On August 23, 1999, The Jackson Progressive received its first letter to the editor, from a South Carolinian, no less. Your comments are encouraged. All thoughtful letters will be published.
23 Aug 1999
There has been a lot of talk about George W. Bush's past "lifestyle" and cocaine use. Cocaine use alone is a felony. There is no statute of limitations on cocaine as a Federal Crime. I believe the media should stop asking George W. if he used cocaine in his past. It is now obvious to me that he has at some point in his life. He just won't say when.
Instead, I propose THE question for George W. Bush now should be this: Mr. Bush, if elected President, will you issue pardons to the tens of thousands of men and women currently in prison as a result of cocaine use prior to their 28th birthday, if they make the statement that they have now grown up, as you have done?
The follow-up: If not, why is your situation of achieving adulthood at age 40 any different than theirs??
Jack Allan Jones
Lake Wylie, SC
You indeed raise a serious political and moral question that the mainstream press has only now beginning to grapple with. Had Bush possessed cocaine, and it almost certainly appears he has, and been subject to the penalties of law, as ordinary citizens are, he would not ever have been elected to public office in the first place. Asking the people of the United States to ignore his life before age 40, as Bush does, presumes an egregiously gullible electorate. Advocating severe penalties for crimes which he committed but for which he was not prosecuted is morally inexcusable. On the other hand, the mainstream press has deliberately and inexcusably ignored the dark side of President Clinton's life for many, many years. That it should suddenly wake up and discover that Bush has similar character traits does not do it credit.