TAKING OVER

Handover Horror Stories

Winning is half the battle. A history of bumpy transitions.

« Return to Article

Discuss

Member Comments

  • Posted By: mikep007 @ 01/30/2009 6:41:32 AM

    The author of this article failed to note that it cost the American tax payer, over $200,000 to do the GAO report after the Clinton-to-Bush administration. The GAO rightly noted that they did not know WHO did the damage. IE It very well could have been the new Bushies looking to slander the outgoing regime. Also, the Clinton regime, back in 1993 had made similar claims abiout the HW Bush administration.

  • Posted By: ellisliza @ 01/16/2009 4:11:57 PM

    I told a young woman yesterday who said she had been an enthusiastic supporter of Obama, that he is not who she thinks he is. I said, "he wants to invade and occupy Afghanistan with 90,000 troops." She said bluntly, "he does not want to invade and occupy Afghanistan." I looked at her in the eye and said, "Do you believe he intends to?" She said, "No, that is not what we campaigned for." I said, I believe that certainly.

    There are two versions of Obama, the media hyped glossing over the bad reality of him, with eager pretense as if that will work, and the Obama version which is a truthtelling hypocrit, using claims of strong catch words of :"peace" when he wants to "occupy" Afghanistan and, yes, he HAS SAID he wants 90,000 troops and he is hypocritical because NO COUNTRY will ever allow "occupation" with 90,000 troops. Moreover, in the beginning of his campaign he threatened Pakistan's Mushareff with a challenge that was not to Mushareff's face but to a supposed war enthusiastic supporting BUSH audience, but the public is not who they ought to be, they are obviously able to say Heil Obama as easily as Hitler. I would not. Not all did in Germany either. The United Nations has called for a cease fire in Gaza. THE MEDIA delivers Obama's hypocrisy. When a man talked with me, and answered my accusation that Obama has no sense of courage or honor or proper diplomacy when he made that statement, a second Obama enthusiast (aka believer in the two party opposition that is a supposed contrast that does not require voters to think about the candidate, and to believe the media forced two party supposed contrast as if there is any difference), a clear Democrat Party guy, said, "Oh, he's just young and naive! He doesn't mean it." I looked at him and said, " but you will vote for someone who you think doesn't mean what he says?" He thinks Obamas statements are innocent. I do not. I voted for honor and upholding democracy and peace for proper policy that nets both a budget on track and peace policy by someone who knows the difference between a gesture of assistance to a country who is troubled by terrorists and a gesture of more terror on top of what is already Being nice when there is every reason to be nice, is diplomacy. The Middle East deserves "nice" not threats of obliterators in the making. Crack the Whip? THAT MEANS IMPEACH BUSH AND PUT OBAMA ON NOTICE FOR HIS CONFLICTING AND ILLEGAL CLAIMS. PEOPLE VOTED FOR THE MEDIA LIES without substance: hope, change, and peace. Obama doesn't offer those any more than healthcare. NADER did. The media didn't what that reality. There was a real candidate not being allowed in front where he belonged. Nader. OBAMA IS RED INK, RED BLOOD AND INCREASED WEAPONS AND THREATS. I do know certainly that is NOT who the young woman campaigned for. She should have been on the Nader campaign!

  • Posted By: ellisliza @ 01/16/2009 12:26:52 PM

    If he has no such intentions, already showing, in my opinion, is TREASON the correct appraisal of the matter at hand? And, whose TREASON is it, obviously he owns responsibiliity for HIS ACTIONS, certainly, and his WORDS. The public owns responsibility for WATCHING and not objecting and worse, VOTING FOR a "KING" which is NOT our CONSTITUTION. Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Rep. John Conyers, knows this, as well as his partner in objecting, author of "Warrior King: The Case to Impeach George W. Bush" by John Bonifaz, Esq. a Boston Private Attorney. It is a brief, succinct, and well written book available in paperback, and prefaced by John Conyers, Esq. House of Representatives. There is a HUGE ACTIVIST PEACE MOVEMENT in this country and the press considers them :"outside" their duty, obviously, as to coverage, only the PROTESTS when in large numbers are given coverage, as if they do not belong as part of the real picture, the actual facts and themes of what we object to as required taken seriously for proper upholding of a free democracy with a government worthy of respect at home and abroad, and by our literal neighbors in North America and South America. We in the peace movement utterly depise Bush and the majority of voters were supposed to have the opportunity to see the full slate of agenda driven candidates who are not corrupt, who offer peace policy as reality.

