cannabisnews.com: Bush Won't Answer Drug Questions!





Bush Won't Answer Drug Questions!
Posted by FoM on August 18, 1999 at 19:28:51 PT
By Michael Holmes, Associated Press Writer
Source: Washington Post
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- George W. Bush tried Wednesday to dismiss questions about whether he ever used illegal drugs as ``ridiculous and absurd rumors'' but later elaborated that he hadn't used them in the past seven years. 
``You know what happens? Somebody floats a rumor and that causes you to ask a question,'' Bush said, interrupting a reporter who said she was trying to ask who might be planting such rumors. ``And that's the game in American politics, and I refuse to play it,'' he said. ``That is a game. And you just fell for the trap. And I refuse to play.'' Later, Bush changed his response after The Dallas Morning News questioned him about the requirement that federal employees answer questions about drug use to get high-level security clearances. ``As I understand it, the current form asks the question, `Did somebody use drugs within the last seven years?' and I will be glad to answer that question, and the answer is `No,''' the News, in a story for its Thursday editions, quoted Bush as saying in New Orleans. Bush, who is 53, would not elaborate beyond the seven-year time frame. He said that if elected, he would make no change in the federal policy that requires high-level presidential appointees to answer questions about drug use in the standard FBI background check. ``It's a legitimate question to ask to make sure there are no drug users on the White House staff,'' Bush told the newspaper. But, he added, ``The president should recognize that some people may have made mistakes when they were younger, and the question the president must ask is did they learn from those mistakes and will they not repeat them again.'' Since his first campaign for Texas governor in 1994, Bush has declined to answer some questions about his past. ``When I was young and irresponsible, I behaved young and irresponsibly,'' is his oft-repeated answer. Bush's refusal to directly answer the drug question has become the fodder for jokes on late-night television. It continued to dog him as he campaigned later Wednesday in Baton Rouge, La. ``I made some mistakes years ago,'' he said. ``But I learned from my mistakes.'' Bush has said that, upon turning 40, he quit drinking alcohol. And in the wake of the President Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal, Bush has said he's been faithful to his wife of more than 20 years. But since launching his presidential bid, Bush has steered clear of the drug question, saying he believes voters are weary of what he called ``the politics of personal destruction.'' The Bush campaign says the governor believes there is a line to be drawn between legitimate questions about his record and some other inquiries. ``Important facts that people deserve to know about are how he's fulfilled his duties as governor, father, husband and employer. Those are relevant questions,'' said Bush spokesman Scott McClellan. ``He is going to take this on and say 'enough is enough.' If that leads to mistaken assumptions about his past, that's fine with him. He's not going to itemize for the children of America and his daughters, who are watching, everything he did or did not do in the past,'' McClellan said. During Wednesday's exchange, Bush did not say who he thought was planting rumors. ``Do I think they're being planted? I know they're being planted. And they're ridiculous and they're absurd and the people of America are sick and tired of this kind of politics. And I'm not participating,'' he said. Asked whether his campaign earlier had pointed to the campaign of millionaire publisher Steve Forbes as a source of rumors, Bush replied, ``I don't remember, I don't remember that.'' Forbes' political director, Bill Dal Col, said the campaign ``never made the accusation, and no we don't get involved in the rumor game.'' Asked whether Forbes ever used illegal drugs, Dal Col said, ``No.'' Clinton, while seeking the White House in 1992, also faced questions about drug use. ``When I was in England I experimented with marijuana a time or two and didn't like it,'' Clinton said. ``I didn't inhale and I didn't try it again.'' It was Clinton's first direct public acknowledgment that he ever tried illegal drugs. Before that, he'd always responded to questions about drug use by saying that he never violated state or federal laws. According to an opinion poll taken earlier this year, Americans are about evenly divided on the question of whether the public needs to know about a candidate's drug use in the past. Just over half said ``yes'' in the February CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll. Republican presidential rival John McCain says he has not used illegal drugs. As to whether Bush or other candidates should answer questions about any drug use in their past, McCain spokesman Howard Opinsky said, ``The question about what is appropriate or not is going to be made by the media and the voters. He realizes it is part of running for office.'' Gary Bauer, who also is seeking the GOP nomination, said Sunday on CNN: ``We ought to be able to say with no hesitation that 'No, we have not broken the drug laws of the United States,' and 'No we have not used cocaine.''' Comedians have capitalized on Bush's refusal to answer the drug question. An Aug. 11 monologue on ``The Tonight Show'': ``Bush has come under fire lately for not answering questions about possible cocaine use. Well, today, he came out for mandatory drug testing. He says he is for it. In fact, he said, 'Look, whatever drugs you've got, bring them by. I will test them.''' By Michael HolmesAssociated Press WriterWednesday, August 18, 1999; 10:11 p.m. EDT© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press Testy Bush Says Will Not Answer Drug Questions-8/18/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2541.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on August 19, 1999 at 05:22:01 PT:
