Bush administration

Stories 221 - 240 | << Prev   Next >>

Turns Out, Bush Didn't Always Wear His Jacket

After Obama is ripped by ex-White House official, HuffPo digs up photos of informal Dubya

(Newser) - After a former White House staffer ripped Barack Obama for being under-dressed in the Oval Office, where President Bush required a suit and tie, the Huffington Post has photos of Bush jacketless in, you guessed it, the Oval Office. “There should be a dress code of respect,” Andrew...

CIA Hopeful Panetta Retracts Torture Remarks

Backs off accusations that US deliberately sent suspects abroad

(Newser) - Leon Panetta today backed off on comments he made accusing the Bush administration of deliberately sending terror suspects abroad to be tortured, CQ Politics reports. "It's news to me," Sen Christopher Bond told the nominee to run the CIA. Panetta responded that he was referring to widely publicized...

'Sleazy' Cheney Has No Right to Talk Terror

(Newser) - Dick Cheney’s claim that a terrorist attack is more likely during an Obama administration “is sleazy in the extreme,” Joe Klein writes for Time. Even if you can “leave aside the fact”—which Klein cannot—“that if Dick Cheney and his alleged boss had...

Rove Will Cooperate in US Attorney Firings Inquiry

Had refused to take part in earlier investigation

(Newser) - In a reversal, Karl Rove will cooperate with a federal investigation into the firings of nine US attorneys, Talking Points Memo reports. Rove had refused to cooperate in an earlier inquiry on the firings, which Justice Department officials said severely “hindered” the inquiry. A lawyer for Rove says the...

Obama OK With CIA Rendition
Obama OK With CIA Rendition
Feb 1, 2009 6:50 PM CST

Obama OK With CIA Rendition

Prez allows abductions, transfers to continue, promises suspects won't be tortured

(Newser) - Torture techniques are out and Guantanamo Bay is facing closure, but Barack Obama is keeping one anti-terror tool: rendition, the Los Angeles Times reports. He signed an executive order allowing the CIA to continue the practice of secret abductions and transfers of prisoners to US-friendly nations. "You still...

Rice Regrets Bad Iraq Intel, But Not Invasion

Former State chief also denies that race clouded Bush Katrina response

(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice appeared on The View today to defend Bush administration policies, and lament a few key mistakes, the Los Angeles Times reports. Rice expressed regret that weapons of mass destruction never surfaced in Iraq—but stands behind the ouster of Saddam Hussein. Rice also said Hurricane Katrina was “...

Bush's Cheesy War Cuts French Farmers

Massive tariff amounts to ban on Roquefort

(Newser) - On its way out the door, the Bush administration essentially banned France’s prized Roquefort cheese from US shelves with a 300% tariff. The move was a tit-for-tat after the EU banned the import of US beef containing hormones, said a US trade rep. But residents of the cheese-dependent Roquefort...

Gitmo Detainee Files a Mess
 Gitmo Detainee Files a Mess 
Jan 25, 2009 6:12 PM CST

Gitmo Detainee Files a Mess

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...

Bush Policies Will Blow Through Nat'l Parks for Years

Putting commerce over conservation, White House stifled scientists' protests

(Newser) - Views of spacious skies and purple mountain majesties in US national parks may soon be interrupted by industrial roads and power lines, after years of Bush policies that pushed commerce over conservation, reports the Los Angeles Times. And unlike the many decisions that President Obama can quickly reverse, the changes...

Supreme Court Strikes Down Web Porn Law

Overturns Child Online Protection Act on 1st Amendment grounds

(Newser) - The US Supreme Court closed the door today on legislation designed to protect children from Internet pornography, the New York Times reports. The legislation, which was signed into law in 1998 but never took effect, was repeatedly struck down on First Amendment grounds. It set strict fines and jail time...

