George W. Bush

Re “Bush Says He Hasn’t Used Drugs in Last 7 Years,” Aug. 19:

George W. Bush, the man with a $35-million campaign chest, the man who wishes to be our next president, can’t seem to answer a simple yes or no question. Did you or did you not use illegal drugs?

His non-denial denial hardly passes the giggle test when one considers that the Republican Party has spent a decade pursuing the private life of Bill Clinton.

FRANK FERRONE

El Cajon

* Bush refused to answer questions on whether he has taken cocaine, his rationale being that he wouldn’t be a party to the politics of personal destruction. But as governor of Texas, Bush has presided over the incarceration of thousands of men and women for the felony of cocaine possession. If he is guilty of the same crime, doesn’t morality dictate that we should know?

RONALD RUBIN

Topanga

* Re “Bush Is Ever Vigilant on the Texas Death Watch,” Commentary, Aug 16: Last June, Bush put his vaunted compassion on hold and vetoed a bill that would have modestly improved the abysmal quality of justice in the Lone Star State. The bill was so mild that it unanimously passed both the Republican-controlled Senate and the Democratic-controlled House. It would have required that indigent defendants be assigned a lawyer within 20 days after an arrest. In most jurisdictions in the U.S., a lawyer is assigned within 72 hours.

It is not uncommon for indigent defendants in Texas to remain in jail for months before they ever see a lawyer. Some see their lawyers for the first time on the day their trials begin, which makes it difficult to mount a defense. The quality of justice dispensed in Texas is routinely poor, whether the alleged offense is a bounced check or murder. This is one of the reasons Texas is so efficient at marching convicts into its execution chamber. At least four people were released from death row in Texas after journalists or volunteer lawyers conducted investigations that established their innocence.

It is obvious the press has already begun Bush’s coronation. It is apparent he’s winning the resource contest. When are the media going to tell us something about his record as governor?

MICHAEL K. FINNIGAN

Encino

* Christopher Hitchens’ commentary misses one very important point. Texas inmates on death row are convicted by a jury of their peers, 12 citizens empowered with overseeing innocence or guilt. They judged the merits of the case. Bush is doing his job, upholding the law of Texas.

WILLIAM M. HODGE

Seal Beach