An article about the transition in Washington yesterday on Boston.com's Political Intelligence blog elicited a comment that said, "Looks like Bush is going to leave the WH with a lot more class than the Clintons did. Doubt we'll see reports of juvenile pranks and outright thefts like we did when the hicks vacated the WH."
As one of the later comments pointed out -- OK, it was me -- all of those stories were later found to be untrue. They'd been spread by incoming Bush staffers, who were immediately proving that they were the juveniles here. Of course, the truism about news is that the second story -- the correction or the explanation -- never quite gets the traction of the first one. So the rumors remain stuck in some people's minds as the truth.
Another comment below the story reminded me of something I'd heard back then. Many Bush staffers were uncooperative with the Clinton staff's attempt to brief them and help them with the transition. In their arrogance they believed, like their boss, that they knew it all. Think they should have listened a bit closer?
3 comments:
The people working under Bush right now are the not the same people he came in with. This may be why there is a whole different attitude in this transition compared to the Bush's transition. I give credit to Bush and his people for how quickly they have started the transition work. Hopefully the spirit of cooperation spreads throughout all of the executive agencies. It looks to me like the Bush administration is getting this one right. Kudos to them.
Good point. It does seem to be a much more cordial tone, so credit is due.
As is always the case with Bush, it's his actions that bear watching, not his words. He may say that he wants the transition to go smoothly and his administration will help in making it happen, but time will tell.
Post a Comment