She wasn’t the First lady in 1962 or even involved with the Bush family,so I don’t see the conspiracy here.

Also,rural Texas was a whole different culture in the early 60’s from what it is now.If she “got away with it”,perhaps the people who need to answer that are the law enforcement community and the local Judiciary.

E: Um, where did I write the word “conspiracy”? Nowhere. And, yes, she DID get away with it. In fact, back then, people often got stiffer sentences for this kind of thing than they do today.

Sorry, but her shameful use of this story to pimp her memoir is NOT the work of law enforcement and the local Judiciary. It’s hers alone. She’s shameless and sleazy.
DS

Ebayer on May 4, 2010 at 3:24 pm

I’m pretty sure if Mrs. Obama did this, we wouldn’t ever hear a peep about it. Look at Barack Hussein – every single legitimate document about his past is sealed.

DS_ROCKS! on May 4, 2010 at 3:29 pm

Per Wikipedia: “Her father was a home builder and later successful real estate developer”.

There is your answer. In 1960s Midland Texas, her Daddy probably played golf with the Police Chief and DA.

To quote from Animal Farm “Some animals are MORE equal than others”.

jimmyPx on May 4, 2010 at 3:32 pm

Deb, there might be less to this than you imply. If she was 17, she didn’t even know the Bush family so I doubt a claim of “privilege” applies here. It doesn’t strike me as Chappaquitik (sp?) I don’t know a lot about her background but I don’t think she was from the upper crust of politics as a 17 year old. Accidents do happen and if the police in 1962 decided this was a tragic accident, why isn’t that good enough? What are we missing?

KS: HUH? Where did I imply anything. I didn’t say she knew the Bushes. That’s irrelevant. And who said she was from the upper crust? Of what relevance is that to the fact that she killed a guy and got away with it? You are reading into this what isn’t there. She killed a guy. She got away with it. Now she’s throwing him under the bus a second time to sell books. That’s the double tragedy here. If it was your son, perhaps you’d get it. Please look up the definition of tacky. And of knee-jerk. DS

Kaiser Sozay on May 4, 2010 at 3:35 pm

I really don’t care about who is the first lady,
even queen, king, president or religious leaders.
NO ONE SHOULD BE ABOVE THE LAW ! & we all should insist & demand that no one should be above the law.
I love your articles. keep posting & fight, shows how you care!
we want a better world where we all could be happy.

Jacqueline Hanna Youssef on May 4, 2010 at 3:40 pm

I completely agree Debbie and thank you so much for posting this. It seems to me now Laura is trying to make money off of killing someone. Its disgusting to say the least she should be ahsamed of herself. I read about this around a week ago and I wondered why the media never brought this issue up. Were always told about the left wing media but they remained silent. My guess is Lady Laura had money and connections so she wasn’t prosecuted. Another thing that didn’t surprise me was when I learned of this on drudge and his headline was some trivial point she made in the book it said nothing of her killing someone. I know drudge is and this shouldn’t be a surprise it just shows once again that the right wing media will let their side get away with murder.

tyler on May 4, 2010 at 3:42 pm

I think it may be a sex bias more than anything else. When I get pulled over, I always get a ticket. When my sister gets pulled over, she has twice cried her way out of it. If it had been a 17 year old boy who had killed his ex-girlfriend it would have been a different story (with jail time no doubt). Society (especially back then) prefers to look at women in a more vulnerable and need-to-be-protected light. They are the children bearers, it makes a difference.

Matt on May 4, 2010 at 3:45 pm

Laura Bush managed to duck this thing, and should have remained quiet about it. Instead, she uses it to push a landfill worthy book. If Mrs. Bush had paid some genuine penalty for her act, even if modest, I would not be terribly concerned about what had happened so long ago. However, she avoided any real consequences for what she admitted was the negligent homicide of her ex-boyfriend.

Worry01 on May 4, 2010 at 3:49 pm

These types of accidents happen all the time without people going to jail or being charged with anything except running a stop sign. I see it all the time in my line of work.

