Politicians We'll Miss in 2009

But he still has enough energy to zing President Obama

(NEWSER) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney needs a new heart and may soon join a transplant list, he revealed in his first interview since major surgery. He's suffering from "end-stage" heart disease and will make a decision soon whether or not to go ahead with a transplant. In the meantime, he's as irrascible as ever and has declared Barack Obama a "one term" president because of his strategies "expanding government and the deficit, and giving more power to the government over the private sector." Cheney also boasted that Obama has apparently recognized the wisdom of many of George Bush's anti-terrorism policies. More»

Republicans take hope in Obama's lowered poll numbers

(NEWSER) - With President Obama’s poll numbers sinking, Republicans are feeling more confident about 2012—and eying a new crop of potential candidates, Politico reports. Among them: MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, a former GOP congressman who’s slammed Obama but is also ready to criticize his own party, and Gen. David Petraeus, head of the US Central Command. “It's kind of a time for another Eisenhower,” says former Sen. Bob Dole. More»

(NEWSER) - The verbal war between Rush Limbaugh and Colin Powell has actually ticked up a notch. On his show today, Limbaugh resigned as “the titular head of the Republican Party” and sarcastically appointed Powell in his place, reports Media Matters. He blasted Powell as a representative of the “worn-out GOP that never won anything” and said “the only thing emerging here is Colin Powell’s ego.” More»

Ex-VP slams Obama terror policies

(NEWSER) - Dick Cheney said President Obama’s release of Bush administration torture memos was meant “essentially to appease a certain element of the Democratic Party or because of campaign commitments,” Politico reports. Speaking on Fox News, Cheney did a mocking impression of al-Qaeda’s reaction: “Gee whiz, isn't that great? Barack Obama and his administration are no longer going to ask our guys tough questions when they are captured.” More»

Constitutional clause being used as shield

(NEWSER) - The FBI is doing its best to root out corruption on Capitol Hill—Robert Mueller called it the bureau’s “top criminal priority”—but investigators are being thwarted by a new twist on a constitutional provision, the Washington Post reports. The “speech or debate” clause was intended to protect lawmakers from harassing lawsuits and political attacks, but lately its interpretation has broadened. More»