Laura Bush gets birthday wish: a new president!

Today is first lady Laura Bush 's 62nd birthday. Happy birthday to a classy lady.

Well-wishes are no doubt coming in from all over the world. But we rather liked this one, from a blogger in Nashville named Southern Beale:

For her birthday I'd like to send her something new, fresh, youthful and energetic: A president named Barack Obama. Laura Bush has a lot of class, and I'm sure she will appreciate it.

No word yet on what President Bush is getting the first lady for her last birthday in the White House. (Actually we got word late at night that he gave her a pair of what press secretary Dana Perino described as "a pair of beautiful earrings.") But Mrs. Bush herself hinted that she was looking forward to a new president, or at least to the end of the presidential campaign. In a speech the other day, she made reference to all the times during the campaign that Obama tried to tie John McCain to the Bush White House. At a Kentucky campaign stop, she said:

I'm really looking forward to election day, partly because it seems like George has been on the ticket this entire year.

Press secretary Sally McDonough says that the president and Mrs. Bush have invited friends and senior staff to join them for dinner on election night.  And, in celebration of her birthday, they'll have coconut birthday cake for dessert.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo credit: Bill Haber/Associated Press

Comments

[tom]

I recalll that about the time George ran for the presidency the first time, his wife was on a one day shopping spree in Paris. Of course it was hushed up right away, because who wants the image of a jet setting first lady. Lady of class indeed, like all those classy republicans who let us eat cake for eight years. Good riddance.

[NinaK]

Laura Bush has, indeed been a lovely and classy lady. Inspite of President Bush' low rating, Laura is loved worldwide.

I am looking forward to having Senator Obama as our President and Commander-in-Chief and Michelle as our First Lady. Both are highly intellectual and both will work hard fo us, albeit in differing ways. Dr. Martin Luther King and others involvled in the Civil Rights Movement (this, by the way, was for ALL people and not only African Americans, but, unfortunately, during MLK's time blacks were treated very inhumane by our country) are smiling broadly.

The world will definitely see America differently as we, the people, elect Barack Obama as our President for America will be a great symbol of our "melting pot" of which we verbally take pride but for which we need to improve our attitude, ALL of us!! Perhaps we should work on referring to our different races as Hispanics, African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and adopt the "AMERICAN" designation for ALL of us. For that is what we ALL are: AMERICANS.

[pwhited]

I really enjoy seeing comments from libs who say things like, "we're all Americans, and we can put aside our differences, work together and makes this a better country". Of course, this is only valid if Obama wins. Otherwise, it's back to the same old stuff, only it will be photoshops of McCain holding a gun to his head, McCain photoshopped to look like a monkee (try THAT with Obama, get charged with a hate crime) and all the other pathetic, whiny libtard crap from the past 8 years. Yep, you leftists are all so super tolerant as long as you are in control...

You suck, but we already knew that.

[Christina]

Exactly-you Liberals are all alike...it's one vision when it's on "your terms" but if a Republican is in office and makes you work (how dare they), then it's doom and gloom. You people live under the motto "Work harder. Millions on welfare depend upon you". If you don't like this country or the President running it, then LEAVE. By all means, PLEASE LEAVE.

[Jason]

I have to disagree with you pwhited...given the choice I would vote for Hillary or Obama just because she is a woman and he is black. I don't like either of them, or McCain, but until its been proven that any minority has a equal chance to ascend to the presidency, those minorities won't shut up. We should keep electing presidents from as many different sections of the pie as possible till we truly are indistinguishable as 'Americans'. Then people like Ninak won't be able to play the color card, and people like you won't be able to play the redneck card. We might not always end up with great presidents, but it needs to be done. Bush was one extreme, lets try another.

And for that matter, the two party system bothers me a lot more than the color or gender of our president. There were six candidates, of several different ethnicities, and women too. Yet they were in no way involved in the debate process. So while I agree with you and Christina to a degree, consider that if the system weren't so broken, people wouldn't have to resort to whining about equality. We could hate all our presidents equally ;)

I have a dream. That candidates for president could rise from all corners of the country. That those candidates could be experienced and wealthy senators, or well qualified but poor teachers. These people would be heard not just on the radio or television infomercials, but on youtube, in forums, and all across the internet, at no cost to themselves. I have a dream that the candidates would prove themselves to the American public not by saying yes or no on an issue louder than the others, but by demonstrating their character and introducing themselves so we feel like we are considering our neighbor. When the results came in, no candidate would hold more than a quarter of the votes, because America is too diverse to split 52%/48%. We are not a perfect country, and we are not meant to be. We should keep building and questioning ourselves and sharing ideas until we put new ideas into the head of God himself.

Lets try that dream for awhile...

[Campbell]

From a dry drunk anti-American globalist to an anti-American socialist. It just keeps getting better.

[ConcernedinCO]

Is this really printed in one of our nation's newspapers? Shame on you. I don't care if you support Obama or not, to say that Obama is a birthday present to Laura Bush is completely disrespectful. I'm seeing less and less moral fiber in the media today and it's sad.

I did not support Obama in the election, however I will support him as President. I hope he lives up to all of the expectations. He has made a lot of promises that in reality are going to be almost iimpossible to accomplish. As of today (2 days after election), he has already backed out on two of them - he's not going to remove the troops as soon as he said he would, and he's lowering his tax bracket for higher taxes. Let's hope that's the end of the back tracking.

[helen Jones]

I would make a comment but I fear that if I voice my opinion, I will be investigated, slandered, my personal information such as drivers license number,DMV print out and social security number will be displayed on the web, you know like they did to Joe the plumber. Freedom of speech is dead in the US. No one is allowed to ask questions, or be critical of Obama and his policies.

[Helen Jones]

I see you didn't post my comments. Further proof that we are no longer allowed to voice our opinion. FREEDOM OF SPEECH IS DEAD IN THE US.

[Lucy]

Hi.
I'm a British woman who lives in a tiny town in England. I have been following your election with much interest, as who resides in the whitehouse affects us all. I stayed up all night to watch the result and was thrilled to see Barack Obama win. I don't understand American politics-in fact I hardly understand our own, so I have nothing to say on that score. All I see is a good man with a good heart who is going to try and make a positive change to the country he loves. He said in his speach that he wants the people of America to unite and work together with him, but he needs all of you behind him to acheive the goals. He makes me wish I was American. I wish him well.