Rehabilitation of Bush Legacy Well Under Way

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama doesn’t want anyone to forget his predecessor. “You hand me a $1.3 trillion bill, and then you’re complaining six months later because we haven’t paid it all back,” he griped at a recent town hall. And you can expect him to keep bashing Bush for a while, Washingtonians tell Politico. “The battle for the history is always an essential part of winning the future,” says one GOP strategist. More»

Apart from being ideological opposites, Bush and Obama are identical!

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama is often compared to FDR or Ronald Reagan. But what about the last guy? Obama has taken office in the midst of a crisis and has lofty approval ratings—much like the 80% Bush had after 9/11. And both have taken a fairly similar political approach to their respective tests, writes Jackson Diehl of the Washington Post. More»

Obama officials condemn disorder; ex-Bushies cry blame game

(NEWSER) - The case files of many Gitmo detainees are incomplete, disorganized, or strewn around the executive branch, complicating President Barack Obama’s plan to close down the detention center, reports the Washington Post. Incoming officials discovered the chaos when given access after the inauguration. One former official says he sometimes had to threaten to release prisoners to force the CIA to "cough up a sentence or two." More»

While Bush hated doubt, Obama's 'delighted' by it

(NEWSER) - George W. Bush’s insecurity and aversion to doubt—“the psychological traits of an asphyxiated and pampered son”—led to his botched presidency, Maureen Dowd writes in the New York Times. Rather than being a source of presidential insight on Iraq and Saddam, Bush’s father was relegated “to the status of a blankie,” providing needed emotional support while Junior spent eight years “trashing the Constitution, the economy, and the environment.” More»

But he'll be 'the guy in the room'

(NEWSER) - Most vice presidents enter office wanting to grab power and make a name for themselves. Not Joe Biden. The VP-elect is determined to roll back Dick Cheney’s massive power grab, he tells the New York Times. Will that make him less effective? “The only value of power is in the effect,” he says. “The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The Bush-Cheney relationship hasn’t tasted very good.” More»