'Low Profile'? Bush Talks Rake in $15M

Longevity expert debunks myth that White House duty shortens life

(NEWSER) - President Obama's graying hair has set off the typical chatter that serving as president is so stressful it's bound to take years off a person's life. Not so, says a longevity expert in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In fact, our presidents tend to live longer than the rest of us. S. Jay Olshansky of the University of Illinois crunched the numbers involving 34 presidents who died of natural causes and found that 23 exceeded the life expectancy of men in their era, reports Reuters . More»

A year later, George W. doesn't look so bad

(NEWSER) - George W Bush isn't looking so bad these days. Sure, "his post-presidency resume is still thin," writes Stanley Fish in the New York Times , but he's about to make a comeback—just as we're starting to miss him. Bush nostalgia abounds: Pictures of a Minnesota billboard featuring George W and the caption "Miss me yet?" have gone viral. This week's cover of Newsweek, meanwhile, suggests that the Iraq mission has, in fact, been accomplished. More»

But he doesn't mention Obama by name

(NEWSER) - George Bush has promised to steer clear of criticizing his successor's policies, but he seemed to come awfully close yesterday during a speech at SMU. "As the world recovers, we will face a temptation to replace the risk-and-reward model of the private sector with the blunt instruments of government spending and control," Bush said. "History shows that the greater threat to prosperity is not too little government involvement, but too much." More»

Ex-president's new gig elicits generates mockery, some populist cred

(NEWSER) - George W. Bush's upcoming gig as a motivational speaker in Fort Worth has wags weighing in:

• Jason Zengerle, New Republic: A bit "undignified," for sure, but remember that Bill Clinton and others make buckets of cash from speaking gigs. "At least Bush's buckraking is sort of populist. If you want to see him speak, you don't need to work at Goldman. In fact, you—and your entire office, for that matter—can go see him for just $19."

Outbursts par for the course in partisan politics

(NEWSER) - After Joe Wilson's “you lie” outburst, we may need to add “Joewilsoning” to the lexicon, as in, “OMG, he Joewilsoned right in the middle of the sermon!” writes Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post. Still, the reaction to the outburst seems a wee bit overblown. Wilson is, in normal circumstances, "polite, humble and deferential," says Parker, who acknowledges that her nephew works in his office. More»