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Last night former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura made a secret visit to the devastated military families at Fort Hood. The Bushes instructed the commander of the mourning military base that they wanted no publicity. With their Secret Service detail, Bush and his wife made the 30 mile trip unannounced from their ranch near Crawford, Texas Friday evening. Fox News broke news of the visit this afternoon. Other sources said the former first couple spent about two hours meeting with the wounded, family and soldiers, talking quietly and at times hugging them as they did in private...

During the election campaign, Barack Obama's cool detachment was a winning quality, the "No Drama Obama" a welcome contrast with the "Mr Angry" John McCain, never mind the hot-headed "I'm the decider" President George W Bush. A year into his presidency, however, Mr Obama seems a curiously bloodless president. If he experiences passion, he seldom shows it. It is often anyone's guess as to whether an event or issue truly moves him. More serious perhaps was Mr Obama's strange disconnectedness over the Fort Hood massacre of 13 soldiers by an Army major and devout Muslim who opposed the wars in...

A year after his historic election, President Barack Obama sought to remind Americans on Wednesday the biggest problems he is grappling with -- from the economy to the war in Afghanistan -- are the legacy of his predecessor, George W. Bush....he said his administration was also confronted with a "financial crisis that threatened to plunge our economy into a Great Depression, the worst that we've seen in generations.""We had record deficits, two wars, frayed alliances around the world," Obama added.He said his administration had acted swiftly to save the economy from "imminent collapse." -(http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-43692420091104?sp=true) It seems the Manchild-in-Chief is...

Barack Obama's reaction to bad news is to play it so cool that Americans yearn for a bit more drama - and some even for his predecessor, writes Toby Harnden in Washington. During the election campaign, Barack Obama's cool detachment was a winning quality, the "No Drama Obama" a welcome contrast with the "Mr Angry" John McCain, never mind the hot-headed "I'm the decider" President George W Bush. A year into his presidency, however, Mr Obama seems a curiously bloodless president. If he experiences passion, he seldom shows it. It is often anyone's guess as to whether an event or...

Bush Visits The Families Of The Victims Of Ft. Hood; Obama Still In Washington, Busy Pushing For Socialist Health Care Priorities, priorities...

<p>FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) ― Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, visited wounded soldiers and their families near the site of the worst mass shooting on an Army post in the United States.</p> <p>The Bushes made their private visit to Fort Hood's Darnall Army Medical Center on Friday night. Bush spokesman David Sherzer said in an e-mail that the couple thanked Fort Hood's military leaders and hospital staff for the "amazing care they are providing."</p>

An open letter to the local daily paper — almost every local daily paper in America: I remember reading All the President's Men and thinking: That's journalism. You do what it takes to get the truth and you lay it before the public, because the public has a right to know. This housing crisis didn't come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration. It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor...

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) ― Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, visited wounded soldiers and their families near the site of the worst mass shooting on an Army post in the United States. The Bushes made their private visit to Fort Hood's Darnall Army Medical Center on Friday night. Bush spokesman David Sherzer said in an e-mail that the couple thanked Fort Hood's military leaders and hospital staff for the "amazing care they are providing."

Hours after the Fort Hood massacre, a grieving nation looked to the president for consolation and leadership. Instead, it got light banter and a "shout-out" before President Obama read a perfunctory statement. The president has always had a reputation for coolness, but in this case, he was utterly detached. He can't blame the scriptwriter for his astonishing lack of empathy.

WASHINGTON -- The Palestinians had hoped they would see a new day coming after the Bush administration’s eight-year capitulation to all that Israel wanted. But they were wrong. The Obama administration is moving down the same Bush road -- perhaps a little slower -- but nonetheless still enabling the Israelis to continue to violate international law and the U.N. Charter by annexing occupied Arab land. First, the new administration made it clear that U.S. policy opposed new Jewish settlements on the West Bank. This declaration was met with a thumping rejection from the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu. Then,...

The man can't even attend a baseball game without a bunch of kooks calling for his arrest...

