They will be a marked improvement over the Bushes.
grandma
· 10 months ago
No one seems to know who is staying at The Blair House.......
from the NY Times:
As nice as the Hay Adams is — its suites cost several thousand dollars a night — Mr. Obama clearly is not looking forward to the short residency there after nearly two years on the campaign trail.
“You know, I just get two more weeks in a hotel. I’ve done that enough,” Mr. Obama told reporters late Thursday night, as his chartered plane flew over the Pacific for the family’s return home here after a holiday vacation in Hawaii.
If anyone of great importance were staying at The Blair House I'm sure it would make the news.... one would think given this is a big transition for Obama's two young children the Bush jerks would have honored Obama's request.....
Butch1
· 10 months ago
Now that folks are inquiring about who is staying there that is more important than a president-elect, they will find someone, anyone, to show up and pretend they were scheduled from the beginning. That is how the Bushies run things. They lie first and then try and figure out a way out of it. Pathetic.
Bostonian_Queer_in_Dallas
· 10 months ago
Uppity Negroes, magic or not, are only allowed as chambermaids and cooks at Blair House. (overheard in the Bush private residence at the WH last week.)
Joel
· 10 months ago
Good for you Michelle, good for you.
grandma
· 10 months ago
From Chicago Tribune:
After President Obama gives his Inaugural Address, he will escort outgoing President George W. Bush to a departure ceremony before attending a luncheon in the Capitol's Statuary Hall....
That's the best news I've read all day.......will someone sing Glory Hallelujah upon his departure please.
Butch1
· 10 months ago
. . .or perhaps, " Leavin' On A Jet Plane."
Pyre
· 10 months ago
That should read "he will escort outgoing President George W. Bush to the custody of U.S. Marshals in preparation for the War Crimes trials". It really should.
grandma
· 10 months ago
Yes it should.
scytherius
· 10 months ago
Be afraid Conservatives. Be VERY afraid. =)
TheOriginalLiz
· 10 months ago
The Blair House fiasco is a deliberate slap in the face. Orchestrated by the small-minded GOP. Why would we expect anything resembling good grace or courtesy from these people?
Butch1
· 10 months ago
. . . The family had requested to stay at Blair House, a guest house on Lafayette Park where presidents-elect normally stay ahead of their inauguration. But the White House declined, saying the building was already booked "by White House officials, the State Department and its Office of Protocol for various events." . . . ---------------------------------------------------------- This is an obvious snub from Bush to Obama. Bush should be careful, wasn't Sodom & Gomorrah leveled because of "in hospitality" by its residents? ;-) All frat-boy wanted to do was to show he was still in charge and could deny a request from the next president. The little games people need to play to try and be relevant when their time to leave is way past due.
hit_escape
· 10 months ago
I'm guessing Blair house is being used by the only Bush 43 Library donor.
pattyk
· 10 months ago
So the MSM seems to be making no effort to find out exactly who is staying at Blair House and what the receptions will be. Blair House is a government property, right, and the MSM certainly would be within their rights to find out what is going on there. Instead they prattle incessantly about the "posh" hotel the Obamas are staying at. The long and the short of it is that the MSM are terrified of angering GW and probably for good reason. But why shouldn't some DC bloggers fo the digging into this.
grandma
· 10 months ago
from HuffPo:
1. Given that the Obamas want to move to Blair House ten days before the traditional January 15 pre-inaugural start date -- so that they're in DC for Sasha and Malia's first day of school -- which Bush administration official decided to shut them out of the official presidential guest house and tell them to book a hotel?
2. Laura Bush's spokeswoman will say only that Blair House "is not available and won't be available until January 15." Why is it unavailable? The New York Times reports that the State Department isn't aware of any foreign dignitaries visiting from January 5 to 15, so what distinguished Americans are staying there who take precedence over the president-elect?
3. If -- as some report -- Blair House is being used for receptions, why can't the receptions be held in one of the 132 rooms in the White House? Or in one of the hundreds of reception halls in government offices from the State Department to the Reagan Building?
Thanks for posting this. For a press corp that had story after story about the missing "w" keys - this is real and about 10X more questionable.
