For Bush, a Light Moment on a Painful Topic

[Gman]

---begin---

REER, S.C., Nov. 10 — President Bush rarely refers to one of the unhappier chapters in his life, the compulsive drinking that led him to give up alcohol altogether 17 years ago.

But on Monday, at the BMW auto manufacturing plant near here, he could not resist mentioning it, for the second time in two weeks.
,
,
,
"We're the only American beer keg manufacturer in North America," he (Steve Thies) boasted to the president, in front of a few hundred employees of BMW and Spartanburg Steel.

"I quit drinking in '86," Mr. Bush shot back, to laughter.

Then looking out over the audience of workers and reporters, he said, "I bet some of the people out here use the product. I'm not going to point out which ones."

Mr. Thies could not resist a quick one-liner. "Well," he told the president, "we did notice a dip in demand at that point in time." After an initial gasp, the crowd roared. "But probably no relationship," Mr. Thies added.

---end---

So he's talked about his drinking twice in the last 2 weeks. Hmmm... They're already playing defense because they know the DWI will come up again next year. Talking about it does not excuse lying about it in 2000 and we should let him know.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/11/politics/11BBOX.html?tntemail0

[tom_paine]

1. Please, he still drinks every goddamned day

He is EMPEROR! Who is going to tell him to stop?

And what gutless member of the Imperial Palace Press Corpse is going to sacrifice their career and maybe their life to expose it?

The answer to both questions is the same.

[juancarlos]

12. Do you have evidence

to show that the President drinks daily? If not, then don't post random statements like that. It really hurts our credibility when outsiders come browsing.

[CO Liberal]

15. Look At The Photo Evidence, JuanCarlos

Pictures of him at atate dinners and summit meetings, with drinks in front of him. Think of the wedding video from a few years back, where he was totally incoherent and sipping on what looked like a glass of vodka. There have been literally DOZENS of pictures of Bush with a red nose. And then there's the pretzel incident........

[mac56]

16. I appreciate your fair-mindedness, juancarlos -

But I think any outsider who comes browsing is probably prepared for just this kind of speculation. No harm done.

Welcome to DU, by the way.

[salin]

17. To be more precise... he appears and sounds

as if he is still drinking - with the sort of off-balance akward walk, and the slurred speech.

You are right - with no 'proof' hard to assert the cause (aha! he is drinking) - but pointing out to the behaviors that make some people think he is still drinking is more legit.

If he wasn't supposed to be dealing with such very serious issues, perhaps this would not matter. But the idea of an intellectually limited (or at the least intellectually lazy) man, dealing with these issues, with impaired judgement due to alcohol - suddenly makes the appearance a concern to many.

[juancarlos]

19. I have not spotted any erratic behaviours

but I will keep an eye out for them.

[Occulus]

20. previously posted photos

of * clearly show gin blossoms on his cheeks and a jolly red nose Santa would be proud of. Google bush +president +photos and you'll eventually find some.

[mikehiggins]

2. No, something else is at work

As the pressure mounts, Shrub will find it more and more enticing to have just one li'l drinkee poo.

Then we'll have a raging drunk as well as a blooming idiot with his finger on the button.

[maxanne]

7. we already do

pass the pretzels, please.

[DarkPhenyx]

3. I do like the nice little jab from Mr. Theis.

I do wonder how long it took for the MiB to get to his house afterwards though.

[bushisanidiot]

4. Rovie Wants Him To Appear Hip & Cool. He's Trying To Trump

the dem candidates admission at the "rock the vote" forum that they smoked a little weed.

everything AWOL does is staged by Rove.

[northzax]

18. except the Mission Accomplished sign

that was all the Navy's fault, remember? damn navy.

[Cooley Hurd]

5. Did you notice when...

...he said, "I bet some of the people out here use the product. I'm not going to point out which ones," he turned around and looked right at an African-American (behind him)...

[Adamocrat]

6. He STILL Drinks!

That near-beer he drinks does have SOME alcohol in it, and no true on-the-wagon alcoholic will touch the stuff. So he's not exactly sober.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

11. That would be BushLite

light moment indeed.

[otohara]

8. Painful, oh please

bush kills people, he suffers nothing

[Spazito]

9. Someone needs to juxtapose a picture of the laughing Bush with a...

picture of the father grieving the loss of both his wife and his son, who was lost in the chopper shoot-down. I cannot even express the sheer disgust I have of Bush. For him to be laughing and joking while the men and women he sent to Iraq are dying daily is beyond sick.

(Edited to correct spelling error)

[Gin]

10. Dry drunks are more dangerous than drinking drunks..??..at least you

know what you are dealing with if the person is drinking.

He is devious...and that personality trait was exaggerated by booze...but did not go away.

That smiling face hides an empty, cold hearted, selfish person.

Prune bush!

[TennesseeWalker]

13. Pretty funny quip, tho. And risky, too. (n/t)

[Cocoa]

14. "mmmmmmmm.... Beeeer..."

George W. Bush, Nov. 2003