Bush: I might not give a farewell address because I don?t want it to be too ?emotional.?
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on December 19th, 2008 11:51 am by HL
Bush: I might not give a farewell address because I don?t want it to be too ?emotional.?
In a new interview with C-Span’s Steve Scully, President Bush said that he might not give a traditional “farewell address” when he leaves office because he doesn’t want the American public to go through a “real emotional goodbye” with him: SCULLY: Will you deliver a farewell address in this office? BUSH: Thinking about it. Thinking […]
In a new interview with C-Span’s Steve Scully, President Bush said that he might not give a traditional “farewell address” when he leaves office because he doesn’t want the American public to go through a “real emotional goodbye” with him:
SCULLY: Will you deliver a farewell address in this office?
BUSH: Thinking about it. Thinking about it. A lot of Presidents have, and I’m giving it serious thought. I don’t want it to be — you know, kind of a real emotional goodbye. If I give it, it’s going to be trying to leave behind some lessons learned.
ThinkFast: December 19, 2008
The investigating judge in the case of Muntader al-Zaidi says the Iraqi journalist shows signs of being beaten after being arrested for throwing a shoe at President Bush. CBS News reports that Zaidi has also “been kept completely out of the reach of his legal representation and his family.” In a letter to Prime Minister […]
The investigating judge in the case of Muntader al-Zaidi says the Iraqi journalist shows signs of being beaten after being arrested for throwing a shoe at President Bush. CBS News reports that Zaidi has also “been kept completely out of the reach of his legal representation and his family.” In a letter to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Zaidi has apologized for his actions and asked for a pardon.
President Bush will announce today that his administration will “come to the rescue of General Motors and Chrysler by providing them with low-interest loans” using money from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. In exchange, “the automakers will need to restructure, getting tough concessions from creditors, suppliers and the labor union.”
In a first, a declaration “seeking to decriminalize homosexuality won the support of 66 countries in the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.” The United States did not support the nonbinding measure, joining the ranks of Russia, China, the Roman Catholic Church, and members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson issued a memo yesterday declaring that “[o]fficials weighing federal applications by utilities to build new coal-fired power plants cannot consider their greenhouse gas output.” “The current concerns over global climate change should not drive E.P.A. into adopting an unworkable policy of requiring emission controls” in these cases, Johnson said.
In a press conference today, President-elect Obama will announce Rep. Ray LaHood (R-IL) as transportation secretary. It is unclear whether Obama will announce other appointments today that have been recently reported, such as Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA) for labor secretary and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk for U.S. trade representative.” More ?
Warren: Gay people are immature.
Today, NBC’s Ann Curry aired a new portion of her recent interview with pastor Rick Warren, whom President-elect Obama selected to deliver the invocation at his inauguration. During the interview, Warren said that “it doesn’t matter” whether or not homosexuality is “part of your biology”; it’s still wrong. Attempting to explain himself, he compared accepting […]
Today, NBC’s Ann Curry aired a new portion of her recent interview with pastor Rick Warren, whom President-elect Obama selected to deliver the invocation at his inauguration. During the interview, Warren said that “it doesn’t matter” whether or not homosexuality is “part of your biology”; it’s still wrong. Attempting to explain himself, he compared accepting one’s homosexuality to being “naturally inclined to have sex with every beautiful woman I see.” Resisting homosexuality is about “maturity,” he concluded:
CURRY: If science finds that this is biological, indisputably…would you change your position?
WARREN: No. … We all have biological predispositions. … You say because I have natural impulses to the same sex, I shouldn’t have to reign them in. Well I disagree. I think that’s part of maturity, I think that’s part of delayed gratification, I think that’s part of character.
Watch it:
Maddow: Obama Choosing Warren For Invocation Is The ?First Big Mistake,? A ?Lose-Lose Proposition?
Yesterday, President-elect Obama’s press conference on his new economic team quickly digressed into a discussion on Obama giving Pastor Rick Warren – who has a long record of anti-gay views — the privilege of delivering the inaugural invocation. Obama said he was reaching out to religious conservatives, showing that he could “disagree without being disagreeable.” […]
Yesterday, President-elect Obama’s press conference on his new economic team quickly digressed into a discussion on Obama giving Pastor Rick Warren – who has a long record of anti-gay views — the privilege of delivering the inaugural invocation. Obama said he was reaching out to religious conservatives, showing that he could “disagree without being disagreeable.”
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, who is openly gay, devoted an entire segment last night to the topic. Maddow noted that Obama has now sparked the ire of the LGBT community as well as the religious right, some of whom are even attacking Warren for accepting Obama’s invitation. She called it Obama’s “first big mistake”:
MADDOW: What are we left with here? We are left with the cold, hard political fact that this is a lose-lose proposition for Barack Obama, the first big mistake of his post-election politicking. The Christian Broadcasting Network folks are proverbially loaded for bear against him anyway. … And Obama’s supporters among centrists and progressives? Well, they just dumped a big bucket of tarnish all over Obama’s star power.
Watch it:
In his press conference, Obama stated, “A couple of years ago, I was invited to Rick Warren’s church to speak, despite his awareness that I held views that entirely contrary to his when it came to gay and lesbian rights, when it came to issues like abortion.” Maddow countered that Obama had invited Warren to speak at the people’s house, not his own private domain:
MADDOW: The implication of Sen. Obama’s defense is that he is returning the favor. … But Obama is not inviting Rick warren to his church or to his campaign or something. He’s inviting him to the nation’s capital to convene the swearing in of the next president of the United States. The President-elect did not invite Warren to his home. He invited him, proverbially, to our’s, the nation’s.
Maddow concluded that in centuries, when human rights activists reflect on the inauguration of the first black president, they might also ask, “But what was that guy who compared homosexuality to incest doing there?”
Bush: I?m grateful YouTube wasn?t around during my campaign.
In a new interview with RealClearPolitics, President Bush notes the technological challenges that the 2008 presidential candidates faced: “I am the very last President not to really have to worry about YouTube” while campaigning for the White House, President Bush told RealClearPolitics in an exclusive Oval Office interview last week, discussing the role the […]
In a new interview with RealClearPolitics, President Bush notes the technological challenges that the 2008 presidential candidates faced:
“I am the very last President not to really have to worry about YouTube” while campaigning for the White House, President Bush told RealClearPolitics in an exclusive Oval Office interview last week, discussing the role the Internet and new media played in the November 4th elections.
“The ‘gotcha’ moments in my campaign in the past were few and far between,” the President recalled, noting that with the advent of YouTube candidates have to be “really careful” what they say or “you’re liable to see yourself on the Internet, along with 20 million other people.”
While Bush may have been able to avoid YouTube during his campaign, he certainly hasn’t been able to get away from it during his presidency. As Steve Benen writes, “Bush is the ‘very last President not to really have to worry about YouTube’? Here’s a crazy idea: maybe he should have worried about YouTube.” (Highlights here.)