This was a planned and expected transition with a snub to Obama. Yet I have seen more stories about the hotel rather than who is at the Blair House and why the Bushies would book anyone there immediately before the inauguration.
RevDrBillyBob
· 10 months ago
Has Bristol had any luck getting Levi to marry her ? Oh, and is he the father of her first child, too ? Just asking . . . .
Older_Wiser
· 10 months ago
Perhaps Levi and Bristol were dipping into his mommy's Oxycontin supplies...
jurassicpork
· 10 months ago
It's a shame they can't stay at Blair House. Good ole Bushie, classy to the end.
OregDon
· 10 months ago
The Blair House thing seems an incredibly thinly veiled snub! I can only hope that on Jan 20th, Michelle Obama is out there revving up the U-Haul truck beside the White House the Bushes should have reserved.
I can't believe the MSM is throwing one last "free card" to the Bushes on this. Couldn't be too difficult to trace who is booked into Blair House. But then it shouldn't have been too difficult to look into how likely it was that Sadaam Hussein had WMD either. .and we all know how that turned out!
Millineryman
· 10 months ago
Much ado about nothing as far as I'm concerned. People are starving, getting foreclosed on, getting maimed and disabled for life by war and this is a concern?
JohnInTexas
· 10 months ago
Pickles and George have a new house in Dallas, they should get the fuck out of the white house and let the new first family move in early since they screwed up and have blair house occupied. Good riddance, unfortunately they're moving down here so one more family of uppity white trash comes to north Texas.
joshmo
· 10 months ago
Yeah, funny you would say that. I moved away from North Dallas 8 years ago, thank freekin God! Bush has been a dark smear on the once great state of Texas.
tlsintx
· 10 months ago
George Bush...punk-ass chump to the bitter end...
benb
· 10 months ago
Yeah, there's just so much diplomatic action going on that the traditional pre-inaugural residence isn't available.
I guess Cheney's moved his paper shredding operation to the Blair House and his staff is working overtime.
Rufus
· 10 months ago
Will we ever learn who's staying at Blair House? Why is this a state secret that would cause great harm to the security of the United States if it was revealed?
moda31
· 10 months ago
nobody is staying there, apparently the first floor is being used for various staff parties and receptions. the blair house events coordinator was quoted as saying this "made it unsuitable for the obama family to occupy the rest of the space." according to bush & co. there's no space for the president elect's family in the 70,000 sq ft building that doesn't interfere with the use of the 1st floor for reception; also no word on why any of the 100+ public rooms at the white house or in other official buildings couldn't be used for these receptions instead, presumably every single one is booked.
An_American_Karol
· 10 months ago
Keeping the Obama children out of the Blair House makes George and Laura look petty and mean.
Joel
· 10 months ago
I'm not a fan of Barack Obama, and really don't care much about what they do but George W. Bush booking the Blair House and not allowing the Obama's the comfort of staying there during the transistion is incredibly rude and disrepectful.
But then, what would else we expect from that stupid motherfucker?
HelenaMontana
· 10 months ago
Maybe this will prompt Obama to rethink his position on not having investigations into war crimes committed by the Bush administration. Look, I know he's not that petty--but I would be!
If it is true that Obama has decided on no investigations, I think it's a big mistake. People and governments should have to take responsibility for their illegal and immoral actions and pay the consequences. The best antiseptic is sunlight. If we are ever to hold our heads up in the world community again, we have to prove that we are capable of dealing with crimes perpetrated by our government.
An_American_Karol
· 10 months ago
Helen, I agree. By ignoring the crimes committed by this administration, Obama is adding credence to the acts. The world needs to see Americans are not like the Bush criminals.
merlin
· 10 months ago
Amen!
Winslow
· 10 months ago
Given that we've known for 4 years that there would be a president-elect coming to town this January, it's quite surprising that the Blair House would be fully booked right up until Inauguration Day. I would like to see this story explored further. Re those "various events," I wonder why the reporter didn't ask, "Like what?" Because that's what I'd like to know.
houstonray
· 10 months ago
Breaking news: Bill Richardson to withdraw as Commerce Secretary. Anyone heard any reasons why??
houstonray
· 10 months ago
Found the info, apparently some business dealings that he felt would be a distraction...