Former president George W Bush thought that the United States could turn Kabul into Peoria, the archetypal American city in the state of Illinois. President Barack Obama thinks that Kabul is just as good as Peoria. America has shed idealist delusion - that imposing the outward form of democracy in Iraq or Afghanistan would implant its content - in favor of an even stranger delusion, which refuses "to elevate one nation or group of people over another", as Obama told the United Nations on September 23. It was mad to believe that America could remake the world in its own...

< The Best American President India's Ever Had Ashok Malik, That's George W. Bush. On Oct. 30 and 31, George W. Bush visited New Delhi and Bombay for meetings with India's political, strategic and business establishment. In the Indian capital, he addressed an audience of federal government officials, parliamentarians, business executives and foreign policy wonks that comprised the most receptive gathering the former American president had encountered in a long, long time. As Bush left the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit--a high-profile conference organized by a leading Indian newspaper--the ambassador of a major country, a NATO ally, could be seen shaking...

MADISON, Wis. (Reuters) - A year after his historic election, President Barack Obama sought to remind Americans on Wednesday the biggest problems he is grappling with -- from the economy to the war in Afghanistan -- are the legacy of his predecessor, George W. Bush. With his approval ratings down from once-lofty levels and Tuesday's Democratic election losses raising questions about his political clout, Obama held no special ceremony to mark the anniversary of his election as America's first black president.

A "debate" between former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush has been nixed because the promoter overhyped it as a death-match faceoff between the men, The Post has learned. Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna said the appearance was never slated to be a "debate" and was actually a moderated panel discussion with the 42nd and 43rd leaders of the free world. "This event ... was supposed to be a discussion between the two former presidents, and has been cancelled because it was not being billed as such by an overeager promoter," McKenna said.

There are 29 of 'em. And they can be handily compared with the Newsweek Obama covers (here: http://trackacrat.com/2009/10/09/5007/), which number 30, both in terms of frequency and tone of coverage. I can safely report that the findings conform to the pattern established earlier: namely, that President Bush was consistently treated like a leper, while President Obama receives the all-star treatment. Some choice Newsweek Bush covers include the wonderfully objective titles of, “Bush’s $87 Billion Mess“, “The Price of Denial“, “How Much Power Should They Have?“, “Will Bush Listen?” and the awesomely condescending “Father Knows Best.” Follow the jump for links...

In the video, the Marines exhibit obvious love and respect for President Bush. His visit was not an event that followed closely on the heels of 9/11. This video was taken after the worst days of the war and after the surge created major progress in the region. The president is visiting the troops in Anbar Province, the home of the infamous Falluja and Ar Ramadi killing grounds. This visit took place after the province had been pacified. In other words, the Marines showed their love of Mr. Bush even after the darkest days of the war. The Lejune video,...

CNN) - Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are set to appear at Radio City Music Hall in February, though if history is any guide the match up is likely to produce few fireworks. The famous New York City venue announced Wednesday the two former presidents will share the same stage February 25, nine months after the ex-presidents shared a similar stage in Toronto, Canada. What Radio City is calling "the hottest political ticket in history" carries a price range $60 to $1,250. Though $1,250 may seem on steep side for the 90 minute event, a VIP ticket...

It's billed as "The Hottest Ticket in Political History:" A debate between Bill Clinton and George W. Bush at Radio City Music Hall. The event will happen in February as part of MSG Entertainment's third annual "Minds That Move The World" speakers series. The former presidents will debate topics "ranging from the economy, to foreign policy, to the current administration." From the press release: The series will be formatted to allow for President Clinton and President Bush to each present their thoughts on a wide range of important current events and national issues through a moderated question and answer period...

Former President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch for a baseball game in Japan Tuesday during his first visit since he left office. Bush joined former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to watch the game between the Yomiuri Giants and Nippon Ham Fighters. Bush changed into a baseball jacket before taking the mound in the Tokyo Dome to throw the pitch before Game 3 of the Japan Series. He chatted briefly with several players before joining Koizumi in a private box. Also in the box were Japanese home run king Sadaharu Oh and U.S. Ambassador to Japan...

