# First scandal of the Bush Presidency!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [November 28, 2000, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053 "2000-11-28T17:17:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2000, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/1 "2000-11-28T17:17:16Z")
I can’t believe it. Only a few hours after declaring “victory” (again), Bush is caught in broad daylight being handed a “gift” by an “admirer.”
Incontrovertable evidence: the picture at the top of [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid\_1045000/1045109.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1045000/1045109.stm)
Is that 100 grams? 200 grams? I demand a recount!
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### Author:  [@Ma\_Parrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ma_Parrot)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2000, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/2 "2000-11-28T18:36:01Z")
You aren’t counting the fact that his first cousin “called” the election first on election night(where he is Fox news director)?
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### Author:  [@starfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starfish)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2000, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/3 "2000-11-28T19:06:25Z")
Actually, Florida was “called” for Gore before that announcement. The media had to retract their “call’s” when it became apparent that Florida is more than just two large towns and you need to wait for the polls to close in the entire state before you “call” and election.
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### Author:  [@stofsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stofsky)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2000, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/4 "2000-11-28T20:43:28Z")
Hell, I’ve got a cousin who manages a bar on 6th St. (which shall remain nameless) in Austin. Apparently, GWB and the boys are known to come in for a drink or two–all of them, and recently. I suppose if Gore stretches the truth about policy, Shrub can do the same about not being a drunk, huh?
BTW, my cousin voted Repub., because he figures they’ll do better by the 190K he brought home last year.
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### Author:  [@hypergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hypergirl)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2000, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/5 "2000-11-29T04:19:25Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by starfish \*
> \*\*Actually, Florida was “called” for Gore …
> \*\*
Florida was called for Gore around 7 ish on election day. Dubya was eating dinner with his brother, Jeb. Jeb said as soon as the results were announced, that it didn’t matter because Bush had, in reality, won Florida. Does that not seem a wee bit suspicious?
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### Author:  [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2000, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/6 "2000-11-29T04:36:25Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by stofsky \*
> Hell, I’ve got a cousin who manages a bar on 6th St. (which shall remain nameless) in Austin. Apparently, GWB and the boys are known to come in for a drink or two–all of them, and recently.
Are you serious? Are you trying to say that GWB has been seen drinking alcohol in _public_, and no one has reported this? What kind of bar is this, a secret speakeasy? You mean that NO ONE ever has felt the need to inform the media that they saw a Presidential Candidate (who claims to have been dry for YEARS) _drinking_ in a bar just recently?
This defies logic.
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### Author:  [@don\_Jaime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_Jaime)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2000, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/7 "2000-11-29T05:14:18Z")
Yosemite Babe: Wouldn’t be surprised. It would be logical that the major news outlets, of which there are about a dozen, would have checked the police records in the home towns of the candidates just for the hell of it, but it took some Democrat from Hell to turn up that DUI arrest. Never underestimate the stupidity of a reporter.
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### Author:  [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2000, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/8 "2000-11-29T05:22:55Z")
don Jaime: I’m not suggesting that the media dropped the ball in not knowing about GWB supposedly drinking in public.
I am suggesting that it _defies logic_ that a public figure like GWB, who has proclaimed _over and over_ that he **no longer drinks** could drink alcohol in a **public place**. And yet, never attract the notice of ordinary citizens when he DRINKS ALCOHOL IN **PUBLIC**. One of the other people in this public place, more than one of them, would have dropped the dime on GWB by now. Word would have certainly gotten out. It defies logic to think otherwise.
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### Author:  [@starfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starfish)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2000, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/9 "2000-11-29T06:38:45Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by stofsky \*
> \*\*Hell, I’ve got a cousin who manages a bar on 6th St. (which shall remain nameless) in Austin. Apparently, GWB and the boys are known to come in for a drink or two–all of them, and recently. I suppose if Gore stretches the truth about policy, Shrub can do the same about not being a drunk, huh?
>
> BTW, my cousin voted Repub., because he figures they’ll do better by the 190K he brought home last year. \*\*
Wow! Your cousin manages a bar and makes $190k a year! If the bar is a franchise, give us a hint about the name.
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### Author:  [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2000, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/10 "2000-11-29T06:51:42Z")
This is definite proof that there is no “liberal media bias”. Every lie about Gore sticks to Gore, while every truth about GWB bounces off him or is not covered until very late.
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### Author:  [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2000, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/11 "2000-11-29T07:48:28Z")
> [@](#):
>
> This is definite proof that there is no “liberal media bias”. Every lie about Gore sticks to Gore, while every truth about GWB bounces off him or is not covered until very late.
Uh, quite the contrary, it has seemed. Do you have any cites to back that up? (A cite in MPSIMS… wow!)
> [@](#):
>
> Jeb said as soon as the results were announced, that it didn’t matter because Bush had, in reality, won Florida. Does that not seem a wee bit suspicious?
Not in the slightest. What’s so suspicious about one man providing uplifting support to his brother?
Here’s a hint: Not all Republicans are “in” on some vast, Right-wing conspiracy.
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### Author:  [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2000, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/12 "2000-11-29T14:24:58Z")
**hypergirl** :
> [@](#):
>
> Jeb said as soon as the results were announced, that it didn’t matter because Bush had, in reality, won Florida. Does that not seem a wee bit suspicious?
**hypergirl** , I don’t like Republicans in general and I don’t like the Bushes, any of the Bushes, in particular. I think they’re cynical, ruthless and amoral.
