'Candid' Laura Bush Tells Her Story

Noah Feldman is amused by Gingrich's academic past

(NEWSER) - Newt Gingrich's attacks linking President Obama to Saul Alinsky delighted Harvard law professor Noah Feldman. "What excites me is not the preposterousness of the statement," though indeed, it was preposterous, he writes for Bloomberg . "What I love was the absurdity of Newt Gingrich apparently believing that the name Saul Alinsky would have any kind of meaning to the Americans listening to him." (It doesn't, Bill Maher assures us .) Truly, the ex-speaker is a historian at heart—he "can't help himself." More»

First ladies to honor United Flight 93 Victims

(AP) - Michelle Obama will join former first lady Laura Bush in ceremonies marking the ninth anniversary of the United Flight 93 crash in Pennsylvania during the Sept. 11 attacks. Bush had previously confirmed her participation, saying we "must never forget the brave sacrifice of these extraordinary men and women." More»

She also reveals struggle after deadly car crash

(NEWSER) - The New York Times has snagged a copy of Laura Bush's new memoir, which isn't officially due out until next month. Some highlights from Spoken From the Heart:

• She suggests that she, her husband, and members of their entourage were poisoned during a G8 summit when they all mysteriously fell ill.
• Ending her long silence about her 1963 car accident, she admits she was chatting when she ran a stop sign in the crash that killed a high school friend, but also blames a slew of factors beyond her control. She didn't attend the victim's funeral and says she was wracked with guilt for years.
• George W. only flew over New Orleans after Katrina, she says, because "he did not want one single life to be lost because someone was catering to the logistical requirements" of a visiting president.
• She slams Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid as "petty and parochial" for making "graceless" comments about her husband.

First lady's approval rating soars over her husband's

(NEWSER) - President Obama’s approval ratings are sinking, but Michelle Obama’s remain sky-high, with 71% of the country holding a favorable opinion of her. Only 16% of respondents in a new Pew Research survey held a negative view of the first lady. That puts her well above Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush, who had 60% and 64% favorability ratings, respectively, after their husbands had been in office for 1 year. More»

Forces were undermanned, and planning was shoddy

(NEWSER) - The US missed out on chances to stabilize Afghanistan early in the war because it devoted too few troops and too little planning to the conflict, write Army historians in an official chronicle of the conflict. "It should have become clear” in late 2003 “that the coalition presence in Afghanistan did not provide enough resources,” says the history, a copy of which was obtained by the New York Times . The newspaper points out that 800-soldier battalions were trying to maintain order in areas the size of Vermont. More»