Bush Bio Back from Oblivion

Doc's DIS-patch
Bush Bio Back from Oblivion
Dubya's Army Can't Kill Fortunate Son

by Dave "Doctor" Gonzo

Tuesday, Nov. 30, 1999 --- New York (APJP) -- Now, The Doc is not particularly surprised that J.H. Hatfield's controversial biography of Texas Governor and President Wannabe George W. Bush, Fortunate Son, is back in print.

What does surprise him is the amount of press that the return to print of Fortunate Son got --specifically, high-profile articles in a number of papers, including The New York Times and The Dallas Morning News, plus mention on a laundry list of news web sites.

Of course, it helped plenty that the republication of Fortunate Son was launched with a little "guerilla" color. A small, self-described "punk" publishing house, Soft Skull Press, held a news conference yesterday to announce that it is picking up the Bush bio -- a book which turns out to be rather flattering to Dubya, if you set aside those nasty and thrice-anonymously-sourced allegations that Junior Bush got busted for possession of "Bolivian marching powder" -- and did community service out of deference to his "fine" (read: rich) family.

Soft Skull's senior editor and founder, Sander Hicks, said at the news conference that "Soft Skull reprints Fortunate Son to allow the voters to judge for themselves. Soft Skull was the single press to prove it had the courage and resources to take on this controversial book and finally put it in the hands of the American people." Editor Hicks, who doesn't exactly resemble Bennett Cerf (he sports a way-cool Mohawk haircut), announced an initial print run of 25,000 copies.

Hicks also had good news for discriminating readers: Soft Skull's updated edition will include an index and sell for $16.50, as opposed to the hardcover edition which cost $25.95.

The book's original publisher, St. Coward's... er, St. Martin's Press, recalled and scrapped the book when allegations surfaced that author J.H. Hatfield was (shock! horror!) a convicted felon.

Well, golly, that would put him in the same category of authors as diverse as Nelson Mandela and G. Gordon Liddy.

Now, the fact that Hatfield might have wanted to conceal his own alleged criminal history is understandable, if boneheaded -- because about the only thing any conviction would lend to Hatfield's credibility would be to magnify it! Hatfield surely would have had more contact with -- and more contacts in -- the legal, law enforcement and judicial system community as a result of any criminal proceedings he may have been involved in.

Dubya reacted to the announcement yesterday by saying "He's still a convicted felon."

Now what the heck is that supposed to mean? That Hatfield couldn't afford "Bush justice" and weasel out of a heavy sentence because Daddy "knew the right people?"

Talk about a comment guaranteed to backfire!

Oh, while we're at it, Dubya, can you tell us why you really had your Texas driver's license number changed?

But I digress.

On the one hand, The Doc was gratified that the relaunch of Fortunate Son got as much attention as it did -- this book has become a true succes de scandale, garnering more press attention than the present wave of anti-Hillary Clinton books emanating from a cadre of right-wing pundette harridan leeches (such as Ann "O'Rexic" Coulter) who have made a fortune demeaning, insulting and spreading rumors and falsehoods concerning the First Family.

On the other hand, some of the coverage continues to slam Hatfield. The Dallas Morning News story made mention of an article in the December issue of Texas Monthly claiming that 17 people "chosen at random" whom Mr. Hatfield said he interviewed "could not recall" having talked to the author. Of course, if you were under as much pressure from Bush's people as St. Chicken's Press (oh, there I go again) was, The Doc is sure you'd forget, too. And The Doc can't help wondering if the selections were as "random" as 1950s game shows were "honest."

By the way -- did any of these people who "could not recall" talking to Hatfield go on record disputing his facts? The Doc doubts any of them will. St. Martin's seems to have thought the book was fine following a rigorous fact-checking. And The Doc doubts there will be any follow-through on the legal threats coming from the Bush camp -- including from Bush Daddy himself -- to sue Hatfield. Ever stop to think that Bush might have everything to lose if he pressed a legal case?

So for now, I'm going to savor the fact that the Bush Army couldn't kill the book by assassinating the character of its author. Then I'll check out the Soft Skull web site to see if they've at least gotten their new cover for Fortunate Son up: a lovely photo of George W. and a red band proclaiming "The Book They Burned Is Back!"

'Nuff said.