In recent days, several of President Bush’s closest advisers have been attacking President Obama. Vice Preisdent Cheney, for example, said that there was “a high probability” of a WMD attack if Bush’s policies were reversed, and former chief of staff Andy Card said that Obama has turned the White House into a “locker room” because he isn’t requiring staff to wear jackets at all times. Axelrod sharply responds to the “tasteless” criticisms in a new interview with the Washington Post:

I was disappointed in the Vice President’s comments, not because he said–stated the obvious which is that there are threats that are grave, but that he suggested that somehow the President’s decisions on torture in Guantanamo would increase the likelihood of that. [...]

You know, the last thing that I think we’re looking for at this juncture is advice on fiscal integrity or ethics from Karl Rove, anyone who’s read the newspapers for the last eight years would laugh at that.

So, I appreciate that President Bush has been so classy during this period, and I’m disappointed that some of the folks who worked for him didn’t–don’t share that. [...]

I mentioned Andy Card saying that we were somehow denigrating the Presidency because people were wearing short sleeves in the Oval Office. We’re wearing short sleeves because we have to roll up our sleeves and clean up the mess that we inherited.

Former White House chief of staff Andy Card said today that President Bush may jump into social networking, as he is “very technologically connected to the world.” When Politico asked if Bush would join Facebook and Twitter, Card left the door open, saying, “I don’t know that he’ll invite me to be his friend on Facebook.” Watch it:

A good start for Bush would be to figure out how to use “the Google” first.

Yeas & Nays reports that comedian Wanda Sykes “will headline the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner this spring.” Sykes, who is well known for her roles on Curb Your Enthusiasm and The New Adventures Of Old Christine, came out of the closet last year in protest of California’s anti-gay marriage measure, Proposition 8. In September, Sykes mocked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin‘s foreign policy experience, saying “maybe I should be Secretary of State” because Palin had “just got a passport last year.”

In his Wall Street Journal column today, former Bush adviser Karl Rove claims that House Republicans “are playing their hand extraordinarily well.” “House Republicans have used the stimulus bill to redefine their party, present ideas on how to revive the economy, and force congressional Democrats and the president to take ownership of the spending programs soon to be signed into law,” writes Rove.

As proof of their success, Rove claimed that “support for the stimulus is failing“:

The payoff is that support for the stimulus bill is falling. CBS News polling reveals a 12-point drop in support of the bill over the past month. Pew Research and Rasmussen have turned in similar numbers. The more Americans learn about the bill, the less they like it.

On Fox News this afternoon, Deputy Managing Editor Bill Sammon pushed the same message, saying that “public support has gradually declined as more and more details of this stimulus bill have come to light.” Later, during an interview with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, Fox’s Trace Gallagher said the American people “support what the president is doing,” but “they don’t support this plan.” Watch it:

Though pollsters found “a modest decline” in support last week, the popularity of a recovery package has risen this week.

For instance, a Gallup poll released Monday found that 67 percent of Americans approve of Obama’s push for an economic recovery package. Another Gallup poll out today finds that support for an $800 billion recovery plan has increased from 52 percent to 59 percent:

It’s also ironic that Rove cites Rasmussen today, considering that hours after his column was published, Rasmussen released a new poll showing that Obama has “boosted support for the economic recovery plan working its way through Congress.” According to Rasmussen, 44 percent of U.S. voters now support the plan, compared to 37 percent last week.

In 2008, Anh “Joseph” Cao became the only non-Hispanic minority in the GOP. With the party struggling to shed its all-white image, the Republican leadership quickly embraced the first Vietnamese member of Congress. In a memo called “The Time Is Cao,” House Minority Leader John Boehner told his colleagues that Cao is the “future” of the GOP:

“The Future is Cao” reads the subject line of Boehner’s memo. “As House Republicans look ahead to the next two years, the Cao victory is a symbol of what can be achieved when we think big, present a positive alternative, and work aggressively to earn the trust of the American people,” offers Boehner.

But today, Cao said that he will defy his GOP colleagues, who unanimously opposed the House recovery package, and will support the final stimulus bill:

“Even though it is going to be a humongous bill, even though we will be in debt for years, I believe that more likely than not, I will vote for it because the 2nd Congressional District needs a stimulus package.” … “A lot of the provisions in the bill will be good for the district, because we need almost everything,” he said. “You name it, we need it.”

Cao added: “I’m voting along what my conscience dictates and the needs of the 2nd Congressional District dictate, even if I were to be the only member of the GOP to vote for the stimulus package.”

Throughout the debate over the recovery package, it has become painfully clear that Rush Limbaugh, who wants Obama to “fail,” is the new “unofficial leader” of the GOP — as his “prominence and political import” has skyrocketed in recent weeks. In fact, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) said he is happy to be a hard-right party, saying, “What transpired…and will give us a shot in the arm going forward is that we are standing up on principle and just saying no.” “We’re beginning to find our voice,” said Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI).

So is the “future” of the GOP still Cao? Is the “time” still Cao? Will the GOP follow his lead or continue to take its marching orders from Rush Limbaugh?