Matt Latimer, who used to make a living writing speeches for former President George W. Bush, has decided to let loose in a book under his own name that describes the White House as more like the TV show “The Office” and less like “The West Wing.”

In excerpts of his book “Speech-Less” appearing in the October issue of GQ magazine, out on newsstands Sept. 22, Latimer says Bush had something unflattering to say about the leaders of the pack running to win the White House in last year’s election.

(We obtained, and more importantly, read all the excerpts to be published in GQ. There is some discussion about the plan to boost the economy which we leave you to read in the magazine or book).

According to Latimer, Bush believed Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic nominee in the 2008 presidential election and quotes the former president as saying “Wait till her fat keister is sitting at this desk,” although the speechwriter-turned-book-writer says Bush didn’t say “keister” (guess he’s urging us to use our imagination).

“He didn’t think much of Barack Obama,” Latimer writes. He recalls an occasion when Bush was fuming that it was a dangerous world, and quotes the president as saying, “and this cat isn’t remotely qualified to handle it. This guy has no clue, I promise you.”

On Joe Biden, according to Latimer, Bush had a one-liner he liked to tell: “If bull—- was currency (pause), Joe Biden would be a billionaire.”

Of the Republicans running for president, Latimer opines that Bush liked Mitt Romney best and was uneasy about John McCain.

The writer recounts an incident in which Bush was to attend a McCain campaign event that suddenly was closed to the press.

“If he doesn’t want me to go, fine,” Bush is quoted as saying. “I’ve got better things to do.”

(McCain kept the unpopular Bush at arms-length during last year’s campaign).

When McCain surprised everyone with his vice presidential pick of then-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Latimer says Bush called the choice “interesting” and then quotes the president as saying with eyes twinkling that he was trying to remember if he’d met her before, “What is she, the governor of Guam?”

Bush’s current spokesman had no comment on Latimer’s book.

But Bush’s former spokeswoman, Dana Perino, told Reuters that while she hadn’t read the book, “I think that most people who worked in the White House would be hard pressed to pick this guy out of a line-up.”

She adds: “He wasn’t around the president much, and some of what he says the president said doesn’t ring true to me. For example, I was there outside the Oval when Sarah Palin was announced as the VP candidate and the president said to me, ’so, the Governor of Alaska was the pick? I just saw her a few weeks ago when we were on our way to China’.”

Perino also said she doesn’t recall Bush saying anything about anyone’s keister. “I’m not sure how people who write these books really feel about themselves. Oh well,” she says.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Pool (Obama and Bush at the Capitol on inauguration day), Reuters/Brian Snyder (Bush and McCain at Kennedy’s funeral)

Republican Senator John McCain is clashing with Democratic Senator Carl Levin over Levin’s comments that he does not want to send additional troops to Afghanistan.

McCain, the ranking minority member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Reuters a surge is needed like was done in Iraq and that Levin’s recommendations remind him of how then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tried to fight the Iraq war — “He thought that we could win on the cheap and at one point the entire Iraqi army collapsed,” McCain said.

“So in all due respect to Senator Levin and the others, we have to have a significant troop increase, otherwise we’re going to lose.”

McCain also took a dim view of the Obama administration’s lengthy deliberations on the issue, calling it “slow-rolling the whole issue.”

As for White House spokesman Robert Gibbs’ comment that no decision should be expected for “many, many weeks,” McCain called that “kicking the can down the road.”

“And they’re doing a disservice to the brave men and women who are there now, because right now we’re not winning and therefore we are losing. And we are putting Americans in harm’s way without a strategy for victory,” he said.

What about polls saying Americans have doubts about the Afghanistan war?
“I understand their fatigue and I understood their fatigue before we changed the strategy in Iraq and we can win if we stay the course and we cannot afford to lose,” he said.

Photo credit: Reuters/stringer Afghanistan (McCain at Kabul airport in August)

Ted Kennedy’s polarizing political legacy was on full display on Wednesday as some U.S. conservatives showed little restraint in their hostility for the veteran liberal senator who died late on Tuesday. 

Conservative talk radio hosts blasted away at the policies of Kennedy, a towering figure in the Democratic Party and a standard bearer of liberal causes who died at age 77 after a lengthy battle with brain cancer.

