President Bush

President Bush confirmed the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in an air attack ordered after intelligence agents tracked the location of the al-Qaida leader to a safe house northeast of Baghdad. "Now Zarqawi has met his end, and this violent man will never murder aagain. Iraqis can be justly proud of their new government and its early steops to improve their security." President Bush

While he was chewing on a luncheon roll and discussing the current crisis between Hezbollah and Israel at a meeting this week with world leaders at the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, a microphone picked up President Bush using a well-known barnyard epithet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Presidents, who at times forget they're mere mortals like the rest of us, can be and often are vulgar and profane in private and public, like the rest of us. "With all due respect, it's like Bush has no dignity," said Russell Baker, who covered the Eisenhower administration for the New York Times, and later wrote the nationally syndicated "Observer" column until retiring in 1998.

The Herculean labors of the budget negotiators are over now, but President Bush's labors are just beginning. Whether the historic agreement on budget reduction reached yesterday between White House and Congressional leaders can now be put into effect depends on whether President Bush can now deliver his own party's support when that negotiated package comes to vote in Congress.And an ominous sign it was that Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia, the second-ranking House Republican leader and a member of the negotiating team, was so dissatisfied with the package of tax increases and spending cuts that he refused to appear on the same platform with President Bush in announcing the accord.

Obama's self- serving, childish arrogance to constantly pat himself on the back for assassinating Osama bin Laden using all the information collected by former President Bush just shows the length this unqualified individual will go to be reelected. J. Nelson, Baltimore

With three months remaining in office, President Bush has given us another reminder of why he will not be missed. Remember "signing statements"? That's when a president signs a bill into law, then turns around and says he has no intention of abiding by parts of that law. It's an abusive practice - and President Bush is its biggest fan. Despite criticisms such as the American Bar Association's protest that such statements undercut the constitutional separation...

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush will visit New Windsor's Brethren Service Center tomorrow to watch as relief supplies donated by American children are prepared for shipment to Afghanistan. In response to the president's plea to help the children of Afghanistan, American children have raised $1.5 million, funds that have paid for tents, jackets and gift boxes filled with essentials and treats. "It is the first shipment to go from the U.S. as a result of the dollars-for-Afghanistan campaign, which President Bush urged children to contribute to," said Leslie VanSant, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross, which is handling the children's effort.

Letter writer John Holter criticizes President Bush for not attending Ground Zero with the current president ("Bush should have gone to Ground Zero," May 8). I wonder if Mr. Holter is aware that former President Clinton also declined an initiation to visit Ground Zero with President Obama? Does Mr. Holter feel that former President Clinton also turned his back on his supporters, the dignity of the office of president and the victory we are now celebrating? George Bush has refrained from criticizing Mr. Obama since the new president took office, despite the fact that Mr. Obama has criticized President Bush relentlessly.

Bush visit President Bush will visit the Middle East in early January as he presses the Israelis and the Palestinians to restart moribund peace talks, the White House said yesterday. White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe would not release any details of Bush's itinerary. However, an Israeli television station said the president would visit Israel. Last week, Bush played host to a high-profile Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, where Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told international backers and skeptical Arab neighbors that they were ready to resume bargaining toward achieving an independent Palestinian homeland.

ARLINGTON, Va. - Liberals had a good week last week, not because they won any arguments, but because they think two conservatives suffered damage to their credibility. A lot of liberals think their relentless and over-the-top invective against President Bush is starting to pay off because his formerly high approval ratings have declined. They think they have him hooked into a potential political scandal because someone in government leaked the name of a covert CIA employee. However, they will be kicking themselves next year at election time when it will be proved, once again, how dangerous it is to underestimate George W. Bush.

PENSACOLA, FLA. -- The schedule for the GOP's Florida Victory Rally said President Bush would be introduced to the crowd by the Republican Party's nominee for governor, Charlie Crist. The president was there, but Crist was not. And the White House signaled its unhappiness. With Bush receiving poor marks in opinion polls, some Republican candidates have indicated that they do not want to appear with him in public. Crist's campaign said that was not the case in this instance. It said the candidate had no need to spend his final campaign day in Pensacola, the site of yesterday's rally, because voters there tend to be conservative and already support him. Still, Karl Rove, Bush's chief political strategist, made a remark to reporters about Crist's decision to appear in Palm Beach and other cities instead.