Dat In The Life Of President Bush - with photos (4-12-08)

White House website, Yahoo news, Misc ^ | 4-12-08 | Starwise

[STARWISE]

Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

PHOTO(s) OF THE DAY

Older photo of Pres. Bush in silouette at his ranch in Crawford, TX.

Older photo of Pres. Bush with reporters at his ranch in Crawford, TX.

QUOTE(s) OF THE DAY

President's Radio Address ~ April 12, 2008

Good morning. Fifteen months ago this week, I announced the surge. And this week, General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker gave Congress a detailed report on the results.

Since the surge began, American and Iraqi forces have made significant progress. While there's more to be done, sectarian violence, civilian deaths, and military deaths are down. Improvements in security have helped clear the way for political and economic progress. The Iraqi government has passed a budget and three major "benchmark" laws. And many economic indicators are now pointed in the right direction.

Serious and complex challenges remain in Iraq. Yet with the surge, a major strategic shift has occurred. Fifteen months ago, extremists were sowing sectarian violence; today, many mainstream Sunni and Shia are actively confronting the extremists.

Fifteen months ago, al Qaeda was using bases in Iraq to kill our troops and terrorize Iraqis; today, we have put al Qaeda on the defensive in Iraq, and now we are working to deliver a crippling blow. Fifteen months ago, Americans were worried about the prospect of failure in Iraq; today, thanks to the surge, we've revived the prospect of success in Iraq.

This week, General Petraeus reported that security conditions have improved enough to withdraw all five surge brigades. By July 31, the number of U.S. combat brigades in Iraq will be down 25 percent from the year before.

Beyond that, General Petraeus says he will need time to assess how this reduced American presence will affect conditions on the ground before making recommendations on further reductions. I've told him he'll have time he needs to make his assessment.

Our job in the period ahead is to stand with the Iraqi government as it makes the transition to responsibility for its own security and its own destiny. So what would this transition look like? On the security front, we will stay on the offense, continue to support the Iraqi security forces, continue to transfer security responsibilities to them, and move over time into an overwatch role.

On the economic front, Iraq's economy is growing. Iraq is assuming responsibility for almost all the funding of large-scale reconstruction projects, and our share of security costs is dropping as well. On the political front, Iraq is planning to hold elections that will provide a way for Iraqis to settle disputes through the political process instead of through violence.

Our efforts are aimed at a clear goal: a free Iraq that can protect its people, support itself economically, and take charge of its own political affairs. And no one wants to achieve that goal more than the Iraqis themselves.

The turnaround that our men and women in uniform have made possible in Iraq is a brilliant achievement. And we expect that, as conditions on the ground continue to improve, they will permit us to continue the policy of return on success.

I'm confident in our success because I know the valor of the young Americans who defend us.

This week, I commemorated the sacrifice of Michael Monsoor, a Navy SEAL who gave his life in Iraq, and became the fourth Medal of Honor recipient in the war on terror.

On September 29, 2006, Mike and two teammates had taken a position on a rooftop when an insurgent grenade landed on the roof. Mike threw himself onto the grenade. One of the survivors put it this way: "Mikey looked death in the face that day and said, 'You cannot take my brothers. I will go in their stead.'"

It is heroism like Michael Monsoor's that pays the cost of human freedom.

Our prayers remain with Michael's family and with all the men and women who continue his noble fight. We look forward to the day when they return home in victory.

Thank you for listening.

Please Pray for President Bush ~~ Day 2767

For those who can't comprehend "A Day In The Life of President Bush," we who gather here admire, respect and support our President. This is OUR "Sanity Island," so, please remember that .. and maybe think 3 times before you jump in with any junk or offensive comments. The Mods are on patrol, and will toss out an offender in a heartbeat. Thank you.

Please wait for the ALL CLEAR for posting or re-posting photos or appropriate graphics in keeping with the spirit of this thread.

[STARWISE]

First Couple Plans To Say “So Long” To Crawford

President Bush arrived in Waco Thursday afternoon for a long weekend at his Central Texas ranch, just hours after First Lady Laura Bush made it clear that the ranch won’t be the first couple’s primary residence after Mr. Bush leaves office.

She told a group of schoolchildren in Thursday that she and the president plan to make their home in Dallas after Mr. Bush leaves office.

She told the children she was happy to be in Dallas and said that she and the president lived there about 14 years ago before Mr. Bush was elected governor.

