Instapundit makes a comment about how Bush was about to pass legislation when majorities in both houses, something current President Obama supposedly can't. Washington Monthly unpacks the remark and examines the two very different atmospheres each President operated in:

When I look back at the Bush/Cheney era, I think of a lot of things -- incompetence, corruption, mismanagement, neglect, spectacular failures on a generational scale in almost every imaginable area of public policy -- but "accomplished legislative record" isn't one of them. He passed huge tax cuts, increased spending, expanded the federal bureaucracy, and expanded Medicare, but most of those accomplishments came in his first three years. In his entire second term, Bush sought very little -- after his Social Security privatization failed, the White House effectively stopped having a domestic agenda -- and got very little in return.

Noting the seeming mandate that the US 2008 elections, a large electoral victory, and majorities in both the House and Senate, yet major legislation remains stalled or is slowly passed, a new term is coined, Californication:

We are living through the Californiafication of America -- a country in which the combination of a determined minority and a procedural supermajority legislative requirement makes it impossible to rationally address public policy challenges. And thus the Democratic president and his allies in Congress are evaluated on the basis of extreme compromise measures -- supplicating to dispassionate Wise Men like Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman, buying Olympia Snowe a vacation home, working bills through 76 committees and countless "procedural" votes -- rather than the substantive, policy achievements of bills that would merely require a simple majority to pass.

Here's to the impossible dream: ending the filibuster and letting a simple majority rule

It's a day family and food and fun, enjoy your tryptophan induced coma. But if you need to escape the family for a moment, read up on these great moments in Thanksgiving politics where George Bush had his finest hour, Sarah Palin doesn't pardon a turkey, Al Gore got bad news, America was introduced to a kid named Elian Gonzalez and New York had a political massacre.

Now pass the stuffing!

In a new book, Tom Ridge, former director of the Department of Homeland Security, claims (among other things) that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft pressured him to raise the national security-threat level on the eve of the 2004 presidential election for political purposes. Publisher summary, Washington Post.

It seems fairly obvious in restrospect, but according to the Washington Post, Vice President Cheney was not totally happy with President Bush:

"In the second term, he felt Bush was moving away from him," said a participant in the recent gathering, describing Cheney's reply. "He said Bush was shackled by the public reaction and the criticism he took. Bush was more malleable to that. The implication was that Bush had gone soft on him, or rather Bush had hardened against Cheney's advice. He'd showed an independence that Cheney didn't see coming. It was clear that Cheney's doctrine was cast-iron strength at all times -- never apologize, never explain -- and Bush moved toward the conciliatory."

Cheney's memoirs are due in 2011, where he promised to go into more detail about this and other things.

As Vice-President Cheney continues attacking the current administration, President Bush keeps his silence. Talk about awkward.

Bush has stuck to his memorable declaration that he owes Obama his silence, while Cheney continues to grant colorful interviews in which he warns that the Democrat’s policies are making the country less safe.

One Cheney supporter referred to “confusion” and “bewilderment” among conservatives that Bush has not taken the same tack.

   Continues...

GQ has a story on a combination of religious text and military imagery that was featured on the cover of Secretary Rumsfeld's defense briefings for high-level Bush administration staff. There's a slideshow of some of the covers.

"Is it possible that, in the wake of so many Bush-administration disasters—the meltdown of the economy, the Iraq war, Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo Bay, Hurricane Katrina, domestic spying, torture, and on and on—the so-called “worst president ever” could somehow manage to remake his legacy?"

Vanity Fair checks in to see what the former President has been up to and looks at how he'll be remembered.

The Woman Who Could Nail Bush: Forget nanny issues and unpaid taxes. The GOP is threatening an ugly fight over an Obama Justice Department appointee who wants to disclose more Bush-era torture memos.

The welcome silence couldn't last forever: President Bush to work the lecture circuit.

The New Atlanticist has been reviewing Thomas Barnett's new book and also asking him some questions.

Abu Ghraib investigator Antonio Taguba talks to Salon about why he backs a commission to examine Bush torture policies.

Highlights and lows from the 8 years of the Bush Administration, as told by The Onion.

President George Bush wants to say goodbye to you, yes you, so come one, come all and listen to the last primetime address of the inspirational Presidents of your lifetime.    Continues...

White House Philosophy Stoked Mortgage Bonfire. "President Bush, who vowed to spread the dream of homeownership, is leaving office amid a downturn rooted in the housing sector he so ardently championed."

...trying to separate the naughty from nice.

