Faced with the biggest crisis of his political life, President Bush has hit the bottle again, The National Enquirer can reveal.
Bush, who said he quit drinking the morning after his 40th birthday, has started boozing amid the Katrina catastrophe.
Family sources have told how the 59-year-old president was caught by First Lady Laura downing a shot of booze at their family ranch in Crawford, Texas, when he learned of the hurricane disaster.
His worried wife yelled at him: "Stop, George."
Following the shocking incident, disclosed here for the first time, Laura privately warned her husband against "falling off the wagon" and vowed to travel with him more often so that she can keep an eye on Dubya, the sources add.
"When the levees broke in New Orleans, it apparently made him reach for a shot," said one insider. "He poured himself a Texas-sized shot of straight whiskey and tossed it back. The First Lady was shocked and shouted: "Stop George!"
"Laura gave him an ultimatum before, 'It's Jim Beam or me.' She doesn't want to replay that nightmare — especially now when it's such tough going for her husband."
Bush is under the worst pressure of his two terms in office and his popularity is near an all-time low. The handling of the Katrina crisis and troop losses in Iraq have fueled public discontent and pushed Bush back to drink.
A Washington source said: "The sad fact is that he has been sneaking drinks for weeks now. Laura may have only just caught him — but the word is his drinking has been going on for a while in the capital. He's been in a pressure cooker for months.
"The war in Iraq, the loss of American lives, has deeply affected him. He takes every soldier's life personally. It has left him emotionally drained.
The result is he's taking drinks here and there, likely in private, to cope. "And now with the worst domestic crisis in his administration over Katrina, you pray his drinking doesn't go out of control."
Another source said: "I'm only surprised to hear that he hadn't taken a shot sooner. Before Katrina, he was at his wit's end. I've known him for years. He's been a good ol' Texas boy forever. George had a drinking problem for years that most professionals would say needed therapy. He doesn't believe in it [therapy], he never got it. He drank his way through his youth, through college and well into his thirties. Everyone's drinking around him."
Another source said: "A family member told me they fear George is 'falling apart.' The First Lady has been assigned the job of gatekeeper." Bush's history of drinking dates back to his youth. Speaking of his time as a young man in the National Guard, he has said: "One thing I remember, and I'm most proud of, is my drinking and partying. Those were the days my friends. Those were the good old days!"
Age 26 in 1972, he reportedly rounded off a night's boozing with his 16-year-old brother Marvin by challenging his father to a fight.
On November 1, 2000, on the eve of his first presidential election, Bush acknowledged that in 1976 he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol near his parents' home in Maine. Age 30 at the time, Bush pleaded guilty and paid a $150 fine. His driving privileges were temporarily suspended in Maine.
"I'm not proud of that," he said. "I made some mistakes. I occasionally drank too much, and I did that night. I learned my lesson." In another interview around that time, he said: "Well, I don't think I had an addiction. You know it's hard for me to say. I've had friends who were, you know, very addicted... and they required hitting bottom (to start) going to AA. I don't think that was my case."
During his 2000 presidential campaign, there were also persistent questions about past cocaine use. Eventually Bush denied using cocaine after 1992, then quickly extended the cocaine-free period back to 1974, when he was 28.
Dr. Justin Frank, a Washington D.C. psychiatrist and author of Bush On The Couch: Inside The Mind Of The President, told The National Enquirer: "I do think that Bush is drinking again. Alcoholics who are not in any program, like the President, have a hard time when stress gets to be great.
"I think it's a concern that Bush disappears during times of stress. He spends so much time on his ranch. It's very frightening."
The Rant Dangers of a Drunk Dubya By DOUG THOMPSON Sep 23, 2005, 08:39
According to the National Enquirer, President George W. Bush, an alcoholic, is drinking again.
In normal times, such a story in a tabloid like the Enquirer would be dismissed as just another fantasy for the newspaper that normally devotes its front page to gossip about celebrity divorces. But an America with Bush as President is anything but normal and too many warning signs point to the sad fact that Dubya the drunk is back on the bottle. Plus we reported the same thing in a story about Bush’s temper tirades on August 25.
