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Here is video of an emotional President George W. Bush speaking to White House Staffers and Cabinet Members on the south lawn of the White House today. He thanked them for their faithful service through the years, and asked for their help in making a smooth and seamless transition to the administration of President-elect Barack Obama. . . . (Watch Video)

If Sen. Barack Obama wakes up as the president-elect on Nov. 5, he will immediately assume responsibility for fixing a shredded economy while the Bush administration is still in office. If Sen. John McCain wins the election, he will face an imminent confrontation over spending with a Democratic Congress called back into special session with the goal of passing a new economic stimulus package.

Senior aides to Barack Obama have been meeting George W.Bush's staff to begin planning a smooth transfer of power.Officials from both campaigns have been asked to briefings after warnings from US intelligence that terrorists and rogue states will seek to exploit the power vacuum following November's presidential election. For the first time in American history the FBI has begun vetting likely officials of the next administration before the election, to ensure they have security clearance to deal with crises on day one. Intelligence chiefs expect an attempt to emulate the terrorist strikes on Britain when Gordon Brown took power and...

President Bush on Thursday signed an executive order directing his staff to start preparing either John McCain or Barack Obama and their future staffs for the highest office in the land. Bush's executive order creates a Presidential Transition Coordinating Council, consisting of several high-ranking members of the president's staff and headed by White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten. White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters Wednesday morning that the council "will help to coordinate efforts already under way to ensure a seamless presidential transition." "This is especially important as our nation is fighting a war, dealing with a...

Senior aides to Barack Obama have been meeting George W.Bush's staff to begin planning a smooth transfer of power. Officials from both campaigns have been asked to briefings after warnings from US intelligence that terrorists and rogue states will seek to exploit the power vacuum following November's presidential election. For the first time in American history the FBI has begun vetting likely officials of the next administration before the election, to ensure they have security clearance to deal with crises on day one.

I submitted a google search engine request for: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=podesta+acorn+2004 The original link at the ACORN website has been removed - I found it's sitting in the Google cache, however. Screenshot:

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — Barack Obama's transition team recently held a large organizational meeting as part of an accelerated effort to plan for a possible new administration, Democratic officials said Friday, as the nominee embarked on a late-campaign tour of traditional Republican states with a fresh attack on John McCain. Under the direction of John Podesta, a former White House chief of staff under Bill Clinton, the transition effort includes a dozen separate groups divided into different areas of responsibility, these officials said. One added that Cassandra Butts, a longtime associate of Obama, is in charge of the group dedicated...

*snip* Under an executive order signed by Bush, a newly created Presidential Transition Coordinating Council will meet Wednesday to begin mapping out an orderly handoff to Republican John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama. The McCain and Obama campaigns have already begun preparations for a possible transition. The White House said the administration has been working with representatives from both sides since the summer and has provided security clearances for key aides.

BAGHDAD — Iraqi and Coalition officials gathered in the Adnon Palace here, Sept. 24, to discuss the upcoming transition of the Sons of Iraq. The SoI have been an essential element to the current status of security in Iraq. Since the inception of the SoI, the United States has provided the financial means for its existence. As Iraq’s governmental infrastructure has strengthened, it has become more capable of employing the members and will soon take over full control of the SoI. “Most of them are young, unemployed men who want to help their local areas and be a part of...

GABORONE, Botswana - Botswana's president steps down Tuesday, handing over power in the kind of smooth transition for which the country is known — one that contrasts sharply with the political turmoil in neighboring Zimbabwe. On a continent where leaders are all too often accused of holding on long past their mandate, Festus Mogae, 69, is giving up power before the end of his second term. That allows his vice president, Seretse Ian Khama, a former army commander and the son of Botswana first's president, to run as an incumbent in elections next year. "I retire a proud citizen," Mogae...

Cuba’s Not So Bright Future by: Bethany Stotts, March 05, 2008 ...Yale Professor Carlos M. N. Eire, who teaches history and religious studies, decided to put in his own two cents..... “What many of the news media fail to take into account is that Cuba is a highly abnormal place that doesn’t run by the same rules as the rest of the world,” replied Eire...“When a different generation takes control and gets the power, changes happen. I think what it will take [in Cuba] is for this generation to die out,” he told the Herald. Raúl Castro expert Brian Latell,...

