US PRESS - RESPONSE TO SPECULATION THAT GOVERNOR
GEORGE BUSH USED ILLEGAL DRUGS

ALTHOUGH THE press has an obligation to probe a candidate's personal
and political record, not every blot is worth a front-page flogging.
Reporters on the campaign trail could more profitably be telling us
about Mr Bush's record. The press has an obligation to check rumors
out. But it also has an obligation to deal fairly with its targets.
That means not using mere suspicion to cloud a person's good name. And
it means giving readers, viewers and listeners the real information
they need to sort out the political choices that confront them.
(Barbara Cummings) - LA Times

BUSH CONSISTENTLY has said: "When I was young and irresponsible, I
behaved young and irresponsibly." What else would we have him say? To
what end? By forcing qualified candidates to confess the sins of their
youth, we embarrass ourselves and our children. We also endanger the
supply of good people willing to live public lives. After the
Inquisition, who's left? (Kathleen Parker) Delaware County Daily Times

IS THERE a principled way to approach the "pasts" of our would-be
leaders? Yes. The test should be not whether they have sinned, but
whether they have matured. Part of maturity is repentance. By this
standard, Bill Clinton would never have passed muster. He spent the
campaign of 1992 lying and dissembling. Part of what is getting Bush
in trouble now seems to be his unwilling-ness to lie - and after eight
years of mendacity, that is downright refreshing. (Mona Charen) - The
Daily Gazette, NY

BUSH TOLD The Dallas Morning News he could answer the standard FBI
background check about use of drugs in the last seven years with a
"no". But his adamant refusal to answer the "did you ever" question
appears to have been taken as a challenge by some to bully him into a
"yes" or "no" statement. I'd suggest that energy could be better
directed to pressuring Bush into giving the public a few more clues
about the ideas and policies he intends to offer.