Nationally syndicated talk show host Rush Limbaugh said the political left was “exploiting his death and his legacy” to advance President Barack Obama’s agenda for healthcare reform, which was also one of Kennedy’s signature issues.

“The greatest tribute would be that every American would get the same healthcare option that Ted Kennedy got. Ted Kennedy did not have to face death panels,” Limbaugh told his listeners, referring to persistent but incorrect rumours that, under the reforms now being debated, “death panels” would have a say in whether ailing senior citizens would get life-saving care.

Others took issue with a range of liberal causes linked to Kennedy, saying his policies had sullied his legacy in the conservative heartland.

“The entire Kennedy family was right on civil rights in the 1960s but ever since that it’s been about the perpetuation of the racism that is affirmative action,” said Mark Davis, a conservative talk radio host in Dallas.

“The Democratic Party has even gotten to the point now where they’re even wrong on civil rights so this is a tough legacy to muddle through.”

One woman called into his show asking if it was appropriate for Kennedy to have a “huge, Catholic mass” for his funeral because of his support for abortion rights.

In its article about Kennedy’s death, the Vatican newspaper praised him for his battles in favor of immigrant rights, gun control and higher minimum wages, but regretted his “unfortunate” support of abortion.

Other U.S. conservative responses took a distinctly different tone.

Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, said: “…by the end of his life he had become irreplaceable in the institution he loved and in the affections of its members. He grew up in the long shadow of his brothers, but found a way to be useful to his country in ways that will outlast their accomplishments.” 

Photo credit: Reuters/Micah Walter (Radio show host Rush Limbaugh)

Tributes to Senator Edward Kennedy are pouring in after the 77-year-old pillar of the Democratic Party lost his battle with brain cancer. A schedule of events to remember the “Lion” of the Senate will be posted on www.tedkennedy.org as arrangements are finalized.

Here are some of the tributes and lessons learned from Kennedy’s statesmanship.

Crossing party lines: “The Kennedy name is synonymous with the Democratic Party.  And at times, Ted was the target of partisan campaign attacks.  But in the United States Senate, I can think of no one who engendered greater respect or affection from members of both sides of the aisle,” President Barack Obama said. “He could passionately battle others and do so peerlessly on the Senate floor for the cause that he held dear, and yet still maintain warm friendships across party lines.”

Staying idealistic: “He and I were talking after his diagnosis.  And I said, I think you’re the only other person I’ve met, who like me, is more optimistic, more enthusiastic, more idealistic, sees greater possibilities after 36 years than when we were elected.  He was 30 years-old when he was elected; I was 29 years-old,” Vice President Joe Biden said of his former Senate colleague.

Inspiring others: “Every day I look at the portrait of his brother Robert that hangs in my office and I am reminded that the Kennedy family has shown to America, through its actions, the importance of fighting for what is right even in the face of difficult odds,” Attorney General Eric Holder said. “I would not be in the office I now hold were it not for their contributions and commitment to our nation.”

Keeping promises: “Many will recall his convivial nature, his humor, his thoughtfulness. We will praise as his greatest strength the integrity of his word. When he made a promise to you, he kept it, no matter what,” Republican Senator John McCain said.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (flag over U.S. Capitol flies at half staff for Kennedy)

WASHINGTON - Republican Senator John McCain says North Korea was attempting to use former President Bill Clinton’s visit for propaganda purposes and enhance the prestige of Pyongyang.

In an interview with Reuters, McCain said the Obama administration should resist any temptation to engage in direct talks with the North Koreans but instead should push North Korea to rejoin stalled six-party negotiations over its nuclear program.

The six-party talks include the United States and North and South Korea, China, Russia and Japan.

McCain, the Republican candidate in last year’s presidential election won by Barack Obama, said he believes all Americans appreciate Clinton’s role in securing the release of two American journalists and sparing them from “the worst gulag in the world, with conditions that would make Stalin blush.”

“The question is, will this signal a change in North Korean behavior?” McCain said, recalling that a visit by former President Jimmy Carter to North Korean in 1994 led to hopes for a change but did not produce lasting progress.

