Monday, January 19, 2009

Obama Oath Cancelled: Bush Retains Presidency

by Jack Derrieringer, TYDN Political Affairs Writer
WASHINGTON -- (TYDN) President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration here was cancelled one day before he was to assume office after President Bush said he was staying on a third term "for the good of the nation, and the world at large," TheYellowDailyNews has learned.

"During my third and perhaps fourth term, I will do whatever I need to bring Osama bin Laden to justice," Bush told TheYellowDailyNews in an exclusive interview here in the Oval Office on Monday. "America is fortunate that America still exists after eight years of my presidency. And peace will continue in the Middle East for as long as I am in office."

Bush's highly anticipated move would mark the first time a sitting U.S. president used his popularity to keep himself in power after being termed out with eight years of power under his belt. Sources close to Obama said the former Illinois senator, who won election in November, was unlikely to challenge Bush's decision and instead was seeking to become the president's press secretary.

Presidential historians and legal scholars said Bush was so popular that an Obama court challenge, which was unlikely to succeed, could undermine his public credibility and hurt his chances in the 2012 election -- that is, if Bush decides to step down at that time.

"You've got to remember that President Bush has the public and a lot of firsts behind him. He was the first chief executive to invade Iraq on a pretense, he was the first president since the Great Depression to add millions to the unemployment lines and he was the first president to lead the world into a global recession," said Harry Jeffers, a Cal State Fullerton revisionist historian, in an exclusive interview with TheYellowDailyNews.

Laurence Tribe, the Harvard constitutional scholar, said in an exclusive interview with TheYellowDailyNews that the U.S. Supreme Court, mirroring its Gore v. Bush decision of eight years ago, would again side with Bush in a legal challenge to the presidency. He also said Congress, which approved Bush's once-secret, warrantless electronic eavesdropping program on Americans, would likely impeach Obama immediately after he took office on Tuesday so Bush could retain the White House.

"The only constitutional crisis here is an America without Bush," Tribe said. "People just forget how popular he is."

Photo: DPMS