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.”

Despite calls for an investigation into whether the Bush administration ordered illegal torture techniques in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the United States, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the president had insisted that the government act in accordance with international law. “He was also very clear that we would do nothing – nothing – that was against the law or against our obligations internationally,” Rice said Sunday. Read more.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a loyal Bushite ‘til the end, told Tonight Show host Jay Leno that the former president had it right when he said that “President Obama deserves my silence.” Said Rice: :”My view is we got to do it our way; we did our best. We did some things well, some things not so well. Now, they get their chance. And I agree with the president. We owe them our loyalty and our silence while they do it. Because I know what it’s like to have people chirping at you when they perhaps don’t know what’s going on inside. These are quality people. I know them. They love the country. And they won’t make the same decisions, perhaps, that we did. But I believe they’ll do what they think is best for the country and I’ll give my advice privately and keep it to myself.”

In sharp contrast to other leading Republicans, former President George W. Bush said that he would love for President Obama to succeed and that all politicians, regardless of party affiliation, have a responsibility to lend him a hand. “I love my country a lot more than I love politics,” Bush said. “I think it is essential that he be helped in office.” Not only did Bush refuse to criticize Obama’s presidential decisions so far, but he said that the new commander in chief “deserves my silence.” Read more.

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.