Bo Bice

[horsnhound]

And whose to say that he wasn't "trying" drugs when he got arrested?
And lets talk about performers and athletes who have handlers, publicists and managers who's job it is to make sure that their clients, while still doing these felonius acts, avoid public scrutiny.





As succinclty as I can put it, if it's good enough for our president.........

[Google]

 

[wisgalb]

TRYING drugs is one thing. Most people have done that on some level (usually pot). But getting ARRESTED is quite another. Only a very small percentage of people ever find themselves behind bars.....much less twice.

What is it with people automatically forgiving their favorite celebrities for darn near anything? Treating any felonious conduct like it's some sort of everyday thing......as long as the person doing it can sing, hit a baseball, or what have you? Committing felonies is not normal or everyday. Nor is getting repeatedly arrested. And being "entertaining" or "talented" does not negate the very negative impact of such events.

[Warhol]

Originally Posted by DagnyTaggart

The laws and mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug crimes in our country is ridiculous. It's the reason why our jails are full - mostly with young minority men - and our kids are being raised in single family homes and looking to FOX tv for role models. Our country looks the other way when rich white boys "experiment," - and simultaneously uses that same experientation to lock the less fortunate (read 'less white, less privileged') away as if they violently attacked a person instead of altered their own mental state the way one does with ....wait for it....alcohol. But alcohol is taxed - our government makes money off of it. So it's fine.

Generally speaking, you make some good points. And I agree with them. However, these points simply don't apply to Bo in any way, shape, or form.

Far from being "less white" or "less privileged," Bo is both white and middle class. And he comes from a part of the country that has historically favored white, middle class men quite explicitly. So how exactly is the "system" set up against him or people of his "type"?

[bamabrain]

Posting the article to let you know some of the local response. Like I said previously, I'm voting Bo.

Article from The Birmingham News 04/29/05
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnew...6845317980.xml



Bice's brushes with law revealed
Friday, April 29, 2005
MARY COLURSO
News staff writer
Relatives and friends say they're standing behind Bo Bice, the "American Idol" contestant from Helena, despite his drug-related brushes with the law.

Court records show that Bice, 29, whose full name is Harold Elwin Bice Jr., was arrested for possession of cocaine in Huntsville in June 2001, and possession of marijuana in Pelham in July 2003. In the latter case, Bice pleaded guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia and public intoxication, the records say.

Both drug possession charges were dismissed in 2004 after Bice completed a "drug diversion program," according to The Smoking Gun Web site, www.thesmokinggun.com.

Alexandra Gillespie, a spokeswoman for the Fox TV network, which airs "American Idol," said Bice would remain on the show.

Gillespie released a prepared statement Thursday, saying producers already knew about Bice's arrest record.

"From the beginning, Bo was honest and forthcoming in revealing his previous indiscretions and their outcome," the statement said.


Checkered past:


Efforts to reach Bice were unsuccessful. In a previous interview, he had mentioned a checkered past, and said joining a church in Shelby County, New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian, allowed him to mend his wild ways.

"I lived the rock life and was lucky enough to get out of that," Bice said.

Evie Hawkins of Somerville, Bice's cousin, said she was unaware of the specifics of Bice's police record.

"I know he's been ashamed of the things he's done, and very sorry," said Hawkins, 49, a social worker. "I can speak for his character now, and I completely believe in him."

Hawkins said family members, including Bice's mother, Nancy Downes of Atlanta, consider him someone "who has completely turned his life around."

"He knew he needed help, and the church threw him a lifeline," Hawkins said. "They opened his eyes."

The Rev. Donny Acton, 44, pastor at New Hope church, said Bice had confided in him, and he acknowledged that Bice has made mistakes. However, critics should examine their own lives before judging Bice too harshly, Acton said.

"I'm sure this hurts Bo," Acton said. "He's got a past. Don't we all? Bo's not perfect. We know that. But I'm going to stand as a brother with him and love him."

Acton said he would do the same for any member of the church, which has a congregation of about 230 people and employs the motto, "The place where misfits fit."

"We aren't a country club for saints; we're a hospital for sinners," Acton said. "Everybody's got sin, maybe just not displayed in a police record."


`Take it on the chin':


According to Acton and Bice's longtime friends John Cooper and Shane Sexton, of the band SugarMoney, Bice expected his police record to be revealed and spur controversy eventually.

"We knew it was coming," Cooper, 31, said Thursday. "I talked to Bo this morning. He said he's going to take it on the chin and keep going. "

Sexton, 28, said Bice doesn't have a drug habit and called the arrests "a bona fide history lesson."

"Bo's never had a life-inhibiting habit or a severe addiction," Sexton said. "He quit everything a long time ago. He's always been focused on his music and his work. It was an incident, a bad decision, a wrong place at the wrong time."

