LAT: First Lady Makes Sure Festive Decor, Holiday Tunes Brighten WH

[DeepModem Mom]

NOTE: I could be wrong, but I think the writer has written some irony into this article.


First Lady Makes Sure Festive Decor, Holiday Tunes Brighten White House

The colorful displays have been designed to celebrate the season's musical traditions.

By Richard Rainey, Times Staff Writer


WASHINGTON — Exactly one month after the votes of 60.6 million Americans gave her a mandate to deck the White House halls for four more years, Laura Bush on Thursday showed off a holiday display depicting 13 well-known seasonal tunes, including "Frosty the Snowman" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."...

***

The preparations began in July, when Bush selected the theme — "A Season of Merriment and Melody" — to honor the musical traditions of the holiday. She led a tour Thursday through the mansion's first-floor rooms, festooned in snow white, cranberry red and traditional gold. More than 51 volunteers had hung 245 wreaths, 221 bows and 660 feet of garland among the 41 Christmas trees....

***

But, the first lady said, the decorations aren't necessarily the season's highlight.

"It's the Christmas foods," she said — and the crowning piece of this year's culinary display was the gingerbread replica of the White House, created by newly appointed head pastry chef Thaddeus DuBois.

Using sheets of gingerbread and 150 pounds of chocolate, he included miniatures of the Marine Corps band on the rooftop, and five vignettes of Barney, the Bushes' Scottish terrier, playing with their pet cat, Willie. The cat, originally called India, was rechristened in 2001 after protests from that country's ruling party....


(The article adds that Mrs. Bush asks Americans to remember families with military serving overseas, some of whom will visit the WH to see the decorations, and she is quoted: "I want all of our troops who are deployed to know … that we're thinking about them; we're praying for them.")


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-decor3dec03,0,5753707.story?coll=la-home-nation

[Sideways]

1. A Season Of Dismemberment and Mosul Is More Like It

"playing with their pet cat, Willie. The cat, originally called India, was rechristened in 2001 after protests from that country's ruling party...."

This was a nice jab at the fucking Imperial Colonizers.

[LynnTheDem]

2. "we're thinking about them" losing limbs and eyes and lives while we PARTY

PARTY! PARTY! PARTY! SHOP SHOP SHOP! LAUGH & SMILE AND HAVE A GREAT TIME!

Your day will come for you & your family & your cohorts, Mrs. War of Aggression Nuremburg Tribunal Supreme Crime.

[booksenkatz]

4. I continue to be amazed at people who are able to

continue with business as usual -- as if NOTHING strange is going on -- while our tax dollars continue to blow the legs off of 2-year-old Iraqi children who did nothing to the USA (and neither did their parents.) And how precious that we're building gingerbread houses while bombing the Iraqi houses into rubble! Tee-hee! The irony is just so adorable.

Laura Bush can stick her candy canes where the sun don't shine.
:grr:

[LynnTheDem]

8. Last Xmas I saw bush laughing merrily at the WH party, while my husband

was in Iraq.

I know now what the expression "seeing red" means.

[Sideways]

10. I Get To Watch B**h This Xmas While My Son Is In Boot camp

Ending week four at MCRD today. I get to celebrate my birthday in February at his graduation. Then around the time my youngest baby Peyton turns four and Benjamin turns 24 I am sure I will be saying goodbye as he heads to Iraq.

When I got unexpectedly pregnant with Peyton I worried that something bad would befall one of my other much older children. When B**h stole the election in 2000 I nearly miscarried. He has been trying to kill my children for four years. I have two other children aged 21 and 18. Will he try to take them as well? God the tears don't stop these days.

Yet they are laughing at the WH. I am OUTRAGED!!! I am scared and I am crying yet again.

[LynnTheDem]

12. I sure know how you feel. My husband had a super-close call in Iraq;

He worked at the TOC in Baquoba, and one night while I was monitoring newsfeeds for the ICC, there was a breaking lede that the TOC in Baquoba had been mortared; 5 US killed.

I knew my husband was on duty that night at the TOC.

It took us 3 days to get the names of those 5 killed. None were my husband, thank God! (but all were people we'd known)

I will never EVER forget the hell of those 3 days. And I will never EVER forgive bush, his Cartel, and his Goddamned rightwingnut war mongering bastards for it.

I was lucky; my husband made it back safe & soundish; how the family members who haven't been so lucky manage to get through each day is a monument to their internal strength. And the same with all the Iraqi families.

And meanwhile, bush laughs and parties and struts around.

If you need someone to rant to, cry to, ANYTHING, private message me anytime. :pals:

[The Zanti Regent]

18. Count your blessings

My only child now lies in the VA Cemetary thanks to this madman.

[DeepModem Mom]

20. My heart aches for all of you with family lost, in harm's way...

or about to be in harm's way. I hope finding others going through the same thing -- because only they can truly understand -- might help in some small way.

[LynnTheDem]

23. Awww Zanti!

I am so sorry for your loss!!! :cry:

HUGS

I've attended so many funerals the past 2 years...our nephew is Iraqmired right now. This insanity is......no words. I've just got no words. :(

[Mari333]

32. (((Zanti))))

[Sideways]

9. I've Cut People Like That Out Of My Life

The one new "friend" I made here in Sicily a clueless Stepford wife of a Naval Officer who actually told me "she felt sorry for Ken Lay and his wife because they got bad advice" and supported B**h, got a short email from me on November 3rd. It said I CANNOT SUPPORT OR ENGAGE WITH ANYTHING OR ANYONE WHO SUPPORTS BUSH.

She wrote me back a totally freepish note invoking Bill Clinton of all things. I only befriended her because she was staying at the same hotel as me and she all but stalked me. I thought I could put up with her nonsense and she would have to shut up after Kerry won.

