CANDIDATE PRETTY HARD ON TEXANS WHO 'DABBLED'

In Maureen Dowd's Aug. 24 column on Texas Gov. George W. Bush's recent
ordeal of media interrogations, she writes: "Voters might accept a boomer
candidate who admitted that he dabbled in drugs."

Yes, they might. But will they accept a candidate who admitted dabbling in
drugs, escaped criminal penalty and then eagerly imposed harsh prison
sentences on others who did similar dabbling while the candidate was governor?

Aren't voters likely to ask: Where is the benevolence toward those who
ought be given a chance to overcome youthful transgressions without cruel
punishment, as was the governor?

Lester Goldstein, Seattle