Posted on 05/22/2009 8:59:44 AM PDT by mojito
Thursday was supposed to be the highlight of the year for more than 100 kindergarteners from Stafford County, Va. They got up early and took a chartered bus to the White House for a school field trip. But when they arrived, all the 5-year-olds got was a lesson in disappointment.
The buses from Conway Elementary arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue a little later than planned, and they were locked out.
"We were going to the White House, but we couldn’t get in so I felt sad," 5-year-old Cameron Stine said.
Parents say they were just 10 minutes late for their scheduled tour. School officials say White House staff said they needed to get ready for the president's event with the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, so they couldn't come in.
"I was angry cause they were disappointed," parent and chaperone Paty Stine said....
A lot of preparing had gone into the trip. Conway Elementary teachers had been planning the trip for months, each child paid $20 for a seat on the chartered bus, and names were submitted to the White House for clearance.
Parents say they tried to make it on time, but their chartered buses hit heavy traffic that slowed them down substantially. They thought they were supposed to show up by 10:15, but they say they arrived at 10:25 instead, and couldn’t get in.
"The person who headed this White House trip up came out and said, 'I’m sorry, the White House tour's off.' There were a lot of crying kids," parent Barbara Stine said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcwashington.com ...
Reminds me of when Bill Clinton had just become President in 1993, and there was a SNAFU that lead to long lines of people waiting to tour the White House, and Hillary was overheard saying, “We’ve just screwed all of these people.”
Truer words have never been said by Hillary, and Zero is carrying on the tradition.
They will never learn, because they don’t think.
You can lead a liberal to logic, but you cannot make him think!!!
We’re all in for a lot more disappointment. Get used to it.
what a son of a beach, it is not his house to do that with, it belongs to those 5 year olds, their teachers and their parents
this is blasphemous
‘O’ will play the same card he did for the NY flyover.
By the end of the day there will be leaked reports of his ‘outrage’.
If they are really laying it on Sasha and Malea will be upset also, as they were waiting to meet the children and assist in the tours and no one told them it was canceled. They got left hanging just like the other kids - message: we are in this with you, we feel your pain, we are equals in this struggle.
By Monday evening a long serving member of the WH staff will be fired. This will give them cover to get rid of yet another Bush holdover that they previously couldn’t replace without some political flack. The WH steward should be watching his ‘6’ this weekend.
Eventually, not Monday, but soon, the tour will be rescheduled at taxpayer expense and he will personally meet them in the Rose Garden for a photo op as they arrive. The next morning ‘the President who cares about your children’ will probably be on the front page of the Wash Post.
At some level this has to be Bush’s fault. Just the other night I saw a hit piece on how the Bust Dept of Transportation had not properly funded public transportation...which would have helped DC traffic...so there you go, Bush hurt these children.
Hey, if the talking heads can defend Pelosi’s silly lies with a straight face, why not this?
Maybe they did. The article didn't say. All it said was that the chartered bus ran into heavy traffic. I have had many occasions where planning to arrive 1/2 hour early barely got me there in time (best laid plans and all).
Shut up mouth comrade....make sacrifice for state.....Patriotic to be disappointed..like paying tax!
This is what we refer to as a “teaching moment.”
We may have a bunch of future conservatives because of this incident.
This is an example of hope and change.
They hoped to see him and he changed his mind.
Of course, anyone who thinks that babies are punishment, wouldn’t think much more of 5 year olds. OF COURSE, the famous footballs heroes are more important.
The other thing is, do they really schedule stuff so close that a few minutes would make that much difference? I do like the idea that the kids could have met both the president and the football players. But then again, who do you think the kids would be more impressed with meeting?
While I understand the points you and others are making, no where in the article does it say they were scheduled to MEET the President, let alone the Steelers, just they had a scheduled group tour for which they were late.
I feel for the kids I really do, but stuff happens and there is just way too much blame being thrown around on this thread.
My child would have been happy to meet the Steelers. But she wouldn’t be going on any trip to the White House or anytime in the future either. Not until 0 is gone. He has made it impossible for me to take a vacation this year. And although DC is a day trip I am not wasting my time going there. I just can’t see myself enjoying a trip to Wash DC right now.
Oh that's good. That big sound you just heard is a group head slap over at the White House.
And for the Trifecta, Obama could have walked downstairs to the Press Room, explained the situation, and asked the Press Corps to give up their seats at the Steelers event so the kids could sit up front.
What happened to the mantra...”It’s about the children”?
The legacy of an idiot who is unfit to be president. He had a golden opportunity to make a huge impression on kids who are the future of this country and chose, instead, to make an impression on grownup kids who make millions of dollars a year playing a game!!
There’s a dandy political cartoon in this!!
GWB is known to be a maniac about being on time, while Bill CLinton and Obama are often late. Very telling.
I loathe Obama, but I have no problem with kindergartners’ getting just a five minute tour and a t-shirt when they visit the White House.
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