Bruise from the “pretzel choke incident.”

“The sad fact is that he has been sneaking drinks for weeks now. Laura may have only just caught him – but the word is his drinking has been going on for a while in the capital. He’s been in a pressure cooker for months. The war in Iraq, the loss of American lives, has deeply affected him. He takes every soldier’s life personally. It has left him emotionally drained. The result is he’s taking drinks here and there, likely in private, to cope.And now with the worst domestic crisis in his administration over Katrina, you pray his drinking doesn’t go out of control.”

— unnamed Washington source about the Chimperor falling off the wagon

Oh boy. Blender Cat pointed me to this National Enquirer piece on the Chimp being back on the sauce. Normally, of course, people dismiss the Enquirer because they pay sources, but more often than not, its reporting on high-profile people turns out to be true, particularly regarding politicians (Clinton/Lewinsky, Gary Hart/Donna Rice) and celebrities (Whitney Houston and cocaine) — and just about anyone that’s been outed. It’s just that the MSM won’t touch the stories because they cannot get anyone to go on the record or get independent verification. What do you think — BS or the real deal?

Faced with the biggest crisis of his political life, President Bush has hit the bottle again, The National Enquirer can reveal. Bush, who said he quit drinking the morning after his 40th birthday, has started boozing amid the Katrina catastrophe.

U.S. President George W. Bush (R) and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan share a toast at a luncheon at the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York, September 14, 2005.

Family sources have told how the 59-year-old president was caught by First Lady Laura downing a shot of booze at their family ranch in Crawford, Texas, when he learned of the hurricane disaster.

…Following the shocking incident, disclosed here for the first time, Laura privately warned her husband against “falling off the wagon” and vowed to travel with him more often so that she can keep an eye on Dubya, the sources add.

“When the levees broke in New Orleans, it apparently made him reach for a shot,” said one insider. “He poured himself a Texas-sized shot of straight whiskey and tossed it back. The First Lady was shocked and shouted: “Stop George!”

…Bush is under the worst pressure of his two terms in office and his popularity is near an all-time low. The handling of the Katrina crisis and troop losses in Iraq have fueled public discontent and pushed Bush back to drink.

…Another source said: “I’m only surprised to hear that he hadn’t taken a shot sooner. Before Katrina, he was at his wit’s end. I’ve known him for years. He’s been a good ol’ Texas boy forever. George had a drinking problem for years that most professionals would say needed therapy. He doesn’t believe in it [therapy], he never got it. He drank his way through his youth, through college and well into his thirties. Everyone’s drinking around him.”

Another source said: “A family member told me they fear George is ‘falling apart.’ The First Lady has been assigned the job of gatekeeper.”

Dr. Justin Frank, a Washington D.C. psychiatrist and author of Bush On The Couch: Inside The Mind Of The President, told The National Enquirer: “I do think that Bush is drinking again. Alcoholics who are not in any program, like the President, have a hard time when stress gets to be great.

“I think it’s a concern that Bush disappears during times of stress. He spends so much time on his ranch. It’s very frightening.”

See this earlier Blend post about Justin Frank’s book, which I’ve read. If even a fraction of what he says is on the mark, we’ll be lucky to survive the next few years before the psycho is finally out of power.

Gawker and Wonkette also give some time to this one.