Note to media: This report in a tabloid is false. Even my brother calls it “utterly scurrilous”. And it bears no connection whatsoever to this sartorial incident.
Note to all: Having looked at a video of the speech, I don’t think the photo of Bush’s mis-buttoned shirt linked to above is a photoshop job. But as regards the Bush-is-drinking-again story, the Enquirer is not to be trusted. Even if it did break the Monica Lewinsky story. Or, maybe, especially since…
Note to lawyers and law students: On the other hand, if you would like a good lawyer’s hypothetical, try Dwight Meredith at Wampum on the poor fit of the XXVth Amenment to problems of substance abuse in the White House. Nice exam question for someone.
A good high school exam question: what does “scurrilous” mean?
scur·ri·lous (skûr-ls, skr-)
adj.
1. Given to the use of vulgar, coarse, or abusive language; foul-mouthed.
2. Expressed in vulgar, coarse, and abusive language.
——————————————————————————–
Perhaps your brother knows the definition? Perhaps calling President Bush drunk is scurrilous in the same way as calling Oedipus a motherfucker?
I saw somewhere today, that the source for that quote might be a resigned FEMA director, not too happy with having been made the administration scapegoat.
OTOH, it’s quite possible that the Enquirer’s source didn’t fabricate his accusations entirely out of thin air. It’s now widely known that Bush’s people keep him in a protective bubble; Alcoholism, even as a hypothesis, goes a long towards explaining why they [might] do so.
There’s a long history of (successfully) hiding the impairments of Presidents; If it turned out true in the gist if not the specifics…would you really be surprised ?
As I recall, it was the Drudge Report that first published the Lewinsky story, not the National Enquirer.
I do like the attempts by members of the Froomkin family to act as if they are above repeating rumours–rumours which there is no evidence for, which they’ve made no investigation of, rumours which are likely to harm the reputation of another person, undeservedly, if the rumours aren’t true.
I’ll refrain from speculating about the source of the ugliness in the Froomkin family.
According to Mark Kleiman, gossip that Bush has fallen off the wagon has been circulating for the past year and a half. He points out that if our Commander-in-Chief is impaired by alcohol abuse, the voters ought to know…but for some reason, in the journalistic community, asking this kind of question about a politician is Simply Not Done.