No you don’t directly imply that she used rank or privilege to “get away with vehicular manslaughter” BUT the fact that she IS a former first lady and you compare her to a current first lady allows the reader to infer that she did. It is only when you see the detail that she was 17 at the time does an intellegent reader realize that she wasn’t Laura BUSH when this happened, she was a high schooler named Laura Welsh. As a journalist, you’re better than this, particularly when you use the graphic and headline you use at the top of the article. This appears to be a tragic car accident and the reader is left to infer that it is far more than that.

As far as her making a buck telling the story almost 50 years later? I didn’t see the Oprah interview (no thanks) but if she did it is distasteful. Perhaps she is donating proceeds to charity. A real one, not a Hannity-esque charity? I don’t know. I’m not buying the book so I’m not going to worry about it.

Bottom line, I think you’re being unfair to her (I’d feel the same if it were Michelle O) and you’re better than that as a journalist.

KS: Stop making “inferences” and start reading what I wrote. RIF–Reading is Fundamental. She committed vehicular homicide, got away with it, and is now pimping her waste of time book using the story. That’s the point of this post, which you clearly refuse to read, instead defending this killer who got away with what EVERYONE else would do time for. Period. Not sure what your line of work is. But it’s neither reading comprehension nor criminal defense work. Yes, I’m being so “unfair” to a complete sleazebag in a prim suit and hairstyle who killed a man, didn’t pay a single price, and is now using it to make more millions. It’s indeed tragic . . . for the man she killed and his family. Try to get that, please. Also, I deleted your comment to that completely false website–we do not allow a married couple of left-wing folk dancers (who run that site) to decide for us what is the truth. That’s for the lazy and clueless who wish to remain so. DS

Kaiser Sozay on May 4, 2010 at 3:51 pm

Knowing that the world of fifty years ago cannot be compared to today’s world, and recognizing that how legal issues were handled “back then” was quite different from the way they are today, I don’t believe we can apply the logic that Ms. Schlussel does to this situation. No one will dispute–least of all Laura Bush–that what happened was terrible and something she has lived with privately for decades. But to vilify her as Liberals do so well in this “I see the speck in your eye but I sure can’t see the plank in mine” age is inappropriate and seems lacking in historical perspective. One need only look at Chappaquiddick and Ted Kennedy or at the murder of Martha Moxley by Michael Skakel for even more blatant examples of how differently situations were handled (or mishandled) in bygone times.

Greg Boll on May 4, 2010 at 4:07 pm

I defend insurers and their insureds in all sorts of accidents, but primarily car accidents. I’ve been doing it since 1993 when we graduated UW Law. I have had multiple death cases over the years. The only time there are criminal charges is when there is alcohol involved or something like drag racing. This accident resulted from a 17 year old girl missing a stop sign. It’s not a crime, it’s negligence.

I did read what you wrote. Twice in fact because I thought I was missing something. I’m not. You say she “got away” with taking a man’s life. The clear implication is that she did something criminally wrong. She didn’t. It appears to be a tragic accident and nothing more.

As far as her writing about it and talking about it? Perhaps distasteful, but I’m not going to judge it because I don’t know if the man’s family was consulted or compensated or anything like that. Maybe they want her to finally talk about it after 48 years. I don’t know that. Do you? If they have forgiven her, can you?

KS: As you well know, this was not an “accident.” It was deliberate. I see plenty of cases on a regular basis where people who kill someone with far less carelessness in their car, do years of jailtime. Years. Your claim that only when it involves alcohol is there jailtime is simply incorrect. It is vehicular homicide or at the very least manslaughter. It is, indeed, criminal. DS

Kaiser Sozay on May 4, 2010 at 4:14 pm

I couldn’t forgive someone who killed someone I loved. The responses of readers here points up what I said earlier: there is a moral blindness on both the Left AND the Right in this country. No one cares any more about right and wrong. And Laura Bush is wrong and no one calls her on it. That’s why Debbie is outraged and so am I. TAKING A HUMAN LIFE, whether inadvertently or deliberately, is ALWAYS A SERIOUS MATTER. Its never a good reflection on the person who committed the deed. And to exploit it to make money is even more tasteless. I can see that if any one else did it, we’d be right to be pass judgment. Where does a former First Lady get a pass for a terrible deed? Its a matter of human decency and she has none – and that isn’t – and shouldn’t be – a partisan matter but a matter of personal accountability before G-d and your fellow human beings.

