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Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day
“This has been standard Chinese practice if you look back at the visits. They are not as comfortable as we are with press events,” said a Bush administration official, refusing to comment on the record during a Monday briefing with reporters, about why Chinese President Hu Jintao will not take reporters’ questions when he visits the White House on Thursday.
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Scenes from an Egg Roll
Some morning-after reflections on a great White House tradition:
Gay and lesbian parents, with their kids, made the biggest news by attending Monday’s annual Easter egg roll on the White House South Lawn. But their decision to let pictures of them wearing rainbow leis do the talking - instead of inflammatory rhetoric - made for something of a lower-key event than it could have been.
Though that still was the news of the chilly, damp day from the egg roll, there were other moments that left lasting memories, topped perhaps by chilly, damp “Katrina Kids” who waited to sing to first lady Laura Bush in the East Garden.
“We’re used to the rain, but it’s usually 80 degrees,” one parent said as the 100 or so kids, again, had to gut it out during bad weather. They waited in the rain - most wearing only their “Katrina Kids” t-shirts (though some moms intervened with sweaters and sweatshirts) - for a half hour or so as Mrs. Bush retreated to the White House after her turn reading “Will You Be My Friend: A Bunny and Bird Story” to kids on the South Lawn.
“I’m freezing,” said one of the Katrina Kids from Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana who made the 23-hour bus trip to DC on Sunday, arriving at about 12:30 a.m. and awakening at 5:30 a.m. on Monday for a whirlwind tour of the capital, including lunch at the Four Seasons, a trip to the National Zoo and $25 each in spending money donated by a financial services corporation.
Mrs. Bush offered a warm greeting when she arrived in the garden, eliciting smiles from the kids as they prepared to sing a song they had rehearsed. The words were written on poster boards held up by one of the parents. In one verse, the Katrina Kids sang the praises of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, target of much criticism for its handling of the recovery effort:
“Our country’s stood beside us
People have sent us aid.
Katrina could not stop us, our hopes will never fade.
Congress, Bush and FEMA
People across our land
Together have come to rebuild us and we join them hand-in-hand!”
The woman holding the poster let it slip to the wet ground as the kids moved to the next verse.
Absent a call for an encore as the rain continued, Mrs. Bush posed for pictures with the kids.
“Can we go to our parents now?” said one.
Mrs. Bush’s participation was far more extensive than that of President Bush, who was on hand to blow the whistle that got the eggs rolling. He hung around for some meet and greet with rollers before heading to nearby Springfield, Virginia for a tax speech. Bush, who came and went long before any of the gay couples got in, was at his friendliest as he chatted up the crowd. “Herman, you a grandfather yet?” he said with a smile as he spotted a reporter who has covered him for many years. “No sir,” replied the reporter, who has a daughter the same age as the Bush twins. “How about you, Mr. President?” “First things first,” said Bush, a longtime supporter of traditional family values.
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Coming and Going at the White House
Bush picked Susan Schwab, Portman’s deputy, to replace him as the nation’s top trade negotiator.
And while Bush has filled the top budget job at the White House, he now has to look for somebody to handle the faith-based side. Jim Towey, director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, today will announce his resignation and his acceptance of the presidency of Saint Vincent University in Latrobe, Pa.
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