You know that old adage, "never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence?"  That goes double for George Bush, for never has a man done so many things that can adequately be explained by incompetence.

ratty, I would agree and if Obama had older children I would think what is the big deal, but Bush has 2 girls himself, simple decency would be to try to help Obama's 2 girls adjust as well as possible. And if they couldn't get the Blair house, then Michelle Obama and the 2 girls could just as well have moved into the White House early and stay in some of the guest rooms. Simply making the invitation would be seen as a gracious gesture by Bush, and make the transition that much easier. And I don't imagine that either Laura or George would mind the girls being there. And if the Obama's don't take him up on the invitation than nobody could say anything. As it is they have to stay in a hotel for 2 weeks and freakin move again.

I agree with those who chalk this up to the grandiosity of Bush Admin incompetence or The Decider just checking out and leavin' the details to his wrathful minions. Something tells me that at this point, with the entire country practically giving him a collective boot to the ass, Bush doesn't have this kind of pettiness in him and if he did, Laura would over rule this.

I could be wrong but I would be surprised if Bush orchestrated this petty move.

Ratnerstar, I agree completely.  

In 2006, I heard a well-credentialed academic argue with a straight face that the intended purpose of the Iraq invasion was to turn the country into a pile of smoldering rubble, and that the internecine violence that was then tearing the country apart was precisely what Bush had sought to foster when he decided to unseat Saddam Hussein.

In the Q&A after her talk, I pointed out, also straight-faced, that this struck me as an unusual strategy, insofar as the problems in Iraq were not winning the GOP any points with voters, and politicians usually try to avoid doing things that are both predictably unpopular and unconnected to any rational policy objective.

Response: "Yes, it's very confusing, isn't it?"  Confusing indeed.

Wait, John Howard is the dude who last year said that Obama's plans for Iraq was surrender and good news for terrorists, right?

Obama replied by saying, "I would also note that we have close to 140,000 troops in Iraq, and my understanding is Mr Howard has deployed 1400, so if he is ... to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq. Otherwise it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric."

Another piece to the puzzle. Maybe they really are trying to snub Obama...

The Bushes had Obama and Michelle to the White House right after the election.  I seem to recall that Michelle had a return visit with the little girls.  Now Bush hosts Obama with the former presidents.  He's done everything except offer to exchange jewelry.  Still the lefties are trying to concoct something loathsome to ascribe to Bush.  

I'd agree. There is no reason to believe that Bush would have arranged a snub. And he has done enough loathsome things that there is no need to invent imaginary ones.

It doesn't matter if it's an intentional snub or an unintentional blunder. It's wrong, and that vegemite-eating blowhard should be booted out of Blair and moved somewhere else. Let him stay in the Days Inn in Gaithersburg.

Absolutely correct, WoodyBombay.  The incoming president of the United States reslly ought to take priority over a bushy-browed sycophant the Australian people booted out of office over a year ago.

I don't know if this is really maliciousness on Bush's part, but I am so grateful that I expect to be asking of the president's actions "Was he being an asshole, or just incompetent?" a few less times after 20 Jan.

Woody, why would you want to inflict that on the Days Inn in Gaithersburg?  

I'd also agree with Woody to an extent.  It doesn't matter whether the "snub" was done with intent or the result of incompetence, since absolutely neither is acceptable.  As for others claiming there is no reason to believe Bush arranged it, the information, or lack there of, provided by The White House certainly doesn't provide any proof to dispell the possibility that he did arrange it.

It was only eight years ago that Republicans hatched a smear job story claiming outgoing Clinton administration staffers had perpetuated gross acts of "vandalism" on White House property, with FOXNEWS and MSM pushing the story so much that a government investigation into the matter was called for (at the added expense of taxpayers, of course).  After all the investigating, zero evidence was found to support any of the allegations that were made repeatedly.  Republicans made it no secret 16 years ago about throwing "Anti-Inauguration parties" for the likes of CNN to show on TV when Bill Clinton showed up to begin his first term.  Until I see actual evidence that the Obama snub was just the result of the all-too-typical fumbling stupidity from Bush and/or appointees he surrounds himself with, I see no reason to rule out the possibility that this wasn't orchestrated intentionally since it definitely fits the pattern of Republican post-election behavior.

It also shows the current administration's complete lack of respect to taxpayers as well seeing how Blair House is already a secure residence as opposed to the unsecured location the Obamas have had to resort to.  The additional burden to provide the same level of security and perimeter barely a block away from Blair couldn't come at a better time for citizens already on the hook for the trillions of dollars Bush already put on the credit card.  It was stated on MSNBC last night that Blair House has something along the lines of over 100 rooms with over 20 bathrooms.

How many rooms does John Howard need to make his stay a pleasant one?  Put the guy in a Motel-6 and tell him to take Bush with him.  Then again, perhaps that's an insult to Motel-6.  

Laura would not have it.

"I absolutely loathe George W. Bush"

Do you loathe osama bin laden? Do you loathe the mumbai murderers? How about the mullahs in Iran or even Putin turning back the clock on freedom in Russia? Normal people can see right through you chait.  You're nothing more than a scumbag suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome who can't tell who the real enemies in the world are.  As much as you've been an annoyance to me with your idiotic articles lo these last several years, I don't loathe you.  I couldn't care less about you.

You have to be f*cking kidding me about this right? You think Blair house would actually involve itself with these politics? So the fact that Howard will be occupying ONE room for ONE night excludes Obama and his spawn from having it for 2 weeks? Never mind the tens or hundreds of other rooms that could have been given up by less significant creatures than Obama and Howard for the greater good of the "chosen one. "

I've heard of full blown cases of BDS, but this is beyond insanity.  All I can say to this is, after 1/20 no one can save him now from the approval polls.

The Blair House episode reminds me of a rumor that spread through our neighborhood years ago.  The pictures at a wedding had gotten screwed up and the bride then asked her sister in law, who was having a wedding at the same location weeks later, if the former bride could arrive before that next wedding and take a few decent pictures for her wedding album.  The rumor that spread around town was that bride with the bad pictures had asked her sister-in-law if she could wear her white wedding gown to her sister-in-law's wedding and the sister-in-law refused, advising her that only the bride to be should wear such a gown at a wedding.  It's been eight years of trying to figure out exactly what are the motives of the Bush administration.  The Bush administration legacy is that it was never accountable to anyone.  It's not a snub, it's a policy statment.