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August 20, 1999
Instead of forthrightly saying yes or no to to the question of whether he has used drugs, George W. Bush may be digging himself into a deeper hole with his weaseling and changing answers.
Some are already interpreting his remarks to be a confession. In fact, he has made no such confession.
In a Dallas Morning News interview Wednesday he said, regarding standard drug use questions on the FBI background check form, "As I understand it, the current form asks the question, 'Did somebody
use drugs within the last seven years?' and I will be glad to answer that question, and the answer is 'No,'"
Bush yesterday told reporters in Roanoke, VA, according to the Associated Press, "Not only could I have passed in today's White House, I could have passed the standards applied under the most
stringent conditions when my dad was president, a 15-year period.''
Then he extended the period to 25 years, when he was 28 years old.
At a press conference in Columbus, OH, NBC reporter David Bloom, pointing out that the current White House background check says, "Do not limit your response to the last 7 years. You must go back to
your 18th birthday," asked Bush if he had not used drugs since he was 18. Bush dodged the question, saying, "I have made mistakes in my life. I have learned from those mistakes."
Saying, "Enough is enough," to a further barrage of questions about drug use from reporters, the Texas governor remarked, "I don't want to send a signal to children that using drugs is
okay."
The American people will have to decide, he said. "I told the people of Texas I would bring honor and dignity to the office [governor's]," he stated, adding that he was telling the people the
same thing should they elect him president.
Despite contending from the outset that he wasn't going to discuss certain aspecys his personal life and dodging questions about the use of illegal drugs, Bush has volunteered that he quit drinking 13
years ago, when he was 40, and that he has been faithful to his wife.
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