In announcing the release of the two women, the North Korean news agency had said Clinton offered an apology for their behavior, a claim denied by the Obama White House. “I think it’s very clear that the North Koreans, in their statement when they talked about ‘profound apologies’ etcetera, tried to use this to enhance their prestige and use it for propaganda purposes, but that should surprise no one,” he said.

North Korea’s insistence that Clinton and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il discussed pending U.S.-North Korean issues and reached a consensus of views on seeking a negotiated settlement of them was seen by some analysts as a signal that North Korea was seeking direct talks with the United States.

Since taking office in January, the Obama administration so far has repeated the same demands long held by the United States, that North Korea needs to give up its nuclear weapons and stop provocative behavior.

McCain, long a vocal critic of North Korea, said direct talks should be resisted. “Let’s not change our policy of many administrations, of our goal of eliminating North Korea’s nuclear weapons, engage in six-party talks and continue our advocacy for human rights,” he said.

Photo credits: Euna Lee reunited with family - REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Clinton speaks with film producer Stephen Bing - REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

The politician stood up in front of a crowd in Michigan and declared that lost auto jobs are not coming back.

“I’ve got to give you some straight talk: Some of the jobs that have left the state of Michigan are not coming back,” he said. “They are not. And I am sorry to tell you that.”

The politician was Republican Senator John McCain. The date was Jan. 10, 2008, the place Grand Rapids, and he was seeking the Republican presidential nomination. He stressed the values of job retraining. 

Fast forward to July 14, 2009. The scene: Warren, Michigan.

The politician stood up in front of a crowd and declared: “The hard truth is that some of the jobs that have been lost in the auto industry and elsewhere won’t be coming back.” He stressed the values of job retraining.

It was President Barack Obama.

McCain went on to lose the Michigan primary, with the ultimate winner, Mitt Romney, criticizing McCain for his remarks about jobs not coming back.

The Detroit News welcomed Obama’s remarks.

“His message is spot on, and one Michigan must heed,” the News said in an editorial.

“This state has found it hard to accept that the low-skill, high-pay factory jobs of the past are gone for good,” it said.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Rebecca Cook (Sign in window of pawn shop in Michigan where decline of U.S. automakers has had impact)

Senate Democrats will take up healthcare again today after a tough week.

Republican opposition is building after independent auditors estimated their initial efforts could cost more and cover fewer than initially hoped, reducing the chance of winning the bipartisan support that could ensure that any reforms will last.

Republican Sen. John McCain gave Reuters a grim prognosis last Friday and said the next few days will determine whether the effort succeeds or fails.

But Democratic Sen. Max Baucus still thinks he can get a bipartisan bill to President Obama by the end of the year.

Today, the Senate Health Committee, which is working on a bill that is likely to be less Republican-friendly than Baucus’s effort, will resume work on its bill at 3 p.m.

Folks at the White House have healthcare on the agenda today as well.

President Obama will sign a bill that establishes significantly tougher tobacco regulations in a Rose Garden ceremony.

And Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and two other White House officials appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” to rebut Republican claims that their plan will lead to greater bureaucracy and a reduced level of care.

photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (Obama apeaks tothe American Medical Association in Chicago, June 15)

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President Barack Obama told a U.S. Naval Academy graduation Friday that the full story of the Navy’s recent rescue of commercial sea captain Richard Philips from Somali pirates will never be publicly known.
 
Speaking to graduating midshipmen at the academy in Annapolis, Maryland, Obama urged them to follow the example of those who had gone before them and cited several examples, including Philips’ rescuers.
 
Philips was taken captive while fending off Somali pirates who attempted to seize his cargo ship. Held for days in a small boat shadowed a U.S. warship, Philips was ultimately freed when Navy snipers shot and killed three of his captors.
 
“I will not recount the full story of those five days in April. Much of it is known. Some of it will never be known,” Obama told the midshipmen.

The victory, Obama told the 1,036 graduates, belonged to “all the sailors — officers and enlisted, not on one ship, but several — who diligently stood their watch.”
 
“They did their duty. They performed their job. They stood their watch. They took their time and then they took their shot. And they brought that captain home,” Obama said.
 
The graduates included 833 men and 203 women. Among the 755 new Navy ensigns was John Sidney McCain IV, the son of Senator John McCain, who received a huge cheer from the crowd of some 30,000.
 
