Quoted: Let’s say this slowly: the Bush administration wanted to use 9/11 as a pretext to invade Iraq, even though Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. So it tortured people to make them confess to the nonexistent link.

Quoted: There’s a word for this: it’s evil.

Bush's favorite reality show outlives his presidency.

Quoted: In 2001, Portugal became the only EU-member state to decriminalize drugs, a distinction which continues through to the present. Last year, working with the Cato Institute, I went to that country in order to research the effects of the decriminalization law (which applies to all substances, including cocaine and heroin) and to interview both Portuguese and EU drug policy officials and analysts (the central EU drug policy monitoring agency is, by coincidence, based in Lisbon). Evaluating the policy strictly from an empirical perspective, decriminalization has been an unquestionable success, leading to improvements in virtually every relevant category and enabling Portugal to manage drug-related problems (and drug usage rates) far better than most Western nations that continue to treat adult drug consumption as a criminal offense.

Pretty much

Quoted: A tale of two presidencies

Quoted: And I turned to one of my editors — First I said, “Oh, my God.” And he said, “What?” And I said, “You’ve got to see this picture of Bush. This is really stunning.” And I flipped it over to him to process and his first reaction was, “Wow.” And I said, “If he wasn’t just back there behind that door crying, I don’t know what that look on his face is.” Because he just looks absolutely devastated as he comes through this door after essentially ending his eight year presidency. And it’s just really striking. He just looks absolutely devastated.

It's so weird to have a president that does things I approve of....

Quoted: Already, a consensus of experts has formed to tell TPMmuckraker and others that President Obama's executive order on presidential records, issued Wednesday, could impact efforts to pry loose key documents from the Bush White House.

Quoted: And the man who served as President Clinton's lead attorney for executive privilege issues yesterday went further, suggesting that that was exactly Obama's goal.

Quoted: Just one day after George W. Bush left office, an NSA whistleblower has revealed that the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program targeted U.S. journalists, and vacuumed in all domestic communications of Americans, including, faxes, phone calls and network traffic.

Quoted: Contrary to what everyone seemed to be saying even a few weeks ago, being a member of the eurozone doesn’t immunize countries against crisis. In Spain’s case (and Italy’s, and Ireland’s, and Greece’s) the euro may well be making things worse. And Britain’s plunging pound, unpopular though it is, may turn out to have been a very good thing.

Oh damn. This could be a must-see.

Quoted: Not unlike Michael Corleone in “The Godfather: Part III” (“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in”), Mr. Ferrell has looked forward to the end of his portrayals of the president, which he made famous as a regular on “Saturday Night Live,” yet says he has also felt drawn to return to the role at times. He hopes to make his last pronouncement on the Bush era with nothing less than a one-man show on Broadway, "You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush," which begins previews on Tuesday and marks Mr. Ferrell’s theatrical debut.