BUT: I don’t think Jeb rigged Florida for his brother. I wouldn’t put it past him morally, but I have to think that if he had done so, the margin of victory wouldn’t have been so narrow and we wouldn’t have all this doubt and recounting. The state would have gone for Bush as unquestionably as Wyoming, or my own state, Georgia, did.
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### Author:  [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2000, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/13 "2000-11-29T14:42:52Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by yosemitebabe \*
> \*\*don Jaime: I’m not suggesting that the media dropped the ball in not knowing about GWB supposedly drinking in public.
>
> I am suggesting that it _defies logic_ that a public figure like GWB, who has proclaimed _over and over_ that he **no longer drinks** could drink alcohol in a **public place**. And yet, never attract the notice of ordinary citizens when he DRINKS ALCOHOL IN **PUBLIC**. One of the other people in this public place, more than one of them, would have dropped the dime on GWB by now. Word would have certainly gotten out. It defies logic to think otherwise. \*\*
Here’s why: you can’t always tell by looking at a drink if it contains alcohol. There are multitudes of non alcohlic beers, and many mixed drinks can be mistaken either way. Only the bartender who mixed the drink or the person who took the order could be really certain about the specific order.
Back in the old days when I’d be at a bar, I would have a glass with ice in it and something (oj, water, etc.) but never booze. Only the bartender knew.
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### Author:  [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2000, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/14 "2000-11-29T15:49:52Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Here’s a hint: Not all Republicans are “in” on some vast, Right-wing conspiracy.
Actually, yes, we all are. SPOOFE was just giving the standard deny-everything answer. Very soon, the local militias will overthrow the government and make liberalism a crime. BwaHaHaHaHa! 😃
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### Author:  [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2000, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/15 "2000-11-29T16:16:53Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by wring \*
> \*\*
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > \*Originally posted by yosemitebabe \*
> > \*\*don Jaime: I’m not suggesting that the media dropped the ball in not knowing about GWB supposedly drinking in public.
> >
> > I am suggesting that it _defies logic_ that a public figure like GWB, who has proclaimed _over and over_ that he **no longer drinks** could drink alcohol in a **public place**. And yet, never attract the notice of ordinary citizens when he DRINKS ALCOHOL IN **PUBLIC**. One of the other people in this public place, more than one of them, would have dropped the dime on GWB by now. Word would have certainly gotten out. It defies logic to think otherwise. \*\*
>
> Here’s why: you can’t always tell by looking at a drink if it contains alcohol. There are multitudes of non alcohlic beers, and many mixed drinks can be mistaken either way. Only the bartender who mixed the drink or the person who took the order could be really certain about the specific order.
>
> Back in the old days when I’d be at a bar, I would have a glass with ice in it and something (oj, water, etc.) but never booze. Only the bartender knew. \*\*
Wring, don’t you think if these bar visits were a common occurance, SOMEONE would’ve made a point to eavesdrop, (I was just going to the mens’ room…) or bribe a server, etc.? If it was a single occurance, GWB may have gotten away with it. Not repeatedly.
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### Author:  [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2000, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/16 "2000-11-29T16:52:32Z")
Depends - when did he start having questions about his drinking etc.? and start being specific about it? my memory is that his first statements were that he had “youthful indescretions” but declined to get specific. The only time I recall him claiming long time sobriety is recently when the DUI came out.
Maybe some one would have noticed etc. maybe not. but I don’t think its a certainty either way. FTR, I doubt that his supporters would care, I doubt that the folks around him would **let** him drink in public anyhow.
My point was simply that one cannot assume the contents of other’s glasses at a bar.
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### Author:  [@stofsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stofsky)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2000, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/17 "2000-11-29T18:32:25Z")
Obviously y’all aren’t familiar with Texas/Oklahoma politics and the press. It’s kind of like Elvis and the Memphis Mafia–everybody knows everybody else, and reporters who want access to stories in the future know to shut the hell up about little pecadilloes. It’s not like it’s a big secret, though–look at The Smoking Gun’s website for the video of GWB hammered at a wedding after he supposedly stopped drinking.
But back to my point, in that part of the country, you take your career and your ass in your own hands playing against the power structure/good-ol’-boy network.
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### Author:  [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2000, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/18 "2000-11-29T18:37:34Z")
Hmm…, so [stofsky](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=922526#post922526) (as anonymous as the rest of us here) cites a nameless manager of a nameless bar. I’m afraid there’s hardly enough detail to consider that report to have any significance.
IMHO, of course.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2000, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/19 "2000-11-29T18:54:03Z")
Well, like Wring said-it didn’t have to be booze. Maybe he was having club soda, or ginger ale while his brothers drank.
(Not that I’d put it past the guy…)
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### Author:  [@stofsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stofsky)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2000, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-scandal-of-the-bush-presidency/43053/20 "2000-11-30T14:16:17Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by beatle \*
> \*\*Hmm…, so [stofsky](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=922526#post922526) (as anonymous as the rest of us here) cites a nameless manager of a nameless bar. I’m afraid there’s hardly enough detail to consider that report to have any significance.
>
> \*\*
Not at all. I’m merely passing on information I was given, though I doubt my cousin would like being named as a source: if he wanted to he could go to the press. Take it for what it’s worth.
As to his income, imagine Bourbon St. near one of the biggest universities in the country, every night. That’s what 6th St. is like.
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