Bush's first mention in the New York Times-11/07/1967

[MellowOne]

BRANDING RITE LAID TO YALE FRATERNITY-Nov.7 A Yale fraternity accused by the student newspaper of burning it's initials with a brand will have it's fate decided Friday by student fraternity leaders.

The fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon, could face the temporary closure of it's house and a $1,000 fine resulting alleged violations of rules previously passed by the Inter-fraternity Council, which consists of five fraternity presidents.

The charges against Delta Kappa Epsilon were made last Friday in a Yale Daily News article that charged campus fraternities of carrying on "sadistic and obscene" initiation procedures.

The charge that has caused the most controversy is that Delta Kappa Epsilon applied a small branding iron to the back of it's 40 new members in it's ceremonies two weeks ago. A photograph of a scab in the shape of the Greek letter Delta, approximately an half inch wide, appeared along with the article.

A former president of Delta said the branding is done with a hot coat
hanger. But the president, George Bush, a Yale senior, said the resulting wound "is only a cigarette burn."

New York Times
Originally published November 8, 1967

[Eric J in MN]

1. Who could have foreseen that he wouldn't be a good president?

The majority of voters in 2000.

[Warren DeMontague]

58. That and the torturing frogs as a kid might have raised a few red flags.

Except, you know, he's such a "good Christian"... being against abortion an' gays an' birth control an' such.

[Bonobo]

2. Goddamn...! That's freaky and scary. Torturing 40 years ago!!

[indepat]

5. I keep saying we torture because some like it

[elehhhhna]

30. The Resident's a Sadistic Pervert. So, whats' new?

[hedgehog]

3. An early foray into torture

Wonder how he knew so much about cigarette burns?

[tavalon]

31. Don't forget the frogs

Sociopaths start with animals. George started with frogs. He fits the mold perfectly. We have a silverspoon sociopath in the White House.

[malaise]

32. Bingo

a fugging sadist from day one.

[Richardo]

4. I have a hard time believing the NYT would use "it's" for the possessive.

Three times.


Something's not right here. Is there a link, or has anybody checked snopes?

[October]

6. Agreed. /nt

[Skinner]

7. LOL. Nice catch.

I must admit, I fell for it. The story has the ring of truth.

[MellowOne]

8. A friend email the actual clip from the paper to me

It wouldn't copy and paste. It appears to be true.

I checked snopes and it's not there.

[robbedvoter]

11. The fact is known - just the article is news to me

I've read about W's glorious past in a profile by a NYT writer whose name escapes me (Gail....). It was published in 2000 in Vanity Fair I think.

[Eric J in MN]

10. It happened. From an AP interview with Garry Trudeau.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5439743

(Doonesbury cartoonist Garry) Trudeau said he penned his very first cartoon to illustrate an article in the Yale Daily News on Bush and allegations that his fraternity, DKE, had hazed incoming pledges by branding them with an iron.

A view of ‘torture’?
The article in the campus paper prompted The New York Times to interview Bush, who was a senior that year. Trudeau recalled that Bush told the Times “it was just a coat hanger, and ... it didn’t hurt any more than a cigarette burn.”

“It does put one in mind of what his views on torture might be today,” Trudeau said.

[Skinner]

15. Thanks for the link.

I'm not surprised to hear that it's true.

[Eric J in MN]

20. Link to the 1967 NY Times article.

I just got this from the NY Times website:
http://www.moveleft.com/1967_11_08_nytimes_George_W_Bush_frat_cigarette_burn_torture.pdf

[ginnyinWI]

24. So we must presume that * has a scar like this somewhere?

He speaks with the authority of someone who has had it done to himself--or did he exempt himself (with a signing statement?)

[Eric J in MN]

29. interesting question

Was Bush the recipient of this when he was a pledge? I don't know.

