George W. Bush: After being pummeled by his successor, the 43rd president ends his silence on America's slide into socialism and timidity. He reminds us leadership is not something that comes off a teleprompter.

Perhaps tired about being publicly blamed by the current administration for all our current ills, Bush spoke out in Erie, Pa., on Wednesday at the 104th annual gathering of the Manufacturers and Business Association.

Bush isn't the one who is burdening future generations with ever-higher taxes and upwards of $10 trillion dollars in new debt. He is not the one nationalizing the auto industry, banks and health care.

The stimulus did not escape his criticism. "It's going to be the private sector that leads this country out of the current economic times we're in," the Washington Times quotes him as saying. "You can spend your money better than the government can spend it."