If they want a smooth transition, why are they going full steam ahead to put in place a maze of things to deregulate or tie things in knots that the Obama administration will have to work to untie?

Sorry, it doesn't look like a smooth transition to me! Looks more like they're laying landmines and making Trojan Horses.

Whatever bush says, I tend to read the opposite.

"The CTO’s mandate would be quite different from the Cybersecurity czar appointed under the Bush Administration. Bush’s czar helped defend against cyberattacks. Obama’s CTO, by contrast, would ensure government officials hold open meetings, broadcast live webcasts of those meetings, and use blogging software, wikis and open comments to communicate policies with Americans, according to the plan."

Bill Clinton and Bush Sr. are now great friends and have travelled the globe together promoting their initiatives. It's all part of the game, and they all know it. Barack is now a member #44 of the club.

Perhaps it would be wise for Barack to assign Malia and Sasha the task of removing all of Bushies pencils, pens and crayons so he can't sign off on all the nastiness he is planning on slipping through during the last dark days of the long dark night that has been his reign.

Celebrity Death Match!  Who comes out alive?

Really? Has this been confirmed? I thought Mondays were Playstation day for George and someone just bought him Grand Theft Auto IV!

Remember when Bush refused to meet with the head of the NAACP?

I can't accept Bush is being sincere here..It's a gesture of PR and bullshit. I tend to think he may be trying to lay down a smoke screen of sorts to have cover. He will be destroying records, creating time bombs, signing off on executive orders and deregulating anything he can get to. For Bush to be genuine here is to think that he actually cares for the good country. I,for one, can't get there!

I hate to be the party pooper, but if you have read The Audacity Of Hope, you'll remember that Obama was quite kind to president Bush. I think this meeting will be filled with pleasantries and hand-shaking. Bush isn't going to politicize this -- why would he? His numbers are at rock-bottom.

http://thepajamapundit.com/

Awwwwkward!!!!!!!

Obama is now one of the members of the club of 44, and I think that means everything as to how Bush sees him. If anything, W wants be as far from partisanship as he can get, the best way to save whatever legacy he has is to try and accomplish a few things on the way out. Meeting Obama is a way to brush up on his bipartisan cred, and get some nice pictures taken for the history books.

I don't think Obamas are thrilled to have dinner with the Bushies. It's a ritual you cannot say "no" to. In fact, neither Bush nor Obama will be involved in the transition personally. It is the two teams that handle the whole thing and report to their chiefs. I agree with Tena that "it is [just] a protocol visit."
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Completely off the topic
Guys, this is my general response to the names being thrown around for the Obama cabinet. I will respectfully disagree with the idea of appointing a Republican in the Defense, State, or Treasury because a person reared in GOP ideological cot is genetically/instinctually war monger, unilateralist, and deregulator, even if a few of them are not so overtly on some particular instances. My another criterion is if you supported Iraq war or Vietnam war, you cannot be the head of Defense or State, which eliminates people like Kerry (even though I like him very much). If you disliked the idea of economic equality and Welfare programs in the past, you cannot be in the Treasury Dept.
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I also hear the wrong echo of what Pelosi said yesterday that we should "govern from the center." Notice she was careful not to say "center right." For some, "center right" still has some rhetorical currency, to be used in front of the press and public. We should be ruling from from "left of center" not simply because we have the mandate but because that is how we will be able to lead the world, not just America. And most importantly, there does not simply exist the "center right" within the vanquished and derailed GOP. Where do you search and reach for the center? We cannot and should not take moral responsibility of creating a center front within the GOP. The far right is far right and will remain so: they cannot be converted or appeased whether you rule from the center right or center left. And we don't owe anything to them. We mustn't bow down to them. You hear on MSM repeatedly that the country is center right. This has been hindrance to our thinking: It has to be changed into "the country is center left," if not far left. If Obama were to make the same mistake as Clinton did and tried to reinforce the idea of the center right, the country would be irredeemably doomed, far worse than ever. He has the opportunity and responsibility to redefine the country as the center left. If he were to move to the center right, he'd have to abandon all campaign promises, from tax cut for 95% through health care reform and withdrawal from Iraq.
I agree with Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat,"The voters said we want ... a progressive alternative." Even a DLC head does not disagree with Brown, "We have a chance to move from a center-right to the center-left," and, let me add, this cannot be squandered.
To sum up, the center right is simply bourgeois hegemony that must not be protected, either in the discourse or practice.

Looking at the results map I'm wondering what is the next best target for a red state to go blue?

Missouri of course since it is a virtual dead heat this time (I like the fact that MO didn't vote for the winner this time breaking their streak).

But after MO? (Which is really more of a swing state than a red state.)

I would guess AZ or MT.

Uh, Laura, honey? Hide the silver.

Even as we speak they are taking the "O" keys off all the keyboards.

I picture Obama wearing an UN translator headset when George starts discussioneering how things are. During the dinner, BO could deliver those papers from the International Criminal Court.

OT-based on her comments yesterday, and previous comments re Sarah Palin, am I the only one who thinks Condoleeza Rice probably voted for Obama? She looked genuinely thrilled.

Let's hope Obama don't eat the WH food.Strange things happen to inspiring American leaders over the years.Please Barack eat at home the other guy in the WH is incredibly petty & jealous.

Obama, of course, has just spent the last two years depicting Bush as the disaster he's been and promising to reverse everything he's done, so it should be an interesting meeting.

Greg, this is the job of the loyal opposition to criticize the incumbent. Nothing wrong here. In all this time, Obama has never criticized Bush personally, only his decisions.

That is fair according to the rules of engagement, and both men understand that.