...I'm okay with being REALITY-based.




Wednesday, March 10, 2004
      ( 12:24 PM )
 
(Lincoln) Bedroom Talk

If you recall (I know, it's hard to think back this long ago) in the 2000 Presidential race, George W. Bush loudly criticized the Clinton administration allowing friends and donors to stay in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House, thus smearing Al Gore with another of the propped-up "scandals" perpetrated by the right wing nuts who would go to no lengths to get rid of Clinton. Here's the exact comment he made in a debate with Al Gore:

BUSH: I think the thing that discouraged me about the
vice president was uttering those famous words, "no
controlling legal authority." I felt like that there needed
to be a better sense of responsibility of what was going
on in the White House.

I believe that -- I believe they've moved that sign, "The
buck stops here," from the Oval Office desk to "The buck
stops here" on the Lincoln Bedroom. And that's not good
for the country. It's not right.

--George W. Bush, debate October 3, 2000

BUT WHAT'S THIS?? The AP is reporting today that since Bush took residence in the White House, almost 300 friends and donors have stayed overnight in the Lincoln Bedroom and Camp David!


In all, Bush and first lady Laura Bush have invited
at least 270 people to stay at the White House and at
least the same number to overnight at the Camp David
retreat since moving to Washington in January 2001,
according to lists the White House provided The
Associated Press.

Some guests spent a night in the Lincoln Bedroom,
historic quarters that gained new fame in the Clinton
administration amid allegations that Democrats
rewarded major donors like Hollywood heavyweights
Steven Spielberg and Barbra Streisand with
accommodations there.

That scandal and Bush's criticism of it is one of the
reasons the White House identifies guests.

And who were these guests? Why, only George and Laura's bestest best friends!!

Los Angeles attorney Donald Etra stayed at the Bush
White House several times and at Camp David once. Etra,
a Yale classmate of President Bush, said he and his wife
were invited as friends, not because they each gave
Bush $1,000 in 2000.

"Friendship comes first, donations come second," Etra said.


[...]

At least nine of Bush's biggest fund-raisers appear on
the latest list of White House overnight guests, covering
June 2002 through December 2003, and-or on the Camp
David list, which covers last year. They include:

-Mercer Reynolds, an Ohio financier, former Bush partner in
the Texas Rangers baseball team and former ambassador
to Switzerland. Reynolds is leading Bush's campaign fund-
raising effort. He was a guest at the White House and the
Camp David retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains.

-Brad Freeman, a venture capitalist who is leading Bush's
California fund-raising effort, has raised at least $200,000
for his re-election campaign and is also a major Republican
Party fund-raiser. Freeman stayed at the White House.

-Roland Betts, who raised at least $100,000 for Bush in 2000,
was a Bush fraternity brother at Yale and a Texas Rangers
partner. Betts stayed at the White House and Camp David.

(the list continues)

Of course, I doubt we'll hear much in the "liberal" media about this - why, when George Bush gives overnight stays to his favorite money-bags folks, it's totally different. These people are his actual friends! Not like Clinton, who just operated a revolving door of donations at the nightstand of the Lincoln Bedroom!

I'm being a bit facetious because this is a stupid issue. The president lives in the White House, he should be able to invite over anyone he wants to. It was stupid when the republicans made it a big deal about Clinton. But since they did, then they now have to deal with the repercussions of their own guy doing the same thing.

The Bush Campaign is trying to aim its sights at John Kerry by claiming Kerry "flip flops" (while he does, this is not the point, says Mama firmly!!), but they have egg on their own faces when it comes to flip flopping. More accountability, which Bush claimed he would bring to the White House has not been seen at all in this administration, what with leaks endangering the lives of intelligence officers, no one ever getting fired for massive screw ups, and now this sleepover thing.

Hypocrisy is getting to be one of those words that doesn't mean anything anymore when it comes to the Bush administration.

(thanks to Kos for the heads up) For more on this story, see Blah3, Billmon, and Maru.

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