PULLgate

In 1973, George W. Bush did some community service for the Professional United Leadership League (P.U.L.L.), an inner city poverty program. Bush likes to brag about his volunteer work to show what a sensitive person he is.

"I was working full time for an inner-city poverty program known as Project P.U.L.L. My friend John White ... asked me to come help him run the program. ... I was intrigued by John's offer. ... Now I had a chance to help people." - George W. Bush, A Charge To Keep

"Well, a wonderful man named John White asked me to come and work with him in a project in the Third Ward of Houston. If we don't help others, if we don't step up and lead, who will?" - George W. Bush, Republican National Convention

But the wagging tongues of the Vast Left Wing Conspiracy have long been wondering if this work was somehow required, since - let's face it - working for an inner city poverty group seems just slightly out of character for the Crown Prince Of The Let-Them-Eat-Cake Crowd.

And it turns out the critics were right. Bush was probably doing it to stay out of jail.

"But White's administrative assistant and others associated with P.U.L.L., speaking on the record for the first time, say Bush was not helping to run the program and White had not asked Bush to come aboard. Instead, the associates said, White told them he agreed to take Bush on as a favor to Bush's father, who was honorary co-chairman of the program at the time, and Bush was unpaid. They say White told them Bush had gotten into some kind of trouble but White never gave them specifics.

"We didn't know what kind of trouble he'd been in, only that he'd done something that required him to put in the time," said Althia Turner, White's administrative assistant.

They also contradict what he did while he was there:

"My friend John White ... asked me to come help him run the program." - George W. Bush

"He didn't help run the program. I was in charge of him and I wouldn't say I helped run the program, either," said David Anderson, a recreational director at P.U.L.L.

In fairness, by all accounts Bush worked hard while he was there.

But somehow I don't think it's a coincidence that the time Bush spent doing forced community service for P.U.L.L. is around the same time that he disappeared from the Alabama National Guard.