After Digs at His Predecessor, Obama Will Host Bushes at White House

[Odysseus]

May 25, 2012, 6:39 PM

By PETER BAKER

President Obama will host former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, at the White House next week for the unveiling of their official portraits, bringing the two presidents together at a time when Mr. Obama has been castigating Mr. Bush’s record on the campaign trail.

The ceremony on Thursday follows a longstanding tradition of welcoming back former presidents and first ladies for the hanging of their portraits in the White House. Each time a new painting is added, those of other recent presidents are rotated to different spaces in the main floor of the White House and up the large staircase. The first lady paintings are generally hung on the floor below.

Such ceremonies often bring together current and former presidents with rivalries, grudges or awkward relationships. But the timing of this unveiling is particularly delicate as Mr. Obama uses Mr. Bush as a foil on the campaign trail against former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, his presumptive Republican challenger. Although Mr. Obama generally does not mention Mr. Bush by name, he often says Mr. Romney wants to replicate the former president’s agenda but “on steroids.”

At a campaign fund-raiser in Redwood City, Calif., on Wednesday, for instance, Mr. Obama said Republicans wanted “bigger tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans,” “deeper cuts” in Medicare and education, “even more power” for banks to do as they please, and fewer regulations that protect consumers. “But that’s not new,” he added. “That was tried, remember? The last guy did all this.”

He presented Mr. Bush’s record in caustic terms. “We watched a record surplus that was squandered on tax cuts for folks who didn’t need them and weren’t asking for them,” he said. “We saw two wars being waged on a credit card. We saw speculation in the financial sector, reaping huge profits for a few folks who were making bets with other people’s money, but it was a flimsy kind of success. Manufacturing left our shores. A shrinking number of Americans did really, really well, but a growing number saw falling incomes and stagnant job growth.”

Mr. Bush, by contrast, has offered virtually no commentary on his successor in the three years since he left office, saying “he deserves my silence.” He has stayed out of the campaign to oust Mr. Obama, offering a four-word endorsement for Mr. Romney only when asked by a reporter as he headed into an elevator after an unrelated event in Washington last week.

Former Bush aides have bristled on his behalf at Mr. Obama’s attacks, arguing that the president was trying to distract from his own failures. Neither Mr. Bush’s office nor the White House had any comment.

The two men have not always been at odds. Mr. Obama expressed gratitude for how attentive Mr. Bush was in ensuring a smooth transition in the winter of 2008-9, and he later tapped his predecessor to work with former President Bill Clinton on relief efforts after a killer earthquake in Haiti. Mr. Obama likewise called Mr. Bush after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, and as recently as March, said he gave “a lot of credit to my predecessor” for his immigration policies.

But this is a campaign season, and as soon as Mr. Bush leaves the White House next Thursday, he can expect to again play a cameo role in Mr. Obama’s campaign speeches for the next five months.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2...hite-house/?hp

---

Bush has been extremely dignified in not responding to Obama's attacks, but I suspect that things are going to be a bit, shall we say, chilly, between them at the event. Hopenchange cartoons has a preview of the portrait:

[AmPat]

I'm sure both of them will be on their best behavior; Bush because class is what he has, not what he puts on and O Blah Blah because he doesn't want G-Dub to smack the stupid out of him in front of his Sasquatch.

[Bailey]

I'm sure both of them will be on their best behavior; Bush because class is what he has, not what he puts on and O Blah Blah because he doesn't want G-Dub to smack the stupid out of him in front of his Sasquatch.

I can see Moocheal and bushes wife getting into a fight :D

[Gina]

I saw clips of it on the news and President Bush was really funny. "Sorry ma"

[namvet]

[SaintLouieWoman]

Obama proved once again he has absolutely no class, none, zip, squat. He had to get in his little digs against Bush during his comments about the paintings. Bush didn't respond in kind.

I can't believe the jerk would pull something like that. He has no class, no dignity, no nothing. He's just a Chicago by way of Indonesia and who knows where else thug, an Acorn person all the way.

How in the hell can you insult someone like that in a social situation?

[Odysseus]

Obama proved once again he has absolutely no class, none, zip, squat. He had to get in his little digs against Bush during his comments about the paintings. Bush didn't respond in kind.

I can't believe the jerk would pull something like that. He has no class, no dignity, no nothing. He's just a Chicago by way of Indonesia and who knows where else thug, an Acorn person all the way.

How in the hell can you insult someone like that in a social situation?

It's what we have come to expect from the left. Civility is an old fashioned virtue, and progressives don't have time for old fashioned ideas like that.

BTW, for those who didn't catch the dig:

President Obama on Thursday twisted the knife he'd stuck in his predecessor's legacy, reminding former President George W. Bush that he left the economy a mess and al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden alive when he left the White House three years ago.

"The months before I took the oath of office were a chaotic time," Obama told a crowd of mostly former Bush administration officials and members of the Bush family, including Bush's parents, former President George H.W. Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush.

They had gathered in the East Room of the White House for an official ceremony -- one that has traditionally excluded politics -- unveiling the portraits of the 43rd president and his wife.

"We knew our economy was in trouble, our fellow Americans were in pain, but we wouldn't know until later just how breathtaking the financial crisis had been," Obama continued, raising some eyebrows among the Bush crowd seated just a few feet away.

Obama stopped short of blaming Bush for the recession, something he has done repeatedly on the campaign trail.

Instead, Obama couched his remarks with praise of the former president, thanking Bush for going out of his way "in the middle of that crisis ... to make sure that the transition to a new administration was as seamless as possible."

Briefly lightening the mood, Obama jokingly thanked Bush for leaving him a "really good sports TV package" on the White House television.

A few minutes later, a grinning Bush took the podium and the friendly crowd erupted in loud applause, with some shouting and whistling for the former president.

"Behave yourselves," Bush drawled playfully. Turning to first lady Michelle Obama, he said, "Madame First Lady, thank you so much for inviting our rowdy friends to my hanging." The crowd again roared its approval.
http://campaign2012.washingtonexamin...hanging/573446

Just more excuses at the expense of the former president, who has been a textbook example of how former presidents used to behave, back when there was such a thing as decorum.

[hampshirebrit]

...the last guy...

You'll be "the last guy" soon. I hope your successor shows better grace than you just did.

[Apocalypse]

They way the portrait should have looked.

[ThinkingBig]

Obama proved once again he has absolutely no class, none, zip, squat. He had to get in his little digs against Bush during his comments about the paintings. Bush didn't respond in kind.

I can't believe the jerk would pull something like that. He has no class, no dignity, no nothing. He's just a Chicago by way of Indonesia and who knows where else thug, an Acorn person all the way.

How in the hell can you insult someone like that in a social situation?

I can't find the 'little digs' do you have a link?