And Prez who can't decide what he's trying to escape.

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but his reasoning was, at times, questionable. It appears as though he is going to take the money and run unlike some of his compatriots who are "attempting" to refuse stimulus money.

The top CIA counterterrorism officer who tracked Osama bin Laden through the mountains of Afghanistan says the United States could have captured the terrorist leader if President George W. Bush and the American military had devoted the necessary resources to the hunt and capture.

In addition, says Gary Bernsten, a decorated espionage officer, the post-Cold War downturn in recruitment and attention to espionage has left a crippled spy agency that will need a decade or more to build up its clandestine service for the U.S. war on terrorism.

Berntsen led a paramilitary unit code-named Jawbreaker in the war that toppled the Taliban after the September 11 attacks.

He says his Jawbreaker team tracked bin Laden to Afghanistan's Tora Bora region late in 2001 and could have killed or captured the al Qaeda leader there if military officials had agreed to his request for an additional force of about 800 U.S. troops. But the administration was already gearing up for war with Iraq and troops were never sent, allowing bin Laden was able to escape.

His account contradicts public statements by Bush and former Gen. Tommy Franks, who maintained that U.S. officials were never sure bin Laden was at Tora Bora.

Berntsen says CIA Director Porter Goss faces an uphill battle to fill the agency's senior ranks with aggressive, seasoned operatives.

He's probably more aggressive than most of the senior officers in the clandestine service. So I think he's having to pull them along a bit, Berntsen said in an interview.

(Goss) is trying to improve the situation. But it's going to be tough. The rebuilding is going to take years. A decade, at least, he told Reuters late last week.

The CIA, widely criticized for lapses involving prewar Iraq and the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, has seen its clandestine staff dwindle to less than 5,000 employees from a peak of over 7,000, intelligence sources say.

Experts blame a post-Cold War downturn in recruitment for a current lack of seasoned clandestine operatives that has been exacerbated by a rush to lucrative private sector jobs in recent years.

We have a smaller number of really, really aggressive, creative members of our leadership in the senior service, said Berntsen, who recently published a book about his exploits in the war on terrorism, titled Jawbreaker (Crown Publishing).

Former CIA Director George Tenet told the September 11 commission in April 2004 the CIA would need five years to produce a clandestine service fully capable of tackling the terrorism threat.

Goss later said at his September 2004 Senate confirmation hearings that rebuilding the clandestine operation would be a long build-out, a long haul.

President George W. Bush issued an order last year that called for a 50 percent increase in CIA clandestine officers and analysts to be completed as soon as feasible.

The CIA is moving aggressively to rebuild and enhance its capabilities across the board, CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said.

But intelligence sources say the rebuilding process has been complicated by disaffection for Goss' leadership within the clandestine service.

Years of double-digit growth in federal spending on intelligence that followed the September 11 attacks may also be about to end.

John Negroponte, the new U.S. director of national intelligence, has endorsed an intelligence budget for fiscal year 2007 that is relatively flat, with current spending levels believed to total about $44 billion for the 15-agency intelligence community. Fiscal 2007 begins in October.

Berntsen, 48, who also led the CIA Counterterrorism Center's response to the 1998 al Qaeda bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa, sued the CIA in July, accusing the spy agency of trying to stop him from publishing his book.

Gimigliano said the CIA reviewed Bernsten's book before publication only to ensure that it contained no classified information.

In the book, Berntsen says his Jawbreaker team tracked bin Laden to Afghanistan's Tora Bora region late in 2001 and could have killed or captured the al Qaeda leader there if military officials had agreed to his request for an additional force of about 800 U.S. troops.

His account contradicts public statements by Bush and former Gen. Tommy Franks, who maintained that U.S. officials were never sure bin Laden was at Tora Bora.

If you think it sounds extreme, it is. But if you do your own research, you'll hear his own words saying he'll literally bankrupt the coal industry. The MSM somehow "managed" to forget about this way back from January 2008! He said our electricity bills will "skyrocket!" This is disturbing! Right or left, the media has no right to pull this crap. They aren't even shy about their lovefest over this guy. This isn't journalism. There's a big difference between news reporters and commentators.