The first couple has reportedly purchased property in upscale Highland Park on which to build a home, but an offhand remark the president made during a news conference last summer fueled speculation about whether the ranch was where he planned to head after leaving office.

“If you ever come down and visit the old, tired, me down there in Crawford,” Mr. Bush said in response to a question about sagging public support for the war in Iraq, “I will be able to say I looked in the mirror and made decisions based upon principle, not based upon politics.”

It’s likely the ranch could continue to serve as a getaway, just as Kennebunkport, Maine does for the president’s parents, who have a home in Houston and also maintain an apartment at the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library in College Station.

Mr. Bush’s election to the presidency drove up property prices and tourism in the Crawford area and his frequent visits to the ranch were generally good for business, although fewer tourists are stopping by these days.

The ranch has been the scene of meetings with key U.S. allies and next month it will host the wedding of first daughter Jenna Bush and her fiancé Henry Hager.

The White House has refused to release any details such as the setting on the ranch, who's invited and how many people will attend.

The Central Texas Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure was moved up one week from May 10 to May 3 because the original date fell on the same day as the wedding.

Thousands of runners and walkers participate in the local race, which started in 2001.

But hotel and motel space are likely to be at a premium on the weekend of the wedding, and because many officials may be in town for the ceremony, security may also be an issue.

~ ~ ~ ~

Jenna Bush To Wed At Family's Texas Ranch

For the first time, a White House spokesman said on the record that Jenna Bush is getting married next month at the family ranch in Crawford, Texas, CBS News correspondent Mark Knoller reports.

It's been an open secret - but this is the first time it's been said on the record.

The comments came in response to a question about whether the Bushes were at the ranch this weekend making final preparations for their daughter's May 10 wedding to Henry Hager.

Spokesman Scott Stanzel said "that's certainly something that is on their mind."

They will all be attending the $3.5-million dollar RNC fundraiser Friday evening at the Broken Spoke Ranch nearby.

During the day, the president was busy clearing brush on the ranch as usual.

"Maybe the brush clearing has something to do with those (wedding) plans - but certainly that's something that's top of mind for the family," Stanzel said.

Stanzel could not say if daughter Jenna, 26, was at the ranch this weekend.

She certainly did not fly there on Air Force One. Neither did the family pooches Barney or Ms. Beazley, who usually accompany the Bushes to the ranch.

The couple became engaged on Aug. 15, 2007. They have been dating for several years, and are often seen together at Bush family functions and formal events.

Hager, 29, is the son of John H. Hager, chairman of Virginia's GOP. He is expecting to receive his MBA from the University of Virginia this spring. The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that Hager purchased a 128-year-old rowhouse in Baltimore recently.

~ ~ ~ ~

Guess who's moving to town?

The painter, prepping to apply a couple of coats of linen white in advance of the new residents moving in? He didn't know. A neighbor? No clue. Even the seller didn't realize who had bought his South Baltimore rowhouse.

The first time Daddy visits, though, any lingering mystery will vanish, right around the time the serious-looking, earpiece-wearing Secret Service agents show up: First daughter Jenna Bush and her by-then husband, Henry Hager, are moving into a two-story, 128-year-old rowhouse in a lively neighborhood south of downtown. (For reasons including the desire not to incur the wrath of those guys with the earpieces, The Sun isn't revealing the address or street.)

The White House, as is its practice when it comes to the Bush family's private doings, wouldn't comment on the kids' new digs. Real estate and property tax documents, though, confirm that Hager bought the house last month for $440,000. He turned over power of attorney to Jenna for the purpose of signing purchasing and financing documents in his name -- including an affidavit that stated this would be Hager's principal residence.

It's unclear when Jenna -- the blonde half of President and Mrs. Bush's 26-year-old twin daughters -- and Hager, a former aide to Karl Rove, will move in. The couple is scheduled to marry at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, on May 10, and Hager, 29, is due to receive an MBA degree at the University of Virginia about a week later. Then there's been talk of a weeks-long honeymoon, in Europe.

But after that, imagine the possibilities of future sightings in the neighborhood: There's Rub, the barbecue restaurant whose menu tips its (cowboy) hat to Ruby's, a beloved restaurant just off the campus of Jenna's alma mater, the University of Texas in Austin; and Ropewalk, the watering hole that serves as something of a Republican oasis in an overwhelmingly Democratic neighborhood and city.

