http://www.bushisms.com/HighlktsBook.html
"You fucking son of a bitch. I saw what you wrote. We're not going to forget
this." (TYPICAL OF RIGHT WING, MAFIA OR KKK!)
-George W. Bush to writer and editor Al Hunt, 1988 (very presidential )
The Man Can Speak For Himself:
A few choice quotes from Fortunate Son
"You fucking son of a bitch. I saw what you wrote. We're not going to forget
this."
-George W. Bush to writer and editor Al Hunt, 1988 (very presidential !)
"You know I could run for governor but I'm basically a media creation. I've
never done anything. I've worked for my dad. I worked in the oil business. But
that's not the kind of profile you have to have to get elected to public
office."
-George W. Bush, 1989
"If we have to use smoke and mirrors to give the impression that Bush is not
what a lot of people think he is, then we'll do whatever it takes."
-Bush Presidential Strategist/Advisor, 1999
"As my daughter said, "Hey Dad, you're not nearly as cool as they think you
are."
-George W. Bush, 1999
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The following is a selection of some of the data from the new edition of
Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President:
AntiSemitism
In 1967, young George W. Bush abruptly called off his engagement to Cathryn Lee
Wolfman. Friends close to the family blamed this sudden change of heart on Bush
family pressure and disapproval of the prospective fiancee's Jewish stepfather.
Although representatives from the Bush family later denied antiSemitism, in
1993, Bush as Texas Governor told the Houston Chronicle that he believed there
was no place in heaven for anyone who did not accept Jesus Christ as his
"personal savior." In 1998, before departing on a high-profile trip to the
Middle East, Bush sophomorically joked with U.S. reporters that the first thing
he would say to his hosts in Israel would be that they were all "going to hell."
Draft-Dodging
Although many draft-age Americans thought the war in Vietnam was unjust, George
W. Bush's draft-dodging used his social status and backroom deals. Although the
waiting lists for alternative service in the National Guard were over 100,000
names long, Houston oilman Sidney A. Adger contacted Texas House Speaker Ben
Barnes for a special intercession on behalf of young Bush. George W. was
admitted instantly into the Texas Air National Guard and was promoted to officer
in an unprecedented few months, bypassing the required 23 month officer
candidate programs. Bush flew the F-102 aircraft, which was being phased out of
service at the time. Despite his claims to the contrary today, there was never
any chance Bush would ever see action in Vietnam.
The 1972 Coke Arrest
Although the following information has received the most controversial reception
thus far, it is only part of the larger pattern exhibited by Fortunate Son. This
biography establishes that George W. Bush has never been required to play by the
rules, not just in 1972. Upon finishing the first draft of Fortunate Son, J.H.
Hatfield was bothered by the incongruous break in the pattern of young G.W.
Bush's life. In 1972, Bush "volunteered" to work with inner-city Houston youth
at the community center Project P.U.L.L. Hatfield began to suspect that the
service wasn't voluntary, but court-ordered. This was confirmed by three sources
who had the same story: Bush was arrested for cocaine possession but his father,
Congressman George Bush, worked out a backroom deal with a friendly judge.
This information was first brought up by online journal Salon, where the
community center was named as the "Martin Luther King Community Center." Bush
campaign spokesman Scott McClellan responded to Salon's story with a firm, "We
do not dignify false rumors and innuendoes with a response." After more
research, Hatfield phoned McClellan and asked if it was Project P.U.L.L. where
Bush performed "court-ordered community service." McClellan's response was a
sudden, almost inaudible "Oh shit." followed by a, "No comment."
An interesting footnote to the 1972 allegations: Bush acquired a new driver's
license from the Texas DMV in 1995 when a survey of his public records uncovered
a "stale but nevertheless incriminating trail" of a past arrest.
BCCI Oil Money
The first of many G.W. Bush business ventures eventually bailed out or
liquidated before bankruptcy was his oil company Arbusto Energy. In 1977, Bush
received a $50,000 investment from James R. Bath, a Houston businessman who
"made his fortune by investing money for [Sheikh Kalid bin] Mahfouz and another
BCCI-connected Saudi, Sheikh bin Laden" according to Time correspondents
Jonathan Beaty and S.C. Gwynne. Of special note is that Sheikh bin Laden is
widely believed to be the father of Osama bin Laden, terrorist bomber of two
U.S. embassies in 1998.
Bath, who had no funds of his own, is believed to have acted as the American
representative for Saudi Arabian sheikhs who, as Hatfield describes it, used
"their enormous financial resources to influence U.S. policy." As son of the
recent director of the CIA, G.W. Bush and his oil startup were a perfect
opportunity to buy influence. Ironically, it was with money allegedly tied to
the family of Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden.
Campaign Trail Tricks
In 1988 Bush Junior joined his father's Presidential campaign. Fighting
accusations that the candidate was "a wimp," G.W. Bush and spin doctor Lee
Atwater ruthlessly brought the campaign into the modern age of dirty politics.
G.W. Bush funnelled money to "independent" conservative groups who aired the
racist Willie Horton ads which scared voters into thinking Dukakis was weak on
crime, by exploiting the image of a rough-looking black man.
Bush coached his father to dodge his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal by
counter-accusing anchorman Dan Rather of unprofessional behavior relating to the
broadcast of an unrelated tennis tournament. Fearing that evangelist Pat
Robertson was beginning to gain momentum, Bush scuttled Robertson's campaign by
first leaking the news of Robertson's fellow evangelist Jimmy Swaggart's marital
infidelity. Near the the end of the '88 race, Time magazine was left to wonder
how unprecedented it was that "attacks on an opponent" could become "the primary
target of a presidential campaign."
Four years later, using the similar tactics, Bush defeated the flamboyant,
popular Texas incumbent Ann Richards in his own 1992 race for Governor.
Recalling Willie Horton, Bush's first television campaign featured images of a
women being grabbed at gun-point and other graphic crime scenes, with a voice
over-accusing Governor Richards of being soft on crime. Although these ads were
criticized as "scare tactics" they were the start of a campaign rife with
personal attacks and manipulative television. When Governor Richards asked why
all the businesses Bush had been a Director at since 1979 had lost a total of
$371 million, Bush countered with a televised, hurt plea to not engage in
"personal attacks." Even Republican political strategist Matt Broyles
recognized, "It was sanctimonious for the Bush campaign to run six weeks of
television commercials attacking the governor's record in office and then get
outraged when she examined his business background."
Upon winning the Governorship of Texas, Bush became known for a casual, friendly
style, often spontaneously visiting his fellow lawmakers in Austin. However,
this single baby-boomer-style element of his legacy is overshadowed by the
results of "compassionate conservatism:" a ravaged environment, growing
disparity between rich and poor, Texas style cronyism, property tax reform that
benefitted landlords and ignored tenants, diminished popular rights to abortion,
legalization of concealed handguns despite protest from law enforcement, and
finally, a stubborn refusal to approve Hate Crimes laws even after the brutal
murder of James Byrd by three Texas racists in Jasper.
Bush is described in Fortunate Son as being politically to the right of his
father. His lack of real compassion planned a nuclear waste dump 5 miles away
from the poor, Hispanic town of Sierra Blanca. Rather than grant clemency to
born-again death-row inmate Karla Fay Tucker, Bush waited until the last
possible moment before grand-standing in the media spotlight and again refusing
to reconsider, despite the pleas of prominent religious leaders.
With 54 pages of source notes, Hatfield's book is a researched, precision-cut
account. It balances Bush the likeable fellow with Bush the politician America
needs to get to know better.