Sad, he is a good man, hope that he gets a position later on after it's all, hopefully, cleared up...
mirth
· 10 months ago
Yea!
As a New Mexican familiar with Richardson, this is great news.
Skepticat
· 10 months ago
Yes, it's very picky and unimportant, and I applaud the new first family for ignoring the rude snub, but I'm very petty and really would like to know what extremely important people/events are filling the more than 70,000 square feet of space in Blair House. The people most inconvenienced may be the people who wanted to attend the inauguration who can't find hotel rooms because of the security requirements for the president-elect.
Donna in Rome
· 10 months ago
It sounds like an affront to the Obamas to me. If Blair House is the place presidents-elect normally stay before their inauguration, what's it doing being fully "booked" for that period this time around? Has this ever happened before? I read Bush was cooperating fully in the transition, even providing office space for the newcomers (which, BTW, I wouldn't trust or accept, if I were in the Obama group's shoes: the premises are all probably thoroughly bugged in order to ensure a continuation of Cheney & Co. underground operations and interference in the coming years).
Ivyfree
· 10 months ago
I'm so looking forward to being proud of the people living in the White House. People with intelligence and class.
ChrisLib
· 10 months ago
What assholes the Bu$h thugs are. As if the Blair House staff, or whoever does such bookings, didn't know there'd be an inauguration in late January. Or perhaps they expected Chimpy McBraindead to declare martial law and stay in the White House. They likely "booked" the house the day after the election as one last, "Yeah, what're you gonna do about it?" to the nation.
joshmo
· 10 months ago
Well that's a nice move by the White House... yes, "various events" like the shredding of all the BushCheney files. Perhaps planning the next terrorist attack, anything to stay in office... (sarcasm)
Canid
· 10 months ago
Ann Richards moved out the Texas Governors Mansion early so that the Bushes could get settled and the twins start school on time.....
txstevo
· 10 months ago
Hopefully "various events" refers to Dick Cheney's re-burial.
HelenaMontana
· 10 months ago
:)
eaprez
· 10 months ago
If the situation were reversed, we'd all be complaining that the Republican President Elect was trying to take over government buildings before the swearing in ceremony. "They're disrespecting us and trying to run us out before our time is up." You know we would.
Joel
· 10 months ago
Horseshit.
HelenaMontana
· 10 months ago
Wrong, I believe. If the Republican president-elect had school age children that needed to start school a couple of weeks before the inauguration, I cannot imagine that any of us would be churlish or ungracious enough to bitch. We may be passionate about our political beliefs, but unlike the current occupant of the White House, we are also (most of us) COMpassionate.
Older_Wiser
· 10 months ago
Following up on the comments below re Richardson, Wikipedia is reporting the same, although this was reported in December; it's also in the NYT 12/19/08 edition under politics (more detail).
Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- A federal grand jury is investigating how a company that advised Jefferson County, Alabama, on bond deals that threaten to cause the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, did similar work in New Mexico after making contributions to Governor Bill Richardson’s political action committees.
The grand jury in Albuquerque is looking into Beverly Hills, California-based CDR Financial Products Inc., which received almost $1.5 million in fees from the New Mexico Finance Authority in 2004 after donating $100,000 to Richardson’s efforts to register Hispanic and American Indian voters and pay for expenses at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, people familiar with the matter said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation asked current and former officials from the state agency if any staff members in the governor’s office influenced CDR’s hiring, said the people, who declined to be identified because the proceedings are secret. Richardson, who is President-elect Barack Obama’s designate for Commerce Secretary, has a staff of at least 30 people.
“They’re looking at everything related to CDR,” William Sisneros, the finance agency’s chief executive officer, said of the FBI probe. “They’re just trying to evaluate all the relationships to see what CDR was doing for the money.” More at Bloomberg.com
Pay to play...
Indigo
· 10 months ago
I'm just guessing but "various events" is most likely code for something involving congressional Republicans and their pages.
ColJack
· 10 months ago
Come on people! You're being petty. LIke it or not, W. is still president, and he still has the right to entertain guests. What difference does it make whether the hotel Senator Obama stays in is the Hays-Adams or the Blair House? He still has to move in a few weeks.