Our utility rates are already high enough. Why would anyone want to pay even one dime more? Someone please tell me their desire to do so. Google NE coal miners, etc., and you should find more info.

The way I look at it, the Obamas will have more help taking care of the dog (they can be a lot of work!) and also, IMHO, the girls are old enough now to have one and learn responsibility.

Off topic, but if I were in White House, I would follow in Calvin Coolidge's footsteps: He had 6 dogs, a bobcat, a goose, a donkey, a cat, 2 lion cubs, an antelope, a wallaby and a pygmy hippopotamus.

and what we have is a lame duck. I don't know what will happen with Obama but Bush has left him a huge moutain of problems to deal with. I expect Bush will replace Herbert Hoover in history as the worst president in history. Of course the republicans will try to blame his 8 years in office on the previous 8 years and the next 8 years. Sad thing is, some people will believe it, but not many I guess with his approval ratings.

really does need that teleprompter to get it right . . . What's this I hear about him being such a great orator? Sorry, but I think not.

Obama apologizes for gaffe on Special Olympics

WASHINGTON (Reuters) � President Barack Obama has apologized for a gaffe in which he described his bowling skills as akin to participants in the Special Olympics, a sports program for people with intellectual disabilities.

Obama made the mistake during an interview on Thursday night on "The Tonight Show" with host Jay Leno, the first time a sitting U.S. president had been on the show.

Talking about living in the White House, Obama said he had been practicing his bowling in the home's bowling alley and had scored a 129 out of a possible 300.

It was an improvement on the embarrassing 37 he had rolled during a stop on the presidential campaign trail a year ago.

"It's like -- it was like Special Olympics or something," Obama said.

The Special Olympics is a global nonprofit organization serving some 200 million people with intellectual disabilities, with a presence in nearly 200 countries worldwide. They compete in sporting events like the real Olympics.

Soon after the Jay Leno interview, Obama telephoned Special Olympics chairman Tim Shriver to apologize.

Shriver told ABC's "Good Morning America" television show that Obama had apologized "in a way that I think was very moving" and that he said "he did not intend to humiliate the population, didn't want to embarrass or give anybody any more reason for pain or kind of suffering."

Shriver said people should gain a lesson from the incident.

"I think it's important to see that words hurt. Words do matter. And these words in some respect, can be seen as humiliating or a put-down to people with special needs, do cause pain. And they do result in stereotypes," Shriver said.

White House spokesman Bill Burton said Obama "made an offhand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to disparage the Special Olympics."

"He thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful program that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from around the world," Burton said.

Shriver said he knows of a Special Olympian in the Detroit area who has bowled three perfect games of 300 and "he said he would be more than welcome to find the time to come to the White House and teach the president."

(Reporting by Caren Bohan and Steve Holland, editing by Vicki Allen)

backwards stance he is taking and all the trips Michele is taking, or are we going to sit here and take it?

Sorry, but at least GW mostly stayed in Washington if not in Texas and ran the government. They did not take "geography" classes on the road. How's the garden doing Michele? Do we hear about that? Nope. Just another publicity stunt.

When O became president, I figured I would give him a chance....but I figured okay, some of those bailouts he did might work Today, he is pushing for the CLNE, clean energy bill, which Pelosi has a big stake in, and now I know he is just a puppet of Pelosi and the others. I will not sit here and take his lies any longer. If i have to I will send an email every day to the WH telling him where to get off.

We get a magazine on country living and they are telling us to brace ourselves for the coming new policies on food. They are telling us to stock up on food for at least 3 years especially if H.R. 875 passes. Now, I don't know when this is coming up for a vote but I read the bill and it doesn't make me happy with the wording. If what the magazine is stating, they can stop us from producing family gardens if they will it. I'm hoping they straighten this out because as I read through it, it directly aims at the larger food production facilities, but the words that bother me are "any farm, .....or facility.... that produces food for resale." That means you will not be able to sell your garden grown extra foodstuffs unless you have a registration number....which also means government intervention. If anyone is interested, I can post the article pertaining to that.

