The GOP Convention MegaMittensThread!

[Barrister]

I know you weren't in a coma when W. Bush got elected, so I'm going to chalk that up to willfull blindness.

Once Al Gore gave the greatest speech of his life, acknowledging the results and no longer challenging the issue, it was done.
There was no concerted effort by the Democratic Party, by either its supporters or members in government, to cockblock the incoming Administration at all.  You know this.

So that's why Clinton staffers removed all the Ws from their keyboards in 2000?

[Jacob]

So that's why Clinton staffers removed all the Ws from their keyboards in 2000?

While that was a petty act, it's also rather petty to use it as an example of "concerted effort to obstruct the incoming administration".

[Martinus]

Ok, I just watched Clint Eastwood's footage. Wtfux? 

[CountDeMoney]

So that's why Clinton staffers removed all the Ws from their keyboards in 2000?

While that was a petty act, it's also rather petty to use it as an example of "concerted effort to obstruct the incoming administration".

It was also an over-reported myth.  Only about a dozen Ws were reported missing.

[garbon]

A lot of people wailed and gnashed their teeth about 2000 and 2004, but there weren't any organized efforts to impeach Bush or remove him from office for that reason. Most of the opposition to Bush later on was related to the war, not the election.

With Obama it has been 'birth certificate' and the momentum behind the criticism of his policies as president has been that he isn't even legitimately allowed to run. Democrats felt Bush stole the elections through the court system, but they never denied he was eligible to run.

While you've explained some differences, I don't see how your clarifications make what the Dems did any better.

[Eddie Teach]

I know you weren't in a coma when W. Bush got elected, so I'm going to chalk that up to willfull blindness.

Once Al Gore gave the greatest speech of his life, acknowledging the results and no longer challenging the issue, it was done.
There was no concerted effort by the Democratic Party, by either its supporters or members in government, to cockblock the incoming Administration at all.  You know this.

Other than the Congressional Black Caucus attempting to keep him from being sworn in. "And are any Senators willing to support your motion?" "No, but..." 

[Razgovory]

I know you weren't in a coma when W. Bush got elected, so I'm going to chalk that up to willfull blindness.

Once Al Gore gave the greatest speech of his life, acknowledging the results and no longer challenging the issue, it was done.
There was no concerted effort by the Democratic Party, by either its supporters or members in government, to cockblock the incoming Administration at all.  You know this.

So that's why Clinton staffers removed all the Ws from their keyboards in 2000?

That was one of those things that didn't actually happen.  A few keys were removed, but not all of them.  Most of the story was a GOP lie.

WASHINGTON -- The General Services Administration has found that the White House vandalism flap earlier this year was a flop.

The agency concluded that departing members of the Clinton administration had not trashed the place during the presidential transition, as unidentified aides to President Bush and other critics had insisted.
Responding to a request from Rep. Bob Barr, a Georgia Republican, who asked for an investigation, the GSA found that nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

"The condition of the real property was consistent with what we would expect to encounter when tenants vacate office space after an extended occupancy," according to a GSA statement.

No wholesale slashing of cords to computers, copiers and telephones, no evidence of lewd graffiti or pornographic images. GSA didn't bother to nail down reports of pranks, which were more puckish than destructive.

Among those pranks was the apparent removal, by aides to former President Bill Clinton, of the "w" key from some computer keyboards and the placing of official-looking signs on doors, saying things like "Office of Strategery," after a popular "Saturday Night Live" spoof on Bush.

But the vandal scandal, tales of torn up offices and items stolen from the presidential jet, was the hottest story in town during the early days of the Bush administration until White House furniture and last-minute pardons pushed it off the front page.

"I think it was this calculated effort to plant a damaging story," said Alex S. Jones, director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. "There was a sort of fertile ground for believing anything bad."

Typical was Tony Snow, a syndicated columnist and former presidential speech writer for President Bush's father, who wrote that the White House "was a wreck." He also said that Air Force One, after taking Clinton and some aides to New York following the inauguration, "looked as if it had been stripped by a skilled band of thieves -- or perhaps wrecked by a trailer park twister."