Like the President, I’m a recovering alcoholic. Unlike him, I’ve been sober for 11 years, three months and 16 days. Bush says he quit drinking without help from any organized program. I had a lot of help – from family, friends and Alcoholics Anonymous. As an alcoholic, I can say without hesitation that available evidence tells me that Bush is drinking and drinking heavily.
The signs have been there for too long. Bush fell off a couch after, his aides say, “falling asleep.” He has appeared in public with bruises on his face, the kind of injuries a person would suffer from falling in alcohol-impaired conditions. He disappears from public view for extended periods, takes more vacations than other Presidents, has trouble forming words, appears disinterested in public and mangles his sentences. In other appearances he rambles and appears unable to focus. During the Katrina crisis he displayed little emotion or compassion when confronted with the horrors along the Gulf Coast.
This web site reported last year that the White House physician had placed the President on anti-depressants. If Bush is mixing alcohol and anti-depressant drugs his judgment – which is already suspect – is impaired even more.
“The President all too often is out of control,” a White House source tells me. “People are afraid to risk his anger by telling him things he does not want to hear. Newsweek magazine reported the same thing last week in their story: “How Bush Blew It.”
The Enquirer interviewed Dr. Justin Frank, a Washington D.C. psychiatrist and author of Bush On The Couch: Inside The Mind Of The President.
“I do think that Bush is drinking again,” Frank said. “Alcoholics who are not in any program, like the President, have a hard time when stress gets to be great. I think it's a concern that Bush disappears during times of stress. He spends so much time on his ranch. It's very frightening.”
Dr. Frank is a highly-respected psychiatrist at George Washington University and his book about the President’s problems has been praised by other psychiatric experts. We interviewed him last year for the stories about the President’s deteriorating mental state and his conclusions confirm Bush is losing it.
White House aides tell me rumors about the President’s drinking began circulating last year in the West Wing along with questions about possible abuse of prescription drugs. They report wide mood swings, cancelled meetings and an ever-decreasing number of aides with direct access to Bush.
“Two questions that the press seems particularly determined to ignore have hung silently in the air since before Bush took office,” Dr. Frank told us in August. “Is he still drinking? And if not, is he impaired by all the years he did spend drinking? Both questions need to be addressed in any serious assessment of his psychological state.”
It’s scary enough to have a nutcase in the White House. It’s even scarier to think that nutcase may be drunk.
posted
Bush Drinking Again Pressures of Office and falling polls knock President off the wagon
by OfficialWire NewsDesk
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- (OfficialWire) -- 09/23/05 -- According to the National Enquirer George W. Bush is sneaking shots behind his wife's back, while many of his staff know he's drinking again.
Enquirer reporters, Jennifer Luce and Don Gentile, quoting 'family sources' detail how the 59-year-old president was caught by First Lady Laura downing a shot of booze at their family ranch in Crawford, Texas, when he learned of the hurricane disaster.
His worried wife yelled at him: "Stop, George."
Bush claims to have given up the drink after his 40th birthday, but according to a Washington source "The sad fact is that he has been sneaking drinks for weeks now. Laura may have only just caught him—but the word is his drinking has been going on for a while in the capital. He's been in a pressure cooker for months."
The result is he's taking drinks here and there, likely in private, to cope. "And now with the worst domestic crisis in his administration over Katrina, you pray his drinking doesn't go out of control."
Substance abuse is no stranger to Bush. During the 2000 presidential campaign, there were also persistent questions about past cocaine use. Eventually Bush denied using cocaine after 1992, then quickly extended the cocaine-free period back to 1974, when he was 28.
Dr. Justin Frank, a Washington D.C. psychiatrist and author of Bush On The Couch: Inside The Mind Of The President, said: "I do think that Bush is drinking again. Alcoholics who are not in any program, like the President, have a hard time when stress gets to be great.
"I think it's a concern that Bush disappears during times of stress. He spends so much time on his ranch. It's very frightening."
quote:Originally posted by 4Art: BUSH'S BOOZE CRISIS
I think it's pathetic that you want to bash Bush so badly that you would use an article from the National Inquirer....
