Wednesday, November 13, 2013

10 Political Figures Who Could Not Pass a Modern Background Check

Background Checks dot org
Photo Courtesy of Library of Congress
  1. George W. Bush – President George Bush had his share of detractors during his time in office.  Sentiment against his father aside, Bush had his own negative impact on people’s perception of him.  The truth is that his legal troubles started long before the whole weapons of mass destruction problem came to light.  Bush was arrested at the age of 20 for some drunken antics with friends, which resulted in the group stealing some items from a department store.  The charges were dropped.  In 1976, however, Bush was cited for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated near his family’s Kennebunkport home.  The drunk-driving conviction alone, nor his acknowledgement that he overused alcohol until age 40, are not enough to count the younger Bush out entirely, but there additional concerns about his substance use.  Some sources indicate that the former President may have used drugs like Cocaine, which could be problematic for passing standardized FBI background screenings.

5 comments:

  1. This article says some interesting things about the concept of redemption. Back in the "olden" days, if you messed up, you paid your debt to society and then it was up to you to pick yourself up and move past it.
    In today's information age, all of your past sins are easily available and accessible to everyone. And there is the tendency to take risk aversion to such extremes that its difficult for offenders to find someone willing to take that risk and give them a chance to start making better life choices.

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    1. Good point, Sarge. I take the view that some criminals--murderers and rapists, for example--should be put away for good. Others should have the opportunity to reform and start fresh by paying restitution and by showing that they can lead responsible lives. If they can, we should let them back into full participation in society.

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    2. Some problems become worse over time, versus cleaning up and moving on.

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    3. I think the in "good old days" they weren't able to document the rate of recidivism like they can now. The "good old days" were probably not that good.

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  2. here you go, two more....November 13, 2013 at 7:51 PM

    Bill Clinton, pot use...
    Barack Obama, pot and cocaine use....

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