Bush's last day has come to an end

It's just past Midnight in the Eastern Time Zone. President George W. Bush's last full day in office has ended. The disasters that began eight years ago are still going to be with us, but the element of leadership that created some of them and made others worse has run its course.

While the danger is far from over, I feel the relief. For the next four years, we have an opportunity to change the terms of debate. We have an opportunity to explore different policy options to address the challenges our country faces. We will not be limited by suspicion of science, sexuality, minorities, and blindness masking itself as patriotism.

We will be limited by an economy in decline, debt, and a world weary of our foreign policy.

I don't know what is possible over the next four years, but I am ready to see. Here's to the next four years and here's to you, President Obama.

President praises Memphis Catholic schools

President Bush held up Memphis Catholic schools today as an example of determined initiatives in inner-city education at a time when many faith-based schools are closing.

"I was struck by an interesting story that came out of Memphis, Tennessee," the president said in his speech. "Ten years ago private donors gave approximately $15 million to the church in Memphis to help revive Catholic schools in the city's poorest neighborhoods. Assets exist; they're worried about them going away. So rather than just watch schools close, somebody -- individuals -- did something about it by putting up $15 million.

"With the seed money, the diocese launched the Jubilee Schools initiative, and reopened Catholic schools that had been shuttered, actually in some cases, for decades. Today, 10 Jubilee schools serve more than 1,400 students. Eighty-one percent of these children are not Catholic; nearly 96 percent live at or below poverty level….