[Phrogman]

52. Yea, "D" for "Dunce"!

e0m

[BootinUp]

57. Its real, I just looked it up in the archives. n/t

[robbedvoter]

14. could have been added in the transcription

[Eric J in MN]

22. Yes, the original article spells "its" correctly. (link below)

http://www.moveleft.com/1967_11_08_nytimes_George_W_Bush_frat_cigarette_burn_torture.pdf

[Eric J in MN]

16. This is real. The actual article is in PDF at the NY Times and

...says "its."

[BurtWorm]

37. I can corroborate that.

Its true. ;)

FREE PREVIEW
BRANDING RITE LAID TO YALE FRATERNITY

*Please Note: Articles in The Archive from 1851-1980 will open in PDF format. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required.
More information.
Nov 8, 1967, Wednesday
Page 80, 193 words

DISPLAYING FIRST PARAGRAPH - NEW HAVEN, Nov. 7--A Yale fraternity accused by the student newspaper of burning its initiates with a brand will have its fate decided Friday by student fraternity leaders.
Times Select
As a subscriber to TimesSelect, you can access up to 100 articles per month from The Archive.
Articles remaining this month: 100

[Chico Man]

73. Me too. Times Select sometimes comes in handy.

It is real.

[BurtWorm]

74. Very handy sometimes.

Like when you want to read Krugman and Herbert online. ;)

I also use it regularly to research more recent history.

[Fierce]

18. Beat me to it.

nt

[Straight Shooter]

33. Not just the use of "it's" for possessive.

approximately an half inch

The correct word is a, not an.

In all fairness, maybe the story is basically true, but it was probably never reported in TNYT. I seem to remember something about branding in this fraternity. I don't care enough to do a search on Google, though. It's been clear to me since his "Please don't kill me" mockery of Karla Faye Tucker that Little Boots is a perverted sadist.

[Bluebear]

35. Link to the NYT article

http://www.moveleft.com/1967_11_08_nytimes_George_W_Bush_frat_cigarette_burn_torture.pdf

[Straight Shooter]

43. Aha. It's been transcribed from the original, with errors. Interesting.

Thanks for the link.

Makes me wonder what kind of hazing "pranks" Gonzales was involved in. (Probably nothing, he had to maintain his squeaky-clean image.)

[hfojvt]

63. Five times isn't it?

Its a little bit hard to believe.

[BrewAz]

9. So it is the Frat House Administration....

Bush being a sadistic torture buff started in the frat house...and he has just carried it over into his political life.

It all makes sense now....our Republican led congress has been reticent to do any oversight on the Bush administration. They have not had the time, because they were busy hazing the pledges...I mean pages.

Then the prez gets his frat bros, Gonzalez, Ashcroft and Rummy to support torture...and off we go.

I guess this is what we should have expected since our president is the resident "frat rat"....Put a Frat Boy in charge and not only do the "dirty old men" rise to the occasion..but the kid comes out in all of them.

Disgusting...get rid of them all!

[Gabi Hayes]

12. he blowed up frogs, too. they blowed up good....real good

http://www.all-creatures.org/aip/nl-3nov2000-frogs.html

neither the burning nor the frogs is anything but OLD news, pre 2000 'election,' btw

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. Wow. He does have a high tolerance when it come to inflicting pain

on others.

[Canuckistanian]

34. I wonder f he had to endure the same treatment

Somehow, I don't think so. He's probably the inventor of this little "ritual".

[The Backlash Cometh]

36. This is why he should be forced to face an impeachment.

There is a definite group of primarily white males in this country who feel that they are immune from facing the consequences for their actions. It's endemic on a federal, state and local level. You need to send a clear message now, because, this is only going to get worse unless you draw a line in the sand.

[chat_noir]

17. while searching for more info, I found...

Austin, we have a problem
What does his clumsy, evasive handling of rumors of cocaine use do to George W. Bush's much-heralded "electability"?

That the drug issue could become a problem for Bush has been known for a long time. Even many of the popular Texas governor's most ardent official supporters believed that sooner or later he'd have to address the rumors about his self-described "irresponsible" youth. But the way Bush addressed those rumors in the last few days has only added fuel to the fire.

