Ridge says they tried to use it just before the election. Former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge dropped out of the Bush administration after the first term due (in part) to his concern that the administration was using terror alerts to play politics. The 2004 election incident, specifically, pushed him over the edge. “After that episode, I knew I had to follow through with my plans to leave the federal government for the private sector,” he wrote in his new book. source
It was clear that Cheney’s doctrine was cast-iron strength at all times – never apologize, never explain – and Bush moved toward the conciliatory.
A colleague of Dick Cheney • Discussing Cheney’s thoughts on his former boss, George W. Bush. According to the colleague, Cheney was upset that, at some point, Bush took to heart public criticism and stopped listening to his advice. While Cheney has spent much of the last few months in the public eye, taking Barack Obama to task on his foreign policy, Cheney’s been working on a memoir airing the dirty laundry between the two men. Expect it to be out in 2011. We hope there’s multiple chapters about the time he shot that dude in the face. • source
Bush nearly pulled the Buffalo trigger in 2002. Imagine this scene. You’re living in Buffalo in 2002, probably sitting in a restaurant eating some wings or a garbage plate or something like that. All of a sudden, you see soldiers running through the street, attempting to arrest some terrorists. You’d be freaked out, right? Well, the Bush Administration was considering doing just this in 2002 in an attempt to arrest the terrorists who later became known as the Lackawanna Six. Guess who was pushing for this approach? That’s right. Dick Cheney. source
I think this is going to be the protest of the summer. It’s really picking up a lot of energy.
Cindy Sheehan • On her latest move to draw attention to the Iraq war … another protest of ex-President Bush’s Texas home. Gee, that’s creative. Not that the war doesn’t deserve the attention, but Bush isn’t exactly in a position to fix the mess he created now, is he? Did you pull a newspaper out of 2005 or something and read it wrong? • source
He was not my first choice, but now that this election was made, it speaks volumes about the United States of America.
Former president George W. Bush • Who also made dog poop jokes while speaking in China for the Boao Forum. If nothing else, we appreciate how he’d rather tell funny anecdotes than give his ideologically-opposed successor trouble. • source
The decision The Obama administration chose not to prosecute CIA officials who admitted to harsh interrogation tactics against terror suspects during the Bush administration, a controversial decision but one the Obama administration is standing behind. source
The decision The Obama administration chose not to prosecute CIA officials who admitted to harsh interrogation tactics against terror suspects during the Bush administration, a controversial decision but one the Obama administration is standing behind.
The gory details The tactics used – and more importantly, signed off on – during the Bush administration include slamming detainees against walls, waterboarding (which is not as fun as the name suggests) and leaving suspects naked in cold rooms for long periods. source
The decision The Obama administration chose not to prosecute CIA officials who admitted to harsh interrogation tactics against terror suspects during the Bush administration, a controversial decision but one the Obama administration is standing behind.
The gory details The tactics used – and more importantly, signed off on – during the Bush administration include slamming detainees against walls, waterboarding (which is not as fun as the name suggests) and leaving suspects naked in cold rooms for long periods.
Critics rebuffed Obama, while understanding the concerns of human rights organizations and critical of the interrogation methods, nevertheless defended the decision. “Nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past,” he said. source
[President Bush] has behaved like a statesman. And as I’ve said before, here and elsewhere, I just don’t think the memo got passed down to the vice president.
Top Obama adviser David Axelrod • On former President Bush’s relative silence on the Obama administration (Bush said last month that Obama “deserves my silence”), which contrasts with Dick Cheney’s increased public profile. It was like the dude just showed up after not being around for eight years to complain about Obama! • source
Three years for the folk hero. Muntazer al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist who got really angry at ex-prez George W. Bush when he visited Iraq in the waning months of his presidency, was found guilty of assault for throwing a shoe at the world leader. The three-year sentence angered many who saw al-Zaidi as a folk hero, giant shoe and all. source
Promoting science isn’t just about providing resources. It is about letting scientists … do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it’s inconvenient; especially when it’s inconvenient.
Barack Obama • As he was lifting the ban on embryonic stem-cell research, which lasted for 8-and-a-half years during the Bush years. He claims this is part of a broader initiative to end the government’s limitations on what science can do. Understandably, he’s annoying a bunch of religious conservatives by doing this, but that’s why a Democrat was elected into office! • source
