-Caveat Lector-
Washington Times
June 8, 2001
Let�s not move on
By Diana West
This week�s Associated Press headline may not say it all, but it
comes close: "White House Vandalism Still Debated." All those saying
"aye" the Bush administration have finally come forward in the person of
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer to offer a public accounting of the
crude mess, the sabotaged phones, damaged computers, graffiti-covered
walls, overturned desks and pornographic pictures members of the
outgoing Clinton administration left behind for members of the incoming
Bush administration to dig their way out of. Only now, four and a half
months after the fact, the Great Clintonista Trashing of the White House
has emerged as a topic of "debate," a matter of one man�s or, rather,
one administration�s opinion. Or even worse, as Democrats now clamor, it
has suddenly been framed as an unfair, unfounded, outright lie.
How did this happen? It all started back in January, after the
first juicy rush of vandalism reports from anonymous Bush sources dried
up as word came from on high that it was "time to move on" and stop
rubbernecking at the carnage of the Clinton years. Not only were all
those post-Clinton post-mortems sucking up political oxygen, they
appeared to strike the new president as a matter of what used to be
known as and this will sound quaint "bad form." As the White House edged
itself away from the vandalism story, Mr. Fleischer told The Washington
Post, "All the White House stories were aimed at moving forward. It was
all in the context of drawing reporters back from the story because
that�s what the president wanted."
The president, naturally, got what he wanted. The White House may
never have gone so far as to deny that any vandalism had taken place,
but the story shut down at the source. Given that the White House
decided not to document the damage fear of "bad form" strikes again?
subsequent inquiries by the General Accounting Office (GAO), Congress�s
investigative arm, and the General Service Administration (GSA), which
manages federal property, were inconclusive. As The Post reported, the
GSA "issued a letter saying it found no damage to White House real
estate but said it was not addressing possible damage to furnishings or
equipment. The GAO said it could reach no additional conclusions because
of 'the lack of records . . . reported by the White House.� "
Far from inspiring President Bush�s Democratic opponents to give a
cheer pip, pip, Old Bean for his innate sense of discretion and good
cheer, the "lack of records" has convinced them to claim that no
vandalism ever took place. As Joe Lockhart, one of Bill Clinton�s press
secretaries put it, "If there was anything there, they should have put
it out at the time. Now, they�re expecting us to just take their word
for it." Spoken like a true Clintonista. Rep. Anthony Weiner, New York
Democrat, has gone farther still, demanding that the Bush administration
apologize for having "deliberately misled the American people and
smeared the names of public servants who were guilty of nothing." And
the outrage only grows as do the numbers of supposed victims. Jake
Siewart, another Clinton press secretary, recently told the Kansas City
Star, whose misinterpretation of the GSA�s initial inquiry seems to have
kick started this whole phase of the vandalism story, "The White House
has been smearing a whole class of people without providing any
evidence."
It is, of course, the White House that is now being smeared. "The
White House�s continuing campaign of disinformation and possible
violation of federal law for noncompliance with a GAO investigation
calls its credibility and its list of damaged property - into question,"
Mr. Weiner�s spokeswoman, Serena Torrey, none-too-serenely said.
All of which has left Ari Fleischer bemoaning the administration�s
strange predicament. "The White House bent over backward to make this
issue go away, to be gracious to the previous administration" Mr.
Fleischer told the AP. "We tried to be gracious, but the last
administration would not take graciousness," he said to The Post.
Is graciousness really the culprit here? Certainly, it would have
been possible for the Bush administration to be gracious and carry a big
video camera. The problem seems to be one of maturity, which may come as
a surprise given the relief of having a "grown-up" administration in
place. But, as President Bush has said, there is today a profound need
to restore a concrete sense of accountability in our government, and in
our country. In averting its eyes from the calumnies of the Clinton era,
both great and, in this case, puny, the Bush administration no doubt
believed it was acting wisely not to mention downright nobly. In the
end, though, there is something a little naive about believing that any
administration could begin anew without facing up to the facts about the
old.
###
Diana West is an editorial writer and columnist for The Washington
Times.
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