Laura tells Obama family: no room at the inn By: Julia Friday December 12, 2008 8:00 pm
Word association: You would think most folks who are as noisily enthusiastic about Christmas as the departing first family keep telling us they are would hear the phrase "in the manger" around this time of year and think "baby." They seem to have settled instead on "dog" The Bush administration has denied President-elect Barack Obama's request to move early into an official guest house across from the White House, citing previously scheduled commitments, a transition official said today The Obamas wanted to move into Blair House before Jan. 5, so that daughters Malia and Sasha could start classes on time at Sidwell Friends School in Washington. " well, nothing pointed about that, right? [T]here were previously scheduled events and guests that couldn't be displaced," said a transition spokesperson, who agreed to be quoted only on condition of anonymity... McDonough, a spokeswoman for first lady Laura Bush, said in a statement that Blair House will be "available to President-elect Obama and his family starting January 15, as is historically the case." Prior to that, McDonough said, "should he need to use it for a meeting or such he can certainly request it and the transition office will check its availability." Administration officials said there are no foreign dignitaries scheduled to stay there during the first two weeks of January, but some farewell events have been booked for departing Bush administration officials. Well, if there's no room, there's no Blair House is now a complex of four connected townhouses, including the original Blair House. During the 1980s, Blair House underwent significant restorations, with a new wing added to the north. An adjacent townhouse, Trowbridge House, is being renovated to serve as an official guest residence for former U.S. presidents while in the capital. The combined square footage of the four adjacent townhouses exceeds 70,000 feet, making it larger than the White House. But, that sort of thing doesn't matter, right? "One of things President-elect Obama was interested in — after we had our policy discussions — was his little girls. How would they like the White House?" Bush told CNN about Obama's visit to the Executive Mansion on Monday. "It was interesting to watch him go upstairs, and he wanted to see where his little girls were going to sleep." Bush also said that before he met with the president-elect, he called former President Clinton to recall a similar meeting the two had after Bush was elected. "I said, 'Bill, I'm getting ready to meet with the new president and I remember how gracious you were to me,'" Bush said. "'I hope I can be as gracious to President-elect Obama as you were to me.'" Um. Yeah. OK. Well, at least we can be pretty sure the Bush family won't be faced with this particular problem in their new neighborhood But the exclusive Dallas community the Bush family will soon join has a troubled history of its own. Until 2000, the neighborhood association's covenant said only white people were allowed to live there, though an exception was made for servants. Enacted in 1956, part of the original document reads: "Said property shall be used and occupied by white persons except those shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of different race or nationality in the employ of a tenant." Well, shit. Hate it when that happens. But I'm sure it was just a ... Republican presidential hopeful George W. Bush and his wife sold their Dallas home in 1995 with a "restrictive covenant" in the deed designed to restrict ownership to white residents, records of the sale indicate. Sigh. "The thing that's important for me [Bush said] is to get home and look in that mirror and say, 'I did not compromise my principles" ... Clearly not. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WebTV Dawgs/Dittos" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/WebTV-Pals -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
