Yeah, but Obama is black. You can't let him in the Blair House and risk having him steal any valuables, or come in contact with the staff...

Now that's funny!

The punchline is that Howard is getting a presidential medal of freedom.

I believe the technical term is 'butthurt'

It's only because there is no back door. How else would he get in?

I'd find this hard to believe simply because it seems so farking petty, but then I'm reminded of who the current President is and the type of people with which he surrounds himself.

I haven't been following this story really closely; is this going down because Bush being pissy or incompetent?

bighasbeen: It's only because there is no back door. How else would he get in?

obama is a backdoor man?

/the men don't know but the little girls understand

What a bunch of butt hurt. Tradition was not broken. So what. Boo hoo, Obama had to stay in an expensive hotel. I'm sure he'll get over it.

// Yes, I'm being snarky. Who really gives a fark.

Jonathan Hohensee: I haven't been following this story really closely; is this going down because Bush being pissy or incompetent?

yes

Jonathan Hohensee: I haven't been following this story really closely; is this going down because Bush being pissy or incompetent?

It could be both. Maybe they were being pissy by shutting out the Obamas and then incompetent by inviting the Aussie PM afterwards without thinking about it first.

I think it's yet another "Oh Sh*T! We farked up!.....Oh yeah thats no problem, who the hell cares, 'cuz we don't give a shiat what people think" moment in Washington.

How much money are we wasting providing additional security at the hotel? Blair house is set up as a secure location.

Another several thousand dollars flushed down the toilet.

I care.

Bonzo_1116: Jonathan Hohensee: I haven't been following this story really closely; is this going down because Bush being pissy or incompetent?

It could be both. Maybe they were being pissy by shutting out the Obamas and then incompetent by inviting the Aussie PM afterwards without thinking about it first.

I think it's yet another "Oh Sh*T! We farked up!.....Oh yeah thats no problem, who the hell cares, 'cuz we don't give a shiat what people think" moment in Washington.

Or, more likely "Oh Sh*T! We farked up...whatever we do, the most important thing is to NOT ADMIT TO DOING ANYTHING WRONG."
"But sir, we can easily correct this-"
"-NO!"

Jonathan Hohensee: I haven't been following this story really closely; is this going down because Bush being pissy or incompetent?

He's clearly both, but in this specific case it looks like "pissy".

Shrugging Atlas: I'd find this hard to believe simply because it seems so farking petty, but then I'm reminded of who the current President is and the type of people with which he surrounds himself.

Kinda like the Clinton workers who stole all the W keys from the keyboards on the way out the door huh?

Man, it'd be nice to get that sort of coverage down here. The Age has just been playing up that Howard 'bumped' Obama from the Blair House. Hasn't even mentioned the late invitation thing.

I doubt Bush is competent enough to intentionally do this as a dig on Obama. He'd have to know when Obama was due to arrive, then arrange for someone else to stay at the house on the same date. Way too complicated

IPingUPing: Shrugging Atlas: I'd find this hard to believe simply because it seems so farking petty, but then I'm reminded of who the current President is and the type of people with which he surrounds himself.

Kinda like the Clinton workers who stole all the W keys from the keyboards on the way out the door huh?

I remember that, and kinda was wishing that Bush's people would remove all of the "O"s from the keyboards.

Jonathan Hohensee: IPingUPing: Shrugging Atlas: I'd find this hard to believe simply because it seems so farking petty, but then I'm reminded of who the current President is and the type of people with which he surrounds himself.

Kinda like the Clinton workers who stole all the W keys from the keyboards on the way out the door huh?

I remember that, and kinda was wishing that Bush's people would remove all of the "O"s from the keyboards.

That story was never substantiated.

eddiesocket: That story was never substantiated.

Won't stop the right from getting butthurt about it though.

IPingUPing: Kinda like the Clinton workers who stole all the W keys from the keyboards on the way out the door huh?

Can you really convince yourself that the two things are even remotely equivalent?

eddiesocket: Jonathan Hohensee: IPingUPing: Shrugging Atlas: I'd find this hard to believe simply because it seems so farking petty, but then I'm reminded of who the current President is and the type of people with which he surrounds himself.