O is finding out that his words aren't penetrating those who hate us a lot, so, as of this week, he has decided to pull back on international "friendship" and just deal with the USA because he knows we are getting disheartened with his policies. This gets our minds off the real issues of the world and we are supposed to believe every word he says, yet some are still idolizing him. Just wait another year. Then it will be too late..

Sorry, not in my book. I think it's time for all Americans to stand up and fight, deluge the goverment with emails, etc., whatever gets through to our President. Heck, I've been emailing every time I hear something new that goes against the laws of the land. Does it fall on deaf ears? Certainly....but I still do it. Guess I wil lbe on he UnAmerican list soon but I don't care. I've been quiet too long and am actively taking a stance in the American way of life....which is almost gone already after the 100 days. So sad.....

I like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Hate snow, afraid of volcanoes, and can't take heat anymore. Hubby has been wanting to move to Canada for years. He likes snow and mountains.

Maybe I can find an nice island halfway between the extremes I posted? Any suggestions? LOL

My, how classy. That so-called retardate graduated Yale & Harvard. Now who's retarded? Bill Clinton is plenty of things, too, but stupid, retarded, etc. are things that I've never heard a conservative say...ever.

We watched C-span so that we could be assured nothing would be cut out. Then we went to MSNBC to see their comments and then FOX to hear their comments. Sure enough MSNBC was filled with a bunch of sour grapes. What were they saying about her speech? Nothing. They were just upset because she called the media on what they've been reporting about her and they didn't like it. They want to keep bashing and putting her down and have nothing said back to them. They are so biased it makes me sick.

This is my likes & dislikes about Sarah Palin. I like that she is not from Washington. I like that she has been governor of the state, has passed laws, has made Alaska a better state that works for the people. I like that she got rid of all the wasteful things (fancy jet, personal chef, chauffer). I like that she can stand tough when she needs to. She's knows how to get things done and she's not afraid to go up against the "big boys". I like that she firmly believes in the 2nd ammendment of the constitution, the right to bear arms, and I like the fact that she knows how to use arms. I like that she cares about America more than she cares about herself. I like that her husband owns a business and she has helped him work his commercial fishing business. So I know she is not for more taxes. I like that she took from the big oil companies and gave the money rightfully back to the people who deserved it (the Alaskan citizens). I like that she is a mother, has kids in school, has been to the PTA. That means she is aware of the education system and I like that she got involved to make the schools a better place for all kids. I like the fact that she and her husband decided to have a child knowing he would have down's syndrome and I like the fact that she doesn't wear it on her sleeve and when she talked about her baby tonight she said our newest addition, a beautiful baby boy (not a beautiful Down's syndrome baby). I like the fact that her daughter is pregnant. To me it shows she is as real of a person and her family is the same as most all other Americans and facing the same thing all other americans are. I like the fact that she was not born into a wealthy family, she worked hard to get where she is at. I like the fact that for all the snips and nasty comments the democrats said against her and John McCain last week she can dish it right back (and with facts! - which by the way is all the liberal media focused on tonight (how much she picked on the other side)). I like the fact that I know she and her husband sit down at night after their kids go to bed and they talk about real issues (his business, their kids schooling, etc etc). I think she is a wonderful, hard working person. Very knowlegeable about issues (has to be to be a governor). I like the fact that she does have more experience than Obama does, which because he is running for President he should have more experience then someone running for VP. Tonight after her speech DH & I both said we need to move to Alaska and have someone like her as our governor.

What I don't like...maybe she's a little too "religious" for me and I've heard that she wants to teach creationalism in schools. BUT (I wanted to make sure I put that in big letters...but) I can't confirm that and I'm not sure if that is a rumor put out by the liberals, so I really can't say I don't like that about her because I don't know if it's true. Just keep religion out of politics and I'm happy with that.