Obama used the War in Afghanistan to get elected. He then announced that the “War on Terror” was “over”. And now, stuck between either keeping his campaign promise or surrendering to his far-left base that is slowly abandoning their support for the war, he is stalling on making clear decisions on Afghanistan (while using the dignified transfer of our fallen soldiers as yet another opening for a photo-op.) Rapid response. Taking the necessary actions under pressure. Making the right decisions and sticking to them. All of these are qualities a president absolutely needs to have in wartime for the sake...

<p>TOKYO — Former President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 3 of the Japan Series between the Yomiuri Giants and Nippon Ham Fighters.</p> <p>Bush, wearing a Yomiuri warmup jacket, took the mound Tuesday at Tokyo Dome and threw a pitch to Giants catcher Shinnosuke Abe that bounced once in the dirt before being caught.</p>

Listened to Bush Sr. Gave lots of credit to others, but there was a stark omission of Reagan. No Credit for Reagan???

One of President Barack Obama’s top funders, Code Pink’s Jodie Evans, is encouraging the kidnapping of former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura, according to new statements issued this week by Jodie Evans and Code Pink. While it might be tempting to look at this latest effort by Code Pink as an innocuous publicity campaign, Code Pink’s history of working with state sponsors of terrorism and supporting violent protest against President Bush–and their near successful arrest of then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales–is cause for concern. Two weeks after meeting Obama at a high dollar fundraiser in San Francisco, Jodie...

Bush shows appetite for humour & food SAMYABRATA RAY GOSWAMI Mumbai, Nov. 1: Manmohan Singh once told him the “people of India love you deeply”. But an out-of-office George W. Bush, finally getting a first-hand feel of how he fares on the popularity meter back home, was a bit wary in Mumbai. Tongue firmly in cheek, he told a top business leader here yesterday: “I am no more the President, you guys can go ahead and tell me on my face now what you really think of me.” The former US President was at a dinner meeting of the Indo-US...

Every president will blame the past one, either directly or indirectly (using media commentators or spokesmen.) And many times it is valid to do that. Most Americans agreed that G.W. Bush could not be (entirely) responsible for the successful Sept 11, 2001 attacks or the 2001 market crash. Much of what he had to work with his first nine months was left over from the Clinton administration. But liberals (progressives) to this day still say that the "September 11, 2001 attacks were on Bush's Watch" after only nine months in office and that Bush was left a booming economy by...

Bush jokes about new life 'I have a different life now,' Mr Bush (left), 63, said wryly. 'I am an old, retired guy.' --PHOTO: AFP NEW DELHI - FORMER US president George W. Bush stepped briefly back into the limelight on Saturday, using a conference speech in New Delhi to defend his record and to crack jokes about his retirement. Bush chose an annual gathering of business leaders in India, a country where his reputation rode high throughout his time in power, to make a rare public appearance nine months after leaving office. 'I have a different life now,' Mr...

BERLIN (Reuters) – George Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev and Helmut Kohl paid their respects to the ordinary people who were behind the peaceful revolution of 1989 that brought down the Berlin Wall at an emotional ceremony in Berlin on Saturday. The three statesmen from the United States, Soviet Union and West Germany -- whose steady-handed leadership paved the way for the Wall's opening on November 9, 1989 -- recalled the heady events that led to the end of the Cold War at a ceremony attended by 1,800 people. "We Germans don't have very much in our history to be proud of,"...

In a roundtable today with Pakistani editors, Hillary Clinton responded to a question about the Israeli-Palestinian issue with the now-familiar Obama administration litany: the problems are hard, they were inherited, they were ignored by the prior administration: I think that, look, we all know that the Israeli-Palestinian issue is one that is a very serious and difficult problem that we are working hard also to try to resolve. We inherited a lot of problems. If you remember, when my husband left office, we were very close to an agreement because he worked on it all the time. The next administration...

NEW DELHI: Prime ministerial lunches are rarely fun affairs. People sort of get on with it, and then get on with their lives. Not on Friday. Early in the day, former US president George Bush, on a pleasure trip to India, announced cheerily, “I’m off to have lunch with my old pal.” He sauntered across to the home of his pal, one Manmohan Singh, who famously abandoned his starchy mien to declare this nation’s “deep love” for Bush, then stood stoically through the vicious jokes hurled at him. But for all those present at the “friendly” lunch this afternoon, Bush...