  • Posted By: ellisliza @ 01/16/2009 12:02:56 PM

    FOR THE NEW PRESIDENT (to me, it should be a result of a REQUIRED honest election where the public was INFORMED of the ENTIRE SLATE OF OPPOSITION AGAINST INCUMBENTS and incompetence promoiting by tyranny of a resistant press who refuses democracy should not be allowed, and a candidate who tries to take such a villain's trophy against the Constitution and the democracy and everything it stands for, should be SEEN by the PUBLIC for WHO he is...a villain, not a winner) ...But here is the text of the OATH of OFFICE that obviously Obama is intending to claim his right to take, but I see nothing to support honesty whatsoever, and allowing him to take it is allowing offense against the Constitution and Democracy, already seen in 2000, 2004, and 2008 election coverage by a media railroading of corruption against public interest which is protected by the Constitution, but the attorneys who have the knowledge and ability to pick up the proper challenge are obviously NOT DOING ANYTHING unless they have been censored by the press against the people...John Conyers' IMPEACHMENT has been, clearly! Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

  • Posted By: ellisliza @ 01/16/2009 11:35:20 AM

    Voters did not approve Obama instead of the U.S. Constitution. I assume Obama expects to take the standard Oath of Office without any change of the wording! Then he cannot usurp Congress's Constitutional DEMOCRATIC duty to declare war, a duty of the PEOPLE not a KING. I do not worship either Bush or Obama and voted against their warmongering predictability and Nader's good public interest policy EVERY TIME I KNEW HE WAS OFFICIALLY OFFERING TO LEAD OUR COUNTRY ON TRACK and UPHOLD the U.S. Constitution. Both Obama and Nader are graduates of Harvard Law School. Only one of those TWO are BESt, and I voted for that candidate and his candidacy was supposed to be EQUALLY presented ON THE MERITS for the PEOPLE to decide who they wanted for credible hope, change, and peace policy and a nation on track. Nader would offer a budget in the black with the upfront CUT the MILITARY BLOATED BUDGET (as he calls it, it is red ink, extreme in the trillions), and Obama offered (yes, he DID say this information BEFORE the general election, and NO, the media did not BOTHER with the CONTRAST DUE the PEOPLE for honest democracy) to put the budget in the RED up front wanted to increase the military already overspent with no end in sight with Obama and no end intended, by his platforms and words. He is not going to UPHOLD the U.S. Constitution, apparently, because a budget that is legal is required approved by Congress under our Constitution, yes OUR Constitution NOT his, not Bush's.

  • Posted By: no-doz @ 11/24/2008 11:04:25 AM

    Oh blah, blah, blah on the 15K (!) in damage after Clinton. After Bush we have $3.8 trillion in devastation and counting. But worrying about the key on a keyboard when the country is crumbling is the sort of nonsense we've come to expect from Republicans who have ruined everything they've touched. Oh and for the thicko who can't seem to recall a Bush lie: it started in 2000 when he promised carbon caps and has mushroomed every day since. You'd think you clowns would run out of Kool-Aid.

    • Posted By: brydges @ 12/01/2008 9:23:48 AM

      Theft and vandelism are acceptable as long as it's done by liberals. It's OK to vote for a man because he's black ,but if you vote for him becuase he's white your a racist. Typical Liberal Hipocracy

      • Posted By: Horrible Bastard @ 12/12/2008 10:18:16 AM

        Your side lost, hippie. Get over it.

        • Posted By: ellisliza @ 01/16/2009 9:30:15 AM

          Race is not why to elect anyone for a President, and it is illegal as a discriminatory factor. I did not vote for Obama because he is not qualified and I currently believe the proper criteria which Martin Luther King knew is PRIMARY, :"character" is not showing in his hypocrisy before the world. He has said he intends to occupy Afghanistan. This is offensive to the nation and ought to be to Afghanistan and to the United Nations, and the media did not blink and I would assume must have intentionally overlooked it, intentionally RAILROADING CORRUPT INCUMBENTS to push the unchecked BUSH OFFENSIVES against freedom and democracy and the world. Safety and peace are not reflected in the budget proposed by Obama during the campaign. The media is a hypocritical horror story of campaign coverage accusing Nader of unrealistic ideals, when his are ACHIEVEMENTS IN PROGRESS and Obamas are BUSH OFFENSIVES and SHREDDING and DANGER in progress and the hypocrisy is entirely a matter of character. Those who allowed Obama's lies of peace when he clearly wants to continue Bush's wars, and the media who pretended he was not saying what he was saying, and has said, and has continued to say, but the voters are not hearing the military offensives on the rise agaainst proper ideals, character, U.S. Constitution AND World Order, and the RECENT United Nations "cease fire" vote. Peace is achieved by people with character and sanity and common sense.

