Now seems like a good time to remind you all that disgruntled departing Clinton-Gore staffers did not, in fact, vandalize the White House and loot Air Force One:
An official government investigation, however, reveals one major problem with these stories: They apparently never happened. According to statements from the General Services Administration that were reported on May 17, little if anything out of the ordinary occurred during the transition, and "the condition of the real property was consistent with what we would expect to encounter when tenants vacate office space after an extended occupancy."
Ironically, the investigation came in response to a request from Rep. Bob Barr (R.-Ga.), and many conservatives who had assumed that the wild rumors would be confirmed by an official inquiry. That wasn't the case. (The "looting" of Air Force One had also been denied months ago by officials at Andrews Air Force base -- Kansas City Star, 2/9/01).
By the way, that official government investigation came at a cost of $200,000 to identify less than $1,000 worth of “prank” damages.
I feel the need to remind you in the media of this, since most of you gleefully reported these allegations as fact in the days after President Bush’s first inauguration. Yet few of you bothered to correct the record when the GAO’s report was released.
Now, having just watched MSNBC’s story on the transition to an Obama Administration, I have a feeling we’re going to be hearing a lot about missing “W” keys from keyboards and the like.
So please get the story straight this time.
kaithxbai.
