Despite the current deluge of Republican opposition to the practices and policies of President Obama, former First Lady Laura Bush praised her husband’s successor Monday for the way he is handling the mountain of issues he inherited. “I think he is [doing a good job],” Bush told CNN when asked to assess Obama’s job performance. “I think he has got a lot on his plate, and he has tackled a lot to start with, and that has probably made it more difficult.” The usually shy former first lady, speaking with the news agency during a United Nations meeting in Paris on Monday, took a decidedly different path than many of those in her party, even praising Obama decision to address students in nationally televised speech and blasting the growing political division in the nation. It is “really important for everyone to respect the president of the United States,” she said. “I think there is a place for the president … to talk to schoolchildren and encourage” them. Parents should follow his example and “encourage their own children to stay in school and to study hard and to try to achieve the dream that they have.” As for claims by many conservatives that Obama is a “socialist,” Bush said that such a characterization is unfair. It only fuels deep political polarization, she said. “We’ve seen that for the last eight years, certainly, and we’re still seeing it,” she said. “That’s just a fact of life.”

Ohio Veterans group to honor Black soldiers. The Dayton African American Legacy Institute will for the first time honor Black soldiers at an Armistice Day memorial  program. The program honors local Blacks who died while serving their country, reports The Dayton Daily News. “Each year, I see celebrations for our veterans, but I never see observances for the Black soldiers who sacrificed for us,” said Bill C. Littlejohn, Dayton Municipal Court Judge and board president of the institute. “African-Americans fought in every war from the Revolution to the present day. The group recognizes that for decades Black soldiers returning from war were ostracized.  “We want to honor their heroism and their perseverance,” Littlejohn said. The group will hold a reception and program this evening called “African-American Veterans: A History of Service and Sacrifice.” They will present medals they received from the government posthumously to families of deceased veterans and to living veterans, Littlejohn said.  . 

Laura Bush and Michelle Obama meet. First lady Laura Bush shared some tips with Michelle Obama on how to survive in the White House – particularly with young daughters, according to Reuters. As she gave Michelle Obama a tour of the mansion that will soon be her home. “It was a bit of a momentous day,” Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters on a flight from Washington to Chicago about the Obamas visit to the White House Monday, less than one week after Barack Obama won a historic election to succeed President George W. Bush.  “I don’t know that I would characterize him as awestruck.” Read the rest here.
The High Court upholds “victims’-impact” evidence. By a slight majority the Supreme Court said on Monday that the lives of the victim can be weighed as evidence in determining the fate of the accusers. The justices turned down appeals from two Los Angeles convicted murderers who said it was unfair that videotapes of the victims’ lives were played for jurors before they decided the killers should die.  Defense lawyers had argued that this “cinematic evidence . . . designed to play on the jury’s emotions” should be excluded from a sentencing hearing in a capital case. In the first case, the justices rejected an appeal from Douglas Kelly, who was sentenced to death for the 1993 rape, robbery and murder of Sara Weir. She was found dead in a North Hollywood apartment after being stabbed 29 times. The justices turned down a similar appeal from Samuel Zamudio, who was convicted in 1997 of murdering an elderly couple in South Gate. In both cases, video of the victims were played for their jurors. However, Stevens wrote, “the videos added nothing relevant to the jury’s deliberations.”  Justices David H. Souter and Stephen G. Breyer agreed the court should take up the issue, but it takes four votes in the high court to grant an appeal.

President elect heads to the White House.  President-elect Obama and his wife today head to the White House, where he will tour the historic first residence and meet with President Bush. First Lady Laura Bush is to show the next first lady, Michelle Obama, around the White House. Obama and Bush are expected to discuss the nation’s pressing issues. “I’m going to go in there with a sprit of bipartisanship,” he said this weekend. Members of Obama’s team appeared on the Sunday talk shows to discuss the transition. Obama confidant Valerie Jarrett said on NBC’s “Meet The Press” that  the Obama administration “will be inclusive.” Rep. Rohm Emmanuel, on ABC’s “This Week,” echoed the same theme, dismissing Republicans’ concerns that he would take a tough, partisan approach to running the White House as chief of staff. He said Obama will maintain his pledge to govern in a bipartisan manner.