Kinda like the Clinton workers who stole all the W keys from the keyboards on the way out the door huh?

I remember that, and kinda was wishing that Bush's people would remove all of the "O"s from the keyboards.

That story was never substantiated.

Ever. By anyone.

I find this story VERY difficult to believe, simply because of the money that could have been saved and I can't imagine anybdoy being that petty.

spamdog: Won't stop the right from getting butthurt about it though.

You forgot...you lefties are the ones with all that "touchy-feely" shait.

IPingUPing: Shrugging Atlas: I'd find this hard to believe simply because it seems so farking petty, but then I'm reminded of who the current President is and the type of people with which he surrounds himself.

Kinda like the Clinton workers who stole all the W keys from the keyboards on the way out the door huh?

This did not happen. It is a rather persistent urban legend.

priestrape: I doubt Bush is competent enough to intentionally do this as a dig on Obama. He'd have to know when Obama was due to arrive, then arrange for someone else to stay at the house on the same date. Way too complicated

Assuming he has been intimately involved and in the know in any decision is classic.

bighasbeen: Assuming he has been intimately involved and in the know in any decision is classic.

are you referring to the Blair House thing, or everything that's happened in the last 8 years?

PascalsGhost: eddiesocket: Jonathan Hohensee: IPingUPing: Shrugging Atlas: I'd find this hard to believe simply because it seems so farking petty, but then I'm reminded of who the current President is and the type of people with which he surrounds himself.

Kinda like the Clinton workers who stole all the W keys from the keyboards on the way out the door huh?

I remember that, and kinda was wishing that Bush's people would remove all of the "O"s from the keyboards.

That story was never substantiated.

Ever. By anyone.

I find this story VERY difficult to believe, simply because of the money that could have been saved and I can't imagine anybdoy being that petty.

Thinking about it for more than a few moments, it does seem fake (how many staff memebers stay on between administrations? Quite a few, I'm sure), but if it really did happen, is it really that petty? It seems like an (expensive) practical joke from me.

Jonathan Hohensee: IPingUPing: Shrugging Atlas: I'd find this hard to believe simply because it seems so farking petty, but then I'm reminded of who the current President is and the type of people with which he surrounds himself.

Kinda like the Clinton workers who stole all the W keys from the keyboards on the way out the door huh?

I remember that, and kinda was wishing that Bush's people would remove all of the "O"s from the keyboards.


I remember that the story of Clinton's people removing the W's was bullsh*t made to make Clinton's staff look childish. It always backfires for these asstards (see: Jeff Ganon/Frist/Craig/etc). Sort of what I have come to expect from Republican True Believers (TM):

So the Times and GAO are wrong?

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFDE163CF931A25755C0A9649C8B 6 3

White House Vandalized In Transition, G.A.O. Finds

Published: June 12, 2002
The General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress, said today that 'damage, theft, vandalism and pranks did occur in the White House complex' in the presidential transition from Bill Clinton to George W. Bush. The agency put the cost at $13,000 to $14,000, including $4,850 to replace computer keyboards, many with damaged or missing W keys.

Some of the damage, it said, was clearly intentional. Glue was smeared on desk drawers. Messages disparaging President Bush were left on signs and in telephone voice mail. A few of the messages used profane or obscene language. ...

PascalsGhost: I find this story VERY difficult to believe, simply because of the money that could have been saved and I can't imagine anybdoy being that petty.

You presume Bush is concerned about saving money?

priestrape: bighasbeen: Assuming he has been intimately involved and in the know in any decision is classic.

are you referring to the Blair House thing, or everything that's happened in the last 8 years?

Half serious about the last 8 years. I think he's had "idears" but mostly just nodded his head over the intel and execution.

spamdog: eddiesocket: That story was never substantiated.

Won't stop the right from getting butthurt about it though.

I actually saw a pro-Clinton article that said it was true.

Conservatives were jumping up and down about all the damage Clinton left behind. Turns out that the dollar amount was almost exactly what it cost to fix things when Bush's daddy left office.

But most of the expense was to replace keyboards. At $80 per!

(Where the hell can you find a keyboard for $80? I looked on-line at the time and could not find any keyboards that expensive)

The keyboards had to be replaced because they were all missing the "W" key caps. This is typical of the kind of practical jokes that outgoing presidential staffs leave behind. It is kind of a tradition. Bush is the only president to make an issue of it.

But couldn't you just get a bunch of "W" key caps and pop them back on?

Burn98:

But couldn't you just get a bunch of "W" key caps and pop them back on?

I vote for this:

IPingUPing: Shrugging Atlas: I'd find this hard to believe simply because it seems so farking petty, but then I'm reminded of who the current President is and the type of people with which he surrounds himself.

Kinda like the Clinton workers who stole all the W keys from the keyboards on the way out the door huh?

No. That was a buncha made up horseshiat. If you believe that, you need to pull your nose out of Limbaugh's ass. It was a lie.

IPingUPing: So the Times and GAO are wrong?

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFDE163CF931A25755C0A9649C8B 6 3

I don't know. And that link takes me to "Paid Death Notices".

Burn98: But couldn't you just get a bunch of "W" key caps and pop them back on?

Thats why it was eighty bucks. Paying someone to get just W's is expensive.

IPingUPing: So the Times and GAO are wrong?

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFDE163CF931A25755C0A9649C8B 6 3

White House Vandalized In Transition, G.A.O. Finds

Published: June 12, 2002
The General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress, said today that 'damage, theft, vandalism and pranks did occur in the White House complex' in the presidential transition from Bill Clinton to George W. Bush. The agency put the cost at $13,000 to $14,000, including $4,850 to replace computer keyboards, many with damaged or missing W keys.

Some of the damage, it said, was clearly intentional. Glue was smeared on desk drawers. Messages disparaging President Bush were left on signs and in telephone voice mail. A few of the messages used profane or obscene language. ...

Check this out:

So it's safe to say that a close reading of the GAO report doesn't validate the charges of wanton, widespread destruction by the Clinton team. What it does show is the lengths to which the Bush administration went to try to make the scandal charges stick. The White House issued its own 75-page answer to the draft GAO findings earlier this year, which is included in the final GAO report. It's a remarkable document, cataloguing rumor, innuendo, pranks and insults that the Bushies endured at the hands of the departing Democrats, even if they involved no physical damage whatsoever.

Link (new window)

i dont know what the problem is . they offered to let them sit on the front veranda during the day.

steelpeg: spamdog: Won't stop the right from getting butthurt about it though.

You forgot...you lefties are the ones with all that "touchy-feely" shait.

I thought that was Republican congressmen and young pages.

Obama gets to stay in the Blair House on the 15th and the White House on the 20th, so my outrage meter is barely moving.

/Bush being so pathetic on so many things may have something to do with it, too.

PM Howard is a Bush lapdog...
remember when he said...victory for Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and his party in next year's presidential election would be a boon for terrorists.

and Obama came back with...

if the Australian prime minister was "ginned up to fight the good fight in Iraq," he needs to send another 20,000 Australians to the war.

"Otherwise, it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric,"

OH SNAP!

Shrugging Atlas: I'd find this hard to believe simply because it seems so farking petty, but then I'm reminded of who the current President is and the type of people with which he surrounds himself.

Took the words out of my mouth, so to speak.

PascalsGhost: I find this story VERY difficult to believe, simply because of the money that could have been saved and I can't imagine anybdoy being that petty.

You haven't been paying attention for the last 8 years, have you..

Burn98: (Where the hell can you find a keyboard for $80? I looked on-line at the time and could not find any keyboards that expensive)

The IBM Model M retailed for $150.00 (US). The current generation, made by Unicomp, sells for $69.00.

Sounds like a Dick move to me.

I like how the "damage" includes mean voice mail messages.

Expect Bush to set new highs for stealing furniture from the White House, too. The place probably won't even be wired for electricity when Obama moves in.

Of course, this is all just a prelude to congressional Republicans blocking every appointee and piece of legislation Obama wants, and then biatching about democratic ineffectiveness.

I'm caling shenanigans on this link right now.

Sorry, I just don't believe it. It fits in way too perfectly to too many people's angry fantasies.