George W. Bush's "Free Society"
by Joseph C. Hinson
February 22, 2002

In doing my final bit of research for my most recent rant, I came across the first paragraph of a story by Ron Fournier, AP White House Correspondent : 'President Bush sought to dispel rampant doubts and distrust of America, urging China on Friday to embrace liberty, tolerance and religious freedom. "A free society trusts its citizens," Bush said as skeptical university students pressed him about U.S. policy toward their country.'

First of all, you'll excuse me if I find it a bit ironic that Bush is in China in the first place. The Republicans have for years cried about how President Clinton "sold us out" to the Chinese. So here's W. over there trying to make friends with them all. By the way, it's the thirtieth anniversary of Richard Nixon's surprise visit to China. Nixon went to China. A few months later, men acting on his behalf went to the Watergate.

One more time from President Bush though: "A free society trusts its citizens." -- President Bush at Tsinghua University in Beijing, Friday, Feb. 22, 2002.

President Bush and I must have very different ideas on what defines a free society. See, I don't think we live in a free society when our actions that do not hurt the property or person of another can lead us in jail. Some people call these consensual or victimless crimes. I'll call them one or the other, but I do think that does a disservice to the notion. While they are crimes, they shouldn't be. Yet, we call them crimes. It's a PR spin, but one that I think is important.

Now when I say the person or property of another, I mean that literally. Let's take a look. If you go to your neighbors house and knock their fence over, you are harming the property of another. If you go to your neighbors house and knock their cow over, you have entirely time much time on your hands. You're also harming the property of another.

If you're a big corporation (read: Enron) and you're depleting your stockholders and your employees willingly so you can line your own pocket with green, then you too are harming the property of another.

But if you're in your own home alone or with one or more people who are of legal age, you should be able to do what you want, no matter what it is, as long as it does not harm the person or property of another.

Lysander Spooner put it better than I did. "Vices are those acts by which a man harms himself or his property. Crimes are those acts by which one man harms the person or property of another. Vices are simply the errors which a man makes in his search after his own happiness. Unlike crimes, they imply no malice toward others, and no interference with their persons or property."

By the way, he wrote that in 1875. Vices Are Not Crimes: A Vindication of Moral Liberty is a good read on this subject.

That's actually a problem unto itself. There is a lot of good material on the subject of victimless crimes. Peter McWilliams, Alan Watts and others have published fascinating books on the subject. There are web sites all over the internet on this matter. Yet, vices are still crimes and we lose more of our freedom, more of our privacy every year.

Dear God Why?

One reason is that we keep electing officials who stuff the Constitution in a closet somewhere and doesn't think twice about it again. Out of sight, out of mind. If they really followed the spirit of the document, we would not have to worry about the ATF, the DEA, the FBI, local police and the Fox Network ("Cops") breaking down our door while we're watching Miss Cleo, who, frankly, should have seen this coming.

Another reason is money. The budgets of all of these agencies and others need victimless crimes. They need more of them in fact. In fact, they want them. The more crimes to go after, the more money they get. The more money they get, the more arrests they can make. Then they can get their names in the papers ("Biggest Drug Raid Ever") and talk about how much more money they could use to fight a crime problem they never knew existed before now.

And the cycle continues.

The Fourth Amendment

The Fourth Amendment says: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

But the Fourth Amendment obviously does not apply to victimless crimes. If Joe Bob Cop "thinks" or "suspects" or gets a "tip" or has a "hunch" that you've got drug or drug paraphernalia in your home -- medicinal or otherwise -- that's all he needs to get back-up and then to basically ransack your home. Don't worry about them making a mess. They will. They can look in flour for whatever they hope to find. To do this, they'll take the flour and dump it on the floor or the table to "sort" through it. Or if they think it's stashed in the walls or in the couch, they'll do what it takes to "sort" through that. They'll tear that couch up and they'll poke holes in the walls. All for something that might not be there in the first place.

Don't worry about your privacy. You won't have any. If they happen to find your nuns outfit, your whips and your shrine to Tiny Tim complete with an eternal flame and his version of Beatles songs on CD playing on a loop, you better go ahead and call your lawyer. They're sticking around until they find something more incriminating. I haven't even mentioned what will happen if they do find something incriminating. I'll save that for a later rant. But it ain't pretty.