So far I can't see anything I dislike about her (which is a far cry from 3 days ago when I couldn't stand her because all I was listening to was MSNBC and CNN). Now I'm researching and reading more about her accomplishments.

I think she's a wonderful person and will make a fine VP. Also I do have to say I've been learning more about JM over the past couple days and I have a lot more confidence and respect for him as our next president. I loved R. Guliani's speech and Mike Huckabee's and the Governor of Hawaii (forget her name). They all gave fine speeches.

So that's my opion. To the one just blabbing about how our taxes are going to be raised, blah, blah, blah. It's all scare tactics. When the democrats are in is always when people pay more in taxes. Government grows, jobs go overseas, America becomes less secure, military gets cut way back Remember NAFTA because of Democrat Billy who shipped jobs overseas and people lost good jobs and homes. Then he turned around and created these "false" jobs where people had to take jobs paying 1/2 of what they were getting paid but because they paid them so low he could create more jobs giving a "false" impression that he created all these jobs (these people still had to go on food stamps). Remember how your taxes were raised because of Democrat Billy who jumped my tax bracket from 21% to 37% and even then at the end of the year we had to pay an additional $2500 cos we didn't pay enough to support all of his programs. Remember Kosovo, Somalia, etc. Remember how Democrat Billy gutted the military which made our country less safe, hence the first attack on the world trade centers. Remember how Democrat Billy had the chance to capture OBL but he didn't. Remember the lies. Remember how Democrat Hillary was trying to socialize health care. Some people may think Bush is "one fry short of a happy meal" but at least our taxes went down, and we had job security and our military was built up and I once again had faith in the country, Sure the country is not perfect. Sure President Bush has made some real "dufus" decisions and mistakes, but it's nothing compared to the mess the country was in the last time the Democrats were in office.

WASHINGTON � President George W. Bush's "after-life," as Laura Bush calls the post-presidency, is shaping up to be pretty comfortable, with a Dallas office, staffers, Secret Service protection, a travel budget, medical coverage and a $196,700 annual pension, all at taxpayers' expense.

However, Bush will be the first president not to benefit from one former lifetime benefit: Secret Service protection.

"He'll be the first one to receive it for 10 years," said Malcolm Wiley, Secret Service spokesman. Congress changed the law in the 1990s so that any president elected after Jan. 1, 1997, and his or her spouse will receive the federal protection for only 10 years.

The Bushes will move to their new $2 million, 8,500-square-foot Dallas home � not paid for by taxpayers � on Jan. 20, and there Bush will be close to his future presidential library at Southern Methodist University.

"We're working on a conceptual design for the building," said Mark Langdale, president of the George W. Bush Foundation. The president will help develop the $300 million structure, which will include a library, museum and policy institute.

Fundraising is just beginning, Langdale said. Once the project is finished in 2013, the National Archives and Records Administration will take over the operation of the library and museum, at federal expense. Construction will be paid for with private funds, and Bush is expected to be involved in organizing the fundraising drive.

"He is enthusiastic about spending a lot of his time and effort working on the programs of the institute," Langdale said.

Bush will maintain an office nearby in space acquired by the General Services Administration, which, under the Former Presidents Act, will pay for the office suite and staff to assist him for the rest of his life.

Bush's pension, which is tied to the base pay of the most senior government executives and increases with federal cost-of-living adjustments, will be about half the $400,000 annual presidential salary. He and Vice President Dick Cheney will receive transition expenses as well for seven months � one month before the inauguration and six months afterward � "to facilitate their transition to private life," according to the Congressional Research Service.

The GSA also covers travel expenses for any official activities attended by a former president, as well as two staff members. Former President Bill Clinton was allocated $50,000 for travel in fiscal year 2008 and former President George H.W. Bush, $56,000.

Former presidents and their families are entitled to health care in military hospitals, although they have to pay a reimbursement rate set by the Office of Management and Budget.

Bush will receive a state funeral upon his death, with full military honors for the former commander in chief.