Roger Sandau, a lawyer and insurance broker who had lived in the house for a year before selling it, said neither Hager nor Jenna Bush was at the closing, having signed the necessary documents earlier and leaving the actual settlement to their agent.

"I had no idea that's who bought it," he said. "I heard it was a relocation for Constellation."

It is: Hager reportedly has been hired by the energy conglomerate, which is the parent company of BGE and has its headquarters on Pratt Street -- a longish walk, but not unbearably so, from his new house.

Told who Hager and his fiancee are, Sandau wasn't overly impressed -- he works in the entertainment business and has a client list that he says includes "many" celebrities -- but delighted nonetheless.

"I thoroughly enjoyed the house," said Sandau, who moved here from Beverly Hills and now lives in Cockeysville. "I enjoyed being down there. There's a real sort of heartbeat in that neighborhood. Their ability to walk to restaurants and bars will make it wonderful for them."

If you take away the presidential link, the newlyweds would be just another couple of young professionals who have chosen the neighborhood for their first house. Close to the stadiums, nightlife and, increasingly, trendy boutiques, it has a younger vibe than nearby Federal Hill, and with more remnants of a less gentrified, Formstone-clad past.

Neighbors say the circa-1880 red brick rowhouse with a wood-framed storefront window is believed to have been a dry cleaners and a candy shop in previous incarnations. It's spacious, by rowhouse standards, at nearly 2,000 square feet, and has -- a peek through the first-floor windows reveals -- exposed brick walls, a fireplace and hardwood floors.

But the prime piece of this real estate is in back -- an attached garage.

"I would say that when it snows," Sandau said, "they will smile with glee every time they pull into it."

Perhaps in part because of the guaranteed space in a neighborhood where parking is at a premium, the house generated a lot of buyer interest despite an otherwise down market, Sandau said. In fact, Sandau said he had two other buyers ready to buy if Hager changed his mind.

"I would move in yesterday," said neighbor Jen Kearney, who pronounced the house in "fantastic shape." She was tickled to learn who had bought the house, welcoming them -- and whatever fringe benefits they bring.

"I'll love having her security," Kearney said of the Secret Service detail that guards members of the president's family.

Kearney, a nurse at Hopkins Hospital's organ transplant unit, said the neighborhood is stable, with a mix of longtime residents and more recent arrivals such as herself, a six-year veteran.

In a city where people often define themselves by their neighborhood, the couple's pick is an intriguing one. You would imagine the scions of such monied families (Hager's father is a former lieutenant governor of Virginia and from a prominent Richmond lineage) would have been drawn to a pricier, more protected neighborhood, say one of those loft condos in Inner Harbor East. Instead, they opted for the kind of Baltimore neighborhood you might see in a Barry Levinson movie.....

Rest (in which the writer couldn't manage control over her snarkiness) is at link.

[daisyscarlett]

Hello there.

[swmobuffalo]

Hello

[swmobuffalo]

I do believe we’ve tied!

[STARWISE]

DOSE .... p i n g!!

[luvie]

I can hardly wait to see pictures of the wedding! That’s gonna be sooooo cool!

Thanks for Sanity Island tonight, Starwise!

[STARWISE]

WINNERS !!!

[STARWISE]

I know .. I hope hope hope we get
enough of everybody, especially the
President and Laura, but no matter
how much we get .. it’ll NEVER BE
ENOUGH! LOL..

Can’t you get your spies in TX to
help out we Dosers?

[STARWISE]

http://www.startribune.com/politics/17556414.html

President Bush gives White House dinner in honor of Benedict XVI, but pope is not attending

Guess who’s not coming to dinner? Pope Benedict XVI.

President Bush and his wife, Laura, will host a White House dinner in honor of the pontiff Wednesday evening. U.S. Catholic leaders from around the nation will attend. The menu will offer Bavarian-style food in recognition of the pope’s German heritage. It’s even the pope’s 81st birthday. But he won’t be there.

“He’s on a very ambitious official schedule,” Anita McBride, Mrs. Bush’s chief of staff, said Friday. “He’ll be meeting with U.S. bishops that night” at a university in Washington.

Bush and his wife will go to Andrews Air Force Base on Tuesday to welcome the pope on his arrival for his first visit to the United States since he was elected in 2005.

