Posted by Mark Silva at 6:15 am CDT
The next time you see a spokesman for the White House standing before a dark blue curtain in Washington -- such as today -- look closer. The curtain is a lighter shade of blue.
As they gut the old press briefing room in the West Wing of the White House for a renovation that could take at least nine months, the press operation of the Bush administration -- and the press who cover it -- is moving into temporary quarters at "Jackson Place,'' a modern building across the street. That temporary stage is ready for its debut today, with a 9 am CDT press briefing by Tony Snow.
With the president's weekend return from his Texas ranch -- he returned on Sunday with a helicopter landing on the South Lawn and followed the barking Barney and Miss Beazley, the family's black terriers, lnto the White House -- the temporary press room will be busy this week.
The White House promises that we are moving back into the White House compound once the renovations are complete, and the briefing room already has been stripped, but the temporary quarters have an eery feel of permance to them -- including the new, somewhat lighter blue curtain.
They have dragged the same old wooden lectern from the dismantled press room of the West Wing over to this place that maybe we'll start to call the Northwestern Broken Wing -- because it's well outside the guarded gates of the White House, which is where we'll be working for several months, or more.
But they have draped behind the lectern a backdrop that is a few shades lighter than the old dark navy blue curtain that hung behind the lectern and whomever speaks from it in the White House.
It's usually Snow. Sometimes, it's the president.
It'll be interesting to see, though, if the president makes any personal appearance in this makeshift press room. He has plenty of stages where he lives -- not the least of which is the ornamental East Room of the White House. There's also a ready stage with theater seating in Room 450 of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is next door to the White House and inside the guarded gates.
The Jackson Place operation is a three-story affair, and it so thoroughly strung with television cables, DSL lines and ethernet connections -- it seems one could launch the space shuttle with the TV command-post set up in the back of the temporary press room -- that one truly wonders about the White House's promise of a return to the West Wing. "You'll be back,'' Snow has said in all sincerity. We'll see.
We'll also see what color the next curtain is.
If there is another curtain.
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Comments
The next set of curtain's should be black,this neo nut admin will basically be DOA after the Nov.elections.
Even if the Dems don't take the House or the Senate,the split will be very close to 50/50.This will return power to the moderate wing of the party(Hagel,King,etc.)and will be a win for the American people.
As the neo nuts are now looking for an exit strategy from their failed invasion into Iraq,they've floated dividing the country up,the civil war is to intense and so on.
With the moderates controlling congress and the war becoming a major reason for their defeat in Nov.,look for congress to start action on issues like healthcare,oil co.investigations,etc.
Also,don't be surprised if they throw neo nut Cheney and Boy George under the bus after the elections,as they will be looking at 08,and realize they could be next.
As an example,long time wing nut Charley Taylor is trailing Dem newcomer Heath Schuler in N.C.
Posted by: john scanlon | August 14, 2006 9:20 AM