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First of all my apologies for being so late to post the monthly Sanity Island. I got started late and and that put me behindIt’s almost 11 month since President Bush has left office. There goes no day by that I wished he were still in the White House. No matter though he is still my President and will always be as long as I live. Today I will post photos from December 2001 and 2002, and tomorrow from 2003 and 2004 For the quote of the day I have chosen the address President Bush gave to the Marines at...

Voters are a bit less inclined this month to blame President Obama’s policies for the country’s current economic problems. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 50% of U.S. voters now say the problems are due to the recession which began under the Bush administration. Forty-two percent (42%) blame Obama’s policies, and eight percent (8%) are not sure.

November 13, 2009 at 1:09 pm On local Houston radio 2 days ago a private from Ft. Hood called into the AM talk show on 950AM. Since then the host has verified just to be sure that the man was indeed an injured soldier so as not to be fooled. Anyway, the private was with some others that were not critically hurt in a ward. He called in to offer the “difference” between the visit from President Bush vs the visit from President Obama. As you stated, no one knew President Bush was coming, he just showed up. WITH NO...

President and Mrs. Bush served our country with honor and dignity and remain committed to improving our nation and the world through the George W. Bush Presidential Center. The Center will be located on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, a rising national university in a major metropolitan city in the heartland of America. The George W. Bush Presidential Center uniquely integrates the records of a national archive, the thematic exhibits of a presidential museum, and the intellectual capital of a research-based policy institute to advance ideas based on the core principles of the Bush Presidency: freedom,...

November and winter is now upon us and it is almost frightening to realise it is almost a year ago that the election was held that made us realise that the previous 8 years of President George W Bush time as President was drawing to an end. Even though it has been about 9 months since George W Bush left office for many it seems another age so much seems to have changed and many things we hold dear now seem to mean nothing. We miss the class and character that George W Bush, his wife and of course his...

It’s an old joke. The drunk says, “I miss my wife.” His friend asks, “Where did she go?” The drunk replies, “I traded her for a bottle of whiskey.” “You miss her, huh?” “Heck no, I’m thirsty again.” I’m thirsty again, for the sense of security that I felt when George W. Bush was president. After nine months of The One’s narcissism, excessive Congressional spending, and in the aftermath of the horrific Fort Hood massacre perpetrated by a crazed Islamic Jihadist, America’s Obama binge has worn off. Even some noteworthy liberals are wondering if we wouldn’t be better off today...

NEW DELHI — The India-China relationship has entered choppy waters due to a perceptible hardening in the Chinese stance. Anti-India rhetoric in the state-run Chinese media has intensified, even as China has stepped up military pressure along the disputed Himalayan frontier through cross-border incursions. Beijing also has resurrected its long-dormant claim to the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, nearly three times as large as Taiwan. The more muscular Chinese stance clearly is tied to the new U.S.-India strategic partnership, symbolized by the nuclear deal and deepening military cooperation. As President George W. Bush declared in his valedictory speech, "We...

Former President George W. Bush on Thursday outlined plans to establish a $300 million library, museum and research institute, taking a step back onto the national stage. The George W. Bush Policy Institute—which would be the first think tank to be affiliated with a presidential library—will address issues that were priorities during Mr. Bush's presidency, such as education, global health, political freedom and economic growth, and seek to promote advances by offering practical solutions, the former president said. In a speech at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where the center is slated to be built, Mr. Bush said the institute...

Former President George W. Bush, in his first open-to-the press appearance, said that as the world's economies recover, they should resist the temptation to replace free markets with government spending. Bush said he acted to funnel billions to banks because of a crisis situation. His action, he said, prevented a worldwide Depression. (Full quotes to come.) *** UPDATE *** NBC's Andrew Gross adds Bush's quotes: "The decision last fall was one of the most difficult of my presidency," Bush said in a speech on his vision for his presidential institute at Southern Methodist University. "I went against my free-market instincts...

We know absolutely no one in Bush family circles and have never met former President George W. Bush or his wife Laura. If you have been reading us for any length of time, you know that we used to make fun of “Dubya” nearly every day…parroting the same comedic bits we heard in our Democrat circles, where Bush is still, to this day, lampooned as a chimp, a bumbling idiot, and a poor, clumsy public speaker. Oh, how we RAILED against Bush in 2000…and how we RAILED against the surge in support Bush received post-9/11 when he went to Ground...

We know absolutely no one in Bush family circles and have never met former President George W. Bush or his wife Laura. If you have been reading us for any length of time, you know that we used to make fun of “Dubya” nearly every day…parroting the same comedic bits we heard in our Democrat circles, where Bush is still, to this day, lampooned as a chimp, a bumbling idiot, and a poor, clumsy public speaker. Oh, how we RAILED against Bush in 2000…and how we RAILED against the surge in support Bush received post-9/11 when he went to Ground...

