If you know anything about the case of former border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, you’ll know that Bush’s commutation of the remaining amount of their sentence is justice being served.
And let’s face it, if Scooter Libby got his sentence commuted, these guys should too.
First, the backstory…
Ramos and Compean were sentenced in connection [...]

You’d think that Ron Paul, CEO of Eagle Bank, would be thrilled to receive $38 million dollars in TARP funds. But, it turns out, he’s pretty frustrated.
This is Danielle Ivory from the American News Project.
As another $350 billion goes out the door, ANP looks at one small bailed-out bank. Eagle Bank is having trouble [...]

Presented here in full…

What will we say about Bush in 20 years?
Not that he cares all that much, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be the exact same thing we’re saying now.
The man was, for all intents and purposes, completely unready for the job he was elected to do and he allowed himself to be [...]

Bob Woodward outlines what the incoming administration should do differently.

Presidents set the tone. Don’t be passive or tolerate virulent divisions.

The president must insist that everyone speak out loud in front of the others, even — or especially — when there are vehement disagreements.

A president must do the homework to master the fundamental ideas and concepts [...]

They finally admit it…
The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure [...]

“Clearly, putting a “mission accomplished” on a aircraft carrier was a mistake. It sent the wrong message. We were trying to say something differently, but, nevertheless, it conveyed a different message.”
- George W. Bush today in his final press conference.
Here’s more…
You don’t — you don’t get to have information after you’ve made the decision. That’s [...]

I have little doubt that they would have given a thumbs up to this plan had the political will been there, but this is an interesting juxtaposition to reports that Bush has been wanting to bomb Iran.
From Wash Post:
President Bush last year rejected an Israeli request to provide sophisticated, deep-penetration bombs to attack Iran’s underground [...]

And it looks like Obama and Bush are coordinating on this so Obama won’t have to veto the first piece of legislation he sees.
From Wash Post:
Under the emergency rescue legislation approved by Congress in October, the administration must inform lawmakers that it wants access to the second installment of $350 billion. Unless Congress passes a [...]

A followup to Pew’s findings recently are the following numbers compiled by NBC:
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
Then: 4.2% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2001)
Now: 6.7% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 2008)
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE
Then: 10,587 (close of Friday, Jan. 19, 2001)
Now: 9,015 (close of Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009)
BUSH FAVORABILITY RATING
Then: 50% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 31% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)
CHENEY [...]

Proving once again that he’s the wiser son, Jeb puts to rest rumors that he’ll run for the Senate.
From AP:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Former Gov. Jeb Bush says he won’t run for the U.S. Senate in 2010 to replace the retiring Mel Martinez.
Bush made the announcement Tuesday, saying “now is not the right time to [...]

What did Americans think in 2000 and what do they think in 2008?
The difference is striking.
From Pew:
A mere 13% of Americans are now satisfied with the way things are going in the country, compared with 55% eight years ago. And while 61% applauded at Clinton’s curtain call, only 24% approve of Bush’s performance as he [...]

If I had to speak in public every day for eight years, I’d probably make a few verbal flubs. That said, few public figures have ever given us such malapropisms as has George W. Bush. Collected by the AP for your amusement, here’s a list of Bush’s most memorable misstatementizing.
It’s good enough for a chuckle.
My [...]

A little clip from way back shows us how different the George Bush of then is from the George Bush of now.

Question: what if Obama had this foreign policy view? Wouldn’t he be viewed as a wimpy liberal dove?
I’m just saying…

“One of the mythologies is that it was the vice president that somehow was pulling the strings on foreign policy in the first term and made it very ideologically driven and that somehow in the second term, the vice president’s influence is in decline and, therefore, somehow the real Bush has come forward, and we [...]

How was he as a President?
Hardball discusses…

What do you think? How will he be remembered?
Discuss.

David Alexrod talks about Obama’s economic agenda and Israel’s Tzipi Livini talks about her country’s recent operation in Gaza.
By the way, I think Israel’s move was foolish and will only divide the country further. I’m not sure why people continue to think more violence will end violence, but something is going to have to give [...]

And only 23% will miss him.
Here’s more…
The three-quarters of Americans surveyed who say they won’t miss Bush is 24 points higher than the 51 percent who said they wouldn’t miss Bill Clinton when he left office in January 2001. Forty-five percent of those questioned at that time said they would miss Clinton. [...]
The poll indicates [...]

No pardon.

Here’s some background on the initial pardon…

Toussie pleaded guilty to charges in two separate cases. In one, he admitted in 2001 that he had made false statements to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, pleading guilty to a count of falsifying loan documents that illegally qualified about 100 home buyers for the [...]

He had the type of access to Bush that journalists would kill for and it resulted in a bunch of books about his Presidency that weren’t necessarily flattering.
Still, that doesn’t mean Bush’s presidency will be a failure…

Personally, I don’t think Iraqi democratization will ultimately turn out the way Bush and company said it would. Because [...]

Former advisor Mary Matalin explains how the Bush administration worked…or didn’t.

It sounds like a sensible strategy, but the problem with Bush is he allowed himself to be surrounded himself with folks who had very specific agendas and he got faulty information as a result.
Nowhere is this more apparent than the decision to go to war [...]