Bush On Hardcore Alcoholism

President Bush doesn't often speak about his days as an alcoholic. He'll make the occasional reference, or joke, but it's a rare day when Bush speaks at length about the dark days when he couldn't he couldn't live without the booze :

US President George W. Bush says religion helped him overcome alcoholism and he hasn't had a drink since he quit more than 21 years ago.

In a rare reference to having once been an alcoholic, Mr Bush told a Protestant church-sponsored organisation which helps prisoners reintegrate into society that a "higher power'' helped him beat alcohol.

"Addiction is hard to overcome,'' Mr Bush said in Baltimore, Maryland.

"As you might remember, I drank too much at one time in my life. I understand faith-based programs. I understand that sometimes you can find the inspiration from a higher power to solve an addiction problem,'' he said.

(Bush)...quit cold after a bout of heavy drinking on his 40th birthday.

"I had too much to drink one night, and the next day I didn't have any,'' he said.

"I haven't had a drink since 1986.

"I doubt I'd be standing here if I hadn't quit drinking whiskey, and beer and wine and all that,'' the President said.

Packing away whiskey, beer and wine makes Bush sound like the alcoholic that would throw down whatever was within reach.

Hammered

It's very interesting to see this video of Bush half-zonkered and compare his behaviour to some of his more recent, uhhh, senior moments. Bush says he hasn't had a drink in more than 20 years, so presumably this video is pre-1986. Presumably :

'I Fell In Love With Alcohol'

Bush On Getting Hammered

President Bush has made plenty of jokes about how much he used to drink. But it's rare indeed that he opens up about the dark, seductive side off alcoholism :

"I doubt I'd be standing here if I hadn't quit drinking whiskey, and beer and wine and all that..."

The president told ABC News he quit drinking over 20 years ago -- cold turkey.

"I had too much to drink one night, and the next day I didn't have any," Bush said. "The next day I decided to quit and I haven't had a drink since 1986."

"And you did it just cold turkey?" asked Raddatz.

"I'm a better man for it," Bush said.

The president said his alcohol problem wasn't severe, but said he still had a hard time quitting.

"I wasn't a knee-walking drunk," Bush said. "It's a difficult thing to do, which is to kick an addiction."

Earlier in the day after briefing the media on a report on teen drug abuse, Bush told a teenage girl who had struggled with drug addiction that he too had kicked an addiction.

"Your president made the same kind of choice," he told her. "I had to quit drinking. & Addiction competes for your affection & You fall in love with alcohol."

Later, Bush told ABC News he opened up to the girl about his alcohol abuse, because he was touched by her story.

"I was trying to encourage her to stay strong," Bush said. "I wanted her, this young girl who's struggling with drug addiction, to know that others who might be famous have the same issue, that she's not alone."

Bush said in his case, he made the decision to quit when he realized drinking was interfering with his family.

"Alcohol can compete with your affections. It sure did in my case," Bush said, "affections with your family, or affections for exercise."

"It was the competition that I decided just wasn't worth it," he said.

Bush "Doesn't Remember" 1981

During one of his worst years of alcoholism, Israel launched air strikes against Iraq's nuclear facilities and Bush doesn't remember a thing about it, or the year 1981 in general :

At the time, Bush was a 34-year-old oil man living in Midland, Texas running a company he founded two years earlier after a failed bid for Congress. Bush would not become governor of Texas for more than a decade and White House ambitions were even farther in his future.

During a White House press conference Monday, NBC correspondent David Gregory asked Bush whether he supported Israel's destruction of the Osiraq nuclear reactor in Iraq.

"Ya know, Dave, I don't remember what I was doing in 1981," Bush said.

A report from the New York Times Nicholas Kristof describes Bush as a "late bloomer", probably more concerned with drinking and having fun than comprehending what was going on on the international stage, despite his father's involvement in American politics and intelligence.

Writes Kristof :

"he approached 40, an age when Al Gore was already a senator running for president, George W. Bush was just a heavy-drinking, fun-loving oilman struggling to control his tempter, salvage his business and hold on to his marriage."

More On This Here

Was Bush Drunk During Error-Plagued Speech In Sydney?

Thanks "Austrian" Troops, Gets Lost Trying To Leave The Stage

President Bush gave a speech today at the APEC summit in Sydney, riddled with implausible errors and mispronounciations. He appeared slightly unsteady on his feet, and had trouble finding his way off the stage.

Bush referred to the APEC summit as "OPEC".

He thanked "Austrian" troops for fighting in Iraq, instead of "Australian troops" and called his close friend Australian prime minister John Howard the "Austrian" prime minister.

All the more remarkable because Bush was in Sydney, Australia when he gave the speech, and has been in Sydney, Australia since Tuesday night.

Naturally, the audience laughed.

During the speech, Bush clearly slurred a number of other words.

He had the most trouble of all getting out the name of terror group Jemaah Islamiah, and quickly switched the abbreviation, JI.

No trouble there.

While he was trying to find his way off stage, before being helped by John Howard...

...a veteran White House correspondent seized the opportunity to ask Mr Bush whether there had been any new message in his speech. Apparently misunderstanding the question, he bristled and asked, "Haven't you been listening to my past speeches?" before turning away.

White House staffers offered an explanation for Bush's string of gaffs - he was just joking.

Sure he was.