Let's Throw in Some Charts and Tables!

Drug Prisoners as Percentage of Total Prisoners. For those keeping score at home, this chart gives the startling number that three out of every five persons in jail are there on account of some drug violation. The government may trot this chart out to tell you they're doing such a wonderful job with the War on Drugs. They're doing so good, in fact, that they need more money to do it better!

Incarceration Rates Around The World
 

Country	Inmates per 100,000 Citizens
Russia	690
America	519
Ukraine	390
South Africa	368
Singapore	229
Romania	200
Hong Kong	179
England	93
France	84
Germany	80

Sources: Associated Press, Sept 12, 1994.
1995, Americans Behind Bars: U.S. and International Use of Incarceration

In case you think I'm being partisan, let me assure you that I'm not. The fact that the War on Drugs grew stronger under President Clinton is a testament that there are two rules in this country. One rule applies to those in charge and the other applies to the rest of us. Consider this table for instance.

The fact that ordinary citizens can go to jail for using marijuana while the links of Clinton, Gingrich and George W. Bush is a sad fact in America. It tells us that the rules do not apply to those with influence or power. An even sadder fact is that no one of the two main political parties will take a stand. That is left to the likes of Harry Browne and Ralph Nader, people who are ignored and treated as buffoons in the media and by Democrats and Republicans.

Is There A Difference Between Morality and Politics?

"Mixing the moral and political is often perilous in the American political and legal scene." -- Victimless Crimes?: Prostitution, Drugs, Homosexuality, Abortion by Robert F. Meier and Gilbert Geis.

Is there a difference between morality and politics? To a lot of people, the resounding answer is no. Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and their ilk have convinced a good number of people that it should matter what people do in the privacy of their own homes. But it goes further than this. If you don't agree with them on everything, then you're wrong. Not only that, but you're on the road to hell. Afterall, they are doing God's work. That's where the problem comes in. God doesn't care about the policies of the United States. But these goons think He does. Of course, it's in their best personal interest if He does. If they couldn't scare their followers into believing that this country is going to hell if such and such happens or if someone gets elected and someone else doesn't, then they are out of business. There won't be anymore money coming in. They're like carnival clowns. They come out, make a few wiener dogs out of ballons, smile as best they can and then tell us that the Democrats are godless heathens. And not only that, but we're pinko, liberal commies too!

To say we cannot decide what we want to do is to keep us child-like while the political leaders, old white men, most of them, get to be the father figure. We cannot be responsible for ourselves. We cannot judge what is right for ourselves. Therefore, Big Brother has to step in, tell us what we can do, where we can do it and with whom we can do it. (Keep in mind here that I am by no means advocating the repeal of the child-minor laws. Call me crazy, call me out of touch, but as long as your 18, I think you should be able to decide what you do in your own life.)

The Irony Here

The Republicans are always calling for less taxation, less government interference in our lives. Obviously, this philospohy only goes so far as they are often leading the way in making more vices crimes. To fight this, they naturally have to set aside more money for law enforcement. It is very telling of the Republican mindset that they are constantly wanting to end welfare, curb Social Security and other social programs, yet they are never far away from putting more people in jail for life-decisions. Which is ironic if you think about it. I guess they think there's no reason to help these people get a better life. They'll eventually end up in jail anyway.

Of course, if you're a church leader or a politician, victimless crimes don't matter to you. If you're Jimmy Swaggart and you get caught with a hooker for a second time, you simply go on your television program and tell your followers and anyone else listening that God said it was none of their business. If you're the governor of Texas and you're running for president, you just deflect questions about your life before. In other words, it's nobody's business if you're in a position of power and influence. For the rest of us, it's the government's business. No wonder the American public has such a distaste for politics and politicians.

Did George W. Bush Do Drugs?

During the campaign for the White House, W. never answered the persistent questions on his cocaine use. It's hard to put in any order what his responses were. At first, it was no ones business. He then acted insulted that he should have to answer such a question. Meanwhile, the other candidates denied ever using cocaine. W. then was ready to announce that he had not done cocaine for the past seven years. Apparently someone -- probably a staffer  -- realized that all federal employees are asked about drug use going back seven years to get high security clearance.

