One more problem bothers me: George W. drove drunk in 1976, and he says he quit drinking in 1986. What was going on during those 10 years? Often one drunk driving conviction is enough to make someone see the light and swear off the bottle. Did it take George W. ten more years to bottom out? How bad did it get? What other skeletons are in the closet?

I have heard recovering alcoholics say that the years they spent drinking were "lost years" as far as growth and maturity are concerned. This is especially noticeable in young people. If a kid starts drinking heavily at say, age 16, and doesn't quit till age 26, when he sobers up he will have the maturity of a 16-year-old, if that. It's true of adults, too, but not always noticeable, because you don't automatically expect much greater maturity, wisdom, whatever, in a 53-year-old than in a 43-year-old.

By contrast, the children of alcoholics (like Bill Clinton) often seem wise beyond their years, at least in some areas, because of the problems they had to start dealing with at an early age. But they often end up with blind spots - they are often unable to give up the coping strategies that enabled them to get along with the alcoholic parent.

I think an interesting book could be written on the subject of how various politicians have been influenced by alcohol in their lives.

Anyway, maybe we should start thinking of GWB as 10 years younger than he really is.