"Why should we believe that you will tell the truth as president, if you don't tell the truth as a candidate?"
-- Bill Bradley

"A thousand promises and a thousand attacks. That's what's been your campaign - a thousand promises, a thousand attacks. A promise to every little special interest group; attack, attack, attack every day."
-- Bill Bradley

"Please get your facts straight. If you want to be president of the United States, you better start by being accurate."
-- Michael Dukakis [to algore]

"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."
-- algore

"When I was a child, my family was attacked by an invisible force that was then considered harmless. My sister Nancy was older than me. There were only the two of us, and I loved her more than life itself. She started smoking when she was 13 years old. The connection between smoking and lung cancer had not yet been established. But years later, the cigarettes had taken their toll. It hurt very badly to watch her savaged by that terrible disease. Her husband Frank and all of us who loved her so much tried to get her to stop smoking. . . . Tomorrow morning, another 13-year-old girl will start smoking. I love her too. Three thousand young people in America will start smoking tomorrow. One thousand of them will die a death not unlike my sister�s. And that is why until I draw my last breath, I will pour my heart and soul into the cause of protecting our children from the dangers of smoking."
-- anti tobacco algore

"Throughout most of my life, I raised tobacco,� the Tennessee senator hollered. �I want you to know that with my own hands, all of my life, I put it in the plant beds and transferred it. I�ve hoed it, I�ve dug in it, I�ve sprayed it, I�ve chopped it, I�ve shredded it, spiked it, put it in the barn and stripped it and sold it."
-- pro tobacco algore

"It is my deep personal conviction that abortion is wrong. . . Let me assure you that I share your belief that innocent human life must be protected and I have an open mind on how to further this goal."
-- anti abortion algore

"I will always, always defend a woman�s right to choose. Every time Congress has tried to play politics with that fundamental personal right -- imposing gag rules, and attaching anti - choice language to any bill they can think of -- we have stood up to them and stopped them."
-- pro abortion algore

The commission continued its investigation. So SCI's boss, Robert Waltrip, called the funeral commission's chairman and told him to "back off." If not, Waltrip said, "I'm going to take this to the governor."

Still, the investigation continued. So Waltrip and his lawyer/lobbyist, Johnnie B. Rogers, went to the governor's office and dropped off a letter demanding a halt to the investigation. Rogers told Newsweek that he and Waltrip were ushered in to see Joe Allbaugh, Bush's chief of staff (who is now Bush's campaign manager.) Rogers goes on to say that Bush Jr. popped his head in and said to Waltrip, "Hey, Bobby, are those people still messing with you?" Waltrip said yeah. Then the governor turned to Rogers and said, "Hey, Johnnie B. Are you taking care of him?" Rogers said "I'm doing my best, Governor."

The problem for Bush is that he swore under oath, in a July 20th 1999 affidavit, that he "had no conversations with [SCI] officials, agents, or represenatives concerning the investigation or any dispute arising from it." If Rogers is telling the truth, than Bush Jr. lied directly under oath. He filed the affidavit in an attempt to avoid testifying in a whistleblower lawsuit concerning this investigation and it's alleged squashing by Bush's administration.

In the latest development, Bush himself has admitted that he spoke with Waltrip and Rogers, but denies that it was anything substantial. Bush told the Associated Press that ``It's a 20-second conversation. I had no substantive conversation with the guy. Twenty seconds. That's hardly enough time to even say hello, much less sit down and have a substantive discussion. All I know is it lasted no time. And that hardly constitutes a serious discussion. I did not have any knowledge at all of Waltrip's problem with this case.''

Of course, nothing Bush says here contradicts what Rogers said. In fact, his careful construction of this and other phrases for reporters -- such as "When I was young and irresponsible, I was really young and irresponsible.", and his evasion about whether Jews can go to heaven -- are incredibly similar to Bill Clinton's weaseling about dope, the draft, what "is" is, etc.

Whatever Bush said out loud, Waltrip's complaints to the governor got quick results. Eliza May -- the investigator for the funeral services commission -- says that after Waltrip visited the governor, she received phone calls from three senior Bush aides asking if she could wrap up her proble quickly. She says she was also summoned to another meeting in Allbaugh's office, one month after the first one, and found Waltrip already there. The governor's top aide, she says, demanded that she turn over a list of all of the documents that she needed "to close the SCI investigation."

Since then, investigator Eliza May has been fired, 6 or 10 staff members on the commission have been fired or resigned and not been replaced, and the Texas legislature -- led by members receiving substantial contributions from SCI -- passed a bill to reorganize the agency and remove it's head. On August 16, 199, Bush ordered his Comptroller to take over the agency and run it. May -- who, it should be noted, is a Democrat and was even state Democratic Treasurer at one point -- has filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging she was fired because she persisted with the investigation.

Bush simply didn't show up for his scheduled deposition on July 1st in the case. (He isn't a defendant in the case, because Governors are immune from lawsuits in Texas, but is being called as a material witness.) He filed his affidavit on July 20th to indicate that he had nothing to add. A hearing is scheduled on August 30th to determine if that is the case. Since he admitted in the press that he did meet with Waltrip and Rogers, May has filed a contempt of court motion with the court as well.

VERY CLINTON LIKE...Hmmmmm

Seems that every time someone attacks Gore with evidence that he is full of shit, the response is not a defense of Gore but an attack on Bush.

Even if the story about Bush is fully true, which is doubtful, it's insignificant compared to a guy that can't even stand up for his own principles.

Matt

I find that people tend to support a paticular candidate or party based more on an emotional level than a logical one. For instance my father was a union worker and he and I never got along so I don't like unions for that basic reason. NO LOGIC IN THAT. I work with a girl who's family is pretty well off since here dad is an Aerospace Eng. and makes good money. She is a die hard republican because Regan was in office during here "wonder years" and her family prospered so she attributes that to Roney. Her dad is a genius and would do well under either party, but the association is there. ... NO LOGIC IN THAT EITHER

Therefore I am playing a little game because I was just getting tired of all the onesided bashing going on by Dirk. I'm just trying to present a balanced view that both candidates suck!