New Delhi - Former US president George W Bush on Saturday warned that the war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan must be won else the world would face "serious threats."Addressing a conference in New Delhi, Bush said defeating the radical Islamic groups was necessary to stop a return to "brutal tyranny" in that country. "The mission in Afghanistan has been long and difficult and costly but I believe it is necessary for stability and peace," he told the conference organized by the Hindustan Times. "If the Taliban, al-Qaeda and their extremist allies were allowed to take over Afghanistan...

Saturday, October 31, 2009 Obama DOJ shovels out more grist for foreign prosecutions of Bush officials   [Andy McCarthy] Well, the hyper-"transparent" Obama administration won't share any of its internal deliberations on matters about which there is no good reason to keep the public in the dark — e.g., its strong-arming in Honduras, its dismissal of a slam-dunk civil rights case against the New Black Panther Party, and the legal analysis by DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel that explains why the DC Voting Rights Bill is unconstitutional — but it continues to shovel out previously classified information about interrogation techniques...

Manmohan, Bush Get Candid Over Lunch 31 October 2009 NEW DELHI: Prime ministerial lunches are rarely fun affairs. People sort of get on with it, and then get on with their lives. Not on Friday. Early in the day, former US president George Bush, on a pleasure trip to India, announced cheerily, “I’m off to have lunch with my old pal.” He sauntered across to the home of his pal, one Manmohan Singh, who famously abandoned his starchy mien to declare this nation’s “deep love” for Bush, then stood stoically through the vicious jokes hurled at him. But for all...

Are the news media treating President Obama "better" than they did President George W. Bush? Yes No

The couple now spend more time together than at nearly any other point since their early years together. On many days, they see Malia and Sasha off to school, exercise together and do not begin their public schedules until 9 or even 10 o’clock. They recently finished redecorating the White House residence, the first lady requesting an outdoor rocking chair for her husband to read in, the president scrutinizing colors and patterns, said Desirée Rogers, the White House social secretary. The pair recently began playing tennis. (He wins, she admitted; for now, he added.) This summer, the first lady surprised...

Since his brother left office in January, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has been mostly diplomatic when discussing the Obama administration. On Wednesday, he took a sharper tone. During remarks to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce legal summit in Washington, Bush had tough words for the president in response to an audience question. "I think President Obama has used the bully pulpit as a way to attack capitalism," he said, according to LegalNewsline.com.

If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes? If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved? If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan's holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would...

Viagra antidote Joy Behar interviewed an almost lifelike Gore Vidal on her show I Can't Shut My Hole and revealed what all this "change in tone" the Obama folk speak of is all about. (video)

Donning FDR's cape, Eisenhower's stripes and JFK's boat shoes, President Obama observed in Florida on Tuesday that his "clean energy economy" will require "mobilization" on the order of fighting World War II, building the interstate highway system and going to the moon. Of course, the only "mobilization" going on at the moment is on behalf of ethanol, whose many political dispensations the biofuels lobby is finding new ways to preserve even as the evidence of its destructiveness piles up. The latest embarrassment arrives via the peer-reviewed journal Science, not known for its right-wing inclinations. A new paper calls attention to...

There's a new SCOTUS suit you want and need to know about...case 09-6777. I'll win and when I do? YOU CAN SUE SITTING OFFICERS FOR LIABILITY THUS DISSOLVE THEM AS THE US DEFAULTED VIA FAILING TO RESPOND TO A PRIOR SCOTUS SUIT ON 11/05/08, the day after the election, lol. Actual default is the 2000 election and BVG; legal default occurred on 11/05/09. I then appealed to Roberts directly on 11/20/09 and forced direct action thus I won on paper. Now all I am doing is acting to collect my award: Hearing in person aka winning in person. You can...