On November 9, 2009, TV5, the international French TV channel, featured a panel of journalists on the theme of "Barack Obama, and a new vision of the United States in Africa". The Africa's correspondant of the French national newspaper Le Figaro gave a surprising comment : "despite what one can think of George W. Bush's policies, we have to admit that he helped Africa enormously. He had a real plan and vision for this continent. This is not the case anymore with Obama. Obama as no vision for Africa. His speeches are only words." Even the Sudanese journalist agreed :...

Former President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush made a private visit to Darnall Army Medical Center at Ft. Hood Friday evening. The former president and first lady visited with soldiers wounded in the incident on Thursday, as well as some of their family members.

This past August, the current Attorney General, Eric Holder, decided to launch an investigation of the CIA's methods of interrogation of suspected Islamic terrorists.A move lauded by terrorists.And condemed by seven former CIA directors, that Holder's actions in that regard, could actually help Al-Qaeda. Not to mention other Islamists.Meanwhile, Janet Napolitano, head of Homeland Security, has been in Abu Dhabi in the UAE discussing "security issues" with United Arab Emirates officials.After the Ft. Hood jihad terror attack, Napolitano made comments while in the UAE, that could basically be understood as an apology to the Muslim world,--if Americans are suspicious or angry toward Islam, because we have been attacked again.After 9/11, then Attorney General John...

Obama 'Cold' and 'Bloodless' The UK Telegraph has a remarkable story from America about a new trend that, so far, seems to be going unreported in the American media. Americans, turned off by President Obama's cold demeanor, are missing George W. Bush. "In a sign that the Obama honeymoon truly is over, I began to hear this week the first stirrings of a wistfulness about Mr Bush. 'I never thought I'd hear myself say it,' one Democrat told me. 'But Obama makes you feel that at least with Bush you knew where he was on Americans Are Starting to Miss...

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...

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...

Former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush quietly visited the wounded from the Ft. Hood massacre on Friday. Barack Obama mentioned the attack at the end of some comments he made at a conference and on Saturday, Obama headed out to Camp David for a little R&R. Bush visits Ft. Hood, Obama goes to Camp David. What is wrong with this picture? Even more troubling, is there an Obama, Hassan connection?It has been a bit disconcerting that the President of the United States has seemed so terribly disengaged from a terrorist attack on a military base in...

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."

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...

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...

Former President Bush Honored with Pro-Life Award during Visit to SaskatoonBy Patrick B. Craine SASKATOON, SA, October 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Yesterday morning, before delivering an address at TCU Place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, for a crowd of about 2,000, former U.S. President George W. Bush joined the Saskatchewan Pro-Life Association (SPLA) at a business breakfast where the pro-life group presented him with an award for his "very public determination to protect the unborn while he served two terms as President." The Humanity of the Unborn Child Pro-Life Award, as it is called, was given to the former President "in recognition...

Republicans needn't trouble themselves to nominate a presidential candidate in 2012. No matter what, President Obama will be running against George W. Bush. Bush will be Obama's eternal foil. At this rate, when Obama writes his post-presidential memoir, it will be titled "An Audacious Presidency, or How I Saved America From That Bastard Bush." His presidential library will have a fright-house wing devoted to Bush's misrule. Obama clearly wants Bush to be the Hoover to his FDR. Since Bush left office with a 34 percent job approval, Obama understandably feels moved to scorn him. But Obama's perpetual campaign against Bush...

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Coordinated international action helped save the world from the financial crisis that erupted last year, former President George W. Bush said Wednesday. "We intervened early, we intervened aggressively and we intervened together," Bush told the World Knowledge Forum, an annual conference sponsored by a South Korean business newspaper. Bush added that it remains unknown what would have happened had action not been taken. "I believe because of close coordination and the willingness to act in the face of financial danger that the interjection of capital into the financial system helped save our economies," Bush said.

Al Qaeda Tried to Assassinate George Bush at 6:00 AM on 9/11 2001, just as Al Qaeda Assassinated Northern Alliance Chief on 9/10 Possible Longboat terrorist incident Is it a clue or is it a coincidence? By now, most everyone knows President George W. Bush began that fateful day, Sept. 11, on Longboat Key, but the FBI is now investigating whether terrorists also began that fateful day here on the island. At about 6 a.m. Sept. 11, Longboat Key Fire Marshall Carroll Mooneyhan was at the front desk of the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort as Bush prepared for his...