He went on to list all manner of missing items, including silverware, porcelain dishes with the presidential seal and even candy.

"It makes one feel grateful that the seats and carpets are bolted down," Snow fumed.

Except none of it happened. An official at Andrews Air Force Base, which maintains the presidential jets, told The Kansas City Star at the height of the controversy that nothing was missing. Bush himself acknowledged the same a few days later.

And now GSA has made it official.

"They told me that there were papers that were not organized lying on the floor and on desks; there were some scratches here and there, but the bottom line was they didn't see anything really in their view that was significant and that would appear to some as real extensive damage," said Bernard Unger, director for physical infrastructure for the General Accounting Office, which asked GSA to look into the allegations.

Mark Lindsay, who oversaw the transition as Clinton's assistant for management and administration, said he was pleased that the record has been set straight.

"Because of President Clinton, this was one of the smoothest transitions in the history of the presidency," he said. "This was nothing more than just lies."

As for the critics, Barr's office didn't return calls about the GSA findings. Snow was somewhat contrite. "I'm perfectly willing to admit my error on the aircraft," he said, but added that he still believed his sources who told him about damage at the White House.

"What often happens in Washington is gossip becomes news. That's not a good thing."

From the Kansas City Star.  http://www.commondreams.org/headlines.shtml?/headlines01/0518-04.htm

I'm surprised you got suckered into a lie like that.

[Valmy]

Not all of them.  But granted, it was a much much smaller number who didn't accept the legitimacy of the 2004 election than didn't accept the legitimacy of the 2000 election.

Well yes I forgot to consider the mentally ill.  I am just saying that in 2000 the loser was going to have a legitimate beef.

[CountDeMoney]

I'm surprised you got suckered into a lie like that.

I'm old.  My memory fades at times.  So fuck you.

[Razgovory]

I'm surprised you got suckered into a lie like that.

I'm old.  My memory fades at times.  So fuck you.

I was talking to BB.  I recall he believed the old "Pig fucker" story about LBJ.

[CountDeMoney]

I'm surprised you got suckered into a lie like that.

I'm old.  My memory fades at times.  So fuck you.

I was talking to BB.  I recall he believed the old "Pig fucker" story about LBJ.

See? Told you it's fading.

[Barrister]

I know you weren't in a coma when W. Bush got elected, so I'm going to chalk that up to willfull blindness.

Once Al Gore gave the greatest speech of his life, acknowledging the results and no longer challenging the issue, it was done.
There was no concerted effort by the Democratic Party, by either its supporters or members in government, to cockblock the incoming Administration at all.  You know this.

So that's why Clinton staffers removed all the Ws from their keyboards in 2000?

That was one of those things that didn't actually happen.  A few keys were removed, but not all of them.  Most of the story was a GOP lie.

<snip>

I'm surprised you got suckered into a lie like that.

Except I didn't mention Air Force One being vandalized - I mentioned missing Ws.  Which your article confirms did happen (okay, not "all" the Ws).  It was still a petty and childish act.

[CountDeMoney]

Except I didn't mention Air Force One being vandalized - I mentioned missing Ws.  Which your article confirms did happen (okay, not "all" the Ws).  It was still a petty and childish act.

There was a GAO investigation that totaled damages around $15,000 during the transition, some of it isolated vandalism but a lot of it was damages incurred simply by moving out.
Hell, we did worse with our dorm room.

[derspiess]

Except I didn't mention Air Force One being vandalized - I mentioned missing Ws.  Which your article confirms did happen (okay, not "all" the Ws).  It was still a petty and childish act.

There was a GAO investigation that totaled damages around $15,000 during the transition, some of it isolated vandalism but a lot of it was damages incurred simply by moving out.
Hell, we did worse with our dorm room.

It was $20,000, but what's $5k among friends.  The $ amount was insignificant either way.  Hundreds of missing "W" keys don't add up to a lot of money.  The sophomoric pranks in the Eisenhower building were pretty shameful, nonetheless.

[DGuller]

At government procurement rates, $20,000 is the cost of 10 keyboards.