Bush Alters Answer on Drug Question
Bush Alters Answer on Drug QuestionBy Dan Balz and Paul DugganWashington Post Staff WritersThursday, August 19, 1999; Page A13 http://www.washingtonpost.com/Texas Gov. George W. Bush told a newspaper yesterday that he has not used drugs in the past seven years but refused to answer other questions from reporters about illegal drug use before that time.Bush's answer to a Dallas Morning News reporter marked the first time the Republican presidential candidate has responded to a question about drug use. He had vigorously declined to do so, saying he would not play the "Washington game" of responding to rumors.The Texas paper asked Bush whether he would insist that appointees in a future Bush administration answer questions about drug use that are part of the normal FBI background check."As I understand it, the current form asks the question, 'Did somebody use drugs within the last seven years?' and I will be glad to answer that question, and the answer is, 'No.' " Bush said.Mindy Tucker, a spokeswoman for the Bush campaign, said last night Bush had answered the question because "this is going to be asked of anybody who serves in his administration, should he become president. He feels he should take the lead in answering it. It is not a question about the mistakes of a young man. This speaks to how he has fulfilled his responsibility as a mature person."Asked why Bush had never before answered questions about drug use this way, Tucker said: "This particular question was never asked before. . . . That exact question was posed to him today."Bush has said in the past that when he was "young and irresponsible," he did things that were irresponsible. Tucker said the answer Bush gave yesterday "represents how he has fulfilled his responsibility as a governor, an employer, a husband and a father.But she said Bush would not respond to other questions based on rumors and would not itemize his actions as a youth. "It is irresponsible to itemize it at this point," she said, making clear she was not saying whether Bush had or had not used illegal drugs earlier than seven years ago.Bush has been asked repeatedly about whether he used illegal drugs, including cocaine, earlier in his life, although no credible allegations have been made that he did so. The Washington Post and other papers have looked into rumors about drug use and have found no evidence to sustain them.Nonetheless, the questions have persisted, in part because while Bush has openly talked about his decision to quit drinking when he turned 40 and has answered questions about marital infidelity, he had not responded to questions about drug use--at least not until yesterday.All of Bush's rivals for the Republican nomination have said they never used cocaine.The question came up again yesterday in Austin and while Bush was campaigning in Louisiana. "Somebody floats a rumor and causes you to ask a question, and that's the game in American politics," Bush said in Austin. "I refuse to play it.""Do I think they're being planted?" he said of the rumors. "I know they're being planted. And they're ridiculous, and they're absurd, and the people of America are sick and tired of this kind of politics. And I'm not participating." As for who is spreading the stories, he said, "You need to ask other people."Oklahoma Gov. Frank A. Keating, the chairman of the Republican Governors' Association and a prominent Bush supporter, told reporters in Washington yesterday that Bush should answer questions "about private conduct," according to newspaper reports. Keating said he believes there is nothing in Bush's background of that nature.Senate Democratic leader Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.) recently told reporters he believed Bush should answer questions about whether he used illegal drugs, a sign that Democrats may persist in raising the issue throughout the campaign unless Bush puts the issue to rest.© Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company
Bush Alters Answer on Drug Question
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 18, 1999 at 22:23:03 PT
Bush Must Face The Music!
It's time for Bush to stop running from drug questions and tell us what he would do with the drug war if he became president. I believe that the press won't let up until they get some really good answers on this topic and that is good news.
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Comment #2 posted by rounderx on August 18, 1999 at 22:10:55 PT
Bush just says no!
It is strange that Mr. Bush says that the real question should be his record of good performance, at work, in family life, etc.. What about the working stiff forced to take a drug test to keep or get a job? He is guilty till he can prove himself innocent . If he gets a false positive his life is ruined and he does not have silver spoon to fall back on, or snort out of,eh. Mr. Bush?!!!
