Satirical web site draws hundreds of thousands
of hits
By Zack Exley
If it weren't for one thing, Gov. George W
Bush would see a clear path before him leading straight to the
White House. He's so far ahead in the polls that all other candidates
look almost insignificant. The media are in love with him, and
the Republican Party has pinned all their hopes on this one man
to reunite their broken party.
Just one problem: he's a former drug user.
In a country that locks people away for decades for simple possession,
this is a major liability for Bush. Especially since he's a "tough
on crime" candidate who insists that people should pay dearly
for their mistakes -- no matter what age or what the circumstances.
While Bush has not fully admitted to drug
use, he's sending very clear signals in that direction. Even
though he's lowered the age at which minors can be tried as adults
in Texas to 14, when asked about crimes in his own youth he asks
them to be forgotten and forgiven. This was G.W. in a New Hampshire
TV interview with WMUR when they asked about cocaine:
"I'm not going to talk about what
I did as a child. What I'm going to talk about -- and I am going
to say this consistently -- [is that] it is irrelevant what I
did 20 to 30 years ago. What's relevant is that I have learned
from any mistakes I made. I do not want to send signals to anybody
that what Gov. Bush did. 30 years ago is cool to try."
And what's he talking about trying? Something
he "did" as late as age 32 (20 years ago) that would
not be cool for others to "try." What -- sex? Alcohol?
Well, actually, he offers confident denials of alcoholism and
marital infidelity. He was a heavy drinker for years, and admits
that alcohol "got the best of him", but he swore off
booze on his 40th birthday, and says he hasn't had a drink since,
and says he was never an alcoholic.
His refusal to deny drugs in his past is even
more interesting in light of the fact that Al Gore, his only
potential rival, admits to smoking a joint or two while at Harvard
(perhaps with his college roommate, actor Tommy Lee Jones.) If
Gore smoked pot, then what does Bush have to lose by admitting
he smoked a little as well?
This is the main issue I have been trying
to publicize on my satirical web site, www.gwbush.com.
(Gov. Bush's official web site is located at www.georgewbush.com).
When I first put up my web site, at the embarrassingly similar
web address, Bush was so angry that he launched two separate
legal attacks on the site. This got a lot of publicity and my
web site received hundreds of thousands of visitors in just a
few weeks. Now I get a steady stream of about 10,000 visitors
a day. This is a wonderful thing that Mr. Bush has given to me:
a much-read publication dealing with the topic of his own hypocrisy
and the drug war.
Bush is the ultimate hypocrite, and it's easy
on my web site to show how hypocritical he is. For example, compare
his quote above to this one: "I am committed to helping
to usher in the 'responsibility era -- an era in which all individuals
in this great land understand they are responsible for their
actions and the decisions they make."
And another: "If we are going to save
a generation of young people, our children must know they will
face bad consequences for criminal behavior. Sadly, too many
youths are not getting that message. Our juvenile justice system
must say to our children: We love you, but we are going to hold
you accountable for your actions."
Please help me with this site! Mr. Bush is
going to repeat the "forgive me and forget my crimes"
line over and over through out the campaign. The media will want
to forgive his minor crime of drug possession. My goal for the
campaign is to force them to acknowledge the hundreds of thousands
of people serving hard time for these crimes that Bush wants
us to forget. I've already talked to so many journalists who
don't even know people are actually serving time for drug crimes.
They think you just get fined or sent to treatment. I want to
force the media to report that I there are hundreds of thousands
of people in jail for drug violations. We need dramatic content
to get the media to cover this.
The most dramatic thing we could have to make
this point would be letters from prisoners directed at Bush.
He expects to be forgiven for his drug crimes of "20 to
30 years ago". It looks like the press and the nation are
ready to oblige, and forget the whole thing. How does that make
you feel?
"Dear Mr. Bush, Like you, I have grown
up and....".
I will respond to any letters with an envelope
and stamp in compensation, and also printouts of the web site
including the page with your letter. I can print the letters
anonymously or under your real name. Keep in mind that the letter
will be views by tens of thousands of people. If there's a way
you can get me a picture of yourself, and wouldn't mind it going
up on the Internet, that would be great.
Zack Exley -- gwbush.com
PO Box 398015 Cambridge MA 01239
[Ed: the gwbush.com site has a link
to November. On behalf of all our members-thanks Zack!]
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GWBush.com