allowed it to be around.