DC, it's because we expect drug-use from democrats. It would be a blow to Gore's democratic credentials if he had never smoked pot. Also, Bush didn't just smoke pot: he was an alcoholic and a coke-head. In the hierarchy of drug-use, Bush's drug habits made Gore's look like drinking coffee. ------------------ Rockets Draft Obligations Summary http://www.gaffordstudios.cjb.net/
first of all i am looking forward to the day that it is legalized...i think its a joke that you can be arrested especially when you compare it to alcohol..that argument has been done a 1000 times... to answer your question dc as to why people are harder on bush on the drug issue it has to do with the way each handles it.. people respect you and find it easier to overlook shortcomings if you are up front about them..if you constantly try and hide and give 'none of your business' type answers naturally people are going to notice it, it will bother to them to the extent that it does... i dont have a problem with either doing things in their past they may not be looked upon as 'presidential' but i do have a problem with deceptive hiding from the past type tactics...people do not like being lied to or things hid from them and bush needs to face the facts that he cannot continue to hide behind his past...it will only hurt his future not help it..unless he really has some demons in his closet whats the big deal?fess up buddy... i lose respect for some one like that and that is why i think people are beginning to move more towards the gore side in the polls lately.. ------------------ I think people are forgetting that we are the rockets... WE DONT REBUILD...WE RELOAD....remember that..
Did anyone watch Frontline on PBS last night? They aired a show called "The Choice" where they profiled both Bush and Gore simultaneously for two hours. It was very eye-opening, because Frontline painted the both of them in good & bad terms, achievements & embarassments, highs & lows. It did more than touch on Gore's mar1juana use & Bush's use of alcohol & alleged cocaine use. Very interesting stuff. Two men vying for president who were both born into powerful political families yet were both children of the sixties. I do not know if they will air it again, but you can watch it online at www.pbs.org. It is definitely worth checking out. ------------------ I am the b*stard son of LHutz. Huh? Right!
I could care less about either of their drug uses. The thing that pissed me off is that everyone made such a big freakin' deal about Clinton, but thought it was just fine for Bush to not answer the question and get very unhappy that anyone would even care. BTW, the first few times I smoked weed, I didn't inhale either. My sister's boyfriend doesn't inhale it either. You can still get high by not inhaling. It's really not that big a deal. ------------------ Cheerleaders are just dancers who've gone r****ded. visit www.swirve.com
No, I think Clinton said he tried it, didn't like it, so he didn't inhale. That's what I did the first time. ------------------ Cheerleaders are just dancers who've gone r****ded. visit www.swirve.com
Times change. Eight years later, the drug question isn't as big a deal to people. Look at the difference in extra-marital affairs between 1988 and 1992. Gary Hart couldn't continue the race after the Donna Rice thing came out. Clinton was able to weather the affair storm (it was still a story, but it didn't have the effect as before). in 1980, the fact that Reagan was divorced was a big deal. These days, the fact that a candidate is divorced wouldn't mean anything at all. ------------------ Houston Sports Board DFW Sports Board
R95, I have a hard time believing that you don't inhale, seeing as you seem to be high everytime you post.
Oh no, I do now (I'm not a pothead, I hardly ever do it). I'm just saying the first few times I did it, I didn't inhale. ------------------ Cheerleaders are just dancers who've gone r****ded. visit www.swirve.com
Sirhangover, I thought Bush had a strange answer at first, but now it makes a lot more sense. He admitted he did things in his youth which were wrong, but that he didn't want to go into specifics because in a way he would be giving his approval. He didn't deny anything, just refused to go into specifics. I'm sure everyone did things when they were younger that they regret, and would prefer that others not use them as an example. Of course the ironic thing is, Clinton gave almost exactly the same answer during his impeachment trial -- that he did some inappropriate things and regretted it. The Democratic party, and most Republicans, took that at face value. Gore's answer actually bothers me more, that he and Tipper used drugs, but that he stopped when he decided to go into politics. He didn't quit because he was older and wiser, but because he had to. When I heard that, Bush's argument actually made a lot more sense -- because Gore basically said smoking pot is OK, but you can't do it if you go into politics. Rocketman 95, I don't think there was nearly as big of a deal about Clinton's drug use. It seemed to be more of a joke. One, I can't imagine someone smoking the stuff without inhaling, and two, if you have it burning in your hand, in front of your face, you are breathing it in. "I didn't inhale" is just about as believable as "Oral sex isn't sex." Bush basically admitted to experimenting alcohol and drugs -- and no one really believes otherwise. Both candidates have used illegal drugs -- 30 years ago, and have moved on. It just seems strange that it keeps getting tagged onto Bush, and not Gore. ------------------ Stay Cool...