Under a barrage of tenacious media inquiries, as well as polling data indicating that the American people find the question relevant, Bush finally decided to abandon his refuse-to-answer-questions strategy. In a testy exchange with a reporter on August 18, he said that he would be able to pass the traditional White House background check question as to whether he'd used drugs in the past seven years.

But that answer only raised more questions than it answered, and amid a hail of media criticism Bush felt impelled to issue yet another clarification the next day, extending the time frame when he could have passed the background check to include the time when his father was president -- "a 15-year period." Finally, a Bush spokesperson expanded the definition yet again, stating that Bush was saying he had not used illegal drugs at any time since he was 28, in 1974 -- the year he graduated from Harvard Business School and moved back to Texas.

(The Clinton White House background check, it should be noted, asks prospective senior officials if they have ever used illegal drugs since the age of 18. Bush refuses to answer that question.)


http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/08/20/electability/index.html

[struggle4progress]

19. From Yale Daily News 1 Dec 05:

Published: Thursday, December 01, 2005

Cartoon on Bush recalls Yale frat hazing
Kimberly Chow and Jack Mirkinson
Contributing Reporters

Cartoonist Garry Trudeau '70 said he thinks a little-known fact about President George W. Bush '68's past -- that his first mention in The New York Times occurred in 1967 when, as former president of the Delta Kappa Epsilon chapter at Yale, Bush defended the fraternity's practice of branding its pledges with a red-hot coat hanger -- deserves more national attention ...

The News article, published Nov. 3, 1967, featured a photograph of a half-inch high "D" burned into a pledge's naked backside. Trudeau drew his first cartoon for the News for the story -- a picture of smiling pledges, naked and bent over at the waist, with a figure holding a DKE branding iron standing over them.

In a News story the next day, Bush is quoted calling the branding "insignificant." He said he did not understand how the News "can assume Yale has to be so haughty not to allow this type of pledging to go on." ...

"While you can't draw a direct line between a 19-year-old's fraternity activities and national policy … this is part of a larger picture of this administration's belief that the ends justify the means," Trudeau said. "I don't think gives much thought to what it means to torture people or how it makes us look in the eyes of the world." ...

http://www.yaledailynews.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=31064

[The Count]

38. "Yale had to be so haughty not to allow this"

From the Yale article:

"In a News story the next day, Bush is quoted calling the branding "insignificant." He said he did not understand how the News "can assume Yale has to be so haughty not to allow this type of pledging to go on."

he thinks branding is populist, democratic - and only "haugty elites" would be against it.
Wait! W knew the word "haughty?"?????

[Tin Man]

50. As frat president - what're the odds that GWB actually wielded the iron?

Please God, let some frat brother come forward, reveal the scar on his back to the camera, and testify "it was President Bush that branded me"

[Supersedeas]

49. yea, thanks for the link

[ArmchairMeme]

21. Looks like he has enjoyed torturing at other times

I had read about this before but, I didn't realize that as president of the fraternity he had branded 40 people. That must have taken him quite a while to do.

[Avalux]

23. That's a really creepy article.

Can anyone say foreshadowing??? :scared:

[Tin Man]

25. K&R for sadism, enforced loyalty, rationalization - it's GWB in a nutshell

...what a sick, twisted freak.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

26. no mention that his daddy was a congressman at the time

[yellerpup]

27. He tortures then he lies about it.

He tortures then he lies. Torture, lie. Torture, lie. Reliable modus operandi since 1967.

[mogster]

28. 'Branding iron'

He did start early, didn't he?

[SnowGoose]

39. Think of it as a comma in your university eduction.

nt

[WI_DEM]

40. he hasn't changed a bit has he?

[Poiuyt]

41. That, and much more in this article

Who Would Jesus Torture? The Religion of George W. Bush
July 17, 2004
By Christian Dewar

snip -

According to childhood friends, Bush used to blow up frogs with firecrackers and shoot them with BB guns. As several therapists have pointed out, this cruelty to animals is a trait he shares with many serial killers.

