So says The National Enquirer.

Yeah, I know.  The National Enquirer.  So we can assume it’s not true.  Especially when you read sentences like this in the Enquirer article (which itself reads like a really bad Dallas episode):

"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!"

Now, this implies that President Bush was, you know, actually engaged in what was going on in New Orleans.  Clearly, he wasn’t.  Certainly not at the time the levees broke.  So the veracity of the story is dubious.

On the other hand, recall that the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal first "broke" in the tabloids — and those turned out to be true.

And Bush certainly has good reason to drink.  He has fewer and fewer friends.

Here’s what Andrew Sullivan has to say:

A sea-change? Dan Drezner, who actually criticized this administration when it could have made a difference (yes, he even endorsed Kerry in frustration at the incompetence of it all), notices a change in right-wing blogs. Check out the comment section. Money quote there:

Funny, these are the same guys who idolized him for the first five years of his presidency. What changed, all of a sudden? Certainly not Bush, he is still acting the same way he has his entire career.

What’s changed is that after five years of presidency, the elections are finally over. It is now safe to criticise Bush, because such criticism can’t possibly matter any more – it can’t affect his reelection chances.

Forgive me if I don’t perceive this as responsible conservatism. Responsibility would have been criticising him before it’s too late to do anything about his weaknesses.

Ahem.

Even Bob Novak can’t deny the "sea change" against Bush:

Longtime participants in Forstmann Little conferences…told me they had not experienced such hostility against a Republican president at previous events. Yet, they were sure a majority of the guests had voted for Bush.

….U.S. News & World Report disclosed this week, with apparent disdain, that presidential adviser Karl Rove took time off from the Katrina relief effort to be at Aspen. He was needed as a counterweight. I settled in for serious fireworks, expecting Bush-bashers to assault his alter ego at the conference’s final session. However, direct confrontation with a senior aide must have been more difficult than a remote attack on the president. It would be a shame if Rove returned to Washington without informing George W. Bush how erstwhile friends have turned against him.

So it’s not too surprising that Bush might be turning to old reliable friends.  In this case, Jack Daniels and Jim Beam.