Pubdate: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 Source: Tallahassee Democrat (FL) Copyright: 2002 Tallahassee Democrat. Contact: http://www.tdo.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/444 Authors: John Anderson, Dave Michon, Robin Kennedy, Keith Murchison, Lewis F Levy Note: Title by Mapinc editor NOELLE BUSH BONANZA Letters to the editor Downplaying Bush story would have shown class Re: "Debating the magnitude of this story" by John Winn Miller (column, Jan. 30). To me, the first sentence of this article is the one that exhibits the most compassion and common sense. It states that under normal circumstances, a young woman being arrested for allegedly forging a prescription for Xanax wouldn't merit more than a brief mention in the newspaper. The rest of the article attempts to justify the extent to which this particular event was blown out of proportion. Those who choose to place themselves in the spotlight by virtue of political office or celebrity status assume the risk of having their every word and action scrutinized and reported. What gives the news media the right to assume that this scrutiny and frenzied reporting includes the children of these individuals? This is not right! These children didn't choose to be placed in a fishbowl. They didn't ask for the attention and many are emotionally frustrated by it. This is not about politics. If all your reporting exhibited common sense and compassion, how could you be charged with being biased? Shame on you for attempting to justify not downplaying this by saying you might be accused of being a "homer" when the national press is playing it up. Downplaying it would have just shown a bit of class. JOHN ANDERSON - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zero-tolerance for Noelle Bush? The arrest of Gov. Bush's daughter for fraudulently obtaining pharmacy drugs makes me angry. For one thing, it comes on the same day the state drastically cut funds for drug treatment. How ironic! Hypocrisy can tag you like that. I hate to comment on Noelle Bush's problem, but what about the people who are in prison right now for the same offense? Gov. Bush and the president have both been among the nation's most cold-hearted, zero-tolerance reactionaries. Will there be zero-tolerance for Noelle Bush? The Bush family has a remarkable number of drug and alcohol problems but no corresponding prison problems such as plain folks would face. We know the score. There is no "Drug War" for them! They cannot continue to direct the Drug War with such spite and escape the righteous anger of the people for their "Drug War" hypocrisy. DAVE MICHON - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let's hope Meggs treats Bush just like anybody else Noelle Bush should have known, if only because her daddy or uncle told her, that she had to stay out of trouble because the whole family was under public scrutiny. Any slips would be magnified out of proportion. But she didn't! Thus, Noelle deserves all the exposure she gets. We now see that the Bush family is no different from us poor low-paid slobs out there in society with problems of our own. Hopefully, Willie Meggs will treat Noelle no differently from the rest of us. ROBIN KENNEDY - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Did Noelle Bush get special treatment? OK, so the governor's daughter was arrested for illegally obtaining a drug prescription. My first reaction was that I feel sorry for the governor's family. Then I read that Noelle Bush has received seven speeding tickets since 1995, been cited for five other traffic violations and been involved in three auto crashes. Good Lord! If she weren't the governor's daughter, would she still be driving? I doubt it! KEITH MURCHISON - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bush family values and moral standards What would have happened had Chelsea Clinton been picked up for underage drinking or fraudulently attempting to acquire a controlled drug? The Republican Congress would have issued statements such as "What would you expect of his daughter?" or "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," or "Like father, like daughter." Congress would have then set aside another few million dollars for Ken Starr to widen his investigation to determine what Chelsea knew about Whitewater, Travelgate and Monica. Now, we have the governor's daughter joining her cousins in gaining negative publicity for this eminent family. If the Bush family is so worried about moral standards and family life, why can't family members control the actions of their own offspring? LEWIS F. LEVY - --- MAP posted-by: Josh