I'm not sure what to think about this. I think "skeptical" might be the best word.

Two books now contain the charge that Bush was arrested for possession of cocaine in 1972 in Texas, most likely in late November or December after his stint in Alabama. Bush was allowed to perform community service in 1973 by working for a minority children's program in Houston, Professionals United for Leadership League (PULL), chaired by his father. The record of that arrest was expunged, meaning he apparently received the equivalent of Youthful Offender status at the age of 26.

It would be awfully helpful if the Progressive Southerner or Mike Odom would indicate which books contain the charge. Without cites, this looks as loony as my late Uncle Tom's charge that Clinton was involved in trafficking cocaine through the "Arkansas mafia."

...whereas this, on the other hand, looks far less fishy:

In a new development Wednesday, a retired Texas National Guard officer said he overheard a conversation in 1997 between then-Gov. Bush's chief of staff, Joe Allbaugh, and then-Adjutant Gen. Daniel James of the Texas Air National Guard in which he contends those two men spoke about getting rid of any military records that would "embarrass the governor."

Former Lt. Col. Bill Burkett told the AP that he saw documents from Bush's file discarded in a trash can a few days later at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas. Burkett described them as performance and pay documents. He said the documents bore the header: "Bush, George W. 1lt." _ meaning first lieutenant.

And if that is interesting to you, my friend, go over to Calpundit, because Kevin just talked to Burkett for a long time and will soon report about the conversation.

Kevin drops another little tasty morsel, from USA Today, in the meantime:

A second former Texas Guard official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, was told by a participant that commanders and Bush advisers were particularly worried about mentions in the records of arrests of Bush before he joined the National Guard in 1968, the second official said.

Arrests, huh? Tasty.

T-shirt weather.