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Berzerker
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topeka, kansas,USA
May 1999
time: 23:22
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Aside from the appearance of hypocrisy of GOP members condemning "the secret taping" by Douglas Wead (yeah, thats his name) when they were defending Linda Tripp who secretly taped Monica Lewinsky, Bush appears to "admit" once again that he used marijuana, if not cocaine, but explained his "strategy" of not answering questions about his drug use because he doesn't want children to think its okay to use drugs (he may have a point but I smell a rationalisation, not genuine concern).
Hence my question: does he have the moral authority, assuming of course one can have the moral authority, to punish people for doing what he did? How can a former pot smoker have the moral authority to punish others for smoking pot? How can a former cocaine user have the moral authority to punish cocaine users? Wasn't this what Jesus (Bush says he's a Christian) was criticising when he said "judge not" and "let he who is without sin cast the first stone"? Its not as cut and dried, obviously parents punish their children for doing bad things the parents did when they were youngsters, but when children find this out about their parents, do they not see the hypocrisy and react with "but you did it too"?
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Jon Miller
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te same as a former killer can punish killers
just because you did something wrong, does not mean that you can never recognise what you did was wrong
Jon Miller
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Ramo
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Austin, Texas, USA
Oct 1999
time: 23:22
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Amusing anecdote from HST:
quote:
Thompson claimed to know a thing or two about the president's partying past. In an interview with The Independent in 2004, Thompson said he remembered meeting Bush at Thompson's Super Bowl party in Houston in 1974. He said that Bush was "with a guy who had come to sell . . . " but then cut himself off. "Look, I'm not going to put this next sentence on the record. Let's just say that 'a friend of mine' was buying cocaine. I have friends in Houston from all walks of life. Lawyers. Professional men. Bush was hanging around with this crowd of what you might call gilded coke dilettantes."
Thompson's memory wasn't always the most reliable, and his story about his Houston encounter with Bush evolved over time. But in the 2004 telling of it, at least, Thompson said the future president had left an indelible impression on him. "He knew who I was, at that time, because I had a reputation as a writer," Thompson said. "I knew he was part of the Bush dynasty. But he was nothing, he offered nothing, and he promised nothing. He had no humor. He was insignificant in every way and consequently I didn't pay much attention to him. But when he passed out in my bathtub, then I noticed him. I'd been in another room, talking to the bright people. I had to have him taken away." |
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_r.../hst/index.html
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Shi Huangdi
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Pittsburgh, PA
Apr 1999
time: 00:22
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I don't believe it is proper to punish people for using drugs.
By repenting of an action and changing your ways, I believe, your slate is wiped clean. In the case of a former gangster who turned his life around and later became a judge, his actions are in his past.
Punishing offenders is a nessecary function for society to be stable, and can be done by the legitimate authorities. In fact, even if someone is secretly commititng an offense, while in the position of holding legal authority he is still commited to punish them, although he is also committed to cease offending.
To, condemn a person is another matter entirely. To judge an offender as a bad or low quality person is something we should never do, whether we commited the offense or not.
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mrmitchell
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quote:
By repenting of an action and changing your ways, I believe, your slate is wiped clean. In the case of a former gangster who turned his life around and later became a judge, his actions are in his past.
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But can we really diagnose his repentance? Truthfully, believe him when he pleads, "I am repentant!"
We all believe the same thing, really. Forgive and forget. The point upon which everyone disagrees is if the criminal is really worthy of forgiveness.
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22-02-2005 09:11
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