On Wednesday, there will be a formal welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. Attendance estimates range from 9,000 to 12,000 guests.

“This probably will be the biggest number that we’ve had on the South Lawn,” McBride said. “We had just over 7,000 for Queen Elizabeth II” in May 2007.

White House planners, who have been working on the event since about September, are anxious about getting the large crush of people through metal detectors and in position for the splashy ceremony at 10:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday. If there is a light rain, the ceremony will continue. If there’s a downpour, the official delegations will be moved inside and the outside event will be canceled.

Bush and the pontiff will make remarkds at the 30-minute ceremony, which will include the U.S. and Holy See anthems, a hymn by a vocalist, spiritual and patriotic music and the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts have been invited to the South Lawn to show the spirit of America.

Afterwards, the president and the pope will meet in the Oval Office.

~~~~~

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080412/ap_on_el_pr/bush_gop_money

President Bush thanked some of the Republican Party’s biggest spenders Texas-style on Friday, honoring them with a barbecue supper at a ranch next to his.

Bush has headlined this event benefiting the national Republican Party each year at the Broken Spoke Ranch. The 478-acre spread next to Bush’s own ranch in this tiny Central Texas town is owned by Stan and Kathy Hickey.

This year, it drew 500 of the GOP’s biggest donors from across the country and was dumping $3.5 million into the Republican National Committee’s coffers.

It also served as a special treat and a goodbye of sorts for Bush. Since it is his last year to host the fundraiser, his parents, former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, flew in for it. So did his brother, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his wife, Columba. The fundraiser, usually a casual lunch, also was upgraded this year to an evening affair.

Bush spent nearly three hours on the sprawling property, an unusually long investment of time for him. For nearly all that period he posed for photos with guests, but he also made brief remarks and took questions from the group.

The event did not include the party’s presumed presidential nominee, John McCain. The Arizona senator was in Texas on Friday — albeit 350 miles to the west in Lubbock and scheduled to travel to his home state in the afternoon. Many of the guests at the Bush event had been at a McCain fundraiser Thursday night in Dallas.

Bush is spending four days at his ranch, largely because of this event. But White House spokesman Scott Stanzel didn’t deny that the president and his wife, Laura, could also be taking care of some wedding-related details while here. Their daughter, Jenna, is getting married at the ranch on May 10.

~~~~

NOTE: I’ve just seen info that in 2006, this event raised $750,000. What a notable increase!! People are definitely putting their money where their presidential concerns are this cycle, and not that it means everything in the big picture, the Pubbies have a lot more cash on hand to fund their candidate.

[STARWISE]

Condoleezza Rice Upset with Jimmy Carter

http://www.13wmaz.com/news/state_story.aspx?storyid=51222&type=local&method=viewTB

Excerpt:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has criticized former President Carter for his reported plans to meet the exiled leader of the militant Palestinian group Hamas during a
visit to Syria.

Carter has not confirmed the plans to meet Khaled Mashaal, but Hamas has said the former Democratic president sent an envoy to Damascus requesting a meeting with the militant group’s officials.

Rice said yesterday, “I find it hard to understand what is going to be gained by having discussions with Hamas about peace when Hamas is, in fact, the impediment to peace.”

Rice spoke at a media press event with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

She was responding to a question about Carter’s plans but did not mention him by name.

Rice said, “Hamas is a terrorist organization.” She repeated the Bush administration’s explanation for why it will not meet with members of the group.

