Please be advised, posting this does not mean I hate Bush irrationally. It does not mean I run screaming down the street in the middle pof the night in my hatred of republicans. It does not mean I am a fanatic.
If you so choose, you may watch the news and see if what she says does appear to happen or not. Yes I am aware that it is biased against the administration. Yes I believe a few others may enjoy reading it. If you do not want to read it, don't. If you read it any way it is not necessary to heap abuse upon me.
I am not telling anyone to think anything. Think for your self. I find this interesting and by posting it others have the oppertunity to find it or not find it interesting. A NEW TONE IN WASHINGTON

Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer said Friday that he didn't want to discuss details of the alleged "vandalism" of the White House because it wouldn't "fit the new tone we're trying to bring to Washington". George W. himself said earlier that he didn't want to discuss the vandalism, stating that "maybe there were some pranks, maybe someone drew a cartoon on the wall..." but that it wasn't important and he didn't want to "focus on it".

We, of course, are supposed to take from this message that Bush and his cronies are forgiving, generous folk who won't waste their time dwelling on petty attacks from the opposition. The message is pretty clear - a four-year-old could understand it. And a four-year-old might not see through it.

As I watched the various networks speculate (primarily - surprise! - FOX, a.k.a FAUX) as to what exactly this "vandalism" entailed, I couldn't decide which was more offensive - the Bush camp's hilariously obvious attempts to smear the former administration while at the same time insisting that they didn't want to talk about it, or the idea that people would actually be taken in by this kind of childish manipulation.

Who are they trying to kid? Given the fact that not one shred of evidence has been presented as to ANY sort of "prank" and that not one member of Bush's staff will let him or herself be named (all the sources are "anonymous"), it's little wonder that they don't wish to "focus on it" - there's nothing there for them to focus ON.
Oh, we've been told that there'll be an 'investigation', yet somehow we don't know who'll be heading it up or what it might uncover - especially since any so-called vandalism has no doubt been repaired (unless, of course, they're still crawling around searching for the last few missing Ws). My prediction? This 'investigation' will go the way of the five affidavits of people in Palm Beach county who witnessed 'mischief' during the recounts. You remember those affidavits, don't you? Of course you do. Ever wonder what happened to them? Me too.

Funny...when Bush the Elder's staff moved out in '93, they played a few pranks, stuck a few bumper stickers on furniture and the like, but I don't remember the media devoting entire talk shows to the issue, nor do I remember any Clinton spokespeople mouthing self-congratulatory phrases about "setting a new tone" by not discussing the pranks. In fact, I don't remember any mention of the pranks period. The first I heard of them was Friday - eight years after the fact.

Here's the thing - let's suppose that there really WAS vandalism, something more serious than a few missing Ws and other harmless goofiness. I think that's about as likely as the notion that John Ashcroft will be a tireless defender of Roe vs. Wade, but we're playing the hypothetical game here so I'll swallow my disbelief. Okay, so we have this vandalism. I've heard rumours of everything from cut phone lines to obscene graffiti (has anyone asked the painters if they saw graffiti? No? Well, they're probably communists, so we couldn't trust their word anyway) to I vague hints of things too terrible for fine upstanding young men like Ari Fleischer to even mention. Let's pretend that's all true.
And let's pretend that the Bush administration really does want to bring a kinder, gentler tone to Washington, free of partisan rancor, in an effort to ensure that no White House staffer is left behind. So. Their reaction upon seeing these unspeakable acts of vandalism is to...what?
Say a brief prayer for the souls of the poor, misguided people who would do such a terrible thing? Sigh, shake their heads, and get on with the business at hand? Quietly contact those responsible and say "Hey, that was mean! But we forgive you."?

Nope. Their reaction was to leak the story to the press. Once the story was out, of course, they didn't want to talk about it, because that would not set the right tone. But it's hard to set a tone of forgiveness and 'aw shucks can't we all just get along' when the other side isn't doing anything that needs to be forgiven - or at least, isn't doing it where other people can see.

My daughter has a habit of telling me every time she thinks about doing something "bad". For example, if she thinks about sneaking an extra pickle (she loves pickles - she'd eat a jar a day if I let her) but then decides to be 'good', she's not satisfied until she's told me how good she was. After all, she reasons, what's the point of being good if no one knows about it? So she runs to me and says "Mommy, I almost sneaked an extra pickle, but then I decided to be good and I didn't," and she gives me a winning smile and says "Since I was so good, can I have an extra pickle?"

Of course, that's not a completely accurate analogy to Republican tactics, so I don't have to worry that she's exhibiting - horror of horrors - signs of Republicanitis. A Republican would eat half the jar of pickles, and then go to Mommy and say "Boy, there aren't many pickles left. I saw Johnny eyeing the pickle jar earlier today. But I'm sure he wouldn't have gone and eaten all those pickles. And even if he did, I don't want to make a big deal of it. Sure is funny that half the pickles are gone. But let's focus on something else. No, really, I don't want to talk about the pickles that Johnny may or may not have eaten. I don't want to discuss the possibility that Johnny went and shoveled those pickles into his mouth like a big fat hog. Because I'm so very nice, and I forgive him, and it isn't important that he might have stuck his face in the jar like a sow at the feeding trough and inhaled those costly pickles."

Look for more "graciousness" from the Bush camp in the future. I imagine we'll be treated to a steady stream of "allegations" and "rumors" and "anonymous sources", which will be bandied about for a day or two until Ari Fleischer comes skipping out to tell us that they don't wish to discuss such things, because gee, that wouldn't be nice!

-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), February 14, 2001

Answers

I like to run down the street irrationally. You ought to try it sometime. Sometimes I pretend I'm Oprah, others I pretend I'm Inspector Gadget. Give it a try, you'll love it!

-- dudesy (dudesy@37.com), February 14, 2001.

>Let's suppose there really WAS vandalism<

And, lets suppose that it might have gotten out of hand, (as it does, at times). When it was first discovered, it was talked about at lower levels of office personel. When it looked like THAT was getting out of hand, let's suppose a meeting was called, and it was decided that a more mature approach would be taken.

It could have happened. It could also be, that W learned a lesson from Clinton; start the next campaign now. BTW, I didn't vote for either one, or either party. They don't represent my interest.

-- KoFE (your@town.USA), February 14, 2001.