Re: Odd politics, presidential tradition: Bush is Back

Hopefully Obama has some handcuffs and does what is required by law.

On May 31, 7:05 am, lew <lewc...@aol.com> wrote:
> Odd politics, presidential tradition: Bush  is Backdrudgereport.com
>
>    - [image: FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2008 file photo, President and Mrs.
>    Bush greet President-elect Obama and Michelle Obama at the White House in
>    Washington. President Barack Obama frequently blames President George W.
>    Bush for America's shaky economy, high unemployment and foreign policy
>    woes. But he's sure to change his tune on Thursday when Bush comes back to
>    the White House in a rare limelight moment, The man who led the country for
>    eight tumultuous years will have his portrait hung and Obama will be there
>    applauding. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)]<http://news.yahoo.com/photos/us-president-barack-obama-slideshow/file...>
>
>    FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2008 file …
>    - [image: FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2008 file photo, President George W.
>    Bush walks with President-elect Barack Obama down the Colonnade of the
>    White House in Washington. President Barack Obama frequently blames
>    President George W. Bush for America's shaky economy, high unemployment and
>    foreign policy woes. But he's sure to change his tune on Thursday when Bush
>    comes back to the White House in a rare limelight moment, The man who led
>    the country for eight tumultuous years will have his portrait hung and
>    Obama will be there applauding. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)]<http://news.yahoo.com/photos/us-president-barack-obama-slideshow/file...>
>
>    FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2008 file …
>    - [image: FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2008 file photo, President George W.
>    Bush walks with President-elect Obama into the White House in Washington.
>    President Barack Obama frequently blames President George W. Bush for
>    America's shaky economy, high unemployment and foreign policy woes. But
>    he's sure to change his tune on Thursday when Bush comes back to the White
>    House in a rare limelight moment, The man who led the country for eight
>    tumultuous years will have his portrait hung and Obama will be there
>    applauding. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)]<http://news.yahoo.com/photos/us-president-barack-obama-slideshow/file...>
>
>    FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2008 file …
>    - [image: FILE - In this Jan. 16, 2010 file photo, former President
>    George W. Bush listens as President Barack Obama speaks in the Rose Garden
>    at the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama frequently blames
>    President George W. Bush for America's shaky economy, high unemployment and
>    foreign policy woes. But he's sure to change his tune on Thursday when Bush
>    comes back to the White House in a rare limelight moment, The man who led
>    the country for eight tumultuous years will have his portrait hung and
>    Obama will be there applauding. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)]<http://news.yahoo.com/photos/us-president-barack-obama-slideshow/file...>
>
>    FILE - In this Jan. 16, 2010 file …
>    - [image: FILE - In this Jan. 16, 2010 file photo, President Barack
>    Obama shakes hands with former President George W. Bush, in the Rose Garden
>    at the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama frequently blames
>    President George W. Bush for America's shaky economy, high unemployment and
>    foreign policy woes. But he's sure to change his tune on Thursday when Bush
>    comes back to the White House in a rare limelight moment, The man who led
>    the country for eight tumultuous years will have his portrait hung and
>    Obama will be there applauding. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)]<http://news.yahoo.com/photos/us-president-barack-obama-slideshow/file...>
>
>    FILE - In this Jan. 16, 2010 file …
>
> WASHINGTON (AP) — This is a little awkward.
>
> President Barack Obama can't seem to stop bad-mouthing the record of former
> President George W. Bush. But on Thursday, Obama is going to welcome his
> predecessor and proudly preside as Bush's image and legacy are enshrined at the
> White House forever.
>
> Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will join Bush and his wife, Laura, as
> their official portraits are unveiled. The incumbent is keeping up a
> presidential tradition typically defined by cheer and graciousness, but not
> without some uneasiness.
>
> Hardly a day goes by without Obama or his aides talking about the mess they
> inherited — meaning, from Bush.
>
> It was just one week ago that Obama, revving up campaign donors, turned
> Bush into a punch line. Obama depicted Republican rival Mitt Romney as a
> peddler of bad economic ideas, helping the rich at the expense of the
> middle class, and then added to laughs: "That was tried, remember? The last
> guy did all this."
>
> Now the last guy is coming back.
>
> So, too, will his father, former President George H.W. Bush and the former
> first lady Barbara Bush. The Obamas will hold forth in the ornate East Room
> as George and Laura Bush are honored for their service before an invited
> audience of Bush friends and former staff members.
>
> It will be a rare limelight moment for Bush, who has not been back in more
> than two years.
>
> Obama and Bush have a cordial and respectful relationship, but they are not
> close. Both are political veterans who are able to separate political
> tactics from what they see as an overarching community among people who
> have served in the Oval Office, according to people close to them.
>
> Only 44 men in history, and five men alive, have held the job.
>
> "President Bush has been around politics a long time. He's been around how
> presidents deal with each other for a long time," said Tony Fratto, one of
> his former spokesmen at the White House. "He has an understanding for
> separating the necessities of political rhetoric from the job itself."
>
> Bush showed that all through 2008, when Obama assailed his record on war
> and the economy en route to the White House. It was hard to remember at
> times that Obama was running not against Bush, who was finishing the last
> year of a tumultuous eight-year term, but rather Arizona Sen. John McCain.
>
> When it was done, Bush welcomed Obama to the White House with grace and
> demanded that his team ensure a smooth transition.
>
> History has marked this moment before, with grudges put aside.
>
> When Bill Clinton came back for his portrait unveiling, Bush lauded him for
> "the forward-looking spirit that Americans like in a president." Never mind
> that Bush had run for the presidency to "restore honor and dignity" after
> Clinton's sex scandal.
>
> And when Clinton welcomed back George H.W. Bush, whom he had defeated, he
> said to him and his wife: "Welcome home. We're glad to have you here."
>
> "I would be surprised if there's very much tension" this time around, said
> Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University
> who has long followed Bush's career.
>
> Obama has enlisted Bush's help on earthquake relief for Haiti, and the two
> stood together in New York City last year in marking the 10th anniversary
> of the Sept. 11 attacks on America. They have also spoken at least three
> times at signature moments over the last three years, including the killing
> of Osama bin Laden.
>
> Still, in the midst of a tight election year, the
> Obama-bashing-Bush's-record sets a backdrop.
>
> "This president is looking for someone to blame," Romney said while
> campaigning in Colorado this week. "Of course, he started off by blaming
> George Bush, and that worked for a while but, you know, after three and a
> half years that wears kind of thin."
>
> The White House points out that Obama praises Bush sometimes, too, as he
> did in March over Bush's willingness to take on immigration.
>
> The visit is layered with political story lines.
>
> Bush's brother Jeb is a potential vice presidential candidate to Romney.
> Bush's father has developed a kinship of sorts with Obama. And then there
> is Bush himself, who has endorsed Romney but is still viewed by many in his
> party as politically toxic.
>
> More than any president in recent memory, Bush has not just intentionally
> faded from the public spotlight but all but disappeared from it.
>
> "George W. Bush has been remarkably, and even strangely silent, even once
> you respect his sentiment that he did not want to get in Barack Obama's
> way," said Jillson. "I think part of that is just giving himself time to
> recover from what had to be an astoundingly difficult close to his
> presidency."
>
> The politically impassioned issues of that time have faded. The Iraq war is
> over. The financial sector has stabilized after a devastating crash in late
> 2008. But the nation is still feeling the cost of the enormous recession,
> which is Obama's problem now.
>
> Bush was last at the White House in January 2010. That was to join Obamaand Bill Clinton in support of Haiti humanitarian relief.
>
> Aides to both Obama and Bush are downplaying the Thursday reunion as a time
> of politics. Bush spokesman Freddy Ford said the former president and first
> lady are grateful to the Obama and looking forward to catching up with
> faces from their past, including staff at the Executive Mansion.
>
> "I think there is a community here with very few members that transcends
> political and policy differences," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
> He made that comment in the same briefing Wednesday in which he reminded
> everyone that Obama inherited a huge budget deficit (from Bush.)
>
> Jenna Bush Hager, one of the George W. Bush's daughters, said she was
> invited for the ceremony and that the day will include a private lunch for
> the Bushes with the Obamas. She told "Fox & Friends" the day will be a
> chance to "celebrate his work, 'cause he worked pretty hard so I think he
> deserves at least a painting."
>
> As to where it will go, she said: "Probably in the very back somewhere. I'm
> just kidding."
>
> The painting will actually hang prominently in the formal entrance hall to
> the White House, the Grand Foyer.
>
> ___

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