ABC Shows Letter Snidely Cracking Bush & Cheney May Steal WH Furniture

  • Bookmark and Share

On Monday’s World News, ABC showed a letter written to Barack Obama that made a snide crack charging that President Bush and Vice President Cheney had left Obama a "hell of a mess to clean up," and sarcastically expressing hope that Bush and Cheney would not steal furniture from the White House, as correspondent Kate Snow filed a report about a former school teacher, B.J. Hill, who has spent a year walking across the country collecting letters from Americans for the next President. Of the five letters Hill was shown reading during the report, all came across as either pro-Obama or at least phrased from a liberal point-of-view, one even expressing a desire that the next President would "save science, including stem cell research," presumably referring to federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. But while no letters expressed any concerns about what Obama would do from a conservative point of view, one of the letters did take a shot at President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Hill, reading: "You have one hell of a mess to clean up after Bush and Cheney. I hope they leave some of the furniture."

Story Continues Below Ad ↓

Notably, when Bill and Hillary Clinton left the White House in January of 2001, furniture was taken from the White House and had to be returned. A list of items removed by the Clintons can be found here. As documented in the February 12, 2001, CyberAlert by the MRC's Brent Baker: "Even after being questioned by the chief usher at the White House who believed the furniture belonged to the mansion, not the Clintons personally, Bill and Hillary Clinton began shipping furniture from the White House to their New Castle (Chappaqua), New York home in January 2000, the Washington Post revealed in a front page story on Saturday  [February 10, 2001]."

And, as previously documented by the February 13, 2001, CyberAlert, on the Monday, February 12, 2001, NBC Nightly News, correspondent Lisa Myers reported: "In more damage control today, Senator Hillary Clinton blames a bookkeeping error for the fact that 16 pieces of White House furniture, all government property, were sent to the Clintons' New York home, then had to be returned." Then came a soundbite of Hillary Clinton: "We thought we were doing the right thing, they thought they were doing the right thing, and apparently there were some cataloging errors made seven or eight years ago. They’re sorting those out, and, you know, it’s all going to be all, you know, worked out."

Below is a complete transcript of the report filed by Kate Snow from the Monday, December 22, World News with Charles Gibson:

CHARLES GIBSON: Finally tonight, if you could tell the President-elect one thing, what would it be? Well, back in March, a 32-year-old Boston teacher quit his job and started walking across the country from San Francisco back to Boston, asking people just that. When he started, the messages were "Dear Mr. or Ms. President." Since November, they've been more specific, but throughout they have been heartfelt. Here's Kate Snow.

KATE SNOW: We met up with B.J. Hill around mile 3,900 just as he was crossing the Delaware River into New Jersey. He's been snapping photos since he took that first step in San Francisco last March across the Western Plains, down to the South, up the Mid Atlantic, about 15 miles a day, rain or shine – or now snow or sleet. The top three questions that you get asked all the time?

B.J. HILL, FORMER TEACHER: Where I started, where I'm ending, why I'm doing it, and if I'm permitted a fourth one, how many shoes I've gone through.

SNOW: How many?

HILL: Yeah. This is pair number seven.

HILL, TALKING TO A GROUP OF MEN: Would you guys like to write something down?

SNOW: So back to why he's doing this.

HILL: The short version is, concerned citizen.

SNOW: All along the journey, B.J. has collected messages for the next President in leather-bound journals.

HILL, READING A LETTER: "Mr. President, I did not vote for you, but I will support you."

SNOW: The entries are snapshots in time, fragments of American lives. Last summer, the big complaint was high gas prices. Now, it's "save my job". Some are sarcastic.

HILL, READING A LETTER: "You have one hell of a mess to clean up after Bush and Cheney. I hope they leave some of the furniture."

SNOW: Some are poignant.

HILL, READING A LETTER: "Save science, including stem cell research, for my daughter's future."

SNOW: Most are hopeful.

HILL, READING LETTER: "Dear President Obama, I believe that hope is not a touchy-feely, vapid catch phrase of an emotion. I believe that hope is a profound belief that things can be better."

SNOW: B.J. says he's seen the American spirit up close on this trip.

WOMAN: Are you hungry? Do you want-

HILL: Yeah, yeah, I'm pretty hungry.

HILL: I mean, I wish there was a camera following me over my shoulder and just seeing, like, the generosity and the kindness that, you know, that I’ve found.

SNOW: He's been couch-surfing, staying on strangers' sofas when he's not in a tent. His goal, to get those journals to President Obama's bedside table.

HILL, READING LETTER: "Mr. President, do not expect to win all the time, but don't get discouraged."

HILL: I would like to think that he would be simply inspired to do more.

SNOW: Bits of inspiration gathered up over thousands of miles. Kate Snow, ABC News, Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

GIBSON: And you can post your own message for the President-elect at our Web site, ABCNews.com.

—Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.


Comments Policy

All comments are owned by whoever posted them and are subject to our terms of use. They should not be assumed to represent the views of NewsBusters.

Viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

There was an equally inane

There was an equally inane and totally unfounded syndicated editorial cartoon in the Albuquerque Journal today suggesting that the Bush Administration was going to destroy all records that may incriminate them in something (?) - courtesy - of course - of Dick Cheney. It showed Pres. Bush, standing in front of moving boxes of records, saying it was time to "pass the torch", while a crafty-looking Cheney was saying "and torch the past". Just because it's a badly drawn cartoon, these punks think they can make up anything they want based on nothing but their hatred ...