Posts: 2063 | From: PA | Registered: Jun 2005
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You and your adoration society are sickening and it is questionable that you think.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by 4Art: BUSH'S BOOZE CRISIS
I think it's pathetic that you want to bash Bush so badly that you would use an article from the National Inquirer....
When I was in journalism school we learned that The National Enquirer usually reports these kinds of things before the "real" news media. This is because the tabloids pay an incredible amount of money to the insiders who report this stuff.
Posts: 1235 | From: Anacortes, WA | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:Originally posted by LEO: [QUOTE]Originally posted by NaturalResources: When I was in journalism school we learned that The National Enquirer usually reports these kinds of things before the "real" news media. This is because the tabloids pay an incredible amount of money to the insiders who report this stuff.
Yeah, I heard Bat-Boy was suing his mother for the stuff they published about him...
-------------------- "The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it..." Posts: 2063 | From: PA | Registered: Jun 2005
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Bdgee, I really don't care what you think, and frankly, I'm glad I make you sick because the feeling is mutual.
-------------------- "The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it..." Posts: 2063 | From: PA | Registered: Jun 2005
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I wrote "for these kinds of things," not those kinds of things!! Unless you really are comparing batboy to G.W. boy, in which case I agree with you, Natural Resources Boy!!
quote:Originally posted by NaturalResources:
quote:Originally posted by LEO: [QUOTE]Originally posted by NaturalResources: When I was in journalism school we learned that The National Enquirer usually reports these kinds of things before the "real" news media. This is because the tabloids pay an incredible amount of money to the insiders who report this stuff.
Yeah, I heard Bat-Boy was suing his mother for the stuff they published about him...
quote:Originally posted by LEO: I wrote "for these kinds of things," not those kinds of things!! Unless you really are comparing batboy to G.W. boy, in which case I agree with you, Natural Resources Boy!!
No, not comparing the two, just pointing out that National Inquirer is a pathetic source for information at best. A publication that puts Bat-Boy on the front cover isn't really worried about the truth. Would you agree?
-------------------- "The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it..." Posts: 2063 | From: PA | Registered: Jun 2005
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BatBoy wasn't even in the National Enquirer. He was in the Weekly World News, which is an intentionally absurd tabloid. Just shows how much credibility NaturalResources has.
The Enquirer would not risk being sued by the President of the United States, IMO. They obviously have their sources lined up and their paperwork in order.
Posts: 3243 | From: California | Registered: Jul 2005
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I would agree with my Journalism professor that those kinds of magazines are very popular with the public, therefore these magazines have lots of money to pay people called 'insiders.' That is why these publications usually report on "these kinds of things" before the "real" media does. By "these kinds of things," I mean Brad Pitt and whoever, Princess Di, George Bush Drinking, Etc, etc. Also, I'll bet that batboy thing is really from the Weekly World News!
Posts: 1235 | From: Anacortes, WA | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
All very interesting, but how does it relate to the fact the the President is a booze head?
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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Some have said he's a coke head as well. That would certainly explain the twitchy mannerisms and weird expressions.
Posts: 3243 | From: California | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Dustoff101: The problem is very simple, if ya can't have a drink, then ya got a problem..
A good Belt or two once in awhile feels good.
I feel sorry for people who can't drink, but I don't hire them..
Those who just don't want to drink, or do drink, and can handle it, are the ones I like to hire.
Problem I got, is I voted for Bush, BROKE my own RULE.
Sometimes they can be hard to work with alright. I work with one now and you can never tell what her mood is and if or when it will do a 180. Real nice and laughing one minute and mad, angry and in your face the next.
Posts: 1235 | From: Anacortes, WA | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:Originally posted by 4Art: BatBoy wasn't even in the National Enquirer. He was in the Weekly World News; an intentionally absurd tabloid. Just shows how much credibility NaturalResources has.
Yeah, you are right. National Enquirer is so much more of a credible source....