NormanF on May 4, 2010 at 4:26 pm

I should add that conservatives should have high standards. But one has noticed many of them are quick to drop them when it comes to protecting their own. And the Left has no monopoly on hypocrisy on personal behavior, its sad to say.

NormanF on May 4, 2010 at 4:38 pm

I guess I missed the point of the article being that Ms.Bush is pimping a death to sell a book,but let’s be intellectually honest here.

I can be forgiven for not catching that point after reading the first couple of paragraphs:

“If Michelle Obama ran over and killed a guy because she was “distracted” while driving and too busy talking to her friend, we’d be all over it. And we’d be wondering why the heck she was never charged with manslaughter or vehicular homicide. We’d be asking why no jail time was served. I know that I would.”

See,that paragraph is all about why she got away with killing someone.

“But that’s never been the case with Laura Bush. It’s something I’ve written about before because it really bothers me, but it seems like I’m the only one who wonders how she got away with it. If you or I ran over and killed someone–especially an ex-boyfriend (very suspicious)–at age 17, we’d be criminally charged and convicted. And we’d serve, at a minimum, a few months, but, more likely, a few years in prison. Unfortunately, even though Laura Bush ran someone over and killed him, she never did a day’s worth of punishment. Why not? She admits it was her fault. I’ve asked about this before.”

“So, instead, she turns to “I got away with manslaughter and criminally negligent driving and now I’m sooooo sorry that I gotta make millions more telling you about it.” The woman never did a single hour of community service, never did anything to make up for her crime. Yes, it’s a crime. Instead, she went on to a great life of wealth and privilege and married to the most powerful man in the world, a life of pandering to the Saudi and other Gulf State Muslim extremists who would fund her hubby’s Presidential library. But that isn’t enough for her. Dancing on the grave of the man whose life she snuffed out is apparently the cherry on top for this classless woman.”

If these paragraphs had been omitted from the article,then yes,I would’ve clearly understood the point of the story being ” media-whoring herself on the dead man’s back.”

I totally appreciate the research,time and effort to bring this information to light,but it seems to me that there is to much extraneous material in the story for the reader to clearly understand what the point of view is supposed to be.

Shalom

Ebayer on May 4, 2010 at 4:43 pm

Is there any public information about the investigation and why there were no charges? Was there an investigation?

I_AM_ME on May 4, 2010 at 4:49 pm

If you have evidence that it was *deliberate* and not simply negligence then back it up. From what I read, she was distracted and missed a stop sign. If it was deliberate, as in she *intended* to kill this guy, then I will stand corrected.

KS: No-one said it was “deliberate.” Again, you refuse to read what I actually wrote and instead lie about it or claim I “inply” and “infer” what I do not. She did NOT stop at the stop sign. She did not pay attention to the road. She deserved to serve time, and in most Michigan courthouses where I’ve been, I see judges send people to jail for this kind of negligence all the time. So sad that you think this is okay pimping material to sell a book. DS

Kaiser Sozay on May 4, 2010 at 4:52 pm

That picture of her between the 2 muslims is creepy. Why do they want to hide their faces?

DS_ROCKS! on May 4, 2010 at 4:57 pm

The viewpoint is Debbie’s and it also happens to be mine. Its not because she and I are friends – it should be a universal human reaction to evil. Yes, the indifference of our society to the disclosure bothers me and no one has the courage to say to such a powerful figure, “you are in the wrong.” In the Tanach, in the Second Books Of Kings, after David slept with Bathsheba, the prophet Nathan visits the King and tells him to his face, “you have committed a sin before G-d.” And while the King is contrite, G-d still punishes him by taking the life of His first-born son. We’re all accountable for what we do in this life and in the end none of us truly gets away with it. The powerful are as subject to the judgment of G-d as are the lowliest among us. He is no respecter of the status of a person when they do evil and neither should we be.

NormanF on May 4, 2010 at 4:59 pm

i never knew the details of this… wow. and to use it to spice up sales of her book is… a shameless sin and slap in the face of the relatives of the guy she killed.

stay classy, laura!

howardroark on May 4, 2010 at 5:11 pm

“KS: As you well know, this was not an “accident.” It was deliberate.”

