Presidential Lunch: WT Suggests Obama Upstaged Bush

Yesterday, President George W. Bush hosted a lunch at the White House for former Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and President-elect Barack Obama. Anyone who caught the brief coverage from yesterday would have been left with the impression that it was a largely genial affair -- the odd distance kept by Jimmy Carter during the photo-op notwithstanding -- not much more than a tidy bit of transition pageantry. Bill Clinton, apparently, was very enthusiastic about the rug.

Somehow, the Washington Times' Joe Curl managed to mine some nugget of grievance out of the event, as he has a story up today detailing the offense he took when Barack Obama callously deigned to, uhm...thank the President from hosting the event. Really, how DARE he!

It may be the people's house, but for 13 more days, it's his house, and his Oval Office, even if three former presidents -- one of them his dad -- happen to drop by for lunch.

Unless, that is, the new tenant who has been measuring the drapes for months joins the foursome and, despite his repeated insistence that "there's only one president at a time," decides he'd like to make a little speech, too.

Bush's remarks receive the full credit of being "brief" and "magnanimous," terms which could be fairly applied to Obama's response as well. He goes on to describe the scene as Bush drew to the end of his statement:

"Thank you all." Done, finished, over and out.

Junior White House staffers immediately bellowed "Thank you! Thanks, guys!" in an aggressive call for the press to vamoose. The giant "scoop" television lights that illuminated the members of the world's most exclusive club were quickly shut off as reporters and photographers began heading for the door.

But just then, the man who takes over the house on Jan. 20 on a long-term lease -- four years, with an option to renew for four more -- decided that the show wasn't quite over.

Leaving aside the always embarrassing "measuring the drapes" cliche (one selects drapes by measuring the windows, reporters of America!), Curl's snottiness seems mislaid. The sum total of yesterday's remarks reads:

PRESIDENT BUSH: I want to thank the President-elect for joining the ex-Presidents for lunch. And one message that I have and I think we all share is that we want you to succeed. Whether we're Democrat or Republican, we care deeply about this country. And to the extent we can, we look forward to sharing our experiences with you. All of us who have served in this office understand that the office transcends the individual. And we wish you all the very best. And so does the country.

PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA: Thank you. I just want to thank the President for hosting us. This is an extraordinary gathering. All the gentlemen here understand both the pressures and possibilities of this office. And for me to have the opportunity to get advice, good counsel and fellowship with these individuals is extraordinary. And I'm very grateful to all of them. But, again, thank you, Mr. President, for hosting us.

Naturally, Curl renders Obama's side of the commentary with a full, Mametian rendering of his trademarked stammer. The rest of Curl's piece is actually an excellent blow-by-blow of the chaotic shepherding of the press corps to and through the event, a worthwhile look at how the sausage of pomp gets made and served. I'm at a loss, however, as to why he's so bent out of shape at Obama being briefly gracious. Maybe he had other plans, or something? Anyway, while the White House's video account of the meeting cuts off before Obama's remarks, the transcript record offers the statements of both men, so it's hard to make the case that the White House was offended by Obama's decision to offer some public gratitude.

I'd point out that had it not been for Curl's article, I might never have gone over to the White House page to check out the video. Doing so, I'm struck by how chintzy that side of the White House's press operation is! Their online video rendering and presentation is decidedly stale by about five years or so. It would be great if the forthcoming administration could address this -- maybe this newly minted "performance officer" or some of Obama's Silicon Valley pals could get the Executive Branch up to speed with the latest types of embeddable video.

Comments

[CrankyCurmudgeon]

Curl is a churl . . . obviously a small man defending an even smaller one.

[Tobiasism]

Every last one of them upstaged GWB.

[zitlight73]

Joe the Plumber could upstage George Bush.

[johnfoirdfw]

Anyone with any amount of class and intelligence would upstage this fool..

[Jazzcomedian]

How come Jed Bartlett wasn't invited? He served two terms. An unconscionable oversight and insult.

[formerprosecutor]

Not only ridiculous but wrong. Sources much more"hip" to protocol than I; told me that it is expected that the "guest of honor" (the person that the event is cnetered around or the reason for the event) is supposed to thank the host, whether it be a figurehead of an entity or a true host (ess). I have seen this a hundred times myself; almost word for word (Though no where near this level of politics)

to check my above statement; think how it would appear if Obama had said nothing at the little press conference; rumors would be rampant. It would have made the PE look at least "unimportant" at the worst; excluded.

IMHO; protocol was followed and appropriate


Yeah, I think other posters are right in that Curl really wanted to use the word "uppity"

[nikz]

What an idiot! Must we have morons writing articles in the few surviving papers still in circulation???

[kinnycut]

This idiot shouldn't be blaming President-elect Obama for having a personality. Besides someone like Obama is going to shine even brighter if he has a empty suit on one side of him, a dummy on the other side, "slick willie" the used car salesman next , and a slightly anal retentive Georgia cracker that appears as though he doesn't want to stand to close to the used car salesman.

[jtmqs]

kinnycut you sound like you from the south! well put! o has more charisma than they could ever dream of having collectively! o - a pure class act!

[mmgbizgirl]

He's a charming MF!!! Can't be helped that he might stand out between to prickly bushes.

[Girl28]

What is this guy whining about? He actually wrote an article about this ridiculous topic? He should have just thrown in the word "uppity" to make clear where he's really coming from with this statements.

[ibivi]

The ant-Obama people have started their bitching and moaning. We'll have to put up with this kind of petty crap. It was an interesting event. Obama was charming and gracious, as usual.

[Virginia Plain]

From left to right...................

Dumb, Dynamic, Dumber, Discharged and Dopey.

Here's hoping that the law will soon pull the rug from under Dubya's feet!

[rabiddog6708]

Bu$h is upstaged by an empty podium. A blank teleprompter conveys more knowledge.

[kidlucky]

lol

[Glinda]

I second that lol.

[S1m0n]

What George Bush needs most right now is to be off-staged, not upstaged.

[jeffrey678]

We are going to hear this for the next eight years. Just like Clinton. Expect different synonyms for "uppity".

[gtposse]

I totally agree. It started when the Obama was denied access to move temporarily into Blair House. They lied and said it was booked. They then hurriedly booked the former Australian prime minister (Iraq war supporter) into Blair House to cover their lie.

It kinda says "know your place boy"


We are likely to see the same disrespect to the President from the media and it will be up to intelligent and thoughtful viewers and bloggers to point this out.

[BeasleysMom]

The only use for the Washington Times is for picking up dog po oh and is not taken seriously by anyone except the lo onies. Curl is one of the gops who will continue to drive the country futher to the left, by continuously finding fault for no good reason. These guys get sillier with each passing day. Grown up gops laugh at them too.

[Shieldmaiden]

I am sick and tired of the Rethuglicans and their n onsense. ENOUGH! O could walk across the street and they would find some BS reason to be up in arms. From lipstick on a p.ig to a generous and gracious thank you to the world's most useless president nothing will ever be off limits. Meanwhile why don't they write about O and his family being shut out of Blair house? That is true r.udeness and a true lack of grace. The Republicans truly d.isgust me sometimes. How Obama has the courage to work with these people is beyond me.