I realized after that painful election night that if I ever saw her face again I would punch her in her stupid face. She is a foolish cow and I'm glad she has stopped stalking me.

I can't wait for the fraud to come to light. She can take her fucking LordGodPrezMonkeyNuts and blow him in Gitmo.

[izzie]

3. Good God what next?

What Bush really should do is put up the sales record of Wal-mart. Very tacky looking what I have seen on TV and each year it goes a little more so.

[JI7]

5. i find her to be cold and uncaring

she always has the same creepy look on her face.

[StClone]

6. "Christmas in Saravo"

Old Lady and the Chimp for Xmas need to poke them Muslims in the eye and do a Christmas Special for the "Relief of Fallujah" Reborn again style. Complete with special Xmas songs with lyrics like "Jingle Hells," "Oh little Napalmed Boy...prrrrrump-a-Bam-Bam," and "Ho-Ho the missile holes."

[flordehinojos]

7. i wonder if she's heard criticism that the first televise bush white house

christmas looked and sounded more like a somber party than it did the joyous celebration of Christmas it was supposed to be/ ..... and, whoever heard of celebrating christmas in a museum to the military and wars as they did on one of their christmas celebrations?

and still the military impregnates their celebration of christmas this year in laura's asking OF us to remember the troops that her bush boy has sent over to iraq to kill, die and/or be maimed.... and also by making miniature replicas of the marine corps band (more like sharpshooters) on the roof tops (of the white house? or buildings along the coming up inaugural parade route?) and for all that it is worth they might as well just stop playing rudolf the red nosed reindeer and start playing john phillip souza's military music.

the goons can't take a step, say a word, or take a breath without inserting the word military in it.

but... they want to cover their fascist/nazis leanings all up by filling the white house with notes of rudolph the red nosed reindeer, and by the making up of that ridiculous title of "A season of merriment and melody" color and joy to cover up the brown coats who were part of their first christmas celebration in the white house,
AS If MERRIMENT and color are going to cover up who they really are and the fact that they don't give a hoot about anything except blood, munitions, killings and supremacy, let alone christmas and the real spirit of christmas which is PEACE WITHOUT WAR AND JOY IN THE FACT THAT THERE ARE NO WARS, NO KILLINGS, NO BLOOD BEING SPILT.

party poopers, world spoilers, bloody world criminals ... that is who they are... and that leaves little room for celebrations of any kind.

laura, laura, enabler that you are ....... you people have as much right to the white house as that dictator in the balkans that was ousted by clinton had any right to his palace in the balkans.

And by the way, ain't MERRIMENT supposed to be CONTRARY to all of what is SUPPOSED TO BE HUMILITY AND RECOLLECTION IN THE CELEBRATION OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST?

Such ignorant goons!

[katmondoo]

13. All that money on Christmas decorations and who sees it?

I don't think the public has access to the White House Tours anymore or do they? Special people only? As far as I know we no longer even have State dinners at the White House. Seems only the "ranch" is worthy of receiving guests. Bush is never at the White House. Why are we still paying for chefs and staff when no one is ever there?

[Bridget Burke]

27. White House tours must be requested through one's member of Congress.

For groups of 10 or more only, with limited times available--requests should be made far in advance. And reservations may be cancelled at any time.

www.whitehouse.gov/history/tours/

(To think, the peasants were formerly just allowed to line up for tours.)

Then, there's this site:

www.whitehouse.org/tours/index.asp

[China_cat]

11. And to the side of that

gingerbread representation of the white house is a globe with Dubya standing on top of it holding a US flag.

Saw it on GMA yesterday morning.

[LynnTheDem]

14. You have GOT to be kidding...

Jesus F'ing Christ.

[China_cat]

17. I wish I was

They even did a close up of it so there was no doubt.

[DeepModem Mom]

19. I thought Christmas was about Jesus, or, at least, Santa...

not GW Bush atop the world, waving a flag! Even if the pastry chef was responsible for this creation, was there NO ONE with the taste and/or sensitvity to say, "THIS IS NOT APPROPRIATE"???

[China_cat]

21. In the Bush White House?

Now -you've- got to be kidding.

Poster house for the chain of Tacky Town stores I've been trying to open.

[LynnTheDem]

24. Why didn't they just do bush standing on top a pile of corpses.

Same level of "tact", and far more truthful.

[GiovanniC]

15. I Was Getting My Hair Cut Yesterday While Laura Bush

Was talking about her favorite part of the holiday was "Christmas foods". But it sounded like she said, "Christmas booze". Everyone in the barber shop thought that's what she said. And they were all saying, "Isn't her husband an alcoholic? Why would they let those twins be around alcohol?"

[Benhurst]

16. The death of taste: garish decorations and gluttony at the

White House, while bombs fall in Iraq and millions do without in BushAmerica. :puke:

[Darth_Kitten]

22. Cripes, they keep getting more votes by the minute.....

60.6 million??????? :scared: :eyes:

I'm sure the Bushes are thinking of the troops....and laughing their asses off. :( :mad: :eyes:

[robbedvoter]

26. Them Amish keep voting and voting and voting....

:eyes:

[susu369]

25. Frosty and Rudolph - cartoon characters theme

very fitting....

Eat, drink, and be merry. Whee!

[Rush1184]

28. I am glad she is so happy about the christmas foods...

bet she never thought once about inviting some of the many homeless people of DC in for somthing to eat.

[Mari333]

29. They celebrate while families of military suffer again this year

without their loved ones at christmas.

[DeepModem Mom]

30. Indeed, Mari --

others who've posted in this thread, like you, are among those military families. God bless you all.

[AzDar]

31. She is NOT the first lady. n/t

[Supersedeas]

33. tell the troops in Fallujah, "the highlight is gingerbread"....

No, the highlight is pretzels.