Dazed Bush Forgets Where He Is - Thanks "Austrian" Troops For Fighting In Iraq - Video

The "Accident" Prone President And The Security Protecting Him, From Terrorists And Himself

Interesting from the Times Online turns up these factoids about the security surrounding Bush at the G8 summit, and in particular the preparation of his meals, one of which may have led to the "stomach trouble" that saw Bush miss a morning of meetings, after being spotted drinking "no alcohol" beer the evening before :

60 chefs are on stand by to cook for the eight heads of state, their partners and entourages.

The hotel complex where the conference is being held has its own herds of lamb and goat, and prides itself on fresh, locally grown produce.

Security in the kitchens is tight, and the secret service is monitoring them. Summit observers have noted that the precautions taken around Mr Bush are especially stringent - in one incident, a German police officer was prevented by White House staff from so much as touching the door handle of the President's Lincoln limousine.

Fish - on the menu at Wednesday night's dinner at the start of the summit - is a speciality at the seaside resort. At lunch on Wednesday Mr Bush shared a meal of asparagus and veal schnitzel with his host, Angela Merkel.

Bush is accident-prone, or a heavy drinker who loses control on a fairly regular basis. The Times Online notes that Bush has "an unfortunate record for becoming indisposed while in public office." He sure does, and that's the nice way to put it.

The other way to put it is this way - Bush is a heavy drinker, who regularly loses control of his intake and of himself in a drunken state, which leads to accidents and injuries, not always just to himself :

In January 2002, he grazed his cheek after choking on a pretzel and fainting while watching television.

In June 2003 he fell off his Segway scooter at his family estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, and in May 2004 he fell off his mountain bike, grazing his knees, hand, chin and nose.

In another bit of summit misfortune, in July 2005 Mr Bush crashed into a police officer while riding his bike around the grounds at the Gleneagles hotel while attending the G8 summit in Britain. The US President scraped his hands and arms, and the police officer was hospitalised with an ankle injury.

I've no doubt that a few years after Bush leaves office, a book from a former close White House staffer will appear, detailing the drinking habits of the president at war. Then again, the way Bush is losing friends and allies over the Iraq War and his stand on immigration reform, such a book may appear before he has even left the White House.

Bush Back On The Sauce

Comes Down With "Stomach Complaint", Misses G8 Meetings



Why does the mainstream media continue to play along with the charade that President Bush does not hook into the booze? Clearly he does indulge, and with gusto, if some of the swaying, rambling, incoherent press conferences he's given recently are any indication.

A photographed surfaced yesterday during the G8 meetings in Germany, and it showed Bush slugging back a beer. Only hours later, Bush was too ill to join other world leaders for meetings. He did, however, meet with the new French President in his rooms.

Bush drinks beer. Bush is too sick to even walk out of his room. Do we even need someone to draw the connection here?

The spin control from the White House, and most of the mainstream media, went into action :

President Bush is "unwell".

White House staff say they're not sure whether it's something he ate or a stomach virus.

As to suspicions that the was doing a "Boris Yeltsin" - US officials insist that was a non alcoholic beer he was seen drinking last night.

Anyway a planned meeting with France's Nicolas Sarkozy had to take place in the American president's private rooms. One can only guess that he wanted to be close to the bathroom.

Alarm bells rang when President Bush failed to turn up to a photo opportunity with Sarkozy and then failed to materialise at the G8 roundtable to discuss aid to Africa.

Non-alcoholic beer, eh? Yeah, okay. It is not remarkable to learn that Bush is drinking again, if he ever actually stopped.

What is remarkable is how many mainstream media outlets faithfully reported the White House spin as the real story.

The above image does not show someone enjoying a "near beer", as the Americans call it.

The above image shows an old booze hound getting his fix. Bush was clearly halfway hammered at a roundtable with Germany's Angela Merkel after this drinking session. Then he was "too unwell" to be seen attempting to walk to other meetings.

Why the big fantasy that Bush is still on the wagon? He wouldn't be the first key world leader in the midst of a war to be punching dragons. In fact, being an alcoholic seems to be all but compulsory for the leaders of war-making nations. The leaders of Australia, England, the US during World War I and II were all heavy drinkers, and reportedly made some of their most important, and historical, decisions pretty well maggoted.

Why should Bush be any different?

Al Qaeda Provide Bush Character Assessment

"Alcoholic" Gambler, "Addicted" To "Lies"

Ayman al-Zawahri, 2nd in command of 'Al Qaeda' in Afghanistan, has claimed that President Bush is a "lying gambler" who made the ultimate double-or-nothing bet on the Iraq War, and lost.

From the Associated Press :

"Bush suffers from an addictive personality, and was an alcoholic. I don't know his present condition ... but the one who examines his personality finds that he is addicted to two other faults — lying and gambling," al-Zawahri said in the audiotape.

On the tape, al-Zawahri said Bush has gone down in history as one of the world's "most notorious liars."

"So pay attention before it's too late, and beware of Bush's losing gambler's lie which claims that he, with the corpses of your killed and limbs of your wounded, is spreading democracy around the world," said al-Zawahri, apparently addressing the American people.

Al-Zawahri also said recent congressional elections in the United States that elected a majority of Democrats would change nothing.

"The people chose you due to your opposition to Bush's policy in Iraq, but it appears that you are marching with him to the same abyss," al-Zawahri said of the Democrats according to the transcript.

Al-Zawahri called what he described as Bush' failure in Iraq and the growing Taliban resistance in Afghanistan the "most important events" of the past year. He also said "the people cooperating with the United States in Afghanistan and in Iraq would be abandoned by the Americans once they fail, the same way they did in Vietnam."