Dubya's New Gig: Motivational Guru

Former president tells crowd he relied on 'the Almighty'

(NEWSER) - George W. Bush commanded a 15,000-strong crowd at a motivational megashow in Dallas last night, flanked by signs reading "Achieve!" and "Motivate!" but not by the pyrotechnics that greeted other speakers—Secret Service said no. Bush told stories of both "great and not so great" days in office, saying setbacks only made him stronger. "All of us are going to be dealt a hand we don't want to play," Bush said. "The question is how to play the hand." More»

Powell says former VP goes 'too far' in pitching his memoir

(NEWSER) - Colin Powell fired back at Dick Cheney and his revealing memoir yesterday, calling the former veep's revelations "cheap shots that he's taking at me and other members of the administration who served to the best of our ability for President Bush," reports Politico . In particular, Powell rebutted claims that he publicly badmouthed the war in Iraq and was forced out of George W. Bush's administration in 2004. "The president knows that I told him what I thought about every issue of the day," said the former secretary of state. More»

Former VP discusses his conflicts with Condoleezza, Powell, Tenet

(NEWSER) - And the revelations from Dick Cheney's new memoir just keep coming: yesterday, news of a secret resignation letter. Today, the New York Times , which obtained a copy of In My Time , reports that Cheney pushed Bush to bomb what the US believed to be a nuclear reactor site in Syria in 2007. But others in the White House, wary of a repeat of the Iraq/WMD scenario, balked, and Bush opted to take the diplomatic route. "I again made the case for US military action against the reactor,” Cheney wrote. "But I was a lone voice. After I finished, the president asked, ‘Does anyone here agree with the vice president?’ Not a single hand went up around the room.” More»

Usually notes 9/11, just forgot in earlier interview

(NEWSER) - Rudy Giuliani backtracked this evening on his earlier statement that there had been no domestic terror attacks under President Bush, telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he indeed remembers the events of Sept. 11, 2001. “I usually say, ‘We had no major domestic attacks under President Bush since Sept. 11,’” he explained. “I did omit the words, ‘since Sept. 11,’ and I apologize for that. I do remember Sept. 11. In fact, Wolf, I remember it every single day and usually, frequently during the day.” 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."