WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED?

THE issue is not so much what George W. Bush did in the past, but whether
he is a hypocrite in the present. He is tough as nails on drugs, having
supported state legislation mandating jail for anyone caught with less than
a gram of cocaine. Would a bystander have heard him murmur, "There but for
the grace of God go I?" It would be nice to know.

I think Bush is a Fifth Amendment cokehead. If he had not used the stuff,
he would certainly say so. After all, it's not as if he is such a reticent
fellow. He has told us much about his past -- his drinking, his carousing,
his lost youth, his meandering career path and how he gave up booze and
found God.

What, if anything, has Bush learned from the life he once led? Why, for
instance, does he think that people who use cocaine recreationally ought to
go to jail? What about marijuana or, for that matter, heroin? Does he think
that if -- just if -- he once used marijuana or cocaine that he should have
done jail time? Can he empathize with others or, possibly, has his own
experience taught him the deterrent value of jail? Should 600,000 people be
arrested annually for breaking the marijuana laws? We would like to know.

But I don't expect Bush to say, or do, anything terribly original or bold.
He seems to be the sort of person who avoids reflection. He says he's "made
mistakes" in his life but that he's learned from them. Learned what?