Bush Drinking Again? Downs "Pisco Sour" In Peru

The Peru news agency Andina notes that President Bush was drinking a Peruvian cocktail during the recent APEC summit:

Peru has successfully promoted its national drink "Pisco Sour" during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Summit, Peru's Environment Minister Antonio Brack said Sunday.

He noted that the flagship drink of Peru was well acepted by international guests, including Japan's Prime Minister, Taro Aso.

"Pisco Sour has been the "star" of the APEC Summit, the drink was served in several meetings at the Government Palace and the APEC Summit venue," he told CPN Radio.

...

U.S. President George W. Bush, who quit drinking at 40, was apparently drinking a Peruvian cocktail during a meeting on Saturday.

Pisco Sour is a cocktail containing Pisco (a Peruvian brandy), lemon juice, egg whites, simple syrup, and regional bitters.

Bush is pictured drinking the cocktail here:

Of course, the president often drinks non-alcoholic beer; he could easily be drinking a non-alcoholic Pisco Sour in this shot.

Comments

[globalcitizenlinda]

04:00 PM on 11/29/2008

Prez Bush can have one alcoholic drink on my account since he has come very close to making me start to drink alcohol since the supreme court stole the 2000 election for him.

[hbhawaii]

03:31 PM on 11/29/2008

Oh puhleaze!

The point of this article would be....?

I hate W as much as the next man, but this is just silly.

[shanghaislim]

03:14 PM on 11/29/2008

George W. Bush

Sober since..........

..................about 6pm last Thursday!

[unstuffedshirt]

01:24 PM on 11/29/2008

Alcoholics who admit to their addiction (as opposed to saying, "I just stopped drinking," as Bush does) and actually seek treatment/recovery do not drink non-alcoholic beer (which actually has alcohol in it), nor do they drink fake cocktails. Playing with drinks that are supposed to approximate alcoholic beverages is considered dangerous business to be avoided.

As far as I know, Bush has never admitted to being an alcoholic and never sought recovery through a 12-step or any other program. He treats his drinking like other people treat giving up trans fats or salt -- like it's just something he decided to stop doing one day without addressing the mental and emotional components of the disease.

[Donnaste]

02:20 PM on 11/29/2008

I don't agree that recovering alcoholics never drink "fake cocktails" there are certain social situations where it is perfectly within the bounds of recovery to share in a toast with a beverage that doesn't contain alcohol but is served in the same glass as others. I have always wished Bush well in his pursuit of sobriety and I don't feel it's anyone's business how he does it. I try to keep my own side of the street clean.

[martinchill]

02:43 PM on 11/29/2008

does that look like the face of a man who drinks non-alcoholic cocktails to you?

[psy]

02:46 PM on 11/29/2008

AA is a religious cult. Alcoholics who stop drinking are not "dry", they're effectively cured. It's the only recovery group I know of that holds that people who don't drink have a "spiritual" problem. That whole "spiritual" stuff is to lure otherwise rational people into AA's real motive: expansion and recruitment. It's not a treatment program, it's a religion. And before you say it's "spiritual" you should know the courts do not agree, ruling that the distinction between "spiritual" and "religious" was essentially superfluous... a play with words:

http://orange-papers.org/orange-spirrel.html#judges

Get help, yes, but not with AA. It's success rate is so poor many argue the group causes more harm than good*. People who otherwise might be able to control their drinking or quit on their own walk away believing that they are powerless without an AA supportive "higher power". This leads them to stop trying on their own because they believe they can't succeed. "let go and let god" and "relapse is a part of recovery" are effectively pretty good instructions for suicide.

*Sources:
http://www.morerevealed.com/library/coc/chapter7.htm
http://orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html

[concernvoter]

12:41 PM on 11/29/2008

Give that joker a pretzel and he will change his mind for a second. CHOKE UP BUSH!!!!!

[ssusan]

12:33 PM on 11/29/2008

President Bush is a decent kind man. What is wrong with the liberal left in this country. Just wait for the rest of us to post our nasty commenst about your precious Obama. We build our politicians up only to pull them down. Oh what fun we are going to have.

[unstuffedshirt]

01:28 PM on 11/29/2008

Torturing people, lying to start illegal and unethical wars, spying on citizens, raping the environment, denying the dangers of climate change, peeing on civil rights, disemboweling the justice system, declaring war on the middle class, ignoring the poor, fighting to withhold access to decent health care...I don't think we can take much more of this guy's "decency" and "kindness." Keep packing, George.

[martinchill]

02:44 PM on 11/29/2008

signing statements....

[shrinkess]

02:56 PM on 11/29/2008

Are you serious? What planet do you live on?

[russwaters]

12:00 PM on 11/29/2008

If you want to see a drunk president, just Google - President Bush Chinese Olympics. He was obviously smashed!

