THE PUBLIC DESERVES TO KNOW

To the editor:

Recently there has been much discussion about whether Texas Gov.
George W. Bush ever used cocaine. He refuses to answer, saying only,
"When I was young and irresponsible, I was young and
irresponsible."

If Bush did not use cocaine, he would have said so. Therefore, we must
assume that he did.

Many of us don't care what he may have done in his youth, but the
public deserves to know in order to properly evaluate him for the
office of president of the United States.

If he wants his privacy, he should be willing to allow the private
behavior of other American citizens to be free from government sanctions.

If he was irresponsible in his youth, as he claims, but has now
matured, then nobody should be put in prison for doing similar things
in their irresponsible youth.

Another reason that he should disclose his past is the case of Charles
Edward Garrett, a black man who was sentenced to life imprisonment by
an all-white Texas jury in 1970 for possession of a small amount of
heroin.

He jumped bail and lived 30 years as a fugitive, during which time he
turned his life around. He was apprehended last year, and now the
Texas justice system wants to return him to prison for life.

Bush supports a system that forgives his youthful irresponsibility but
condemns another man to life imprisonment for his youthful
irresponsibility.

People need to have all the facts and a reasonable thinking ability in
order to evaluate whether a potential leader has leadership ability or
is merely another political hypocrite.

DUANE GRINDSTAFF
Kent