Didn’t you just use the word “deliberate”? and if saying she “got away” with vehicular homicide doesn’t imply criminal activity and intent then what does? And I never said using it for a book was okay. I said perhaps “distasteful” and I reserved judgment because I don’t know the details of her dealings with the family or the family’s wishes. It seems like you have no such reservations.

Kaiser Sozay on May 4, 2010 at 5:20 pm

Wow! Debbie really knows how to draw them out; from the fat women to the Laura-ites.

It sure isn’t ‘spoken from the brain’. This reminds us, at least partially, where Jenna and Barbara got their mindlessness and self-centeredness from.

Not that Condi was so great, but if GB was seeing her, this may help us understand why.

Little Al on May 4, 2010 at 5:21 pm

KS: As you well know, this was not an “accident.” It was deliberate.

KS: No-one said it was “deliberate.”

KS: RIF–Reading is Fundamental.

Ms. Schlussel: Respectfully, RWYWIAF – Reading what you write is also fundamental.

Tom on May 4, 2010 at 5:27 pm

Can we get someone in the what house that hasn’t plowed someone or wants to these days? These elites are really creeping me out!

Lowest.Set.Bar.Ever. on May 4, 2010 at 5:31 pm

It is never is an accident when a human life is lost. It can’t be. We’re not talking about a traffic ticket here, people. We’re discussing a vehicular homicide or at the very least, manslaughter. Those were back then and are today, felony offenses under the law – in Texas and in every other state in the country, without exception.

NormanF on May 4, 2010 at 5:33 pm

No Norman, they’re not. People die daily in traffic accidents. The person who causes an accident out of an *act* of negligence (not seeing a car coming and turning in front of it) or an *omission* of negligence (not seeing a stop sign) do NOT go to jail and are not charged with a crime unless he or she is drunk or high or engaged in outrageously reckless conduct like drag racing. Even stupid activities like talking on a cell phone or texting that results in an accident don’t result in criminal charges. I’ve been a lawyer doing this for 17 years and I know what I’m talking about. We have the civil justice system and car insurance for cases like this. It is NOT a crime, it is a tort. If you don’t understand the difference, look it up in the dictionary.

Kaiser Sozay on May 4, 2010 at 5:43 pm

An accident IS tort. Killing someone IS a crime and there is a difference between an insurance claim and vehicular homicide or manslaughter. I am not an attorney like you and Debbie but I do understand the difference between the two situations. They are not the same at all.

NormanF on May 4, 2010 at 6:09 pm

I guess we need to follow the money.

How much did Laura pay for her murder?

There must be some payoff to the victim.

She is shamelessly tacky.

goldenmike4393 on May 4, 2010 at 6:15 pm

Debbie,

I’ve been wanting to ask this for awhile. Is there ANY republican or conservative woman you like? You despise just about everyone with XX chromosomes: Michelle Malkin, Laura Ingraham, Sarah Palin, Laura Bush, Sean Hannity 🙂 I thought I read somewhere on your blog ragging on Michele Bachman but I could be mistaken and if so, I stand corrected. Seriously, is there anyone you like?

Janne on May 4, 2010 at 6:47 pm

Prince Al-Waleed News Network = PAWN Network –> I assume that’s intentional? 🙂

Scott Spiegel on May 4, 2010 at 7:04 pm

That’s the new FOX NEWS. Wanna bet it’ll be tough on Islam?

Puhleeaze. And that’s a great pun – America pawned to the highest – or is that the lowest? – bidder.

NormanF on May 4, 2010 at 7:17 pm

I don’t understand the premise that expressing regret for a life changing event that happened 48 years ago is akin to punishing the victim’s family and “dancing on the grave of the man whose life she snuffed out.” “Dancing on the grave” infers a celebration that someone is dead. Certainly that is not what she has written.

What would be even more of a mystery would be for a memoir to avoid the event entirely. Have you thought that perhaps the family of the young man killed in the car accident actually appreciates the fact that Laura Bush is deeply remorseful about the accident and is perhaps paying some respect to the former friend and his family. If it was my child killed in such an accident, I would be more upset if his life were not even worth a respectful mention in the memoir.