Bush was embroiled in a scandal at Yale when it was discovered that he branded pledges at his fraternity with red-hot wires.

A drunken George W. Bush once challenged his own father to a fight, "mano a mano."

Several therapists have commented about Bush's sadistic tendencies and his lack of empathy. A recent book, "Bush on the Couch; Inside the Mind of the President," written by the respected Justin A. Frank M.D., is one of many attempts to describe Bush's inherent cruelty. The book points out how comfortable Bush is being outside the law, whether it is his two arrests at Yale, his DUI, his apparent AWOL status in the Texas National Guard, alleged insider trading, possible perjury or his reported drug abuse.

more-

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/04/07/17_wwjt.html

[MellowOne]

47. blow up frogs...

As several therapists have pointed out, this cruelty to animals is a trait he shares with many serial killers.

So we now discover why the tortures he's allowed and the deaths in Iraq do not phase him in the least.

One more reason to hate this man.

[Nostradammit]

42. Sooprise, sooprise!

Not.




Dear Lord God, please free us from these evil men.



Please?

[Tin Man]

44. --------- GREAT FIND -------- What an appropriate (inappropriate?) photo!

Please God, let me see this on the Daily Show tonight...

[Tin Man]

45. I wonder if Condi has a big 'ol "GWB" branded across her ass?

...anyone else come to mind?

[Olney Blue]

69. Karen Hughes and Karl Rove?

:scared:

[NewYorkerfromMass]

46. Not surprising (of course)

Mr. Yalie big shot never much of a gentleman.

[BlueEyedSon]

48. The taste for torture starts early

[David Zephyr]

51. He didn't know Abu Gonzales even back then either.

He's a sadist.

[Lautremont]

53. The sweetest part of that article

is where it calls Il Dunce "former president." That day will come again.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

54. K & R, where the f*** was this in 2000? "Just a cigarette burn" is the

perfect distillation of gwb. MKJ

[rug]

55. And the Constitution is "just a piece of paper".

[NightOwwl]

56. Vile, sadistic bastard.

It's times like this I wish I believed in Heaven and Hell, because I would love to watch him burn in eternal flames.

[WinkyDink]

59. burned into a pledge's naked backside~~~~Doubled his fun!

A sadist and then some.

[BeFree]

60. Remember that time he

...flew, in secret to Iraq? Do you think he might have gotten in some kicks at Abu Gharib?

[buddysmellgood]

61. Only a little water boarding, or a little extra juice to the nuts. Just a

growling dog. You can always sleep later after the blood dries.

[progressoid]

62. Just when I think I can't despise him any more, something new (or old)

comes along.

[Roxy66]

64. Link Please......

[Tin Man]

70. link here:

http://www.moveleft.com/1967_11_08_nytimes_George_W_Bush_frat_cigarette_burn_torture.pdf

[proud2BlibKansan]

65. Do you have a link?

I have several repukelican acquaintances I want to send this to and they will accuse me of making it up unless I include a link.

Thanks.

[Tin Man]

71. link here:

http://www.moveleft.com/1967_11_08_nytimes_George_W_Bush_frat_cigarette_burn_torture.pdf

[Blue Belle]

66. Bush... was the President of Delta House??

And we wonder why this country is so f'd-up right now?

[lazyriver]

67. Frogs, branding people, proud of executing

the most people as governor, secret prisons, torturing his "enemies" and becoming one of the worst mass murderers in history...His life is an exponential curve of escalating evil. Remember the "quirky" little news stories the MSM reported about how he likes to make Secret Service agents run until they drop or get sick in the Texas heat while he pedals past them and laughs? All the warning signs that we are dealing with a dangerous psycopath are right there in front of us. What will be the next escalation?

[SpiralHawk]

68. George AWOL Bush = Torture pervert

What an embarassment to our great nation

[midnight]

72. Sounds like he was just warming up. This is just gruesome.

He said he was going to be the president of compassion. Is it just me or does this man have a perception issue?