The Taliban was successfully disrupted but Bin Laden was not captured and was still on the loose as Bush began his second term.

WHITEHOUSE: George W. Bush

The loudest howls are coming from small-government conservatives who are furious with Mr Bush's loose spending.

ECONOMIST: America's conservatives take another blow | The

Instead, this was a speech in which Bush tried to tie up the loose ends of his presidency.

FORBES: Full Circle

Paul O'Neill, the first treasury secretary under President Bush was seen as somewhat of a loose canon, wasn't he?

NPR: Senate Committee Holds Hearing on Treasury Nominee

Yet in practice Mr. Obama was friendlier to Hosni Mubarak than George W. Bush had been until Mr. Obama cut him loose in the final days, and he made no effort to push the Arab autocracies toward reform before their downfall.

WSJ: Review & Outlook: The Foreign Policy Debate

But I would tell Bush that all he has to do is to stay nice and loose, working Gore in a rope-a-dope sort of way, mocking him lightly, and wait for one of those openings that can produce a fatal sound-bite -- something along the lines of Lloyd Bentsen's line in 1988: "I knew John Kennedy, and you're no John Kennedy!"

CNN: Lance Morrow: Why Ralph and Pat should be in the debates

Kerry seemed more inclined than President Bush to acknowledge last Thursday giving them still more U.S. money for loose nukes may make us feel better, but not more secure.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Security obstacles abound

President Bush's first attorney general, John Ashcroft, was denounced by critics as playing fast and loose with civil liberties, and now Alberto Gonzales is under intense pressure to quit from Democrats and some Republicans because of his involvement in the mishandled firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

NPR: How to Stop Another Gonzales Episode