Obama Could Be Most Powerful President Ever
Obama Could Be Most Powerful President Ever
Analysis
Jan 20, 2009 8:42 AM CST

Obama Could Be Most Powerful President Ever

44 enjoys rare mix of crisis, popularity, and an office at its peak

(Newser) - Barack Obama enters office today with a realistic shot of becoming one of the most powerful presidents in history, writes Barton Gellman in the Washington Post. Historians and officials in the outgoing and incoming administrations agree the presidency is already at or near an apex of power, and Obama’s...

Judge: Cheney Won't Dump Records

Accepts aide's word that docs will go safely to Archives

(Newser) - A federal judge yesterday rejected historians’ and nonprofits’ complaint that Vice President Dick Cheney planned to illegally dump some of his papers, the Washington Post reports. The judge instead took the word of a White House aide that the documents would go to the National Archives as required. The ruling...

'Designated Successor' Gates Will Skip Inauguration

Pentagon boss would take over in worst case

(Newser) - Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will sit out the inauguration at a secure location and be available to take over the government in case of disaster, CBS reports. The White House designated Gates with the approval of the incoming administration, which he will serve in the same post. The move...

White House: US Must Assert Rights in Warming Arctic

Outgoing policymakers expect surge in region's military, commercial activity

(Newser) - With the Arctic getting warmer, the Bush administration predicts a multinational grab at resources there. To that end, it released a 10-page directive describing challenges the US faces and calling for an Arctic policy that underlines US concerns, the Washington Post reports. “The United States has broad and fundamental...

Handicapping Last-Minute Bush Pardons
Handicapping Last-Minute Bush Pardons
OPINION
Jan 19, 2009 9:39 AM CST

Handicapping Last-Minute Bush Pardons

Scooter Libby? Alberto Gonzales? The entire CIA? Speculation swirls

(Newser) - President Bush has shown no inclination to go on a Clinton-esque pardon binge, but that won't stop Josh Gerstein of Politico from speculating. Here are the potential pardon/commutation prospects, and the odds:
  • All CIA and military interrogators: Bush could make a big splash with a blanket pardon to anyone who
...

Pelosi Open to Prosecuting Bushies
Pelosi Open to Prosecuting Bushies
Talk show ROUNDUP
Jan 18, 2009 11:50 AM CST

Pelosi Open to Prosecuting Bushies

Emanuel: Blago didn't imply anything shady in talks with me

(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi would consider prosecuting some Bush White House officials, she told Fox News Sunday, even though Barack Obama has signaled that he doesn't favor such a move. "We cannot let the politicizing of, for example, the Justice Department to go unreviewed," says the speaker of the House....

Boss: 'US Revealed True Heart Election Night'

Singer praises Obama, lashes out at Bush in interview

(Newser) - America has finally shown "its real face" with the election of Barack Obama, and "an exhilaration I've never seen" after a campaign victory, Bruce Springsteen told the Guardian. The singer, who has never worn his politics lightly, ardently campaigned for Obama. "Obama's a unique figure in history,...

Top 10 Bush Gaffes on YouTube
 Top 10 Bush Gaffes on YouTube 
Jan 16, 2009 5:20 PM CST

Top 10 Bush Gaffes on YouTube

Presidential bloopers including inadvertently insulting a queen

(Newser) - During his 8 years in office, George W. Bush created the biggest presidential blooper reel in history. Time narrows the field of YouTube gems to a top 10:
  • Shoe toss in Iraq. Bush has no idea why a Iraqi might hurl footware at him, but the episode spawned scads of
...

Bush White House Empties Out Today

Staffers wistful as all traces of them get wiped away

(Newser) - By the close of business today, the White House will be almost empty of staff, reports Politico. By Monday, there will be no physical trace of the Bush administration left in the building, as if 8 years of history could be unwritten by the crew of cleaners and painters. Says...

Biden Plans to Shrink VP Power
 Biden Plans to Shrink VP Power 
Interview
Jan 15, 2009 10:05 AM CST

Biden Plans to Shrink VP Power

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...

Stories 221 - 240 | << Prev   Next >>