The State Department says it twice advised Carter against meeting any representative of Hamas.

~~~

Give it to him, Condi!

[STARWISE]

See you on YouTube, Rice tells German minister

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080411/pl_nm/usa_baseball_dc_1

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had a little advice on Friday for her visiting German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier: it’s best not to throw out the first pitch at an American baseball game.

Many fans booed President George W. Bush when he threw the ceremonial first pitch on opening night at Washington’s new baseball stadium, Nationals Park — even though his pitch was a decent one and he is a former owner of the Texas Rangers.

“I would tell him not to do that,” Rice said, prompting laughter from reporters at a news conference after one asked about Steinmeier’s plans to throw out the first pitch on Saturday at a game in Boston between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.

“This is risky, Frank,” said Rice, known as an avid sports enthusiast and Yankees fan. But there was no indication Steinmeier would take her advice. He just laughed.

“Good luck Frank, I will be looking for the YouTube version,” Rice said, referring to the popular video-sharing Web site where videos of fan reaction to Bush’s appearance were posted.

[STARWISE]

Cheney’s fundraising efforts take him to Grand Junction

http://tinyurl.com/5x2pr5

Vice President Dick Cheney flew into Grand Junction on Friday, raised several thousand dollars’ worth of donations for Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer and left waving to a throng of schoolchildren.

In between, two people were arrested on charges of blocking a public roadway leading into the subdivision where Cheney and Schaffer met with several hundred supporters.

“It was great,” Norm Franke called from his car as he left the event, passing by a crowd of protesters. One of the protesters wore a hunter-orange vest and carried a sign: “Don’t shoot me, I’m not a quail,” a reference to the 2006 incident in which Cheney accidentally shot a hunting companion.

One passerby honked a horn and yelled, “Yeah, Cheney” at the protest.

At the fundraiser, Cheney expressed strong support for Schaffer and stressed the need to retain the Bush tax cuts beyond their 2010 expiration, said Doug Thompson, who attended the meeting.

The vice president also underscored the need to support the war on terror but didn’t offer a red-meat campaign speech, Thompson said.

Seven Mesa County residents greeted Cheney on his arrival: Tom Fisher, who served in Iraq and now works for Mesa County; John and Frances Justman, of Fruita; Mesa County Republican Party Chairman Gary Roahrig; Donald Wiltgen; St. Mary’s Hospital Chief Executive Bob Ladenburger; and Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Janice Rich.

“It was just real exciting for a farmer from Fruita to meet the vice president,” Justman said.

The greeters met Cheney in a biting wind off the Grand Mesa, and he commented to one, “Doesn’t anyone in Colorado wear a coat?” Rich said.

Cheney’s wife, Lynne, addressed her by her first name and commented on her cold hands, Rich said.

The chilling breeze did nothing to diminish the enthusiasm of about 300 children from Holy Family Catholic School, who waved flags and cheered “USA, USA!” as Cheney’s motorcade passed by on his way to Grand Junction Regional Airport.

Cheney saw the children waving to him as he drove to the event and had his staff ask that they be out again for his departure, Principal Ann Ashwood said.

She also heard him call out “Thank you” to the schoolchildren from a PA system as the motorcade passed, Ashwood said.

Many others might not have heard the thanks, but “principals hear everything,” she said.

Rich said she was impressed by the clockwork handling of the visit.

Cheney and his wife stepped off the ramp to be greeted, entered a waiting limousine and then were gone in a motorcade that included several police vehicles and motorcycles and an ambulance.

“I was amazed by the precision of it all,” she said.

[Kaslin]

Hi and thanks for the ping

[STARWISE]

Expert debunks Cheney's naked lady

A photo editor who used the latest digital technology to examine a photo of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney says the veep was not fishing with a nude woman.

In a photo of a fly-fishing vice president posted on the White House Web site, the reflection on one lens of Cheney's sunglasses created a stir on line when some bloggers concluded it was a lady showing the full monty.

"In one lens of his sunglasses you can clearly tell it is a sleeved arm of Cheney or a fishing companion,'' said George Bridges of McClatchy/Tribune Information Services. "The other lens has an extreme distortion that, without looking at it closely, could be misconstrued.''

The White House had already issued the expected denials.

"Clearly the picture shows a hand casting a rod," said his spokeswoman Meagan Mitchell.

~~

Interview of the Vice President by Sean Hannity of the Sean Hannity Show - April 10, 2008

ALL CLEAR for posting or re-posting photos or appropriate graphics in keeping with the spirit of this thread.

[STARWISE]

Hi Kas .. ;)

[kitkat]

STAR!

As always, thanks for your work today.

I’m prepping myself to not get TOO DRATED ANGRY when the Pope is here, and the liberal media deliberately misquote him as they always do.

And, especially, thank you for all the great information you included today.

[STARWISE]

I know .... Peggy Noonan sorta already started,
and I’m sure there’s a lot worse out there now
and coming.

[daisyscarlett]

Yes we did tie. This is my first toaster win.

I have planned ahead and would like a toaster with a photo of the ex PM of Japan and W at Graceland if this is at all possible, Snugs.

Thanks, otherwise, a photo of W and Laura would do.

[daisyscarlett]

I can’t wait to see what both Jenna and Laura will wear!

[luvie]

Me, either. I know they’ll both be gorgeous!