From the Chronicle http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/editorial/688526 Oct. 2, 2000, 6:32PM Gore blowing smoke about mar1juana -- By CLARENCE PAGE Until now, I have admired Al Gore's candor on the mar1juana question. After all, he is the first presidential candidate to admit not only that he smoked mar1juana but also that he inhaled it. His boss, President Clinton, confessed during his 1992 campaign to smoking the wicked weed in his youth, but insisted that he "didn't inhale." That's like saying you subscribe to Playboy for the articles. Maybe he enjoyed that distinctive mar1juana smell, which is sort of like burning socks. On the Republican side, Texas Gov. George W. Bush simply has avoided talking about anything naughty he might have done in the first three decades or so of his life. That is his right. Besides, no one can accuse you of lying if you don't say anything at all. No, it is not the candidates' private lives from decades past, but their public positions at present that should concern us now. With that, I find it informative to see how the first two baby boomers from major parties to face each other in a presidential election dance around the issue of medicinal mar1juana. It is informative because medicinal mar1juana is what many Washington politicians call a "third rail" issue -- touch it and you die! Bush and his running mate Dick Cheney have tried to avoid saying much on the issue, except that they "support states' rights" but also will "vigorously enforce" federal laws. That's a prudent, pragmatic position in the midst of a stormy and divisive political issue. That's also called having it both ways. Gore, too, tries to have it both ways, although at different times. When he was asked by a young MTV audience member last week whether he supported the legalization of mar1juana for medicinal use, the vice president responded that he did not. Current research, he said, does not show mar1juana to be any more effective at relieving the pain and misery of cancer patients and others than less controversial methods. I wondered what research he had been reading. A 1999 Institute of Medicine report commissioned by the Clinton-Gore administration, for example, found mar1juana to be effective enough to be recommended for short-term use of up to six months by some seriously ill patients. More than six months posed health risks, not because of the active ingredients, known as cannabinoids, but because of the respiratory damage smoking anything can cause. Gore's response sounded all the more amazing when compared to his position during the primaries. When he was running against Bill Bradley and appealing to Democrats, he sounded a lot more open to the idea of letting doctors prescribe mar1juana. In a televised forum in Derry, N.H., last December. Gore poignantly recalled how his late sister's doctor prescribed mar1juana for her before she died of cancer in 1984. She refused to take it, he said, but, "If it had worked for her, then I think she should have had the ability to get her pain relieved that way." "I do not favor legalizing mar1juana," he said, according to Associated Press reports. "But where you have sufficient controls, I think doctors ought to have that option." Right on. And he was not alone. So far, Alaska, Washington state, Oregon, Arizona, Nevada, Maine and the District of Columbia have passed voter initiatives to allow patients in need to have the choice that was offered to Al Gore's sister. Hawaii's legislature passed such a law and its governor signed it in April. Colorado votes on a similar measure in November and supporters say its chances look good. None of the state ballot efforts for medicinal mar1juana has failed, so far. But the Clinton administration stands fast in its anti-mar1juana position. After Gore's statement, White House spokesman Joe Lockhart maintained that, "We don't have conclusive scientific evidence that mar1juana provides a therapeutic benefit that exceeds currently prescribed drugs." And, presto! By May, the White House position became Al Gore's position, too. Answering a student in Cudahy, Calif., on May 11, Gore said he sees "no reliable evidence" that medical mar1juana is an effective pain reliever. Yes, it is interesting to see how quickly reliability can fade in the midst of an election campaign -- right along with candor. Or maybe there's some truth, after all, to the rumors about early mar1juana use causing late-life memory loss. ------------------ Stay Cool...
