Free Republic

On the 11th anniversary of 9/11, I blogged with the following: Vanity Fair contributing editor and former NYTimes reporter Kurt Eichenwald is out promoting a new Bush-Derangement Syndrome book, 500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars You can read an excerpt at Vanity Fair. To be clear, this is an anti-Bush book, putting the worst possible spin upon events described in the book. I loathe spending any money on this; but even partisan books can provide nuggets of useful information when you can cross-reference and wade through the bias filter that any actual facts had been transmuted and...

<p>FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Former President George W. Bush says he turned to his faith during tough times in his eight years in office.</p> <p>He told more than 1,100 people at a banquet Saturday night for Fort Worth Christian School that he didn't see how he could be president without prayer.</p>

Incredibly, President George W. Bush told French President Jacques Chirac in early 2003 that Iraq must be invaded to thwart Gog and Magog, the Bible's satanic agents of the Apocalypse. Honest. This isn't a joke. The president of the United States, in a top-secret phone call to a major European ally, asked for French troops to join American soldiers in attacking Iraq as a mission from God. Now out of office, Chirac recounts that the American leader appealed to their "common faith" (Christianity) and told him: "Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East. ... The biblical prophecies...

It is in many ways the weirdest shard of reporting from those years, and its testimony is from no less than the former president of France: The president of the United States, in a top-secret phone call to a major European ally, asked for French troops to join American soldiers in attacking Iraq as a mission from God. Now out of office, Chirac recounts that the American leader appealed to their "common faith" (Christianity) and told him: "Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East…. The biblical prophecies are being fulfilled…. This confrontation is willed by God, who...

There's an important article in the Politico titled, "Obama invokes Jesus more than Bush." President Barack Obama, says the article, has mentioned Jesus Christ "in a number of high-profile public speeches," more so than did President George W. Bush, and in much less "innocuous contexts." Obama has done so in order to promote certain policies, especially his economic policies, and "to connect with a broader base of supporters." He does this via various "targeted messages." Most remarkable, the article considers whether Obama is using the bully pulpit to pursue "an even larger goal" of resurrecting the Christian left, of appealing...

He’s done it while talking about abortion and the Middle East, even the economy. The references serve at once as an affirmation of his faith and a rebuke against a rumor that persists for some to this day. As president, Barack Obama has mentioned Jesus Christ in a number of high-profile public speeches — something his predecessor George W. Bush rarely did in such settings, even though Bush’s Christian faith was at the core of his political identity. In his speech Thursday in Cairo, Obama told the crowd that he is a Christian and mentioned the Islamic story of Isra,...

President George W. Bush assistant Tim Goeglein interviewed by Dr. James Dobson, on Dobson's Focus on the Family radio broadcast. Three day broadcast. Goeglein present an articulate defense of President Bush as wartime president and pro-life president. Listen for the long list of pro-life accomplishments of Bush in the 2nd hour. I do not see a transcript yet. Radio Show site: http://listen.family.org/daily/A000002029.cfm Focus on the Family site: http://www.focusonthefamily.com/

President Bush was known for his Christianity but it's President Obama mentioning the Savior of the Christian world in speeches. From the Politico He’s done it while talking about abortion and the Middle East, even the economy. The references serve at once as an affirmation of his faith and a rebuke against a rumor that persists for some to this day. As president, Barack Obama has mentioned Jesus Christ in a number of high-profile public speeches — something his predecessor George W. Bush rarely did in such settings, even though Bush’s Christian faith was at the core of his political...

Tim Goeglein, a former special assistant to President George W. Bush, offers an insider's perspective on the Bush administration. Goelein emphasizes President Bush's daily prayer and guidance from God while a war-time president. Three day interview. http://www.focusonthefamily.com/about_us/dr_dobson_shows.aspx

If you didn't wince a bit while President Bush attempted last week on national television, no less to give an account of his Christian faith, well then maybe you too ought to go back and take a refresher course in Christianity 101. I take seriously the testimony of friends who have worked closely with the president, who speak of the sincerity of his profession of faith in Christ and of his personal commitment to walk in biblical obedience. But let's face it. Bush, based on what he told the folks on ABC's Nightline, wouldn't have passed a basic membership interview...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President George W. Bush said in an interview Monday that the Bible is "probably not" literally true and that a belief that God created the world is compatible with the theory of evolution. "I think you can have both," Bush, who leaves office January 20, told ABC television, adding "You're getting me way out of my lane here. I'm just a simple president." But "evolution is an interesting subject. I happen to believe that evolution doesn't fully explain the mystery of life," said the president, an outspoken Christian who often invokes God in his speeches. "I...