Joel
· 10 months ago
I don't think it is petty at all. Tradition and history has had the President elect stay at Blair House, the official Presidential Guest House, the place where guests of the President stay. Bush denying this to Barack Obama is both denying Barack Obama as a guest of the outgoing President and denying the importance of who Barack Obama is, the President elect.
Who could possibly take presedence over the new President?
Only an asshole like George W. Bush would pull something like this. Now George W. Bush is not only the worst President ever, he's the biggest asshole to ever occupy the Whitehouse.
ColJack
· 10 months ago
If it's traditional, it must be the right thing to do, huh?
Wikipedia (which might or might not be correct) says:
"In 1942 the house was purchased by the U.S. government and has since been the official residence for guests of the U.S. president. Blair House is primarily used to house foreign heads of state visiting the president, but it has also been used for domestic guests. Several presidents-elect of the United States have spent the night before their inauguration in the house."
See that - "the night before"! Not several weeks. Senator Obama will move in before that (on the 15th), so tradition is being broken, but not in a way that helps your argument.
moda31
· 10 months ago
the 15th is only tradition according to bush because that's when he moved in there 8 years ago, both clinton and reagan moved in earlier than that. as with pretty much everything over the last 8 years, just because bush folks say it's true doesn't make it so. there is no traditional date for making blair house available for the move, it's always depended on the situation and the needs of the incoming president, just like it should have this time around; the gracious thing to do would have been to make whatever adjustments were necessary, the bushes simply didn't bother.
ChrisM70
· 10 months ago
If Clinton had denied the Bushes access to Blair House in 2000, how much of an issue would the press have made of it?
My guess is that they would have used it to paint "Scandal-ridden" Bill and Hillary as "petty and partisan". They probably would have gone so far as to theorize (i.e. make up rumors) about who the Clintons might be "entertaining" and what their motives are.
But when Bush, The Worst American President Ever™, does it to Obama? Nothing but crickets.
Art007
· 10 months ago
CNN reports,"... the Bush administration said the house, which is used as a guest house for visiting dignitaries, already had events scheduled there and guests who could not be displaced."
What guests and visiting dignitaries cannot be moved in favor of the President Elect and Family?
Milli
· 10 months ago
My guess, Blair House is either filled with secret detainees that Cheney is figuring out where to relocate, or this is where Laura has been hiding from her husband for the past few years.
Or its filled with Saudi oil barons who are enjoying their last few weeks of hand-holding with George the Idiot.
lilybart
· 10 months ago
LAURA is living at Blair House, awat from W, and they don't want anyone to know this.
I travel in media circles in NYC and this kind of information is usually correct.
bridget
· 10 months ago
I understand you contempt for Obama and the disappointment you and I feel about his lack of positive stand toward LGBT issues, however, please, "The Obama Women"? Where did he buy them? Do they come with moving parts? It just sounds so, well, Georgian or Victorian. Barak Obama's family has names. Best to use those or Barak Obama's family. I don't recall anyone saying "The Clinton Women" or the "Bush Women." When a woman president is elected, I sincerely doubt we'll see "The president elect has arrived in D.C. and so have the Smith men." Yeeek. that it. (otherwise love this blog.)
bridget
· 10 months ago
My bad - NY Post is bad. My previous comments need to be directed to the NY Post. Big time apologies A-blog.
All Comments
from the NY Times:
As nice as the Hay Adams is — its suites cost several thousand dollars a night — Mr. Obama clearly is not looking forward to the short residency there after nearly two years on the campaign trail.
“You know, I just get two more weeks in a hotel. I’ve done that enough,” Mr. Obama told reporters late Thursday night, as his chartered plane flew over the Pacific for the family’s return home here after a holiday vacation in Hawaii.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/03/a...
If anyone of great importance were staying at The Blair House I'm sure it would make the news....
one would think given this is a big transition for Obama's two young children the Bush jerks would have
honored Obama's request.....
After President Obama gives his Inaugural Address, he will escort outgoing President George W. Bush to a departure ceremony before attending a luncheon in the Capitol's Statuary Hall....
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog...
That's the best news I've read all day.......will someone sing Glory Hallelujah upon his departure please.