But he wasn't done yet. He must have thought hard about this because he was able to say that he had not done any drugs for twenty five years to when he was 28 years old.

So the question remains: Did George W. Bush do drugs? I think we have enough evidence to support the claim that, yes, he did drugs. He did cocaine and he smoked pot. Maybe he did heroin too. We'll never get a straight answer from him, so we're left to our natural assumptions and conclusions.

Now don't me wrong. Does the fact that he did drugs preclude him from being a decent man? Does it mean that he should not have been elected president? In my opinion, no. I think we have to accept that our leaders are not perfect. In fact, I think we should not want them to be. I think the best leaders are those that learn from the past, whether it be personal history or history on a global scale.

But you have to be honest. If you've done drugs in your past, you can't just admit that you've "made mistakes" and then move on. Not when you're the governor of Texas, a state with the most stringent drug laws in the country. There are people rotting in jail with rapists, murderers... Andrea Yates who have done nothing more than the current president did in his "youth," as he has said before. No wonder he walks around with a smirk. He knows he's the biggest fucking hypocrite since Senator Joseph McCarthy.

By the way, when he said drugs, he meant drugs, not alcohol. Because he was apparently much the drinker from his days at college up until his fortieth birthday when he apparently stopped drinking cold turkey for his family. That's what he said anyway. But why should we believe him? This includes the time he was arrested for DUI, something that did not come out until right before Election Night 2000. He denied this too of course, then admitted it was true, though some questions remain.

By the way, Bush changed his drivers license in 1995 after he was elected governor of Texas. It has been reported that he did this to cover up any questions about his DUI arrest. In many ways, it worked.

George W. Bush: For the Record

"It's not the governor's role to decide who goes to heaven. I believe that God decides who goes to heaven, not George W. Bush." -- George W. Bush, while governor of Texas (He has no problem deciding who goes to jail. Under his leadership, Texas had the harshest penalties for first time drug users.)

 "There ought to be limits to freedom. We're aware of this site, and this guy is just a garbage man, that's all he is." President Bush about a web site that parodies him, George W. Bush: Not A Crackhead

"I appreciate that question because I, in the state of Texas, had heard a lot of discussion about a faith-based initiative eroding the important bridge between church and state." -- George W. Bush, proving that he has it backwards: it's a "wall" separating religion from government, not a "bridge" joining the two, January 29, 2001, quoted from Jacob Weinberg, "The Complete Bushisms"

Bush: "I told the guy I had been drinking and what do I need to do? And he said, "Here's the fine." I paid the fine and did my duty...."
Reporter: "Governor, was there any legal proceeding of any kind? Or did you just -- "
Bush: "No. I pled -- you know, I said I was wrong and I ..."
Reporter: "In court? "
Bush: No, there was no court. I went to the police station. I said, "I'm wrong."
-- Press Conference, 11/3/2000
(W.'s memory may be a little faulty as this court document will attest.)

"The senator [McCain] has got to understand if he's going to have -- he can't have it both ways. He can't take the high horse and then claim the low road." -- W. on the campaign trail, in Florence, S.C., Feb. 17, 2000

"Unfairly but truthfully, our party has been tagged as being against things. Anti-immigrant, for example. And we're not a party of anti-immigrants. Quite the opposite. We're a party that welcomes people." -- George W. Bush, Cleveland, July 1, 2000

"If he's... the inference is that somehow he thinks slavery is a... is a noble institution I would... I would strongly reject that assumption... that John Ashcroft is a open-minded, inclusive person." -- the newly elected president on the man he appointed Attorney General, John Asscrotch, Jan. 14, 2001

"They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program." -- Republican nominee Bush, Nov. 2, 2000. (He must be the only dickhead alive that doesn't know Social Security is a federal program.)

"The suicide bombings have increased. There's too many of them." -- George W. Bush, Albuquerque, New Mexico, August 15, 2001, quoted from Jacob Weinberg and Bryan Curtis, "The Complete Bushisms" (Which raises the question: How many suicide bombings are enough?)

"Please don't kill me!" -- George W. Bush, playing the governor of Texas, sadistically mocking condemned killer Karla Faye Tucker, complete with whimpering voice, in an interview with Talk Magazine's Tucker Carlson, quoted from J. H. Hatfield, Favorite Son, 2000 (Many Republicans and Christian Right implored then-Texas governor Bush to call off the execution of Tucker. He didn't.)

