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Washington Post
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May 31, 09 11:36 AM CDT
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Ironically, Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice have defended their post-9/11 decisions by appealing for empathy, arguing that only those in charge on that bleak day could understand. “I have little sympathy for this argument,” Richard Clarke, who was there, retorts in a withering piece for the Washington Post , blaming them for ignoring pre-9/11 intel warning of an imminent al-Qaeda attack.
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CNN
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May 29, 09 6:34 AM CDT
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George W. Bush didn't mention Dick Cheney by name, but he backed his assertions that the CIA's harsh interrogations were legal and saved lives, CNN reports. After terror suspect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was captured in 2003, for example, Bush said he checked with "the lawyers" to determine how to proceed. "I made the decision, within the law, to get information so I can say to myself, 'I've done what it takes to do my duty to protect the American people.' I can tell you that the information we got saved lives."
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Financial Times (UK)
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May 25, 09 12:54 PM CDT
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President Obama’s national security policy has been surprisingly close to his predecessor’s—a policy he hammered on the campaign trail. For that, he “owes George W. Bush an apology,” writes Clive Crook in the Financial Times . But his supporters also deserve an apology. His election rhetoric “misled” them: “In office he has found that the issue is more complicated” than he presented it.
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Politico
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May 24, 09 10:14 AM CDT
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Shortly before the election last November, Laura Bush sought to shape her somewhat hazy legacy. The former first lady spoke to historians, reporters, and other DC insiders in a 3-hour “legacy lunch,” at which she was called “candid,” “funny,” and “open” as she answered questions, Politico reports. “No first lady has ever reached out to historians to talk about what she'd done. It was a first,” said a historian.
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Associated Press
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May 22, 09 6:46 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Being wrist-deep in dog poo makes a nice change of pace from being neck-deep in responsibilities, George W. Bush told a group of New Mexico high school seniors yesterday. Bush, in one of his few public appearances since leaving office, said it felt liberating to be out of the Oval Office and returning to normal life in suburbia, AP reports.
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CNN
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May 21, 09 10:13 AM CDT
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A new poll shows that Dick Cheney, currently making headlines for his stance on torture, is gaining popularity. 37% of those polled by CNN hold a favorable opinion of the former vice president, up 8% from when he left office; 55% still view him unfavorably. Former president Bush, who’s remained out of the spotlight, gained 6% and now has a 41% rating.
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Newsweek
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May 19, 09 1:56 PM CDT
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Former President Bush is gradually reentering life as a private citizen in Texas, Newsweek reports, but he's doing it gingerly and on his own terms. While many Texans agree that Dubya's still the friendly, aw-shucks guy they sent to Washington eight years ago, he's definitely keeping clear of dissent. “He is in home territory for sure,” a Texas historian said. “He doesn't enjoy naysayers and critics and opposition. Never has. And right now, he needs that nurturing cocoon that he is in.”
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GQ
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May 17, 09 1:00 PM CDT
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Donald Rumsfeld isn’t a preacher, but nearly every morning after the Iraq invasion, he handed President Bush a national security digest containing Biblical quotations intended to influence his decisions. This tactic, Robert Draper writes for GQ in a lengthy look at Rummy's standing among administration contemporaries, epitomizes the former Pentagon secretary—a manipulative, imperious bully who would do anything to get his way, including vexing US troops.
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The Hill
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May 15, 09 2:09 PM CDT
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CIA director Leon Panetta today denied Nancy Pelosi’s claim that the agency misled lawmakers in a 2002 briefing, the Hill reports. In a memo to employees, Panetta said “CIA officers briefed truthfully on the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, describing ‘the enhanced techniques that had been employed.’” Moreover, “we are an agency of high integrity,” he said. “Our task is to tell it like it is.”
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Washington Post
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May 14, 09 5:19 PM CDT
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Karl Rove is on the hot seat tomorrow. The former Bush adviser will be interviewed by federal prosecutors as part of a criminal investigation into the firings of US attorneys in 2006, the Washington Post reports. Rove will meet with Connecticut prosecutor Nora R. Dannehy, who has been charged with figuring out whether Bush officials misled investigators looking into the dismissals.
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MSNBC
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May 14, 09 2:04 PM CDT
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The CIA today denied Dick Cheney’s request that documents possibly proving the effectiveness of enhanced interrogation techniques be declassified, MSNBC reports. An executive order “excludes from review information that is the subject of pending litigation,” the CIA said. The two documents “contain information that falls into that category.” The order was signed by former President Bush, the New York Daily News adds.
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Washington Post
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May 8, 09 2:18 PM CDT
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Alberto Gonzales will attend tomorrow’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, the Washington Post reports. Gonzales, a guest of the Houston Chronicle , will be hard-pressed to avoid members of a new administration that has all but vilified his actions as Bush attorney general. But, for a man under investigation both for the firing of US attorneys and legalizing torture, the dinner may be a chance to relive the good old days.
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Time
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May 4, 09 3:48 PM CDT
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George W. Bush has amassed over $100 million in donations for the construction of a presidential library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Time reports, with most coming since he left office. Bush has tapped into his campaign donor network to hit the estimated $300 million cost for the project, which will hold all official documents from his presidency, and feature a museum and research facility.
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New York
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May 4, 09 8:34 AM CDT
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Those calling for Bush administration prosecutions on torture-related grounds may have their way—but whether those in question can actually be convicted is a whole other kettle of fish, Jeffrey Rosen writes in New York . Much of the case would likely hinge on whether authorities believed their own claims in making a case for waterboarding. And appointing a special prosecutor could create headaches for the Justice Department.
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