-------------------- "The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it..." Posts: 2063 | From: PA | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote:Originally posted by 4Art: It is. Like the Bush Administration, NaturalResources doesn't feel the need to bother with that pesky fact-checking process.
quote:Originally posted by LEO: Also, I'll bet that batboy thing is really from the Weekly World News!
Weekly World News, National Enquirer... They are both Supermarket Tabloids, and they are both owned by the same company, America Media, Inc.
-------------------- "The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it..." Posts: 2063 | From: PA | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
Pepsi and Mountain Dew are both owned by the same company. Are they the same thing?
Posts: 1235 | From: Anacortes, WA | Registered: Apr 2005
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"Weekly World News, National Enquirer... They are both Supermarket Tabloids, and they are both owned by the same company, America Media, Inc",
it remains the fact that,
"Like the Bush Administration, NaturalResources doesn't feel the need to bother with that pesky fact-checking process."
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by LEO: Pepsi and Mountain Dew are both owned by the same company. Are they the same thing?
LEO, the Enquirer and the WWN are both SUPERMARKET TABLOIDS.
-------------------- "The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it..." Posts: 2063 | From: PA | Registered: Jun 2005
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Bdgee and 4ART (or are you the same person?):
Well, I was pretty sure Bat-Boy was featured in the National Inquirer at some point, but I can't find anything but a few vague references to him being in the Inquirer, so I STAND CORRECTED...
I'm not one to pick up any of the publications sitting in the supermarket line, so excuse me for getting the two mixed up. All you have to do is read a few of the headlines on the front page to figure out that 99% of the content inside of any of them is crap. So, I stand by my original comment that using the Enquirer for a source is pathetic.
-------------------- "The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it..." Posts: 2063 | From: PA | Registered: Jun 2005
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It's true, but the WWN, as 4art said, is an intentionally absurd magazine. The National Enquirer, while a tabloid, actually reports a lot of true information, and often times before other news sources get that info. Now, back to the topic of this thread, which is G. W. being back on the bottle. I wonder if he is a whiskey man??
Posts: 1235 | From: Anacortes, WA | Registered: Apr 2005
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by LEO: [qb] [QUOTE]Originally posted by Dustoff101: [qb] The problem is very simple, if ya can't have a drink, then ya got a problem..
A good Belt or two once in awhile feels good.
I feel sorry for people who can't drink, but I don't hire them..
Those who just don't want to drink, or do drink, and can handle it, are the ones I like to hire.
Problem I got, is I voted for Bush, BROKE my own RULE.
------------------------------------------------- Quote by LEO: Sometimes they can be hard to work with alright. I work with one now and you can never tell what her mood is and if or when it will do a 180. Real nice and laughing one minute and mad, angry and in your face the next.
------------------------------------------------- by dustoff: Swings in temper is one thing, but losing control in a pinch is another...
They always seem to fall off the wagon at the most critical moment..
Ya just can't trust them..
Having a couple under stress is one thing, but when they fall, they may leave ya hanging while they are wallowing in booze somewhere..
I had to fire a damn good deckhand for falling off the wagon..At a critical time..
After that, when someone just volunteers right off that they don't drink anymore, I look else where.
I don't know if Bush is drinking again, but if he is, we could be in bigger trouble than we already know.
Thats the problem with a self professed reformed drunk....tick tick tick
Posts: 10729 | From: oregon | Registered: Feb 2005
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So true, I've had them not show up for work on days they're needed most, they can't handle the pressure and when they have a drink to take the edge off they don't stop till they're passed out somewhere. Sad...
Posts: 1235 | From: Anacortes, WA | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
That ok. Just trying to break up the monotony of these unfactual tidbits. lol
Posts: 474 | From: Central PA | Registered: Oct 2003
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The lead editor from the Enquirer says they have two sources to confirm and they're not worried about a lawsuit.
Posts: 3243 | From: California | Registered: Jul 2005
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It will be interesting to see if this story ever gets picked up by the mainstream media.
Posts: 1235 | From: Anacortes, WA | Registered: Apr 2005
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Nah.....tales of Nixon boozin and chatting with the pictures of dead Presidents were out, but carefully avoided by legitimate "news". There is some spark of respect and decency in proper news.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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