Free Republic

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."

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.

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...

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...

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...

NEW DELHI (AFP) – Former US president George W. Bush said Saturday that the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan must be won to stop a return to "brutal tyranny" in the nation. In a wide-ranging speech to a leadership conference in the Indian capital New Delhi, Bush said defeating the insurgents was "necessary for stability" and peace both in the region and globally. "If the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and their extremist allies were allowed to take over Afghanistan again, they would have a safe haven and the Afghan people, particularly the Afghan women, would face a return to a brutal...

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...

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...

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...

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...

The Obama administration blamed President George W. Bush for 13,000 new support troops headed to Afghanistan, even though Bush has not been commander-in-chief for nearly ten months.The Washington Post had a front page story this morning saying Barack Obama had authorized the troops in addition to the 21,000 increase in combat troops he ordered in March.White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters today, according to the AP, that President Bush, who left office 276 days ago, was to blame for the latest troop increase:Later, spokesman Robert Gibbs rejected a published report that the president had authorized 13,000 additional troops...

As usual: ** Former President George W. Bush addressed a capacity crowd Wednesday night at the Wilderness Resort and Convention Center in Sevierville. Bush wowed a crowd of more than 9,000 that attended a three-day conference of the Phil Waldrep Ministries based in Decatur, Ala. Bush gave the enthusiastic crowd a patriotic message of joy, hope and faith in our families… …The former president shied away from any political stance and said each U.S. leader must surround themselves with people they can trust. “Always surround yourself with people that you’re not afraid to listen to,” he said. “Base your decisions...

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...

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 ..

President Obama made his first address to the U.N. General Assembly today. He had them at hello. Even his opening -- "It is my honor to address you as the 44th president of the United States" -- got a round of applause. The reason? The latest Pew Global Attitudes Survey of 21 countries found global confidence in Obama’s leadership on foreign affairs at 71% -- far higher than approval ratings at home (in the low 50% range) and even more striking matched against world opinion of George W. Bush last year, which Pew tracked at 17%. To Nile Gardiner of...

President Bush is a LIAR! About Iraq, S-Chip and everything else!

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...

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...

The Super Bowl XLV effort has been a celebrity draw, attracting everyone from football legends (Roger Staubach) to business legends (T. Boone Pickens). Now, the host committee has landed its biggest names yet: former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush. They will be co-chairs of an educational, community service and art project that's being described as the largest of its kind in the country aimed at elementary school children.

(CNN) -- Could George W. Bush or some of his top aides end up behind bars? It's extremely unlikely, but the Obama administration is taking its first steps along a path that could lead in that direction, with the investigation of Central Intelligence Agency interrogators involved in the war on terror. "You don't know where these things are going to end up," former CIA agent Peter Brookes told me. "They could go to very high levels in the government." The probe will focus on whether interrogators exceeded their instructions and broke the law when, for example, they choked a prisoner...

Congressman: Holder should expand prosecutor's inquiry to include Cheney By Michael O'Brien - 09/01/09 12:29 PM ET Attorney General Eric Holder should expand a special prosecutor's investigation into detainee abuse during the Bush administration to include high-ranking officials like Vice President Dick Cheney, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday. Nadler defended Holder's decision last week to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the abuse and potential torture conducted by CIA officials during the Bush administration. "My criticism of the attorney general is that he should not limit the investigation to people in the field who may have committed torture, but...

On Wednesday, August 12, a man holding a sign that said “Death to Obamaâ€� at a town hall meeting in Maryland was detained and turned over to the Secret Service for questioning, which is pursuing an investigation into charging him with threatening the president. As well they should. I fully and absolutely agree with this arrest, since anyone who threatens the president is breaking the law and should be prosecuted. It doesn’t matter that Obama was not at the meeting nor that the man was unarmed: the threat all on its own is a federal crime, according to the United...

"Again this month, a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 39% say the bad economy is caused more by Obama’s policies, but 55% blame President Bush. These findings are unchanged from the previous two months. In May, 62% blamed Bush more, while 27% thought Obama’s policies were at fault. Also unchanged this month are the overall findings on economic judgment. Sixty percent (60%) of voters say they trust their own judgment on economic issues more than the president’s. Twenty-seven percent (27%) trust Obama more, and 14% are not sure. "

Though George W. Bush left office with the reputation of a technological lummox — infamously using the term “Internets” — his former staffers are using their tech savvy to stay connected. Despite a handful of established Facebook groups for those who worked in the Bush administration, an effort is under way to create an online social network — for Bushies only. Tony Fratto, a former deputy press secretary who currently heads the Bush-Cheney Alumni Association, is spearheading the charge. He told POLITICO this week that that Web developers are currently hard at work experimenting with mock-ups, and he predicts a...

And you think George W. Bush was an idiot??? Subject: And you think George W. Bush was a dummy? If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved? If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved? If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky? If George W. Bush...