We hear about Afghanistan almost every day now. But it recently occurred to me that I didn't recall reading about it much when George Bush was President. So I decided to check Google News to see how many New York Times articles mentioned "Afghanistan" during Bush's last year in office. Take a guess, and then continue reading below.

Homeland Security: Provisions of the law that spared New York another 9/11 are set to expire Dec. 31. So why do Democrats want to gut this law and remove the immunity telecom companies have for helping protect America? To borrow a British expression from World War II, it was a very near thing. The capture, arrest and indictment of 24-year-old Afghan immigrant Najubullah Zazi before he could set off bombs made from store-bought chemicals prevented a tragedy of potentially devastating proportions. It wouldn't have happened if the critics of Patriot Act had their way. The capture of Zazi was made...

WASHINGTON — Gen. David H. Petraeus, the face of the Iraq troop surge and a favorite of former President George W. Bush, spoke up or was called upon by President Obama “several times” during the big Afghanistan strategy session in the Situation Room last week, one participant says, and will be back for two more meetings this week.

Another month has passed and we are already into October. I have chosen photos from October 2001 to October 2004. The quote of the day is from the Lessons of Liberty Initiative speech which President Bush gave on October 30, 2001 at the Thomas Wooten High school in Rockville, Maryland Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island ..

In May of 2008, Times Online ran an article entitled, Barack Obama: the New Great Redeemer. The author, Gerard Baker, recognized something many American voters at that time were unwilling to admit, which was, The idolatry of Mr. Obama is a shame...The Illinois senator is indeed, an unusually talented, inspiring and charismatic figure...But he is not a saint. He is a smart and eloquent man with a personal history that is startlingly shallow set against the scale of the office he seeks to hold... If the past 40 years have taught us anything they have surely taught that premature canonization...

The Bush-era deficits were bad. I know. I spent eight years complaining about the president’s lack of fiscal responsibly (here and here for instance). I even wrote that Republicans during Bush’s time in office made French socialists look like Reagan. However, President Obama's new projected deficits are truly frightening. And the worse part: we haven’t seen it all yet. Based on Congressional Budget Office (CBO) data, the following chart shows a projection of deficit numbers for each year until fiscal 2018. Each color represents the difference between the projected deficits at different points in time. The purple bars represent the...

Okay, Code Pink did not intentionally praise former President George W. Bush, but that is the clear result of the photographs the group has posted of their first days on their week-long trip to Afghanistan that began this week.Before President Bush ordered the liberation of Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, the Taliban controlled the lives of men and women--with an exceptionally cruel domination of women. Thanks to President Bush and America's armed forces, intelligence operatives and foreign service officers, Afghan women are not forced to wear burkas and girls can go to school:Code Pink's caption: These fabulous women were...

A Washington tell-all book is seldom a good place to look for political wisdom. But, whether he meant to or not, former White House speechwriter Matt Latimer’s new book, “Speech-Less: Tales of a White House Survivor,” makes at least one important point: politics should be about ideas, not personalities. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case recently. Conservatives coined a term, Bush Derangement Syndrome, to explain the fierce opposition many liberals had to George W. Bush personally. It wasn’t simply his policies they opposed, it was him. They hated the way he walked, the way he talked. He exhibited “faux cowboy...

Remember when the Left scoffed at the argument from George W. Bush that claimed the authorization to use military force allowed the executive branch to hold captured terrorists indefinitely, without criminal trial? Bush’s opponents screamed about human rights and due process, and claimed that Bush had abused his power. Those critics included Barack Obama, who regularly castigated the Bush administration for its failure to provide his idea of due process to detainees at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere, as well as blasting Bush for his argument that he didn’t require Congress to act to maintain that power. Now? Change you can...

It's the Obama administration that has pressed the "reset button" on relations with Russia, scrapped plans for a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe, and toned down the rhetoric on NATO expansion. But it seems Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin still pines for Obama's predecessor. At his annual meeting with academics, think-tankers, and journalists, Putin barely mentioned Obama but "repeatedly expressed fondness for his friend 'George,' " says Cliff Kupchan, a Russia analyst at the Eurasia Group consultancy. "He clearly has a personal softness for George Bush," says Kupchan, who attended the meeting. Why the nostalgia? After all, Bush put in...

The Obama administration signaled Wednesday that it would scrap a controversial Bush-era rule that set stricter limits for smog but fell short of scientific recommendations. In a notice filed Wednesday in a federal appeals court, the Justice Department says there are concerns that the revision made by the Bush administration does not adhere to federal air pollution law. The Environmental Protection Agency will propose revised smog standards to protect health and the environment in late December.

