11/5/2000
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Fundamental Fairness by Clifford J. Marlowe Whenever a person is stopped in America for DUI, there is a part of the law in every State that is called Fundamental Fairness. This basically means that the police and courts will treat every person fair under the circumstances. This same fundamental fairness can be extended to include expungement. What is expungement? Expungement, according to the Webster’s New World Dictionary, is this: "to erase". So a judge in any State across this country can and do offer to erase a person’s misdemeanor offense so it will not mar a young promising life. This is what happened to George W. Bush in 1976. He paid his fine, was suspended and then the judge expunged or erased his offense. If the offense was erased then why can’t some people erase it today? This is the problem with the last 8 yrs. in Washington and now with the Democratic Party. Maybe we should really switch emblems for the parties. The Democrats act more like elephants, never forgetting what others do and attacking all the time. The Republicans tend to act like a Donkey. The fact that the press claims to be fair and balanced is a joke. If they really were fair they would have mentioned that this offense was erased from the Governor’s past. This is why the Governor nor any person that has an expunged record need make mention of it to anyone ever. It is something they and their families have dealt with responsibly and have corrected and put behind them. It also is legal not to make mention of it. It is gone! Just like your bad credit rating! After 7 years your credit rating is to be clean. We call this a clean credit rating. What is this holding over someone’s head forever what they have done? If it was done yesterday, fine. But 24 yrs. ago? Give it up! It is only because of this election that this has happened by desperate people with hidden agendas. The person that released this info is a Democrat and was a delegate to the Democratic Convention. The press is disingenuous to say they are not related. Generally speaking the punishment for first offense is a fine or license suspension and in many cases expungement afterward. According to one source over 4 million people have had such encounters with the law and still are treated as some kind of second class citizen when they really deserve a second chance in life. Expungement is the second chance many do get and George W. Bush was one such person who did. Back then many did drive under the influence and none of the groups, like MADD or SADD even existed. We felt like James Dean back then, free and wild. But we have grown up. Times have changed. So has Bush, and for the better. I had an very bad car accident 22 years ago while under the influence in Long Island, New York and nothing happened to my record at all, even though the police had found my bottle of Vodka and Scotch. Since then I have not had a drop either. People can and do change. We, who are the victims of our own self-stupidity, are our own harshest critics and the self-discipline to refuse to drink when surrounded by it at so many events for the last 14 yrs. speak volumes of the character Gov. George W. Bush has. MADD and SADD are working to convince America to not drink and drive. Gov.Bush has lived that message and. has gotten the victory over drinking for 14 yrs. This is a leader and example for all children. To say, " I have been there " and " you too can change for the better," is what our children need in Washington. The American people are fundamentally fair and will erase this from their memory too.
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Note: We retract the mention of James Dean driving under the influence and have corrected the article. James Dean was not under the influence while driving.
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