Laura Bush: Obama Doing a Good Job

(AP) - Michelle Obama's performance as first lady is getting high marks from her predecessor, Laura Bush. Speaking after a change-of-command ceremony for the USS Texas submarine in Connecticut, Bush said today she's watched the current first lady from afar and is impressed. More»

Moment of silence at 8:46, moment first plane hit

(NEWSER) - President Obama opened a sun-splashed day of solemn remembrance today by honoring the 9/11 dead with a visit to ground zero, bowing his head at the cascading pools of the North Memorial Pond created in the footprint of the demolished north tower of the World Trade Center. Obama, hand in hand with wife Michelle, walked with former President George W. Bush and wife Laura to the memorial pool. They ran their hands over the bronze panels bearing the names of those lost in the attacks. Mayor Michael Bloomberg led a moment of silence beginning at 8:46am, the moment the first plane hit. Obama then read Psalm 46, and the names of the victims were read. Click through the gallery for images; MSNBC has live coverage of the ceremony at Ground Zero here . More»

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»

School budget cuts more of a worry than socialist indoctrination

(NEWSER) - Despite the worst fears of some right-wingers, President Obama's back-to-school speech yesterday didn't turn Mary Elizabeth Williams' two daughters into "commie zombies," she writes in Salon. Her 5-year-old decided the speech was boring and left the room in a huff, while the 9-year-old decided to "work extra hard now because the president said it’s good to do that, and I trust him," she quotes her daughter as saying. More»

(NEWSER) - The eagerly anticipated speech President Obama will deliver to the nation's schoolchildren tomorrow contains none of the socialist indoctrination conservatives had apparently feared, Politico reports. Rather, an advance text indicates, he urges kids to work hard, not expect to get something for nothing, and "wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well" to fight the spread of swine flu. More»