With every book I’ve written, I’ve encountered a certain amount of hesitancy on the part of potential sources, because they are understandably reluctant to talk about powerful people, either for fear of retribution or for fear of being socially ostracized. The amount of trepidation I encountered in writing this book was unprecedented, but perhaps that’s what comes from writing about a sitting President whose family has a long reach. Many sources were reluctant to tell their stories on the record…. Many people who know the Bushes- friends, former employees, classmates, business associates, and even a few family members- were skittish about speaking for attribution. I heard an endless stream of excuses and apologies, some comical, others disconcerting: “You don’t know that family… If they think I’ve talked to you, they’ll never speak to me again.” “This town is too small to rile the Bushes.” “I want to live to see my grandchildren.” One man said, “You can’t use my name. They’ll come after me. The Bushes are thugs.”
“Thugs? Surely, you’re kidding,” I said.
“Look what they did in Florida during the 2000 recount,” he answered, and then detailed the “Brooks Brothers Riot” of Republican activists who helped stop the voting in Miami by storming the canvassing board. To prove his point, the man sent records showing that many of the rioters in pin-striped suits had been paid by the recount committee.
- Kitty Kelley, The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty
September 19, 2004 6:00 AM