Cooper and Sexton dispelled any notions that Bice might quit "American Idol."

"Absolutely not," Cooper said. "If this does anything to Bo, it's going to make him try harder."

E-mail: mcolurso@bhamnews.com

[horsnhound]

Warhol, for someone who is obviously dead set against drug usage, or should I say drug abuse of any kind, I find your avatar extremely ironic.

[Warhol]

Originally Posted by horsnhound

And whose to say that he wasn't "trying" drugs when he got arrested?

In most jurisdictions there are two levels of drug possession: misdemeanor possession, which is a small amount that one might be "trying"; and felony possession, which is a larger amount that usually indicates heavy usage or dealing. Bo was busted for the latter.

Originally Posted by horsnhound

As succinclty as I can put it, if it's good enough for our president.........

So two wrongs make a right as long as a President did it? Then I guess it's okay to perjure oneself (Clinton) and conspire to commit larceny (Nixon) too.

[Grisabella]

Originally Posted by Warhol

In most jurisdictions there are two levels of drug possession: misdemeanor possession, which is a small amount that one might be "trying"; and felony possession, which is a larger amount that usually indicates heavy usage or dealing. Bo was busted for the latter.

1. To say "arrested for felony posession of cocaine in Alabama" is redundant. Posession of any amount of any controlled substance other than marijuana is a felony in that state.

The amount of cocaine found in Bo's coat pocket was between .25 and .5 grams.

2. Bo is not a convicted felon, nor does he have "a record of convictions for drug posession" (as some journalistically sloppy reports have said). He pled guilty to misdemeanor charges of public intoxication (like our own dear President was never guilty of that in his 20s and 30s?) and posession of drug paraphernalia.

It's not clear, from the many accounts I've read, whether Bo was even guilty of posessing or using cocaine. His dad says Bo's cousin was facing serious jail time for drug charges and the DA agreed to go easy on her if she "turned in so many people." The police -- very conveniently -- stopped him as he exited the bar where he'd been playing a gig and found a small amount of cocaine and 2 marijuana joints in the pocket of his jacket, which had been draped over a chair in the bar while he performed.

Click here to read the rest of that article: http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp...8&nav=0hBEZEjs

It seems Bo and his attorney may have been ready to fight the cocaine charge -- and may have had evidence to do just that -- when it was dismissed. But when he was arrested for the 3 overlapping marijuana charges at the same time the DA decided to reopen the old cocaine-charge case, 2 years later, Bo's opting to do the diversion program allowed him to get both drug posession charges dropped. If going through the drug diversion program allowed his record to be wiped clean of both drug posession charges, what would have been the point of his spending the time and money to fight the cocaine posession charge in court -- even if he hadn't been a user -- and risk a conviction?

Nobody has to vote for Bo if they don't want to, but, please, folks, let's get the facts of the story straight and stop using labels that are unfair.

And if you want to be technical and call him a "criminal," (because, by definition, he pled guilty to an offense, however minnor, in the criminal law) well so were Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Jesus.

Leave off the inflammatory labels and you have a guy who has used at least one intoxicating substance which happens to be illegal. Not ideal behavior -- for the sake of his own health -- but why is it more immoral than drinking beer, wine, or whiskey (or getting hooked on prescription mood-altering substances, the way many others have)?

[Chach]

Originally Posted by horsnhound

Granted the whole "grandma makes my clothes, big happy close knit family, loves his girlfriend, loves animals, churchgoing good boy" thing was nice, but I like a little dirt in my rock, and this frankly authenticates Bo for me. Please, I've dated my share of musicians, I've yet to meet one who has (sorry Chach) never done drugs. And I didn't get that he had a serious problem with cocaine from the article, only that he went thru rehab as a way of avoiding a felony charge.
To those of you who are horrified by this news, i defie you to go through your music collection and find one band/performer who has NEVER tried drugs.
(Flame retardent suit firmly in place)

OK, I'm going through my music collection right now...Stone Temple Pilots, Jimi Hendrix, Ozzy Osbourne, Courtney Love, Snoop Dogg, Janis Joplin...I'm really sure none of these people have used drugs. I just can't believe these wild accusations you are making.

I've dated a musician, too - a super hot accordion player - and all we did was drink milk and cookies. There was always a lot of smoke in her van, but she said it was because her air conditioner was broken. I have no reason to doubt that.

[Warhol]

Originally Posted by horsnhound

Warhol, for someone who is obviously dead set against drug usage, or should I say drug abuse of any kind, I find your avatar extremely ironic.

I was wondering when someone would say something about that.

However, I'm not dead set against drug usage. As far as I'm concerned, casual usage is fine. What I am saying is that there's a distinction between casual usage and an arrest for felony drug possession...two things that, in my view, don't reside in the same galaxy.

[horsnhound]

Oh flippin' He!! Chach...........Spit all over my screen!