President Bush announced a 17.4 billion loan to the US auto industry, using this rational:

"If we were to allow the free market to take its course now, it would almost certainly lead to disorderly bankruptcy," Bush said at the White House, in remarks carried live by the national broadcast networks. "In the midst of a financial crisis and a recession, allowing the U.S. auto industry to collapse is not a responsible course of action. The question is how we can best give it a chance to succeed."

Merry Christmas.

Bits and pieces from around the web:

Obama picks Rick Warren, angering many Democrats and gays, but Andrew Sullivan puts it all in perspective.

Rod "Hey, I can get you a Senate seat wholesale" Blagojevich isn't going anywhere anytime soon says the Illinois Supreme Court. Who says the world doesn't make sense?

Shoe wielding Iraqi journalist to face trial next week. Bush, however, still roams free.

Caroline Kennedy wants to replace Hilliary Clinton, as does Andrew Cuomo. Hilarity ensues.

Filed under "Duh":
The Senate released a bipartisan report stating the use of torture in Iraq was authorized by President Bush:

Conclusion 1: On February 7, 2002, President George W. Bush made a written determination that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which would have afforded minimum standards for humane treatment, did not apply to al Qaeda or Taliban detainees. Following the President’s determination, techniques such as waterboarding, nudity, and stress positions, used in SERE training to simulate tactics used by enemies that refuse to follow the Geneva Conventions, were authorized for use in interrogations of detainees in U.S. custody.

The report is only 19 pages and worth reading.

Bush makes a surprise visit to Iraq and gets shoes thrown at him.    Continues...

Bush's Final F.U.: The administration is rushing to enact a host of last-minute regulations that will screw America for years to come

In a surprising move, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Bush vs Gore and has appointed Gore to fill out the reminder of Bush's term

Juan Cole: Arguing with Bush One last Time. The last in a dreary series.

Charles Gibson interviews President Bush on the economy, election and other issues. Choice quote:

GIBSON: Greatest accomplishment? The one thing you're proudest of?

BUSH: I keep recognizing we're in a war against ideological thugs and keeping America safe.

Bush Aides Rush to Enact a Safety Rule Obama Opposes. "The Labor Department is racing to complete a new rule, strenuously opposed by President-elect Barack Obama, that would make it much harder for the government to regulate toxic substances and hazardous chemicals to which workers are exposed on the job."

Last Secrets of the Bush Administration: How to find out what we still don't know.    Continues...

It's 60 days until Inauguration Day, which means that today is the deadline for the Bush administration to enact "major" changes known as midnight regulations. This is not a new practice, but compared to the Clinton administration, as of today there are about twice as many new regulations set to go into effect before the next inauguration. Here's a list from one group tracking the changes, and the Washington Post has a quite lengthy synthesis with links to everything I would have included in this post. How to find other regulations of interest to you.

As jobless rates rise and individual states in the U.S. look to raising taxes, the Senate has approved H.R. 6867, extending jobless benefits, which President Bush has said he'll approve, despite earlier threats to veto it.

Obama to visit White House for first time, chat with Bush.

Obama Positioned to Quickly Reverse Bush Actions: Stem Cell, Climate Rules Among Targets of President-Elect's Team

A little alternate reality from the WSJ.    Continues...

So Little Time, So Much Damage

Bush's Legacy: Small Ball After All? "Both supporters and critics tend to view Bush as a game-changing president. But he may be remembered as a comparatively minor figure."

What Bush Will Surrender in Iraq. "Determined to shape his legacy in Iraq, President Bush has cut Congress out of his negotiations with the al-Maliki government. Despite repeated requests, the Administration has refused to share with congressional committees the text of its negotiating draft, even on a confidential basis. But elements of the proposals under negotiation have steadily leaked out from the Iraqi side, and now an Arabic-language newspaper, Asharq Al-Awsat, has published what it says is the full draft agreement. The draft agreement published by Asharq Al-Awsat would clearly contravene the U.S. Constitution."

The Rising Cost of the Iraq 'Surge': "Since Jan. 10, 2007, when George W. Bush announced his troop 'surge,' more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers have died in the Iraq War – about a quarter of the total war dead – but now an even higher cost may loom ahead, the indefinite continuation of the conflict under President John McCain."

Biden: Criminal charges against Bush Admin. on the table.

The GOP opines on the Bush legacy.

Hurricane Gustav is now a category 4 storm and headed straight for Louisanna, prompting changes to this week's GOP convention and brining reminders of the Bush administration's poor response to Hurricane Katrina 3 years ago.

How Bush Destroyed the Republican Party. "A president driven by ideology. A Congress rife with corruption. A political party hellbent on a 'permanent majority.' A leading scholar examines the radicals who hijacked the GOP — and wrecked the longest conservative ascendancy in American history."