A Wild, Wild Week

A Wild, Wild Week
Unflattering bios, China gaffe make things uncomfortable for Dubya

by Tamara Baker

Octobet 25, 1999--ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA (APJ)--Well, Golly Gee, it's been an interesting week!

The first two Bush Jr. biographies hit the stands.

As noted in a previous column, Dubya's flack-attackers have done their darndest to avoid an examination of the charges leveled in one book by the simple expedient of attacking its author, J.H. Hatfield, as a man who tried to off his boss and who lied on his resume a la Mike Barnicle, Matt Drudge, Janet Cooke, Ollie North and Rush Limbaugh.

Note: of the five people just mentioned, which are still employed in media jobs despite their constant lying that puts Mr. Hatfield's alleged efforts in the shade? You guessed it: the three who are shills for the GOP. Yet another nail in the "liberal media" canard's coffin.

Meanwhile, the claims made by Bill Minutaglio--a Dallas Morning News reporter whose past and credentials are apparently too strong for Shrubya's folks to easily trash--in his book on GW Bush, First Son, are left unexamined in the midst of the Hatfield uproar.

Minutaglio asserts, like Hatfield, that in 1972 Shrub pulled a community-service tour of duty in response to illegal behavior. The difference is that while Hatfield said that the illicit behavior was cocaine-related, Minutaglio states that it was because young George W. Bush had done some Stupid Drunken Driving Tricks that nearly killed his younger brother, Marvin.

I ask you now: is there any greater proof of the Bush family's perfidy than in naming a poor innocent child of theirs "Marvin"? But I digress.

Six of one, half a dozen of the other. In 1972 both cocaine possession and drunken driving were generally treated less harshly than they are now--especially in Texas, where a few years ago it was (and perhaps still is, for all I know) perfectly legal to have an open bottle in your car in Dallas, even though Dallas is in what is technically a "dry" county. Drunken driving was something generally punished with nothing more severe than a ticket--or a warning and an escort home, if you happened to be somebody powerful or a close relation thereof. For Shrub to rate a sojourn with Project P.U.L.L. in 1972 because of drunken driving indicates that he must have done something REALLY stupid while under the influence.

Again, why are Dubya's people going after Hatfield, but ignoring Minutaglio?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Inquiring minds would also like to know why George W. Bush, so soon after Bill Clinton was attacked by the Republican Congress in the manufactured "Chinagate" scandal for allowing the People's Republic of China access to high-technology items made in the US, has decided that it would be a good idea to relax the Clinton-era restrictions on sending high-tech stuff to the Red Chinese.

You read that correctly.

As reported in the Wall Street Journal on October 19, 1999, Shrub--whose family, by the way, is noted for their business ties to China, particularly Uncle Prescott's long-standing China dealings (a tip of the hat and a big thank-you to fellow APJ writer David Corn, who is also with the highly respected progressive journal The Nation, for mentioning these ties in earlier issues of APJ)-- went on record as favoring the relaxing of controls on high-tech sales to China.

The best part of this is that--are you sitting down?--Congressman Christopher Cox (R-CA) agrees with him, as quoted in that same Wall Street Journal article.

Yes, THAT Christopher Cox.

The one who gave us the "Cox Report" that alleged Bill Clinton gave away our most precious nuclear and high-tech secrets to the heathen Red Chinese.

Just goes to show once again that GOP hypocrisy is not confined to sex or drug issues.

And on an unrelated front...

As you may already know, Julie Hiatt Steele is on the verge of losing her house, which she once owned free and clear, in order to pay the cost of the crushing legal bills ($1.1 million) generated by Ken Starr's indictment of her for daring to expose to the world that Kathleen Willey, Starr's "credible" ace in the hole, was a liar of such scope that Kenny had to give Ms. Willey a second grant of immunity to cover all the lies she told after the first grant was given.

There's a plan brewing to raise money for Julie. It's going to be an online auction.

Right now, online friends of Julie Hiatt Steele are being asked to donate goods and/or services that will be auctioned off to the highest bidders. The proceeds will go straight to Julie so she can try to save her house.

The details haven't been hammered out yet, but I'll keep you posted. And anyone interested in donating goods or services to the cause can get in touch with me through APJ, or they can contact Sue Wilson. And always, if you just want to make a cash donation to Julie, you can do so at her website.

Thanks for listening!