McCain, who ran against Obama last year, is a Naval Academy graduate, as was his father and grandfather before him. Wearing a Navy cap, he sat in the front row with his wife Cindy and received a standing ovation when he was recognized by the 2009 class president.
 
Another 267 of the graduates become Marine second lieutenants and two others received an Air Force or Coast Guard commission.
 
Obama, who took delight in shaking each graduates hand and giving many a friendly slap on the back, embraced the younger McCain when he came to the stage.

Obama won over the crowd early with a display of his powers as commander-in-chief.
 
“Now, I know it’s customary at graduation for guests to bring a gift. And I have. All midshipmen on restriction for minor conduct offenses are hereby officially absolved,” Obama said.
 
Returning midshipmen got a bigger present.
 
After consulting  with Vice Admiral Jeffrey Fowler, the school’s superintendent, “I hereby grant you something extra — an extra weekend” of leave, Obama said.
 
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Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Graduating midshipmen toss caps in the air after commissioning ceremonies); Reuters/Larry Downing (Graduate reacts after receiving diploma)

The water in the White House fountain is green today and the presidential schedule is loaded up with Irish agenda items. It’s St. Patrick’s Day, when the U.S. chief executive could be forgiven for spelling his name Barack O’Bama.

He’s set to meet with the Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Brian Cowen, then attend a Shamrock Ceremony, followed by remarks to the annual St. Patrick’s Day luncheon hosted by the office of the House Speaker on Capitol Hill. The president will also meet with Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness. This evening, there’s a White House St. Patrick’s Day reception.

Irish President Mary McAleese claimed Obama as a son of Ireland, “for sure, for sure,” in an interview on NBC’s “Today” program. “Even if he wasn’t, I think that we would have such faith and hope in him,” she said. “He arrived at a time when the world was in a very ugly mood of great despair. He’s really captured the imagination, particularly of young people, and that’s not easy to do.” McAleese said her son campaigned for Obama.

With a Dublin-like “soft” day in Washington — clouds and occasional rain — there are many who may look to evade the economic gloom. Before his Irish agenda starts, he’ll deliver a statement on the budget. All eyes, not just Irish ones, are looking for a way to stem the outrage against the millions of dollars in “retention” bonuses paid with U.S. taxpayers’ dollars to the troubled insurance giant AIG.

There’s one more Irish name in the news today: Megan McCain, daughter of Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who vied with Obama for the presidency. Megan McCain, now a blogger at The Daily Beast, got into a tussle with conservative commentator Laura Ingraham, who lampooned the 23-year-old McCain as a “plus-sized” Valley Girl.

“Instead of intellectually debating our ideological differences about the future of the Republican Party, Ingraham resorted to making fun of my age and weight, in the fashion of the mean girls in high school,” Megan McCain wrote. “I responded on Twitter by saying, ‘To all the curvy girls out there, don’t let anyone make you feel bad about your body. I love my curves and you should love yours too.’”

Photo credits:
A U.S. soldier celebrates St. Patrick’s Day which in the International Zone in Baghdad March 15, 2009. REUTERS/Saad Shalash
Megan McCain, after the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, April 26, 2008. REUTERS/Mike Theiler

Much has been made in Washington over the last week in the U.S. Senate about which Democrats and Republicans would vote for the $410 billion bill to fund government operations because it includes thousands of lawmakers’ pet projects.

Some senators like Republican John McCain have excoriated the expenditures, roughly $7.7 billion according to a count by the independent group Taxpayers for Common Sense, as unnecessary spending or destined for projects that should have been properly vetted through regular congressional review.

Others like Democratic Senator Tom Harkin have defended their projects, arguing that they have worthy goals or are needed to address a problem.

Missouri Republican Kit Bond, who has $86 million worth of earmarks in the legislation according to the taxpayer group, for a week batted away reporters’ questions about whether he would support or oppose the bill.

His Missouri colleague, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, told reporters last week she was unsure whether she would support passing the legislation. She has criticized the process for earmarks and had none in the measure but has said some projects can be worthwhile.

Alas, the public will never know how any of wavering senators voted on the bill because the Senate approved it by voice vote instead of a roll call tally, thereby alleviating the chances that they will be criticized for backing it.

Unless they decide to tell the public how they voted.

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