    • Posted By: John Dough @ 12/09/2008 11:59:24 AM

      After one year of Obama it appears we will addd 2 trillion to the deficit Bush was 2.8 Triillion by the way.

  • Posted By: ellisliza @ 01/16/2009 9:22:00 AM

    No change, no democracy 89% saying OFF TRACK was not offered the remedy due. SIX not TWO and the BEST is supposed to win and Nader's ideals, "unbowed" were OWED the public for his TRACK RECORD to prove WHAT MERITS CAN DO versus Bush offensives not wanted at 89% if that poll is accurate, as to during September 2007, asked, "is the nation off track or on track?" 89% said....you know what they said. And, the results of a grade for Bush yesterday showed a huge majority responding F. The media is resistant to democracy ON TRACK at an unconscionable level of unreal public allowance and observer or endorser voting status. I voted for NADER and I say the democratic challenge is the ONLY valid way to offer U.S. Constitutional REQUIRED INFORMED VOTING for the PEOPLE to rule against corporate corrupt tyranny by incumbents who refuse to show any democratic respect for the U.S. Constitution and the safety and freedoms it protects with legal sound framework as amended.

  • Posted By: ozzyluver @ 01/12/2009 4:30:15 PM

    Bush and Laura have more class than these morons

  • Posted By: granny43 @ 11/15/2008 9:00:52 PM

    Obama has lost no time in showing his true colors. He let the cat out of the bag when he vowed that his first act would be to affirm FOCA. Christian? I think not. The blacks closed their eyes and voted their pocketbooks. Well, folks, all he promised you ain't gonna happen. You should have payed closer attention to what his "changes" were going to be. Hope you like communism.

    • Posted By: perceval @ 01/04/2009 6:12:31 PM

      It's P.A.I.D not payed. No prize for guessing on which side of the fence you sit.

    • Posted By: THE RAVEN @ 12/10/2008 10:49:23 AM

      You're an idiot, granny. First of all, blacks didn't vote him in. If every black person in this country voted for him, he still could not have won by their votes only. It igalls you red necks that a black man won--voted in by most of you whites.

  • Posted By: We're up a creek @ 11/14/2008 9:19:34 PM

    In fact, Obama is NOT black, not an Afro-American, he???s an ARAB-American! He???s 50% white (mother was 100%), 44% arab (father was 88%), and 6% black (father was 12%)! Does that sound like black to you? If he was 1% less white, and 1% Irish, in addition to being arabic and black, would you say that he was Irish? His father officially listed himself as arab, Obama???s full name is arabic. Even if Obama should be elected (God forbid), he will still not be the first ???black President???, because he isn???t BLACK! All this is is race-pandering, the democrats trying to get all the blacks to vote for Obama by declaring him to be the ???first black
    candidate with a chance to be elected President!??? Basically, they are
    lying to everybody to take advantage of the ignorant (not unusual for
    democrats), and you???re buying it! If you don???t believe it, why don???t
    you ask Obama to deny it in public?

    • Posted By: THE RAVEN @ 12/10/2008 10:51:26 AM

      Do you get out of the trailer park often? You're a prime example of in-breeding.

      • Posted By: magic_marker @ 12/16/2008 3:55:39 AM

        (... but this is one of the best comments :)

  • Posted By: jomily @ 11/15/2008 5:39:48 PM

    Everyone is aleays saying "it doesnt matter is Obama is Black or White", yet they celebrate him for being the first black president. Isn't it racist to say that? Isn't everyone the same?

    • Posted By: THE RAVEN @ 12/10/2008 10:56:40 AM

      He black, you dolt. Sorry to bust you crackers bubble, but your race ceases to exist the moment you mix with any other race of color. Soon your pathetic species won't even exist in a hundred years or so. Your murdering, Godless race was a genetic mistake of nature to begin with (as founded by WHITE scientists), and soon, God will rectify this mistake.
      You know the truth, whitey--as soon as a black person, or any other person of color, mixes with a pale face, a non white human is born--thank GOD!

      • Posted By: magic_marker @ 12/16/2008 3:52:19 AM

        Yours is the most ridiculous and demeaning comment on this page.

  • