JOHN HINCKLEY NEARLY INSTALLED GEORGE BUSH, SR. - GETTING OUT UNDER GEORGE W. BUSH. - Major media won't publish Bush-Hinckley link. Karl Rove and John Ashcroft engineered an early release to head off controversy next year.

Washington, Dec. 17, 2003 - In 1981, as Scott Hinckley prepared to have dinner at Neil Bush's (brother of the current president), Hinckley's brother, John Hinckley, prepared to shoot President Reagan, which could have made Bush's father president. The Justice Dept. has resisted John Hinckley's release since 1981, but with Bush Jr. in power, Hinckley is getting out, starting with unsupervised visits to his parents. The Ashcroft Justice Dept. had gone through some motions to oppose this.
In Washington, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman has just approved John Hinckley's release for unsupervised visits to his parents' home in a Virginia suburb.
The story about the Bush-Hinckley dinner date has not been disputed, even by the Bushes. But the news media have always ignored all aspects of the Bush connection in "the big story of the 1980s." Watch and see them do it again. They will reprise the attack and the history since 1981, when Hinckley is released; but they will ignore the Bush-Hinckley connection, and even ridicule any reports of it.

George Bush, Sr., and Hinckley's father were friendly competitors in the oil business (Zapata Oil vs. Vanderbilt Energy) and political allies. Hinckley's father claimed to support Reagan the year before the shooting (1980 election), but his campaign contributions instead went to none other than George Bush for the Republican primary.

Ignoring all conspiracy theories, the Hinckleys and Bushes were, and maybe are, family friends. If Hinckley is to remain incarcerated, it is up to Bush's Justice Dept. (Mr. Ashcroft & Co.) to convince a court otherwise. With the unsupervised visits, he appears on the way to complete release.
The families of Reagan and Brady have opposed the unsupervised visits, citing concerns for their safety.

President Reagan's life is fading under the terrible haze of Alzheimer's disease. Some authorities cite major physical trauma as a possible cause of Alzheimer's.

In the wake of the Reagan shooting, the rules for a mental illness defense were changed. To be eligible, a person must not know the difference between right and wrong. However, Hinckley would no longer be eligible, since his defense rested on a claimed "irresistible impulse," which is no longer enough. Under the new rules he could be in prison instead of in and out of a D.C. hospital, getting ready to be declared cured and free.
President Bush has not commented on the Hinckley case since just after the shooting 22 years ago.Federal judge grants John Hinckley Jr.'s request for unsupervised visits with his parents, official says.
A Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman issued the order granting John Hinckley Jr.'s request
Hinckley, 48, has lived at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington since he was acquitted in 1982 by reason of insanity in the shootings of Reagan, presidential press secretary James Brady and two law enforcement officers. Reagan was nearly killed and Brady was permanently disabled. Hinckley said he shot Reagan to impress actress Jodie Foster.