As he announces an improvement in the GDP decline, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) reminds everyone that once President Obama took office, Congress "confronted the worst economy this coutnry had seen in 75 year. That was the legacy that we inherited."

Most Americans—54%--still blame President George W. Bush for the nation’s economic woes. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 39% say the policies of President Barack Obama are to blame. Those top-line figures are unchanged from a month ago. Two months ago, 62% blamed Bush.

WASHINGTON — Top Bush administration officials in 2002 debated testing the Constitution by sending American troops into the suburbs of Buffalo to arrest a group of men suspected of plotting with Al Qaeda, according to former administration officials. Some of the advisers to President George W. Bush, including Vice President Dick Cheney, argued that a president had the power to use the military on domestic soil to sweep up the terrorism suspects, who came to be known as the Lackawanna Six, and declare them enemy combatants. Mr. Bush ultimately decided against the proposal to use military force. A decision to...

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration in 2002 considered sending U.S. troops into a Buffalo, N.Y., suburb to arrest a group of terror suspects in what would have been a nearly unprecedented use of military power, The New York Times reported. Vice President Dick Cheney and several other Bush advisers at the time strongly urged that the military be used to apprehend men who were suspected of plotting with al Qaida, who later became known as the Lackawanna Six, the Times reported on its Web site Friday night. It cited former administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Photographs of Bush, with commentary by the photographers who followed him for 8 or 9 years. Quite the contrast with Barry.

Most liberals in this country are intellectually dishonest which is why they don't have the slightest qualms about grotesque double standards. That's why Al Gore can live in a mansion that consumes energy like a football stadium while he tells you to cut back. It's why Sarah Palin can be sliced apart for things said by Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live while Joe Biden is treated seriously despite being the biggest doofus ever to occupy the Vice-Presidency. It's also why Barack Obama gets a free pass for many of the same things that George Bush was criticized for doing....

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin praised the hospitality and openness of U.S. former President George W. Bush in a telegramme sent hours before meeting his successor Barack Obama. "During the last years we have been working on strengthening Russia-U.S. cooperation. Although there were differences between our countries, I always valued your openness and sincerity," Putin said, congratulating Bush on his 63rd birthday on July 6. "With special warmth I recall your hospitality in the Crawford ranch and your family estate in Kennebunkport," Putin wrote, referring to their 2007 meeting at the Bush family vacation home when the...

Thunderous Okla. Applause Greets Bush on July 4 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: July 4, 2009 WOODWARD, Okla. (AP) -- Former President George W. Bush spoke amid thunderous applause in a rural Oklahoma town to celebrate the Fourth of July, calling the U.S. the ''greatest nation on the face of the earth.'' Bush was given six standing ovations as he spoke Saturday inside a remodeled rodeo arena in Woodward, a town of about 12,000 residents in northwest Oklahoma. About 9,200 tickets were sold for the event, which would be the biggest crowd for Bush since he left office in January....

Please check out that at http://www.americanpatriotweb.com/september-11.htm Select: The White House - President speeches on 9/11 Information given: Page Not Found The page you requested wasn't found at this location. The Obama Administration has created a brand new White House website, and it's possible that the page you were looking for has been moved. http://www.whitehouse.gov/query.html?col=colpics&qt=september+11

What If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved? If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved? If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky? If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved? If George W. Bush had visited...

At a dinner last week in California, I was reminded of the debt we owe to those who have, for 233 years, sustained our freedom and independence. One remarkable family in particular exemplifies the best in the American spirit of courage and sacrifice. Sitting at my table was a friend, Christine Krissoff, wife of Dr. Bill Krissoff and mother of Nathan and Austin Krissoff. One of her sons, Marine First Lt. Nathan Krissoff, was killed in Al Anbar Province in December 2006. A Williams College grad, athlete and musician, he'd left for Iraq on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11...

July 2009 sees nearly 6 months since George W Bush entered private life and as we have done in previously monthly threads I have collated photos from the month we are in from previous years. Tonight I will post July 2001 and July 2002 photos and then over the next few days post 2003 and 2004 photos. I have also found some photos from this June which I will also post in the next few days starting with one of them as the photo of the month. Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

Oliver Stone: 'Reagan Was a Dumb Son of a Bitch' Who Spawned Bush By Brent Baker Created 2009-06-27 02:14 Film producer/director Oliver Stone [1], a far-left promoter of conspiracies who is working on a sequel to his 1987 'Wall Street' movie, declared on Friday night's edition of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher that “Reagan was a dumb son of a bitch” and “I really think George W is dumber” and so, after producing movies on the CIA conspiracy to murder President Kennedy and a dark look at President Nixon, he won't create a movie on Ronald Reagan because “by...

