Getting Outed: Kutcher Fingered the Bush Twins

Two More Bushes Get High

In compiling the lists of successful people who used illegal drugs for my book I avoided mentioning those in the modern entertainment industry. The first reason is that the arts are one of the only areas in which the admission of drug use will not cripple a career so the revelations are endless. (For sample see LINK.) Second, artists, e.g. rock stars, tend to sensationalize their drug usage to appear wild, crazy, and tormented. This tends to reinforce the stereotypes rather than break them. Third, an artist is not considered to have a “real job” by much of our populace. For those reasons I usually don’t bother noting modern artists.

In this blog entry I am going to make an exception. As comedian and talk-show host, Bill Maher, pointed out in his 2002 NORML conference address, prominent drug users need to come out of the closet. As with the early gay movement, recreational drug users cannot overcome negative stereotypes when their successful members hide. Maher proceeded to out Harrison Ford and Ted Turner in his speech. While any outing is noteworthy, the most impressive outing I know of is Ashton Kutcher’s 2003 outing of the twin daughters of President George W. Bush, Jenna and Barbara.

Kitty Kelley, the queen of unauthorized biographies, has investigated influential people – Frank Sinatra, Nancy Reagan, Jackie Onassis, and the Royal Family – and yet she wrote that people were the most fearful to talk about the Bush clan. Add the fact that First Children are still given relatively gentle treatment by the media and it is unlikely someone was going to out young Jenna and Barbara. Enter Kutcher.

Kutcher not only outed the Bushettes, but he did it with flair. In the 2003 Rolling Stone cover story the former underwear model openly revealed his past enjoyment of marijuana. He also described attending a Los Angeles Nike party in the early 2000s in which Jenna and Barbara were in attendance. Despite the fact his friend lewdly commented, “I’d fucking nail the shit out of that bitch!,” in earshot of Secret Service agents, the Bush girls still inquired what Kutcher was doing after the party.

Everyone ended up at Kutcher’s afterwards. Kutcher revealed that the Bushes engaged in underage-drinking in his abode with the Secret Service right outside. At one point he went upstairs to his aforementioned friend’s room and in his words:

… I can smell the green wafting out under his door. I open the door, and there he is smoking out the Bush twins on his hookah.

As usual, when a celebrity says something “too” honest their public relations staff has to then attempt obfuscation. In this case, Kutcher’s spokeswoman said he was not contrite about the outing because “he didn’t say what was being smoked or who was doing the smoking.”Her statement is comical to anyone familiar with marijuana parlance. (For you east coasters, “smoking out” is the equivalent of “smoking up.”)

George W. Bush smoked marijuana and now his daughters have as well. There is nothing wrong with this, of course, except for Bush’s hypocrisy. Bush has a horrible record regarding marijuana tolerance. Despite promising in 2000 to respect states’ independence in determining marijuana policy, he has done the exact opposite, in fact the federal government under Bush has done everything in its power to prevent other countries from giving marijuana users greater liberty. LINK

Sources:

1. Gavin Edwards, “Ashton Kutcher,” Rolling Stone, 29 May 2003.
2. Kitty Kelley, The Family (2005).
3. Bill Maher, NORML 2002 Conference Address, 20 Apr. 2002. LINK (DOC file)
4. Karen Thomas, “Did the Bush twins inhale? Kutcher won’t say,” USAToday.com, 7 May 2003, ret. 15 Dec. 2007. LINK

The United State of America

1. For more information on the 2005 Supreme Court ruling, Raich v. Ashcroft, that allowed federal prosecution of marijuana possession even where legal under state law see the following guide at Drug WarRant. As Justice Clarence Thomas said in his dissent, this ruling established that “the Federal Government is no longer one of limited and enumerated powers.” In other words, the federal government has swallowed the Constitution.

2. A 2007 MSNBC article on how people are recognizing the unintended consequences of the federally enforced drinking age can be found here.

3. Since 1996 the federal government has given states money for the exclusive purpose of teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by completely abstaining from sexual activity. In fiscal year 2006 the federal government spent over $200 million on abstinence only education. (You Will Die, p. 141.)

4. To read about how the federally forced .08% BAC level for criminal liability was neo-prohibitionist hokum see this PDF article, “The Anti-Drunk Driving Campaign: A Covert War Against Drinking,” hosted at RIDL.us.

5. In 2005, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, declared that fighting pornography (of consenting adults for consenting adults) would be one of his top priorities and created a new anti-obscenity squad in the FBI. Thanks to ViceSquad for this comical link that shows mainstream pornography will remain a priority.

6. For information on school drug testing’s propaganda see “Let the Love Flow” and for information on its ineffectiveness see “Pee Tests.” Both are from Jacob Sullum at Reason.com.

7. The words of Rep. Barney Frank spoken in vain before the passage of the the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 can be found here.

Healthy Drug Users vs. Obese Narcophobes

Contrary to popular belief, America is not the fattest country in the world. Kuwait and six South Pacific island countries have managed to be more porcine. However, considering that almost three quarters of adult Americans are overweight according to their body mass index it is still ironic that the United States, that contains “The Land of the Fat,” violently and aggressively leads the global charge in punishing drug users everywhere for “their own health.”

Say No to Drugs

I would assert that, on average, people who eat at McDonald’s everyday will be substantially more unhealthy than a person who uses a drug such as marijuana, cocaine, or heroin, once a week. For those familiar with occasional drug users (the vast majority of drug users are not addicts) and fast food regulars this is not a radical proposition, however, I doubt a study to evaluate this hypothesis will be receiving grant money any time soon.

This irony of obese narcophobes damning drug usage was vividly visible when I attended the oldest American fair last month, Pennsylvania’s York County Fair. (Don’t miss the sign to the lower left.)

Say Yes to Fried Twinkies

Sources

1. “Land of the Fat,” Guardian.co.uk, 2 May 2002, ret. 10 Oct. 2007. LINK
2. Lauren Streib, “World’s Fattest Countries,” Forbes.com, 8 Feb. 2007, ret. 10 Oct. 2007. LINK