A question: Both candidates have been accused of the use of drugs in their youth. Both have admitted to at least inappropriate behavior, 30 years ago. Why do you feel the media tends to hammer at Bush, and virtually ignore Gore's drug use? ------------------ Stay Cool...
Good morning Rocket fans! "Bush basically admitted to experimenting alcohol and drugs -- and no one really believes otherwise. Both candidates have used illegal drugs -- 30 years ago, and have moved on. Uh, dc, Bush was in a alcohol rehab program at the age of 40. It wasn't 30 years ago. ------------------ I am the thread killer
Alcohol isn't illegal, and a lot of people have had difficulty with alcohol addiction. Kudo's to him for getting help! ------------------ Stay Cool...
dc, you acted like it was ancient history though. If Clinton would've gone through alcohol rehab 10 before he ran for president, Republican's would've been all over it. Obviously, you've never smoked mar1juana. When people say inhaling, they don't mean breathing the air it's in. It's when you actually inhale the smoke directly from the joint, pipe, or whatever. That's like saying if you're in a bar with second hand smoke, you're smoking yourself. ------------------ Cheerleaders are just dancers who've gone r****ded. visit www.swirve.com [This message has been edited by Rocketman95 (edited October 04, 2000).]
When did that come out? The last thing I read was the Bush spokesperson saying that George W. has never received treatment or rehabilitation for alcohol ever. I did a search, but I couldn't find any articles about it. Can you point me to one? (I'm just curious). ------------------ Houston Sports Board DFW Sports Board
how come Bush is so forthcoming about his alcohol use and triumph over it but won't discuss his drug use at all? Either talk about both or talk about neither.
GW probably doesn't want to talk about cocaine because he doesn't want to admit he had a problem with a drug that dear old Dad was importing into the USA while he was head of the CIA!!! DOH!!!!!!! ------------------ I am the b*stard son of LHutz. Huh? Right!
The impression I am getting, not only out of this election, but in politics in general is that any legalization of a drug is extremely taboo. It almost seems that maybe if they ignore the issue it will just go away. The reason I say this is because politicians seem to try to ignore the question of whether or not mar1juana should be legal, or they respond with a statement right out of the 80's, such as "we are fighting a war on drugs and we don't want to send the wrong message to children." Unfortunately for the politicians, the issue of legal mar1juana needs to be addressed and it should be something that the canidates for president are covering in their respective platforms. I mean facts are facts. mar1juana is the most used illicit drug there is. There is no way to wipe it out, it will always exist. In fact, most people I know smoke mar1juana on a regular basis, or have at least tried it. In addition, there are many people in jail right now serving time for a mar1juana related offense - and the fact is most of the people are non-violent, so why are they in jail? There are many arguements out there saying that mar1juana is not anymore dangerous than cigarettes or alchohol, which are legal. Several states have already passed legislation that allows for some sort of legalization of mar1juana. If politicians would get their collective heads out their asses, perhaps they could get beyond the "taboo" stage of the arguement and try to reach some sort of comprimise with the American people. Even MSNBC did an online poll recently asking if mar1juana should be legal. 92% of those who participated (about 32,000 people) said that mar1juana legislation should be reformed in some way whether it be for medical use of mar1juana, or looser restrictions on the possesion of mar1juana. I myself am in favor of the legalization of mar1juana, but that's just me. If the government does it right, they could regulate well from the beginning without it getting out of control unlike what has been done with tobacco. Something needs to be done, because obviously the current attitude towards mar1juana is contradicting what most people believe. -Turbo
Rocketman 95, Actually, this is the first I've heard about Bush having a problem with alcohol -- and no one is making an issue of it. It's just odd that people are continuing to make references like "coke-head" about Bush, and never make similar references to Gore. No, I've never smoked mar1juana. I imagine that if I had a cigarette in my hand, and was puffing out on it, and breathing in the smoke, I'd be smoking. If I did the same thing with pot, I'd be breathing in the drug, regardless of whether I sucked on the joint. Can you imagine anyone lighting up a joint, on several occasions, and only blowing out, without ever breathing in the smoke or having any effects from the drug? ------------------ Stay Cool...