And perhaps this event was transformative for young Laura. It seems that what you are most upset about is the fact that Laura Bush has written a memoir, and you deem her unworthy of the privilege.

LtdSkilz on May 4, 2010 at 7:19 pm

“Transformative” in what way? She didn’t pay a price for the crime personally or otherwise and now she’s making it a selling point in her memoir. It doesn’t speak well of her character – exploiting the dead for financial gain… when she and her husband are comfortably well off for the rest of their lives.

NormanF on May 4, 2010 at 7:33 pm

KS: As you well know, this was not an “accident.” It was deliberate.

KS: No-one said it was “deliberate.”

KS: RIF–Reading is Fundamental.

Ms. Schlussel: Respectfully, RWYWIAF – Reading what you write is also fundamental.

Tom on May 4, 2010 at 5:27 pm

Bravo Tom, I thought I might be hallucinating there when no one else except yourself commented on that very bizarre sequence of posts involving the word ‘deliberate’.
😉

mary on May 4, 2010 at 8:42 pm

I’m a supporter of the site and your work, but Debbie, you’re all over the road on this one. This Jekyll/Hyde thing is uncharacteristic of you.

Richard on May 4, 2010 at 11:13 pm

Photo looks to be Photoshoped.

Ushould Consider on May 4, 2010 at 11:22 pm

Laura Bush has always looked weird with her CRAZY looking eyes. Just look at her. She really has the look of a person that’s mentally ill.

samurai on May 4, 2010 at 11:51 pm

I consider myself a pretty good driver, both in skill and in behavior. I’m especially very strict about stopping at stop signs and have always pointed it out to my children. I’ve been that way since obtaining my license at 17.

Yet throughout my driving lifetime, I can recall a few cases specific cases of negligence, sometimes caused by distraction, sometimes caused by total unawareness and sometimes caused by poor judgment.

Based on everything I’m reading here, I don’t see how anyone can make a call, both on the particulars of the incident and on the judgment which should have been passed. It would seem that there are no lack of judiciary case precedents which could go either way. And here we’re talking about a case that goes back decades, to a different place and different time altogether.

I’ll pass, both on forcing myself to make a judgment call and on buying the book. I never buy these kind of books anyway.

Shy Guy on May 5, 2010 at 12:44 am

Gee. This piece of history even made it to Family Guy two years ago.

Shy Guy on May 5, 2010 at 4:42 am

I’m torn. On the one hand I agree that if it were Michelle Obama, people would be all over it. And I honestly have no way of knowing whether or not the accident was deliberate as I didn’t read the police report; I wouldn’t think it was as she doesn’t seem like a cold-blooded killer to me, but stranger things have happened.

BUT. She wrote an autobiography. Everyone knows she killed a man. If she HADN’T mentioned it, we’d be all over it – it would seem awfully callous at best, suspicious at worse. And I’m sure that it was a big event in her life. So she sort of had to bring it up. I don’t necessarily think that discussing an event = exploiting it for cash. On the other hand, I do find it kind of disgusting that she never spoke with the family afterwards, never made any kind of apology to them, was never formally held responsible at all. So I’m all over the map on this one.

hellcat on May 5, 2010 at 10:34 am

Question, since Laura Bush committed this crime against another person, why the heck isn’t she in jail right now? I can’t put 2-@-2 together on that! Debbie, since you mentioned that Ms. Bush is going to be on Oprah “nanny” Winfrey’s show today, do you think that Ms. Winfrey is going to ask her why did she run over that person and killed him? Of course Oprah isn’t going to ask Ms. Bush that, and we all know that noone in the media isn’t going to report on what Ms. Bush wrote in her book, not even Fox News (as we all know that NewCorp/Fox News has 20% of their stock owned by a Saudi prince, that’s why you saw Glenn Beck yesterday say that Shazad should have his Miranda Rights written to him), and we know that the left wing media isn’t going to touch on this as well. And I know for sure that Breitbart isn’t going to put this story on his site, because more likely he’ll pimp for Ms. Bush’s book/novel, so that’s why seldomly post on Breitbart’s message boards anymore!

Liberalism is a Mental Disorder!!!

“A nation is identifed by it’s borders, language & culture!