----------------------------------------------------------
This is an obvious snub from Bush to Obama. Bush should be careful, wasn't Sodom & Gomorrah leveled because of "in hospitality" by its residents? ;-)
All frat-boy wanted to do was to show he was still in charge and could deny a request from the next president. The little games people need to play to try and be relevant when their time to leave is way past due.
1. Given that the Obamas want to move to Blair House ten days before the traditional January 15 pre-inaugural start date -- so that they're in DC for Sasha and Malia's first day of school -- which Bush administration official decided to shut them out of the official presidential guest house and tell them to book a hotel?
2. Laura Bush's spokeswoman will say only that Blair House "is not available and won't be available until January 15." Why is it unavailable? The New York Times reports that the State Department isn't aware of any foreign dignitaries visiting from January 5 to 15, so what distinguished Americans are staying there who take precedence over the president-elect?
3. If -- as some report -- Blair House is being used for receptions, why can't the receptions be held in one of the 132 rooms in the White House? Or in one of the hundreds of reception halls in government offices from the State Department to the Reagan Building?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-goldsmith/b...
This was a planned and expected transition with a snub to Obama. Yet I have seen more stories about the hotel rather than who is at the Blair House and why the Bushies would book anyone there immediately before the inauguration.
I can't believe the MSM is throwing one last "free card" to the Bushes on this. Couldn't be too difficult to trace who is booked into Blair House. But then it shouldn't have been too difficult to look into how likely it was that Sadaam Hussein had WMD either. .and we all know how that turned out!
I guess Cheney's moved his paper shredding operation to the Blair House and his staff is working overtime.
But then, what would else we expect from that stupid motherfucker?
If it is true that Obama has decided on no investigations, I think it's a big mistake. People and governments should have to take responsibility for their illegal and immoral actions and pay the consequences. The best antiseptic is sunlight. If we are ever to hold our heads up in the world community again, we have to prove that we are capable of dealing with crimes perpetrated by our government.
The world needs to see Americans are not like the Bush criminals.
Sad, he is a good man, hope that he gets a position later on after it's all, hopefully, cleared up...
As a New Mexican familiar with Richardson, this is great news.
Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- A federal grand jury is investigating how a company that advised Jefferson County, Alabama, on bond deals that threaten to cause the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, did similar work in New Mexico after making contributions to Governor Bill Richardson’s political action committees.
The grand jury in Albuquerque is looking into Beverly Hills, California-based CDR Financial Products Inc., which received almost $1.5 million in fees from the New Mexico Finance Authority in 2004 after donating $100,000 to Richardson’s efforts to register Hispanic and American Indian voters and pay for expenses at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, people familiar with the matter said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation asked current and former officials from the state agency if any staff members in the governor’s office influenced CDR’s hiring, said the people, who declined to be identified because the proceedings are secret. Richardson, who is President-elect Barack Obama’s designate for Commerce Secretary, has a staff of at least 30 people.
“They’re looking at everything related to CDR,” William Sisneros, the finance agency’s chief executive officer, said of the FBI probe. “They’re just trying to evaluate all the relationships to see what CDR was doing for the money.” More at Bloomberg.com
Pay to play...
Who could possibly take presedence over the new President?
Only an asshole like George W. Bush would pull something like this. Now George W. Bush is not only the worst President ever, he's the biggest asshole to ever occupy the Whitehouse.
Wikipedia (which might or might not be correct) says:
"In 1942 the house was purchased by the U.S. government and has since been the official residence for guests of the U.S. president. Blair House is primarily used to house foreign heads of state visiting the president, but it has also been used for domestic guests. Several presidents-elect of the United States have spent the night before their inauguration in the house."
See that - "the night before"! Not several weeks. Senator Obama will move in before that (on the 15th), so tradition is being broken, but not in a way that helps your argument.
My guess is that they would have used it to paint "Scandal-ridden" Bill and Hillary as "petty and partisan". They probably would have gone so far as to theorize (i.e. make up rumors) about who the Clintons might be "entertaining" and what their motives are.
But when Bush, The Worst American President Ever™, does it to Obama? Nothing but crickets.
What guests and visiting dignitaries cannot be moved in favor of the President Elect and Family?
Or its filled with Saudi oil barons who are enjoying their last few weeks of hand-holding with George the Idiot.
I travel in media circles in NYC and this kind of information is usually correct.