FORT HUACHUCA — There’s a special group of Army patients at this Southern Arizona Army post — warriors in transit. They are active duty soldiers, National Guard members and Reservists who have suffered physical or emotional problems while serving in combat, have been injured while on duty or have other serious illnesses as the Army’s medical community takes a holistic approach to either return them to a unit or prepare them to return to civilian life. Much of what is part of a Warrior Transition Unit is fallout from health care problems that came to light last year at the...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2007 – Transitioning from military to civilian life can be daunting for some, but one group is helping to streamline the process. A veteran is hard at work after participating in the Homefront Readiness program in Columbia, S.C. Homefront Readiness is a Fast Forward Community Technology Center program geared toward helping veterans transition from military life into the civilian work force. Courtesy photo   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Fast Forward Community Technology Center, in Columbia, S.C., provides access to technology and technology education to people who might otherwise have access. Recently, however, the group...

A Way Out by Bethany Stotts, November 28, 2007 Despite the low popularity of the war in Iraq, a military swift pull-out of Iraq could have disastrous results both for Iraqi and United States foreign policy. “There are no easy answers or quick solutions [to the Iraq War]...it will take time. Our assessments underscore, in fact, the importance of recognizing that a premature drawdown of our forces would likely have devastating consequences,” asserted General David Petraeus in his September Iraq report. But a slow drawback of troops remains insufficient for some radical activists. “Let us move to reconciliation, diplomacy, a...

BAGHDAD — Plans to open the first police station in Arab Jabour commenced with two recent meetings held at the Mahmudiyah Iraqi Police Headquarters and Forward Operating Base Falcon. Though the police station is still months from establishment, the first steps were taken in Mahmudiyah, when Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, from Fort Stewart, Ga., and the 153rd Military Police Company, from Delaware City, Del., met with Mahmudiyah’s District Iraqi Police Commander, Brig. Gen. Abbed. Capt. Lauren Glaze, provost marshal, 2nd BCT, 3rd Inf. Div., and 1st Lt. Daniel A. Deflaviis, platoon leader for 3rd...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2007 – The Army is working quickly to field and fully staff new warrior transition units, which provide critical support to wounded soldiers and their families, the general in charge of the Army Medical Action Plan said. The Army has created 35 warrior transition units, which consist of 58 companies of about 200 soldiers each, Army Brig. Gen. Michael S. Tucker, deputy commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command, said at a media roundtable Oct. 19. These units are designed to fill a gap in support personnel for wounded troops that the Army identified...

HABBANIYAH, Iraq (Oct. 15, 2007) -- A man of modest means tends to his inventory of household items, while his two oldest sons chop ice outside, preparing it to be sold to the locals that attend this bustling Iraqi farmer market. This may seem a common everyday event, but for the people of the area around Saqlawiyah, Iraq, it is a success story and proof of the efforts and sacrifices by the Marines of Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6. Lance Cpl. Jason S. Partida, an infantryman with first platoon, Company C, said the area,...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2007 – In addition to a drawdown of surge forces in Iraq, President Bush said tonight that he also had accepted Army Gen. David H. Petraeus’ recommendation to begin transitioning to the next phase of the U.S. strategy in Iraq in December. “As terrorists are defeated, civil society takes root, and the Iraqis assume more control over their own security, our mission in Iraq will evolve,” the president said during a televised address from the Oval Office. “Over time, our troops will shift from leading operations, to partnering with Iraqi forces, and eventually to overwatching those...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 2007 – Any transition of security responsibility from coalition forces to Iraqi security forces must be done deliberately and in a way that ensures the successes gained so far will not be lost, one of the top U.S. commanders in Iraq said today. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that commanders on the ground know the U.S. troop surge is temporary, and will have a plan in place when the time comes to transition to Iraqi forces and reduce the number of U.S. troops in the country. “The Iraqi...

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, Aug. 24, 2007 – Since June, Brooke Army Medical Center here has implemented a series of sweeping changes designed to improve the quality of care for “warriors in transition” and their families. The changes are driven by the Army Medical Action Plan, an Army initiative designed to eliminate bureaucratic roadblocks for warriors in transition so they can focus on recovery and have a smooth transition back to military duty or civilian life. The first and perhaps most dramatic change is the formation of a Warrior in Transition Battalion. The battalion, which stood up June 15,...