Fw: Molly Ivins' Wednesday column

["Sue Hovey" <suehovey@moscow.com>]

My nephew sent me this Molly Ivins column and inasmuch as most of you
probably aren't taking the Fort Worth Star Telegram these days, I thought
you might appreciate this one--and if not, just quit reading at any point.
Sue Hovey
----- Original Message -----
From: Craig Young <cyoung@gte.net>
To: Sue Hovey <suehovey@moscow.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 28, 1999 12:46 PM
Subject: Molly Ivins' Wednesday column


> > The real question: What did Bush learn?
> >
> >                    AUSTIN -- Watching the political press corps try to
figure out
> >                    what to do about George W. Bush's supposed cocaine
use is a
> >                    walking test case in media ethics that will be used
in
> >                    journalism schools for the next 50 years. You
probably didn't
> >                    know there were courses in media ethics. You may now
make
> >                    up your own joke.
> >
> >                    For starters, under the old rules, before we wrote
about
> >                    something we were expected to have some evidence that
it
> >                    was true. Under the new rules, the fact that there is
gossip
> >                    about someone is news, whether the gossip is true or
not. In
> >                    this case, the fact that Bush refuses to deny that he
used
> >                    cocaine has seemed to the entire press corps
sufficient
> >                    evidence -- a charming latter-day version of "Have
you
> >                    stopped beating your wife?"
> >
> >                    To add insult to injury, the Washington media --
whose
> >                    provincialism knows no bounds -- is busy analyzing
the Bush
> >                    campaign's response, deciding that it was
insufficiently nimble
> >                    for the big leagues, that he didn't stay "on-message"
(a mortal
> >                    sin), and otherwise picking apart his campaign
operation.
> >
> >                    The week before, they had of course been praising
said
> >                    operation as flawless and awesome. Now "Bush himself
is
> >                    responsible for the current flurry . . ." Oh, sure.
This is my
> >                    favorite media trick: We do something disgusting and
then
> >                    blame it on the person to whom it was done.
> >
> >                    The media, as happens so depressingly often, are
asking the
> >                    wrong question. Bush himself stands there and begs us
to ask
> >                    it. "I have learned from my mistakes," he says over
and over.
> >                    The question is: `What' did he learn?
> >
> >                    Until 1973, Texas had the most draconian drug laws in
the
> >                    nation. Whether they stopped Bush or not, they didn't
stop
> >                    me, didn't stop people now serving in the
Legislature, and
> >                    didn't stop most of a generation of Texans from
trying
> >                    marijuana. What did he learn from that? Nothing.
> >
> >                    Harsh laws do not stop young people from trying
illegal drugs.
> >                    So what does Bush do when he gets to be governor?
> >                    Increases the penalties and toughens the system so
it's harder
> >                    on young people. Signs a memorably stupid bill making
> >                    possession of less than a 20th of an ounce of cocaine
> >                    punishable by jail time.
> >
> >                    Are there people who are now in Texas prisons for
making
> >                    "youthful mistakes"? There are thousands of them.
Based on a
> >                    combination of Texas Department of Criminal Justice
figures
> >                    and U.S. Justice Department figures, there are at
least 5,000
> >                    people in Texas prisons for marijuana possession
alone. (The
> >                    numbers are extremely difficult to pin down, since
many of
> >                    those in for possession probably pleaded down from
other
> >                    charges; this is a conservative estimate.) Twenty
percent of
> >                    the Texas prison population of 147,000 is there on
> >                    drug-related charges.
> >
> >                    The truth is, if Bush `had' been caught using
marijuana or
> >                    cocaine 25 years ago, he would not have been
sentenced to
> >                    prison -- he was rich and white and his daddy was an
> >                    important guy. That's the way the system worked then;
that's
> >                    the way the system works now. Lee Otis Johnson, the
black
> >                    political activist from Houston, got 30 years for
marijuana;
> >                    white boys walked. Bush was there; he saw it happen;
what
> >                    did he learn?
> >
> >                    When he became governor, he had a world of
opportunity to
> >                    try to make the system more fair. What did he do? He
vetoed
> >                    Sen. Rodney Ellis' bill (passed unanimously by the
> >                    Republican-controlled Senate and by the House), which
would
> >                    have given poor defendants the right to see a lawyer
within 20
> >                    days. Twenty days, big deal -- in most of the
country, an
> >                    indigent defendant gets a lawyer within 72 hours or
they have
> >                    to let him go. We have poor people who spend months
in jail
> >                    just waiting to see a lawyer, who may be drunk or
> >                    incompetent or just sleep through his trial.
> >
> >                    Bush vetoed that bill. He learned nothing.
> >
> >                    When Bush came in as governor, this state had
committed to
> >                    the most extensive in-prison drug-and-alcohol
rehabilitation
> >                    program in the country -- the joint legacy of Ann
Richards and
> >                    Bob Bullock, both recovering alcoholics. Eighty
percent of the
> >                    people in Texas prisons are diagnosed by the system
as having
> >                    substance abuse problems. The entire program is gone
now,
> >                    completely repealed.
> >
> >                    Bush learned nothing. That's the story.
>