Tucker Carlson on Bush's 1976 DUI arrest: "[I]t's not like he was wasted"

[helderheid]

Tucker Carlson on Bush's 1976 DUI arrest: "(I)t's not like he was wasted"
http://mediamatters.org/items/200611150012
On the November 14 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, host Tucker Carlson downplayed President Bush's 1976 drunken-driving arrest: "(H)is blood alcohol level -- I'm not defending drunk driving, of course -- but, you know, it's not like he was wasted. He -- he wasn't at all. It was like three beers or something." Carlson's speculation about how much Bush had had to drink, "like three beers or something," is inconsistent with Bush's reported blood-alcohol content (BAC) at the time of his arrest.
A November 3, 2000, CNN.com article reported that Bush was pulled over in Maine after "consuming a number of beers. His blood-alcohol content was determined to be 0.10 (percent), the legal limit at the time (since reduced in Maine to 0.08 percent)." According to an August 7 ABC News article, Bush weighs 196 pounds. Assuming he weighed 180 pounds in 1976, a BAC calculator at DiscoveryHealth.com estimates that Bush would have likely had more than five drinks if he had been drinking for an hour. If Bush had been drinking for four hours, the calculator estimates, Bush would likely have had to drink seven drinks to reach 0.10 percent. If, as Carlson claimed, Bush had had only three beers, drunk them in the short span of a half-hour, and weighed only 165 pounds, according to the DiscoveryHealth.com calculator, his estimated BAC would still be only 0.0643 percent, 35 percent lower than his actual level.
From the November 14 edition of MSNBC's Tucker:
CARLSON: What do you think of that? Is the fact this is a man (former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani) who's been married three times, are those sort of facts relevant still?
BUCHANAN: Well, certainly it's relevant in the Republican primary, which is a very, very conservative -- conservative ordeal. You saw what happened to Harold Ford when it was simply mentioned that he had been at the Playboy mansion or the Playboy party. That was clearly directed at the Christian conservative community and probably damaged him to a small extent.
A lot of these folks are very traditionalist folks, and they're not into Manhattan values.
CARLSON: Manhattan values like the fact that when Giuliani moved out -- when his second marriage collapsed, he moved in with a couple of gay dudes? And -- I mean, is that -- I actually -- this is an honest question.
BUCHANAN: Holy smoke.
CARLSON: I mean, I think that's literally true. I mean, I'm not even taking a stand on it. I just -- I don't --
BUCHANAN: I know. I heard that. I didn't -- you know, I don't know that. I've used the example he marched in the gay-pride parade at the same time North American Man-Boy Love Association had a float, you know, a few yards from him.
And things like this -- I mean, New York just -- these things just go right by the board. But you tell folks in Iowa that and South Carolina and places like that, and they say, well, that's a mark -- you know, that city's decadent and he's right in the middle of that and that's not us. That's not our values.
So look what happened to George Bush over the fact that he'd got -- you know, he had been arrested while he had imbibed 25 years before. That sank him three or four points in the national polls.
CARLSON: No, that's an excellent point. And his blood-alcohol level -- I'm not defending drunk driving, of course -- but it, you know, it's not like he was wasted. He -- he wasn't at all. It was like three beers or something. No, and you're absolutely right.
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[90-percent]

1. DUI

I got one of those a few years ago with a blood alcohol level of .11. The limit was .08. I got to tell you, I was black out drunk and a real danger to all that shared the road with me. I was 250 lbs. at the time, too.

.10 is passout blackout blind drunk 2 days to sober up drunk. DUI stigma and acceptance was very very different back in 1976, too.

We've progressed to where drunk driving is no longer socially acceptable, thank goodness.

-85% Jimmy

[smtpgirl]

6. I was arrested and convicted for a DUI with a BAC of

.08 in 1980, it doesn't matter!!!!

DWI in MD at the time was .10!!!

[tblue]

2. Let's start supporting R*dy for the Repug nomination. What could be more fun

than watching Repugs eat their own?

Of course * was wasted. Call it what you want, TuckCa, he was drunk. Darth had a DUI or 2, too. Couple of boozer/losers have been running this country (into the ground). Both in need of serious re-parenting and years of therapy, and some hard time in the pen.

[tabasco]

3. How does Tucker know?

Has anybody seen the BAC report?

[Bucky]

4. Not exactly a subtle hit job, was it?

"Manhattan values like the fact that when Giuliani moved out -- when his second marriage collapsed, he moved in with a couple of gay dudes?"

"...the example he marched in the gay-pride parade at the same time North American Man-Boy Love Association had a float, you know, a few yards from him."

"...you know, that city's decadent and he's right in the middle of that and that's not us. That's not our values."

Damn. Republicans are never nice. Sweet Jesus, please let them nominate Rudy!

[Fleshdancer]

5. Why does Tucker care?

Seriously, what's his point? Driving a little bit drunk is not as bad as being very drunk? Tell it to those who have lost family members because some idiot decided to drive "a little bit drunk". :eyes:

[stillcool]

7. I can't imagine how drunk I would

have to have been to get arrested in 1976...especially in Maine. The standard in my small town was the cop either followed you home, or gave you a ride home. George must have been a nasty drunk, or a stuck-up rich little brat..or both.

[louis-t]

8. Sheesh! What the....?

"Holy Smoke". You can just feel Buchanan's discomfort with the statement by Carlson. It's OK, bowtie, as long as you're talking about the DUI.

[Lex]

9. I think Buchanan is totally making up the NAMBLA stuff

that there was a NAMBLA float a few yards ahead of him blah, blah, blah.

He said almost the exact same thing about Nancy Pelosi a few weeks back.

When Pat Buchanan hears about a gay pride parade, he starts blathering about NAMBLA, the sick old creep.

[kenny blankenship]

10. That a man married 3 times before is certainly relevant data although "in the past"

if you're considering getting hitched to him.
Criminal records are also all information "dredged up from somebody's past". Yes, Tucker, the past is relevant to the present; in fact without it we'd be flying blind into the future.

[Ksec]

11. Is Tucker becoming even more shrill?

He seems that way to me.
He always does the same tactics , but he seems to be getting more outrageous imo.

[MacGregor]

12. Shorter Tucker: "I'm not defending drunk driving except that I am..."

Say it with me now: It's Okay If You're A Republican.

Tool. :mad:

[Ksec]

14. Thats the tactic Im talkin about

He does it constantly.
:)

[Jim__]

13. It is like he was driving - drunk!

I guess you're forgiven for a lot - if you're a pubbie.

[StraightDope]

15. The BAC limits for DUI are ridiculously low...

I weigh 135 lbs. If I drink 3 drinks over an hour and a half, my BAC would be ~.08. Would I be impaired? Absolutely not. Fiddling with a radio dial or cell phone is more hazardous than driving on a .08 BAC.

[loves_dulcinea]

16. he punched his wife only once or twice

it's not like he killed her.

he only tried to run the pedestrian over, he didn't actually manage to do it.

he never once shot heroin, he only smoked it.

eh......