And the Left STILL wonders why

the Right doesn't feel like joining in their marshmellow roast around the Obama campfire. The Democrats are poor losers and even worse winners.

Question the AP just can't answer:

Now seriously people.  What President of the United States would stoop so low as to steal furniture right out of the White House?

HINT:  Remember, all Democratic presidents are automatically ineligbible for consideration per AP policies.

 

Does this exclude the

Does this exclude the Clintons who rented a huge U-Haul to take furniture and loads of other things belonging to the tax payers. Let's not forget they were forced to return some of the loot.

I hope since Bush had to buy new keyboards because those left by the Clinton administration were missing "W"s. 

"Forget change, I want improvement!"

STRIKE ONE!

We are sorry, but Bill Clinton was a Democrat and is thus automatically ineligible per AP rules.  And the AP assumes (not wrongly perhaps) that most Americans have long forgotten that incident.

Care to try again?

We, the people

I hope since Bush had to buy new keyboards because those left by the Clinton administration were missing "W"s. 

Sorry, wrong, Bush bought no keyboards, we, the taxpayers (who the democrats profess to love) bought them. Thanks democrats.

D

Keep the ILLEGALS out, join NumbersUSA to send free faxes to your reps.

→ ABC strikes again

GIBSON: And you can post your own message for the President-elect at our Web site, ABCNews.com.

There you have it.  ABC openly admits to being in the tank for Obama.  No more playing coy.  Now they're showing some serious skin.

  • LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

Ok so President Bush is going to pull a clinton

What!!! Like pulling out the ZERO key.. or the O KEY?

Not a chance...

FREEDOM

(D)

 

Do it. Then buy Obama some

Do it. Then buy Obama some new keyboards with a note "the O was for Olbermann, nothing personal, Barry. Signed W"

2010: A GOP Hill

Kate giving her regular

Kate giving her regular leftist Snow job for the network and the leftist lemmings that love her...glad Hill is a former teacher and I do have to wonder why that is...either way, at least one less leftist teaching our kids somewhere.

JMHO.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

I remember the story of the Clintons

They apparently trashed a lot of stuff and did take furniture, pictures etc...  I find it Ironic that this was even mentioned, proabably a way for the Libs not to feel like such white trash if other administrations do it - so mention it, even if unfounded.

 

 

 

The Clintons

The Clintons are the kind of people that give southerners a bad name, a real bad name.

The only thing that President and Laura Bush will take with them when they leave is class, dignity, and honor. The White House will be without those things for at least four years.

I think they are just

I think they are just projecting all the anger they had at the Clinton's behavior onto the Bush administration.   All the things that were true about the Clintons, that the MSM seethed about but kept silent, are now being poured out onto an innocent conservative.

When asked if he went to war with Iraq  to derail the impeachment vote:  “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).

Well, back in March, a

Well, back in March, a 32-year-old Boston teacher quit his job and started walking across the country from San Francisco back to Boston, asking people just that

I have some pertinent questions, why did he quit his job and do this?  Is he going to write some book, how does he make it in the world?  Is he collecting unemployment coutesy of the Mass tax payers?  I want answers, let us get a tem of dumpster diving experts over there and get teh answers.

Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.

He's Forrest.... Forrest

He's Forrest.... Forrest G-uh--ump...   Stupid is as stupid does.

When asked if he went to war with Iraq  to derail the impeachment vote:  “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).

→ Way to go Jerry

You beat me to it.

Low hanging fruit.

  • LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

→ Cross-country Teacher

He must have seen Forest Gump too many times.

  • LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

Forrest Gump

The two of you have my vote for identifying the teacher as a later day Forrest wannabe! Truly the picture was much better than the reality of the walker.

ROFLMAO

Recently discovered...

Recently discovered... un-released letters from 8 years ago....

Dear future president, please discontinue the selling of our military technology to communist China.

Dear future president, please be faithful to your wife.

Dear future president, please don't take campaign contributions from communist countries.

Dear future president, please don't take thousands of FBI files to use as leverage against your political opponents.

Dear future president, please don't lie to any federal judges, congress, or the American people, or anything else that would lead to impeachment.

Dear future president, if you are up for impeachment, please don't start a war to stall the impeachment vote.

Dear future president, please appoint cabinet members and choose friends who are not so likely to commit suicide or are so unlucky that they cannot fly in airplanes without crashing.

Dear future president, please do not pardon convicted terrorists as you leave the White House.

The letter writers from 8 years ago got their wishes.... Somehow I don't think this batch will be so fortunate.

When asked if he went to war with Iraq  to derail the impeachment vote:  “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).

Fluff

They must have thought long and hard to find a fluff piece that bashes the Bush administration and them personally.

 

"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you."

Children of the Press

The children of the press will keep this up before, and even after, President Bush leaves. Unfortunately for them, their adolescent games have been exposed to most thinking Americans. What a sad bunch.

NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"

What can you say

She is just a Whore

So basically this guy goes

So basically this guy goes town to town, mooching meals and places to sleep, or sleeping outdoors in a tent. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't we used to refer to those people as hobos, bums, grifters, drifters, or homeless? Since when has quitting your job and mooching been elevated to such a vaulted status? Just because he is collecting letters? I'd appreciate him more if he had a real job, and got paid to collect trash.