George W Bush

One of the most telling aspects of the 2012 presidential campaign now racing to its end is the matter of the vanishing former two-term Republican president. His name is so seldom mentioned by his party's nominee and other stalwarts as to take on the characteristic of a toxic distant uncle. That other GOP two-termer, Ronald Reagan, continues posthumously to enjoy the stature of political sainthood among the faithful. But the 43rd president, who is the son and namesake of the 41st, has been neither seen nor heard from in the blizzard of speech-making and television advertising by and in behalf of party standard-bearer Mitt Romney.

    It's hard to say which is more cringe-worthy: President Barack Obama's debate performance last week or his efforts to control the damage by poking fun at himself. In Los Angeles on Sunday night, Mr. Obama recognized Stevie Wonder and Katy Perry as "incredible professionals" who "perform flawlessly night after night. " Then he added, "I can't always say the same. " Later that night, he spoke of taking his wife out the night before for a late celebration of their wedding anniversary, postponed because the debate fell on the actual anniversary date.

Your editorial was spot on regarding the current presidential campaign ("It's not over yet," Oct. 1). If one were to believe the current polls, President Barack Obama has already won the election and there's no need for anyone to vote. That obviously is far from the truth, because a poll is simply a snapshot in time and subject to daily change. I recall the historic presidential election of 1948, when the polls overwhelmingly favored a landslide victory for Gov. Thomas E. Dewey over incumbent president Harry S. Truman.

- Arguing that he needs more time to fix the nation's sluggish economy, President Barack Obama formally accepted his party's nomination for a second term Thursday while stressing that voters will face a stark choice in November that could affect their lives for decades to come. The Democratic incumbent laid out a series of goals for the economy - most of them familiar - and repeatedly said his policies would take middle-class families down a vastly different path than those of his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney.

The presidential election will remain close until the "final decision window" because voters are dissatisfied with the economy, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley predicted on Sunday. But, he said, voters will ultimately reelect President Barack Obama rather than return to Republican policies. "This is not the time to wave pompoms. It is the time to dig deep and move forward and not go back to those disastrous policies that landed us in this economic problem to begin with," O'Malley said in television appearance from Charlotte days before he will speak at this week's Democratic National Convention there.

Since exiting the White House in January 2009, George W. Bush has effectively managed to keep himself out of the spotlight. While a handful of news stories have captured Mr. Bush's promotion of his cancer initiative in Africa and furnished updates on the progress of his presidential library, the former president has deliberately resisted the temptations of political life. Even his endorsement of the GOP presidential candidate, made public through a spokesman - "President Bush is confident that Mitt Romney will be a great president" - seemed tepid at best.

Here's my annual contribution of my thoughts on democracy: First, God makes the weather, including violent events. So people of faith should be calling Heaven and raising Hell. Second: If you don't believe in climate change, you are gambling with your descendants' health and well-being. Third: If you want smaller government, why are you complaining about the mayor, the governor and the president? We have 300 million-plus folks to support today, compared to two-and-a half million when the Constitution was signed.

My daughter learned a neat rhetorical trick to avoid eating things she doesn't like. "Daddy, I actually really like spinach, it's just that this spinach tastes different. " Democrats and the journalists who love them play a similar game with Republicans and conservatives. "Oh, I have lots of respect for conservatives," goes the typical line, "but the conservatives we're being served today are just so different. Why can't we have Republicans and conservatives like we used to?" Q: What kind of Republicans are extremists, racists, ideologues, pyschopaths, radicals, weirdos, hicks, idiots, elitists, prudes, potato chip double-dippers and meanies?

How dare your letter writer compare President George Bush to Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak and to Nazi war criminals after World War II. America, before, during and after the Sept. 11 attacks on our soil, also had our U.S. Embassies, Ambassadors, our U.S. ally Israel, our Marines and American civilians abroad, attacked and murdered by terrorists who were aided and abetted by Iraq andal-Qaidaand their assorted mercenaries. Our brave soldiers were volunteers defending our country which is still being threatened.

Politicians and presidents of both parties have occasionally suffered from open-mic syndrome, saying something when they thought the microphone was turned off they wished had not been made public. The latest to fall prey to that amplification of the mouth is President Barack Obama. The president told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during their Monday meeting in Seoul, South Korea, that once re-elected, he would have "more flexibility" to deal with missile defense. The president asked Mr. Medvedev to relay to incoming President Vladimir Putin his request for "patience" and "space.