Letter: Self-proclaimed moralist Bush distorts truth

Saturday, Oct. 28, 2000 | 3:44 a.m.

In the last debate Bush claimed credit for the Texas patient's bill of rights even though he had fought its passage. He specifically bragged about the right of patients to sue their HMO when in fact he had refused to sign that legislation and made many comments against it, saying it would only benefit attorneys. If Gore made misstatements like that the opposition and the press would be all over him.

Bush also often says he "will return honesty, value and dignity to the office," but if he is running as a moralist why has he refused to say if he has ever used drugs. He talks about building the military but has never explained his missing year of reserve service. There is also the fact that he got into the reserve ahead of thousands on a waiting list and probably knew that it was a sure way to never have to go to Vietnam.

He brags about being a businessman who has met a payroll but he was handed several business opportunities financed by family friends and failed miserably at them although he personally made money. He is used to having things handed to him and not working for them, and he has done pretty well on that basis.

If he wants to run on morals and values he should have to do more than just repeat empty phrases. The "liberal" press is not doing a good job of exposing his duplicity, but if he loses you can bet that the press will be blamed for the loss.

ROGER D. CHRISTENSEN