[martinchill]

02:46 PM on 11/29/2008

http://gawker.com/5035885/bush-looking-drunk-at-the-olympics

check out the last photo at the end....

[MarkAlter]

11:06 AM on 11/29/2008

In fact, Geo W Bush was secretly treated for alcoholism in 2007! The unfortunate results are detailed at: www.thepresidentstherapist.com

[Bosoxfan]

10:52 AM on 11/29/2008

That name is familiar. Oh yea, is he still around? I was wondering what ever happened to him.

[postedby]

09:22 AM on 11/29/2008

Like you, this guy makes stuff up, too ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irOFAjsnSg0

... difference is, he's funny.

[DoctorWhoDat]

01:28 AM on 11/29/2008

It's not hard to quick drinking, Bush has done it a thousand of times

[RationalDubSteppa]

07:49 PM on 11/28/2008

Failed economy, terrorist attacks, disintegrating foreign affairs and relationships, the inability for him to sell his memoirs. Hell I would've fallen off the wagon myself... LOL!

[gilrural]

10:22 PM on 11/28/2008

I agree. If I caused as much damage in the world, I'd me drinking to obliterate my consciousness of it - maybe the hangovers and guilt that are engendered will give him some humility!

[bumpersticker]

11:26 PM on 11/28/2008

It's ironic that a lot of his supporters liked him as a guy to have a beer with. Most truly recovering alcoholics are humble in their struggle for sobriety, and most would never risk claiming to be cured. In contrast, Bush seems to be classic addict badly acting out the "I don't need anyone" bravura. Bush's belligerent behavior, secretive personality, "make it a joke" response to questions, and tendency to casually lie are often signs associated with an ego trapped within an addiction. It would be sad if this whole tough guy drama was a case of an alcoholic trying to trick everyone into believing he was stronger than the disease. "I'm the decider," sounds ominously like an addict refusing to admit the need for help.

It's sad because anyone who truly cared about his well-being, and ours, should have told him in the strongest terms that the disease, past or present, made this job extremely unhealthy for him and those depending on him..

[William Sinister]

08:56 AM on 11/29/2008

Excellent analysis, and sadly- I couldn't agree more.

If he had just given up the race for the PRESIDENCY instead of drinking...he'd be better off- and so would everyone else.

[fureyous]

01:07 PM on 11/29/2008

George W. Bush is very typical in his alcoholic behavior. He is not the first president to have a drinking problem. Those of us who deal with addicts on a regular basis recognized the choking on a pretzel story for what it was, a cover up for passing out after drinking too much.

Be that as it may, I agree that the way this story was posted was unfair. I felt that the last line was a simple attempt to avoid a libel charge should it turn out the drink was non-alcoholic.

Richard Nixon's drinking was legendary, and secret at the same time. President Bush has carefully guarded himself against the press. But someday, the truth will come out, and it will demonstrate that President Bush continued to struggle with his problem throughout his Presidency.

It would also be typical of an alcoholic to feel that his job was "done" despite the fact that he has two months left to serve. His thinking would be akin to "screw them if they feel I did such a terrible job, I'll just do whatever I want for this last two months."

[rmreddicks]

06:21 PM on 11/28/2008

It would be to kind of him to drink himself to death upon leaving office. Would that be his final and only act of grace towards we of the hoi polloi? Much of the world has better thoughts toward his (only possible in a theologian's way) redemption.

[eggman]

05:31 PM on 11/28/2008

Really unfair to trash Bush in the headline and wait until the last line in the article to note that it could be non-alcoholic (and therefore probably was). Has Bush not given us enough real reasons to dis him without making up stuff?

[VegetableMan]

10:14 PM on 11/28/2008

baloney. have you even seen him the past bunch of months? slurry speech, wavering thoughts... and that scrape he had on his face? almost exact same placement as the scrape a friend of mine showed up at work with one day. when i actually asked him about it, he opened up about being on heroin. it may take years, but it WILL come out that w has been drinking these days.

[postedby]

09:18 AM on 11/29/2008

Who dug up the carrot?

[elr50]

10:25 AM on 11/29/2008

In the past couple of months? Have you seen him for the past 8 years?

[MrDem]

08:38 AM on 11/29/2008

Pisco Sour is a cocktail containing Pisco (a Peruvian brandy), lemon juice, egg whites, simple syrup, and regional bitters.
Seriously, is anyone going to drink this without the brandy? Seriously.

[berrycooda]

04:41 PM on 11/28/2008

I think I would have more than one....the way he is getting blame for everything
that has happened in America since WW2....

He probably can't wait for the door to hit him in the behind ... when Jan 20 comes.

Like Nixon said......they won't have him to kick around anymore.