"This case has had full analyzation and has been looked at a lot. I understand the emotionality of death penalty cases." -- W. in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 23, 2000

"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test." -- George W. Bush, Townsend, Tennessee, February 21, 2001, quoted from Jacob Weinberg, "The Complete Bushisms"

"We're concerned about AIDS inside our White House -- make no mistake about it." -- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., February 7, 2001, quoted from Jacob Weinberg, "The Complete Bushisms

David Fink: "When you're not talking politics, what do you and [your father] talk about?"
George W. Bush: "Pussy."
(This took place at the 1988 Republican Convention. Fink was the associate editor of the Hartford Courant. This was reported in a 1999 Salon article, Like Father, Like Son?)

I've heard the call. I believe God wants me to run for president. -- George W. Bush, quoted from Aaron Latham, "How George W. Found God," George Magazine, September, 2000

What Other People Are Saying

"There is only one fundamental right (all others are its consequences or corollaries): a man's right to his own life. Life is a process of self-sustaining and self-generated action; right to life means the right to engage in self-sustaining and self-generated action -- which means: the freedom to take all the actions required by the nature of a rational being for the support, the furtherance, the fulfillment and the enjoyment of his own life…. Since man has to sustain his life by his own effort, the man who has no right to the product of his effort has no means to sustain his life." -- Ayn Rand

"A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement." -- Thomas Jefferson

"It is not the business of government to make men virtuous or religious, or to preserve the fool from the consequences of his own folly. Government should be repressive no further than is necessary to secure liberty by protecting the equal rights of each from aggression on the part of others, and the moment governmental prohibitions extend beyond this line they are in danger of defeating the very ends they are intended to serve." -- Henry George

"The function of government is to protect me from others. It's up to me, thank you, to protect me from me." -- Peter McWilliams

"The war on drugs is essentially a civil war to uphold the principle that politicians should have absolute power over what citizens put into their own bodies." -- James Bovard

"The war on drugs means that comfortable politicians and political appointees sitting in their cushioned chairs should have absolute power to decree what people on their death beds with cancer are permitted to take to kill their pain." -- James Bovard

"Some people say that legalizing drugs would send the wrong message about drugs to children. But that's true only in a society where government is the arbiter of all right and wrong, where whatever isn't forbidden is mandatory -- or at least encouraged. We need to teach young people not to look to government for moral guidance." -- Harry Browne

"The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country." -- Jerry Falwell, Sermon, July 4, 1976

"People cannot sit idly by waiting for politicians to enact laws to end political abuses... Good laws are no substitute for vigilant citizens." -- James Bovard

"Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty, we are called on by God to conquer this country. We don't want equal time. We don't want pluralism." -- Randall Terry, The News Sentinel, (Ft. Wayne, IN.), 8/16/93

"We are going to remove the mythical separation of church and state." -- Bishop Carlton Pearson

"The separation of church and state is a fiction. The nation is the kingdom of God, period." -- Bishop Harold Calvin Ray of West Palm Beach, FL

"We don't have to protect the environment, the Second Coming is at hand." -- James Watt (Secretary of the Interior under Ronald Reagan)

Related Links:
Time Magazine: George W. Bush Interview -- In an interview by James Carney, W. addresses the War on Drugs and other issues.
13 Questions for President George W. Bush -- by Martin A. Lee
Governor George W. Bush Adopts Drug Policy Recommendations -- What have they been puffing?
George W. Bush on Drugs
Son of Bush: The Criminal who stole the Presidency -- An unflattering look at the president.
George W. Bush: Easy to underestimate -- A fluff piece from USA Today.
Dubya Says: The George W. Bush Quote Library -- Did he really say that?

Other Relevant Rants:
The Murder of Peter McWilliams (06/20/2000)
The Libertarian Party: Harry Browne for President 2000 (07/24/2000)
George Bush the Younger (08/07/2000)
Is Our President-elect Learning? (12/14/2000)
September 11, 2001 (10/26/2001)
George W. Bush: The Education President? (12/21/2001)
GeorgeW.  Bush: A Free Society Trusts Its Citizens (02/22/2002)

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