Posted on 07/22/2007 6:19:20 PM PDT by Wolfstar
PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President Bush returned to the White House today after spending most of the weekend at Camp David. While there, he underwent a routine colonoscopy exam, which doctors recommend be done at least every five years.
The First Lady was in Texas celebrating her mother's birthday.
President Bush has 5 polyps removed during colonoscopy
BY Deb Riechmann Associated Press July 22, 2007CAMP DAVID, Md. -- Doctors removed five small growths from President Bush's colon Saturday after he temporarily transferred the powers of his office to Vice President Dick Cheney under the rarely invoked 25th Amendment.
The polyps, extra tissue growing inside the large intestine, were found during a routine colon cancer scan performed at the Camp David presidential retreat.
"All were less than 1 centimeter (about four-tenths of an inch) and none appeared worrisome," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said. Outside medical experts agreed.
The polyps were sent to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., to be microscopically examined for signs of cancer. Results were expected in 48 to 72 hours. Polyps can turn cancerous, so finding them early is one of the best ways to prevent the disease and improve the odds of surviving it.
Bush invoked the presidential disability clause of the Constitution at 7:16 a.m. EDT. He transferred his authority to Cheney, who was at his home on the Chesapeake Bay in St. Michaels, Md., 45 miles east of D.C.
Nothing occurred during the 2 hours and 5 minutes of the transfer that required Cheney to take official action, Stanzel said.
First lady Laura Bush was in Midland, Texas, celebrating her mother's birthday. The president spoke with her by phone before and after the colonoscopy.
Stanzel said the exam was performed under what he called "monitored anesthesia care," not general anesthesia. He said Bush was asleep but responsive during the colon check. The medical team stopped administering anesthesia at 7:41 a.m. EDT; Bush was up 3 minutes later.
After the examination, Bush ate breakfast with chief of staff Joshua Bolten, White House counsel Fred Fielding and national security adviser Stephen Hadley. He played with his dogs, rode his bike in the afternoon for more than an hour around the presidential compound in the Catoctin Mountains of western Maryland, and received informal briefings from Bolten and Hadley.
For the general population, a colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer is recommended every 10 years. But for people at higher risk, or if a colonoscopy detects polyps, follow-up colonoscopies often are scheduled in three- to five-year intervals.
Doctors discovered that Bush had two polyps during a similar scan in 1998 and two more were found during a colon screening in 1999, while Bush was governor of Texas. That made the 61-year-old president a prime candidate for regular examinations. The screening done in 2002 revealed no polyps or abnormalities.
In the meantime, the work of state goes on. President Bush will meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai at Camp David in August, as Karzai's counterpart in Pakistan is fighting Al Qaeda in the remote northwestern part of that country.
Afghan President to Meet Bush at Camp David in August
By VOA NewsThe White House says President Bush will meet his Afghan counterpart next month for talks on security in Afghanistan and the U.S.-led war on terror.
Mr. Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai are to hold talks at Camp David, the U.S. presidential retreat in Maryland, on August 5 and 6.
A statement from the White House says the presidents will examine efforts to enhance Afghanistan's long-term democracy, prosperity and security. They also are expected to address ways to fight militant attacks, corruption and the booming drug trade, as well as measures to boost the Afghan economy.
U.S. coalition forces in Afghanistan are battling a resurgent Taleban rebellion, with southern Afghanistan hard-hit in that have left thousands dead.
Counter-offensives by U.S.-led and NATO forces have led to a number of civilian deaths. President Karzai has reacted strongly, accusing foreign soldiers of using extreme force.
U.S. and NATO commanders have pledged to review their military procedures, but also have accused Taleban militants of using civilians as human shields.
Bush says US, Pakistan targeting Al-Qaeda 'safe-haven'
Sun Jul 22WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush linked the US global campaign against Al-Qaeda to Pakistan's efforts to quell Islamist violence, including the storming of a pro-Taliban mosque last week.
In his weekly radio address, Bush expressed full US support for Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's efforts "to rid all of Pakistan of extremism" including an Al-Qaeda "safe haven" in tribal areas.
Bush called the establishment of such harbors, detailed in a recent US national intelligence estimate, "one of the most troubling" setbacks to the US war on terrorism since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The US president...said Musharraf recognized that a September 2006 deal with tribal chiefs to police their own region had failed and that he was "taking active steps to correct it."