Before Newsweek created a controversy with its laughably absurd cover story that the Bible supports homosexual marriage, lame duck President George W. Bush declared in an interview with Cynthia McFadden of ABC News that he doesn’t believe the Bible to be the literal word of God. So Adam and Eve could just as easily be Adam and Steve? We needed a follow-up from McFadden. Bush spoke with conviction during the interview about how Jesus Christ has changed his life while McFadden played “gotcha” journalism on the subject of evolution, which has nothing to do with his record as president. What...

President George W. Bush said his belief that God created the world is not incompatible with scientific proof of evolution. In an interview with ABC's "Nightline" on Monday, the president also said he probably is not a literalist when reading the Bible although an individual can learn a great deal from it, including the New Testament teaching that God sent his only son. About creation and evolution, Bush said: "I think you can have both. I think evolution can — you're getting me way out of my lane here. I'm just a simple president. But it's, I think that God...

...If journalists expected Benedict to take swipes at President Bush's foreign policy there, they could only be disappointed.... There's a reason that yesterday Bush declared with gusto at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington: "His Holiness believes that freedom is the Almighty's gift to every man, woman and child on Earth." ...When they stood together on the White House lawn in a majestic welcoming ceremony on Wednesday, it symbolized the growing rapprochement of American evangelical Protestantism and the Catholic Church.... It was West Texas meets Rome; plain-spoken man of faith meets intellectual of great depth; representative of America's awesome...

A pal sent this my way: a fascinating piece on George Bush and Catholicism from the Religion News Service, reprinted in tomorrow's edition of the Washington Post: Shortly after Pope Benedict XVI's election in 2005, President Bush met with a small circle of advisers in the Oval Office. As some mentioned their own religious backgrounds, the president remarked that he had read one of the new pontiff's books about faith and culture in Western Europe. Save for one other soul, Bush was the only non-Catholic in the room. But his interest in the pope's writings was no surprise to those...

Whatever else his critics say of him, no one can fault President Bush for failing to go the extra mile in his efforts to show that neither he, nor the United States, is opposed to the Islamic faith, or to Muslim nations. Last week, the president and Mrs. Bush hosted their seventh Iftaar Dinner, the celebration that breaks the Muslim fast during Ramadan. Immediately after 9/11, the president visited a Washington, D.C., mosque and proclaimed Islam a “religion of peace.” He has frequently said that terrorists are not real Muslims, anymore than people who proclaim to be Christian and engage...

Whatever else his critics say of him, no one can fault President Bush for failing to go the extra mile in his efforts to show that neither he, nor the United States, is opposed to the Islamic faith, or to Muslim nations. Last week, the president and Mrs. Bush hosted their seventh Iftaar Dinner, the celebration that breaks the Muslim fast during Ramadan. Immediately after 9/11, the president visited a Washington, D.C., mosque and proclaimed Islam a “religion of peace.” He has frequently said that terrorists are not real Muslims, anymore than people who proclaim to be Christian and engage...

President George Bush has repeated his belief all religions, "whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God" – an assertion that caused outrage among evangelical leaders when he said it in November 2003.

President George Bush has repeated his belief all religions, "whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God" – an assertion that caused outrage among evangelical leaders when he said it in November 2003. Bush made the statement Friday in an interview with Al Arabiya reporter Elie Nakouzi. Al Arabiya is Al Jazeerah's top competitor in the Mideast. As the president and Nakouzi walked from the Oval Office to the Map Room in the White House residence, Nazouki asked, "But I want to tell you – and I hope this doesn't bother you at all...

Looking to the day he leaves the White House, President Bush says he'll concentrate on making speeches and running an institute that promotes democracy around the world. He also admitted that he cries "a lot" on God's shoulder. Bush made the revelations to Robert Draper, for his book “Dead Certain,” which will be released on Tuesday.