Sally Quinn on Bush, Obama, and the Blair House

[MinM]

119 Rooms But Not One Key for the Obamas

By Sally Quinn
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 16, 2009; C01

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Here's the back story. John Howard was a member of George Bush's coalition of the willing in Iraq. Howard is no friend of Barack Obama's. When Obama announced for the presidency, he proposed legislation that would withdraw troops by March 2008; Howard responded by saying, "If I were running al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory not only for Obama but also for the Democrats." Obama responded that it was "flattering that one of George Bush's allies on the other side of the world" had attacked him.

Howard was about as unpopular in Australia when he lost his last election (and still is) as Bush is in the United States right now. The Australian press has gone crazy over the Blair House story in a way that the U.S. press has not, saying that Howard should have offered to stay elsewhere.

The unavailability of Blair House means that the Obamas will have to move three times in three weeks, adding an additional disruption for two young girls already in an incredibly pressured situation. Not only that, but the expense of staying at the Hay-Adams Hotel was considerable, as was the added expense and trouble of having to secure the hotel and its environs by the Secret Service. All of this so that Howard and his wife could have 119 rooms to themselves (including living rooms, sitting rooms, dining rooms and kitchens) for one night?

Why couldn't the Howards have stayed at their country's embassy, as Tony Blair did at his? Why couldn't the reception have been held at the State Department? The White House could easily have made these things happen...

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/15/AR2009011504190.html

[randr]

1. This whole episode should become the lasting image

of how much "class" the Bushies showed and an example of the type of hospitality they should be afforded.
Southern Hospitality just took it on the chin.

[roguevalley]

8. one cannot discount racism as well. Blair House is awesome. Those

little girls would have been in heaven checking it out. Not even for children will these bigoted criminals do the right thing. So much for Laura Bush too. She could have made it happen but she didn't, the witch.

[TwilightGardener]

2. The Chimp and Howard just look like classless assholes. No surprise, though.

[glitch]

3. And didn't I read that Howard was booked AFTER the Obamas were refused?

Which makes Bush and Howard even more tacky, as if that's possible.

[young_at_heart]

4. I blame Laura for this inexcusable decision

A woman of manners who understands protocol would never have allowed such an unjustifiable action. The Bushes are low-class people whose behavior over the years shows their malicious nature!

[Doctor_J]

5. George Bush is pathetic, tiny loser. and I am sad for the Aussies

that they are saddled with one of his toadies

[Usrename]

6. How does this story even register through my outrage fatigue?

I don't know how, but it does. It's probably because this affects the man's family. It bites. I can't wait till this nightmare ends.

[young_at_heart]

7. I feel the same way---outraged

I don't know why this bothers me so much, but it really has affected me. I find this petty behavior "beyond the pale"!