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on August 18, 1999 at 19:44:29 PT:
Dallas Morning News Article: 08/19/99
Bush Says He Dasn't Used Drugs In Last Seven Years! He cites time span used on FBI formThe Dallas Morning Newshttp://www.dallasnews.com/http://www.dallasnews.com/specials/bush_campaign/By Scott Parks and Sam Attlesey Gov. George W. Bush, dogged by criticism for refusing to say whether he has used illegal drugs, answered part of the question Wednesday and said he had not done so in the last seven years.Mr. Bush's statement came in response to a question from The Dallas Morning News about whether, as president, he would insist that his appointees answer drug-use questions contained in the standard FBI background check."As I understand it, the current form asks the question, 'Did somebody use drugs within the last seven years?' and I will be glad to answer that question, and the answer is 'No,' " Mr. Bush told The News.Mr. Bush, the GOP presidential front-runner, would not elaborate beyond the seven-year time frame. He also said that if elected, he would make no change in the federal policy that requires high-level presidential appointees to answer questions about drug use."It's important that the president be assured that people are not using drugs on the White House staff," Mr. Bush said. "It's a legitimate question to ask to make sure there are no drug users on the White House staff."Previously, Mr. Bush, 53, has acknowledged behaving "young and irresponsibly" but refused for months to say whether he had ever used illegal drugs.Wednesday morning, before leaving for a campaign trip to Louisiana, the Texas governor chided reporters for again raising the drug issue."Somebody floats a rumor and causes you to ask a question, and that's the game in American politics. I refuse to play it," he said at a news conference. "That is a game. And you just fell for the trap. I refuse to play it."Later, Mr. Bush changed his response after The News asked him whether his refusal was inconsistent with the requirement that federal employees answer questions about drug use to get high-level security clearances."The president should recognize that some people may have made mistakes when they were younger, and the question the president must ask is did they learn from those mistakes and will they not repeat them again," Mr. Bush said in New Orleans.As president, Mr. Bush would nominate candidates for U.S. Supreme Court, other federal judges, cabinet secretaries, foreign ambassadors and federal prosecutors. All would be subjected to FBI background checks, including questions about prior drug use.The opposite viewSome Republican presidential hopefuls, particularly former Reagan White House aide Gary Bauer, had called on Mr. Bush to clear up the questions about illegal drug use."We ought to be able to say with no hesitation that, 'No, we have not broken the drug laws of the United States,' and 'No, we have not used cocaine,' " he said this week.Earlier this month, 11 of the presidential candidates, in response to a newspaper inquiry, denied having used cocaine. Mr. Bush was the only candidate who would not say.Even one of Mr. Bush's top supporters said Wednesday that he should drop his refusal to answer.Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating told reporters in Washington that Mr. Bush should "address issues about private conduct.""In today's world, every one of us who serves in public office needs to answer questions about conduct that is arguably criminal," he said.Mr. Keating, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, said he "doesn't think there's anything there" in Mr. Bush's background. He said whatever youthful misdeeds Mr. Bush may have committed "were largely carousing in nature."But James Rolfe, a Dallas lawyer who served the Reagan administration as U.S. attorney for the northern district of Texas from 1981 to 1985, said presidential candidates shouldn't have to answer such questions."As a candidate, you have a couple hundred million people looking at your application," said Mr. Rolfe, who had to answer the personal drug-use questions during his background check.A look at the surveyThe Questionnaire for National Security Decisions, part of the background check, asks about illegal drug use going back seven years. Applicants also are asked if they have ever used illegal drugs while employed as a law officer, prosecutor or court official."You are required to answer the questions fully and truthfully," the questionnaire says.Even though certain federal job applicants are required to answer the drug questions, admissions of illegal drug use don't necessarily mean disqualification.Applicants for FBI jobs, for example, can admit to smoking marijuana up to 15 times in their lives and not be disqualified. But they cannot have smoked during the three years before their application.FBI applicants can have used so-called hard drugs, such as cocaine and heroin five times in their lives, but not during the 10 years immediately prior to their applications. Applicants take lie-detector tests to verify their answers to drug-use questions.Experts say the background checks, which also require extensive financial information, are designed to ferret out whether prospective federal employees might be vulnerable to blackmail.C. Boyden Gray, White House counsel for former President George Bush and a supporter of the governor's presidential bid, said administrations have grappled with the drug-use issue for 20 years. Mr. Bush, the candidate, is no different, he said."He couldn't staff an administration if he held an unreasonable standard that no one could ever have done drugs," Mr. Gray said. "The important thing is that no one is a drug user now."Copyright 1999, The Dallas Morning News
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