Several incidents are sparking rumours about the President’s drinking, says carl senna |
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George Bush insists that, despite his problems with alcohol as a young man, he hasn't had a drink in 20-odd years. But we know that on at least one occasion since becoming president, the booze got the better of him.
It happened on a trip to Mongolia last November when he tasted the local alcoholic beverage Airag, a fermented mare's milk of 24 per cent proof. Afterwards, Bush strode unsteadily and tried to open a locked door without result. Then, turning with a sheepish blush, eyes blood shot, and face more than usually vacant, he said in a slur: "I must be still jet-lagged... (pause) hmm... (pause, sigh) heh, heh."
David Letterman, the late-night TV host, quipped: "According to reports, President Bush may be drinking again. Well, why not? He's got everybody else drinking."
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| There has long been puzzlement over the President’s awkwardness, jumbled speech and memory loss |
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Recently, rumours that Bush is back on the sauce have swirled. The scandal sheets claim he has fallen completely off the wagon and that the first couple's marriage is at stake. Now even serious Washington observers are suggesting the rumours may be correct.
Given his privileged background and schooling - he may choose to live in Texas, but he is an Ivy League thoroughbred - there has long been puzzlement over the President's physical awkwardness, jumbled speech and memory loss. Could this be explained by 'wet brain syndrome', an after-effect of long-term alcohol abuse or has he been drinking?
It is no secret that Bush has had a difficult relationship with booze. In 2000, on the eve of his first presidential election, he acknowledged to Oprah Winfrey that in 1976 he had been arrested for drink-driving near his parents' home in Maine. "I'm not proud of that," he told Oprah. "I made some mistakes. I occasionally drank too much, and I did that night. I learned my lesson."
Kitty Kelley, author of a 2004 Bush 
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