Free Republic

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,"...

Craig Shirley, a prominent conservative consultant and close ally of Ronald Reagan, has just written a superb insider's account of Reagan's return from the political wilderness in 1980. Entitled "Rendezvous with Destiny," it is full of anecdotes that have never been published before. Here is Shirley's account of the pivotal moment in the bitter GOP presidential primary battle between Reagan and former Texas congressman and CIA director George H.W. Bush. To order the book, click here. Rendezvous with Destiny.bmp The thirty-five days between the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary during the 1980 presidential campaign were the most important...

COLLEGE STATION — Our president, navigating through a difficult rookie year, on Friday made his first trip to our state since he got the gig in January. Barack Obama came to College Station to honor George H.W. Bush on the 20th anniversary of the ex-president's "Points of Light" speech that sparked a volunteer effort that has helped countless folks. So nice. A Democratic president and an ex-GOP president ignoring party differences for a day. The event crossed generations. It bridged racial divide. And it reminded us that the folks who really play politics for keeps know there's a time to...

Here is video from the Rachel Maddow show where she played audio of former President George H. W. Bush on CBS Radio calling Maddow and Keith Olbermann "a couple of sick puppies" for their vicious attacks against his son - George W. Bush - and others who do not agree with their point of view. Maddow then talks with Olbermann by phone and they essentially say they can't imagine why he would say such a thing! George H. W. Bush is right on target, and good for him that he said so! . . . . (VIDEO)

Freudian slip by former President George H.W. Bush during his speech at Texas AM yesterday.

President Barack Obama and President George H.W. Bush, center, talk after speaking at the Points of Light Institute forum at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, Friday, Oct. 16, 2009. At right, Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Perhaps the 41st president still has it in him - at least when it comes to the left crying foul about the so-called uncivil political discourse on right, but being equally if not worse on the left, particularly on MSNBC, the so-called "Place for Politics." In an interview on Oct. 16 with CBS Radio, former President George H.W. Bush took a very critical tact with MSNBC hosts Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, deeming them "a couple of sick puppies." (via MSNBC's Oct. 16 "The Rachel Maddow Show") "I don't like it," Bush said. "I think the cables have a lot...

San Francisco (AP) - President Barack Obama, who has called on Americans to perform more community service, is joining former President George H.W. Bush in urging citizens to volunteer. Bush on Friday was to host a forum on volunteering at Texas A&M University, to be attended by Obama, who initiated a "United We Serve" call to service in June that culminated in a national day of service on the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The forum is affiliated with the Points of Light Institute, an organization that honors people and groups who participate in community service. Bush...

Former president and World II naval aviator George H.W. Bush has been honored by some of his neighbors in Kennebunkport. The group unveiled a Navy anchor and a plaque acquired as a way to thank Bush for his service as president and for being a good neighbor.

Flying home from London, where the subject of formal debate on the 70th anniversary of World War II had been whether Winston Churchill was a liability or asset to the Free World, one arrives in the middle of a far more acrimonious national debate right here in the United States. At issue: Should Barack Obama be allowed to address tens of millions of American children, inside their classrooms, during school hours? Conservative talk-show hosts saw a White House scheme to turn public schools into indoctrination centers where the socialist ideology of Obama would be spoon-fed to captive audiences of children...

I got attacked by the Village Voice today for expressing my rather nasty response to the ObamaDay speech to schoolchildren and the accompanying ideological White House-dictated Department of Education lesson plans for kids (e.g., "Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals"). I don't particularly mind being attacked by the Village Voice. I mean, at least they spelled my name right, as they say. If anything, what bothers me is the smarmy, "They're unhinged...

When Bush spoke to students, Democrats investigated, held hearings By: Byron York Chief Political Correspondent 09/08/09 7:11 AM EDT The controversy over President Obama's speech to the nation's schoolchildren will likely be over shortly after Obama speaks today at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. But when President George H.W. Bush delivered a similar speech on October 1, 1991, from Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington DC, the controversy was just beginning. Democrats, then the majority party in Congress, not only denounced Bush's speech -- they also ordered the General Accounting Office to investigate its production and later summoned...

Remarks to Students and Faculty at Alice Deal Junior High School 1991-10-01 Thank you, Ms. Mostoller, and thanks for allowing me to visit your classroom to talk to you and all these students, and millions more in classrooms all across the country.You know, long before I became President I was a parent. I remember the times that my kids came up with a really tough question or a difficult decision. I tried my best never to shut them down with a quick ``no.'' I would simply say those three magic words that made that problem disappear: ``Ask your Mother.'' [Laughter]Let...

<p>BOSTON — The elder President George Bush will not be attending Sen. Edward Kennedy's funeral.</p>

Former President George H.W. Bush, who as CIA director helped restore morale at the spy agency after a series of scandals in the 1970s, says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was wrong when she asserted that the CIA lies "all the time" to Congress. In a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Times a day after his 85th birthday - which he celebrated by skydiving from 10,000 feet to a perfect landing - the 41st president also took a mild swipe at President Obama for intervening in General Motors Corp.'s bankruptcy, ridiculed claims that the Republican Party is dead and urged patience...

Former President George H.W. Bush tells the Washington Times the results of the Iranian elections were "strange." He tells them: "It sounded funny when the opponent claimed victory by 60 some percent then the next thing you know he's on his back, counted out," former president, George H.W. Bush said on the debut broadcast of the Washington Times America's Morning News. "There is something weird about it, something strange about it."

Elder Bush: Pelosi "paying a price" for CIA crack Former CIA director and ex-Pres. George H. W. Bush is sticking up for his alma mater agency against the predations of Nancy Pelosi. In his 85th birthday interview with the conservative Washington Times, Bush takes a gentlemanly shot at the speaker for suggesting she was misled by the agency during a 2002 briefing on interrogations -- and not surprisingly, he didn't appreciate her crack that the CIA misleads Congress all the time. "I think she made most unfortunate comments, and I think she's paying a price for it," Mr. Bush told...

Bush 41 talks to reports outside the compound in Kennebunkport right after his skydive on his 85th birthday.

President George H.W. Bush is set to soar through the heavens yet again. The octogenarian former Commander-in-Chief and 41st U.S. president will strap on a parachute for a tandem skydive June 12 to celebrate his 85th birthday. Bush will leap out of an aircraft with the U.S. Army’s Golden Knights parachute team in the skies above Kennebunkport, Maine, joined by Robin Meade, a news anchor with HLN, the cable news channel affiliated with CNN formerly known as Headline News.