If vindication means anything its name is spelled George Bush. As former U.S. president George W. Bush spoke to a Saskatoon audience, I stood in the wings, sneaking a peek through the curtains at the spectators beyond the footlights. The crowd was friendly to be sure. But more than that, the relationship was like a musical virtuoso carrying the audience through every nuance, crescendo and dynamic of a composition. With every pause, smile, laugh and down stroke of seriousness, Bush had the crowd in his hand. Before the show, a friend who recently dined with the former Texas governor and...

U.S. defense bill would pay Taliban to switch sides WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The defense bill President Barack Obama will sign into law on Wednesday contains a new provision that would pay Taliban fighters who renounce the insurgency, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said on Tuesday. The provision establishes a program in Afghanistan similar to one used in Iraq where former fighters were re-integrated into Iraqi society, Levin told Reuters. Obama plans to sign the bill authorizing Pentagon operations for fiscal 2010 on Wednesday, the White House said. Reaching out to moderate Taliban members is part of the Obama...

The CIA may have misled Congress at least five times since 2001, two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee said Tuesday. Intelligence subcommittee Chairwomen Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) are leading an investigation into what they described as a practice of incomplete and often misleading intelligence briefings, which arose in the wake of CIA Director Leon Panetta’s June 24 admission that intelligence officials failed to notify Congress about a top-secret program to assassinate al Qaeda leaders.

The memorable scene from that day is the photo for this article What if George W. Bush had done that?"

During the Bush years, we heard often from the Left that Bush divided the country. To me this statement didn’t make sense, because for example in 1996, President Clinton got barely half of the popular vote during his reelection campaign, while the other half voted against him. What is that if not a divided country? Besides, if “the system” is that it is the president, and not his critics that divide the country, we should assume that President Obama is at fault for dividing the country following his unifying win of last year November. Don’t you agree? If Obama will...

A four-hour stop in New Orleans, on his way to a $3 million fundraiser. Snubbing the Dalai Lama. Signing off on a secret deal with drug makers. Freezing out a TV network. Doing more fundraisers than the last president. More golf, too. President Barack Obama has done all of those things — and more.What’s remarkable is what hasn’t happened. These episodes haven’t become metaphors for Obama’s personal and political character — or consuming controversies that sidetracked the rest of his agenda. It’s a sign that the media’s echo chamber can be a funny thing, prone to the vagaries of news...

Two weeks ago, Obama's hit men Axelrod and Emanuel went after the Bush administration on Afghanistan claiming the Bush team's efforts were adrift, they did not ask any key questions about the war in Afghanistan, and that Obama officials had to form a strategy from scratch. Emanuel told CNN: "It's clear that basically we had a war for eight years that was going on, that's adrift, that we're beginning at scratch, just at the starting point... Last week Cheney fought back: Recently, President Obama’s advisors have decided that it’s easier to blame the Bush Administration than support our troops. This...

The GOP needs to shed its image as the "old white guy party," Jeb Bush said this week. Speaking at George Washington University, Bush said Republicans need to reach out to a more diverse group of voters. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that in order for a political party to be successful it has to reach out to everyone," Bush said, according to the GW Hatchet. "In politics, you never win when you say 'us and them.' We need a more welcoming message."

If Obama and his Chicago thugs simply focused on the country's real enemies rather than American citizens and institutions which provide constructive criticism and honest discourse on the policies emanating from the White House, effective policy might be put in place which would advance an agenda supported by a true majority of citizens. But rather, we see an administration so focused on what, in its paranoid state, it perceives as enemies, that all of its energies are centered on discrediting Bush and Cheney, Fox News, talk radio, Rush Limbaugh, town hall attendees, tea party organizers, health insurance companies, Wall Street...

While battling the FBI's expanded surveillance guidelines, Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., also revealed (Daily Kos, Oct. 8) that in the Senate Judiciary Committee review of the Patriot Act (also Oct. 8), Republicans protecting the Act were joined, in a closed-door classified session, by Obama officials with amendments further preserving it. Then, in a public session, all but three Democrats voted for a watered-down "compromise" bill by Patrick Leahy and Diane Feinstein. Feingold, Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and new Democrat Arlen Specter (Pa.) had the constitutional courage to oppose the Judiciary Committee bill eventually going to the floor that with few exceptions,...