Former President George W. Bush addresses a Fourth of July crowd at the Let Freedom Ring 2009 festival at Crystal Beach Park Arena in Woodward, Okla., Saturday, July 4, 2009. (AP Photo) How many times during the last eight years did you hear that George W. Bush was a dangerous right-wing extremist? Probably too many to count.What you heard less often were expressions of the deep reservations some conservatives felt about Bush's governing philosophy.Conservatives greatly admired Bush for his steadfastness in the War on Terror -- to use that outlawed phrase -- and they were delighted by his choices...

Bush was preparing to give a speech to the annual meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC. The conference is the event of the year for conservative activists; Republican politicians are required to appear and offer their praise of the conservative movement. Latimer got the assignment to write Bush's speech. Draft in hand, he and a few other writers met with the president in the Oval Office. Bush was decidedly unenthusiastic. "What is this movement you keep talking about in the speech?" the president asked Latimer. Latimer explained that he meant the conservative movement -- the movement that...

At least that's how the 43rd president is quoted in a new book by one of his speechwriters, as reported by Byron York. Bush was preparing to give a speech to the annual meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC. The conference is the event of the year for conservative activists; Republican politicians are required to appear and offer their praise of the conservative movement.[Speechless: Tales of a White House Survivor author Matt] Latimer got the assignment to write Bush's speech. Draft in hand, he and a few other writers met with the president in the Oval Office....

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Matt Latimer, a minor former speech writer for George W. Bush, is out with a diss-and-tell book, and Byron York's previews in the Examiner are causing quite a stir in political circles both left and right. It seems there's something for everyone in Lattimer's Speechless: Tales of a White House Survivor. Conservatives who never felt like Dubya was one of their own will point to certain segments and say, "See, I told you so." A prime example is when Latimer supposedly got tasked with preparing a speech for Bush's appearance before the 2008 CPAC conference: "What is this movement you...

New Book Claims George W Bush Said Barack Obama 'Has No Clue' George W Bush believed Barack Obama was "a cat" who "has no clue", dismissed Sarah Palin as a nonentity and insulted Hillary Clinton's posterior, according to a new account of life in the White House under the former president. Alex Spillius in Washington 15 Sep 2009 George W Bush believed Barack Obama was "a cat" who "has no clue", according to a new book. For all his politeness in public, Mr Bush is alleged to have privately mocked fellow big name politicians, claims his former speech writer Matt...

Interview with Senator Harry Reid, NBC’s Meet the Press, December 5, 2004 MR. RUSSERT: When the president talked about Yucca Mountain and moving the nation's nuclear waste there, you were very, very, very strong in your words. You said, "President Bush is a liar. He betrayed Nevada and he betrayed the country." Is that rhetoric appropriate? SEN. REID: I don't know if that rhetoric is appropriate. That's how I feel, and that's how I felt. I think to take that issue, Tim, to take the most poisonous substance known to man, plutonium, and haul 70,000 tons of it across the...

Politics: The senator who called the president a liar and never apologized may have worn out his welcome in his home state. Harry Reid may be riding the liberal agenda into political oblivion.In 2004, Republicans defeated Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle largely on the theme that he neglected his home state in favor of national party interests. The GOP is hoping that in 2010 lightning will strike a second time, and Nevada polls indicate it may be more than wishful thinking. In 1998, Reid beat John Ensign by a hair-thin 428 votes. Ensign would go on to win Nevada's other...

Still inspiring. Video at link.

I cannot believe we are already into September which no doubt will bring back many bad memories to a lot of Americans and others of us who love freedom and America and Americans. As I prepared this thread I felt that it needed to be posted in 2 parts and allow us to think about the first 10 days of September 2001 and try to think have our attitudes, thoughts and how we approach life changed after those 10 days. Do the photos up to 10th September 2001 mean something different to those that will posted later of 11th September,...

President George W. Bush plans a quiet day in his Dallas office Friday in his first Sept. 11 since leaving the White House. *snip* "Eight years ago, our nation and our freedom came under attack. On this solemn anniversary, Laura and I hold the victims and their families in our thoughts and prayers. We honor those who volunteer to keep us safe and extend the reach of freedom — including members of the armed forces, law enforcement officers, and intelligence and homeland security professionals. Their courage, service and sacrifice is a fitting tribute to all those who gave their lives...

TED KOPPEL (ABC host): When the president talked about the bankruptcy of Social Security, there were clearly some Democrats on the floor who thought that that was taking it too far. And they did something that, apparently, no one at this table has ever heard before. They booed. [ABC, Nightline, 2/2/05; Koppel's panel consisted of former Bush adviser Mary Matalin, former Reagan chief of staff Ken Duberstein, and former Clinton speechwriter Michael Waldman] JOHN ROBERTS (CBS White House correspondent): At a couple points in this address, it looked more like the British Parliament than the United States Congress. I've never...