"Earlier this month, he sent in Pakistani forces to go after radicals who seized control of a mosque, and then he delivered a speech vowing to rid all of Pakistan of extremism," the US president said.
"Pakistani forces are in the fight, and many have given their lives. The United States supports them in these efforts. And we will work with our partners to deny safe haven to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Pakistan -- or anywhere else in the world," Bush said.
Musharraf is battling a wave of Islamist violence, sparked by the bloody storming by government forces last week of the pro-Taliban Red Mosque in Islamabad.
The death toll from the Islamist carnage passed 200 in less than a week Friday, after another suicide attack killed four people in the tribal area of North Waziristan, where militants last Sunday tore up a shaky ceasefire pact.
President Bush to meet Jordan king next week
AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan's King Abdullah will meet President George W. Bush next week in Washington to push forward a U.S. plan to reinvigorate Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, officials said on Friday.
Palace officials said the surprise visit by the staunch U.S. ally to the White House on Tuesday would focus on efforts to broaden support for Bush's call on Monday for a Middle East peace conference later in the year, probably in the United States.
They say the pro-Western monarch was heartened by Bush's new plan to revive peace moves leading to the goal of an Arab-Israeli settlement based on two states, Israel and Palestine -- an aim sought by Arab moderates.
The king is spearheading an Arab campaign to get Israel to accept a plan offering a sweeping land-for-peace initiative and has long sought an international meeting that brings together Israel, moderate Palestinian leaders and their Arab neighbors.
Jordan, which hosts the largest number of Palestinians outside the West Bank and Gaza, fears time is running out because of rising Iranian influence and the spread of Islamic fundamentalism that has brought more regional instability.
It is years since Israel and the Palestinians last discussed issues at the root of the conflict -- final borders of a Palestinian state, the return of refugees and the status of Jerusalem.
LOL - I stared at the green thang for awhile - thinking, whaaat? Then, IT appeared! Very cute - and stealable.
In the meantime, the fools who cannot separate a policy disagreement from personal animus will hand the presidency and Congress over to the Dems next year -- unless the Right gets a major attitude adjustment fast.
If they do that, we lose the war against the Islamofacists. Period.
I love Tony. He is a good man. May God Bless his health.
I totally agree. It's wonderful.
I also love that his emotions are in his face for everyone to see. Our “man of a thousand faces”!
That's one of the most endearing qualities this man I continue to insist is a great man.
That picture of the White House is as pretty as I have seen! Very nice~~~~
LOL...that happened to me. It is cute...and unexpected. ;o)
Well, I will insist right along with you. He will be vindicated in the history books if they are only accurate and tell the truth.
He does, all things considered. I'm glad one of the reporters at the briefing asked how he's doing so that we could get the news through the transcript.
He's one of the best. I hope God allows him to live long enough to see his kids grown and with children of their own.
Isn't it, though. So evocative of an earlier, more innocent time. Sigh.
I am glad they asked, too, because Tony is not forthcoming on his own health, but concentrates on others. That’s the type of man he is.
Great relaxing picture. Thank you for all the great pictures today!
It’ll not happen. Somethin’ is a comin’ that’ll keep the GOP in the WH and a very good chance of majority in congress.
C U T E.......!
HI SNUGS~~~~
Thank you, Wolfstar .. that WH picture is so elegant, and our indomitable President keeps on truckin’ .. he KNOWS his mission, and he will until his last day in the WH. Prayers for his continuing health, grace and fortitude.
FYI to all ~~
MUST SEE video from SecDef Gates at this week’s Marine Corps
Association Dinner ... his barbs at the Beltway establishment, his assessment of the WOT, and an usually emotional tribute to one of our brave heroes.
It’s on the left side, under The Pentagon Channel .. VERY worthwhile
Ah, the history books. Sure to be written by the rabid leftists who infest academia these days. However, they can't entirely bury history, because the truth does come out in time. For example, the history books are fairly kind to Woodrow Wilson. However, he is one of our absolute worst presidents. The Jimmy Carter of his day, and worse in some respects. But the truth about Wilson is out there for people who wish to read it, and he is not thought of very highly by most historians today.
I sure hope so, because there will still be much to do regarding Islamofacism after President Bush leaves office.
Hi Star. Thanks for the information about Gates.
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