Sean R. on May 5, 2010 at 10:59 am

OMFG, Debbie and the rest of you good folks, I just browsed onto Andrew Breitbart’s website and guess what, my imagination came to a reality, Breitbart is pimping for Ms. Bush, I read some of the comments on his website and all they’re doing is kissing Laura Bush’s ass like the typical Republicans and “neo-cons” they are. They don’t even know what Ms. Bush wrote in her book by her delibertaly running over a person & killing the poor guy, as usual the posts on Breitbart’s website are drinking the kool-aid as usual, and they’re not making the difference between right and wrong, they are doing the samething, “right vs. left”!

Liberalism is a Mental Disorder!!!

“A nation is identified by it’s borders, language & culture!”

Sean R. on May 5, 2010 at 11:07 am

Sean R., I find it ironic that you would make a comment like “typical Republicans and neo-cons they are…and they’re not making the difference between right and wrong, they are doing the samething, right vs left!”

…and then follow it with “Liberalism is a mental disorder.”

Make sure to call the pot and tell it it’s black, ok, kettle?

hellcat on May 5, 2010 at 11:20 am

I think your all missing the “point”. The point is not guilt or innocence. She admits it. And that’s the point! If the First Lady has a need to remove this guilt from her pysche, she should do it privately with a therapist and not a million best seller that will cause the family pain again. And that’s the POINT. A book should not have contained this. Debbie’s heart is truly in the right place and that is with the family of the dead boy. It is important very much to learn to comprehend when reading.

sam on May 5, 2010 at 2:59 pm

Okay, I am not getting this one. I read the entire account of the story. First, who is to say she has not spoken to the parents of the child she killed before she did her memoir to get their permission to talk about it? Who is to say she is not giving them any of the proceeds? No one knows.

If a 17 year old is in an accident, I am going to guess, that a jury would be hesitant to send a young person with a clean record to jail and ruin two lives. That wouldn’t make any sense. If I were on a jury like that, I certainly would be hesitant to send a young girl like that to jail. It is pure conjecture on your part to say anyone else would have gone to jail. BTW, I would have said the same thing had Michelle Obama done the same thing.

She was 17 years old. We do a lot of stupid things when we are young. I know how my daughter is when she is driving with her friends in the car. She certainly was negligent.

You accuse her of pimping her book. Her book is about her memoirs. The death of the 17 year old had to profoundly affect her life. It would have affected mine. If I were writing my memoirs, that would also be on the top of my list.

Mark

Mark Dias on May 5, 2010 at 9:53 pm

Honor killing? I guess she could have become a professor down at Auburn.

Pinandpuller on May 6, 2010 at 6:41 am

Aslamo-e-Aliakum Friends, Families and Dear Loved Ones:

islamicnet is a website for all kids, Muslims and Non-Muslims which allows everyone get free Quran lessons for Quran recitation, Tajweed, Translation, be it simple reading and learning or Scholarship programs, Islamicnet is helping everyone learn Quran online at home.

Islamicnet website also includes Downloads section where you may download free Quran recitation, Memorization, Tajweed, Tarteel and Tafseer software, Islamic wallpapers, screensavers, articles, press releases, photos, and other stuff related to God, Muhammad (PBUH), and Quran courses details…

Please tell us if you liked your new website?

Thank you and Best regards

islamicnet on May 6, 2010 at 7:42 am

Seriously, islamicnet? You’re either a troll or completely insane…

hellcat on May 6, 2010 at 9:18 am

Debbie, I hate you and I hate your loathsome politics. But I completely agree with you on this. It’s sad to think that money and influence can protect people like Laura Bush.

RHG on May 6, 2010 at 11:13 am

I’m staying out of this one except to say this:

This is the first I’ve heard that Laura “ran over” her ex. I thought she hit his car with hers?

Amy on May 9, 2010 at 11:49 pm

Wow didn’t even know she killed someone…Having had a son who died at the hands of someone else 9 years ago—How painful it must be for the family of the son whose life she took away.
I agree Debbie–Tacky to say the least–I see Laura Bush in a different light now, but then I was starting to see other things that did not settle right with my spirit anyway.
As usual you are right on Debbie.
Thanks

Miss Truth on June 22, 2010 at 1:05 pm