<p>"To the people of Iran: You are rich in culture and talent. You have a right to live under a government that listens to your wishes, respects your talents, and allows you to build better lives for your families. Unfortunately, your government denies you these opportunities, and threatens the peace and stability of your neighbors. So we call on the regime in Tehran to heed your will, and to make itself accountable to you. The day will come when the people of Iran have a government that embraces liberty and justice, and Iran joins the community of free nations. And when that good day comes, you will have no better friend than the United States of America." - President George W. Bush, January 13, 2008.</p>

Former President George W. Bush fired a salvo at President Obama on Wednesday, asserting his administration's interrogation policies were within the law, declaring the private sector not government will fix the economy and rejecting the nationalization of health care. I know it's going to be the private sector that leads this country out of the current economic times we're in, the former president said to applause from members of a local business group. You can spend your money better than the government can spend your money. Repeatedly in his hourlong speech and question-and-answer session, Mr. Bush said he would not...

Just having the appearance of someone who might possibly vote for an opponent of Barack Obama could land them on the President's enemies list where proxies do the dirty work. Political appointees in the Justice Department killed a six-month investigation by career DOJ lawyers into the most blatant voter intimidation case in 40 years. Last November, jack-booted, uniformed, baton-wielding thugs from the New Black Panther Party calling themselves "security" obstructed a Philadelphia polling location and behaved in an intimidating manner toward white voters. Days after dismissing charges against the menacing thugs, the Justice Department moved in the opposite direction by...

It is now over 5 month since the best President of this century has left office . Do I miss the years he was our President and Commander in Chief.? You betcha. Today, I will post photos from June 2001 and June 2002. snugs will post photos from June 2003. (She might do it tomorrow though instead.. Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

I was right to torture terror suspects - it saved lives, claims unrepentant George Bush By DAVID GARDNER 29th May 2009 George Bush has defended his decision to allow the use of torture on terror suspects in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The former president broke his silence on the scandal to insist that controversial interrogation methods like waterboarding and sleep deprivation helped save lives. Mr Bush was echoing claims made by his former Vice President Dick Cheney that the harsh interrogation techniques vilified by the Obama administration gained valuable intelligence. The ex-president was careful to avoid words...

BENTON HARBOR, Michigan (CNN) -- Former President George W. Bush on Thursday repeated Dick Cheney's assertion that the administration's enhanced interrogation program, which included controversial techniques such as waterboarding, was legal and garnered valuable information that prevented terrorist attacks. Former President George W. Bush defended his administration in speech Thursday in Michigan. Bush told a southwestern Michigan audience of nearly 2,500 -- the largest he has addressed in the United States since leaving the White House in January -- that, after the September 11 attacks, "I vowed to take whatever steps that were necessary to protect you." In his speech,...

<p>Former President George W. Bush may finally upstage Dick Cheney this week. After months of silence while Cheney has been blasting away at President Obama, Bush is scheduled to make two semi-public appearances.</p> <p>Tonight he'll speak to to the Economic Club of Southwest Michigan at Lake Michigan College. It's being billed as his first major speech to an American audience. The news media will be allowed to attend the event, but not record it. Right.</p>

MAY 22, 2009 Bush's Gitmo Vindication Obama still hasn't said where the worst terrorists will go. President Obama delivered a major speech yesterday on how he intends to prosecute the war on terror (or whatever it's now called), and in particular his desire to close the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay. As rhetoric, his remarks were at pains to declare a bold new moral direction. On substance, however, the speech and other events this week look more like a vindication of the past seven years. The President's speech came after both houses of Congress had denied his funding requests to...

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Barack Obama said Thursday the Bush administration took America’s national security “off course” in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attack. After September 11, “faced with an uncertain threat, our government made a series of hasty decisions,” Obama said. “I believe that many of these decisions were motivated by a sincere desire to protect the American people. But I also believe that all too often our government made decisions based on fear rather than foresight. That all too often trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions.”

An estimated 3,000 people attended the Chase Foundation scholarship reception in which President Bush was the keynote speaker. The Chase Foundation awards every graduating Artesia High School student that maintains a 3.0 grade average a paid college scholarship to a college in NM and West Texas. Scholarships are renewed yearly for those maintaining a 2.5 GPA. The foundation was started by Mack Chase, an independent oil and gas producer in Artesia. Former President George W. Bush waves at the crowd inside of the Artesia High School gymnasium in Artesia, N.M., May 21, 2009, while standing next to Meg Knorr, an...

The Pentagon said Monday it no longer includes a Bible quote on the cover page of daily intelligence briefings it sends to the White House as was practice during the Bush administration. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said he did not know how long the Worldwide Intelligence Update cover sheets quoted from the Bible. Air Force Maj. Gen. Glen Shaffer, who was responsible for including them, retired in August 2003, according to his biography. For a period in 2003, at least, the daily reports prepared for President George W. Bush carried quotes from the books of Psalms and Ephesians and the...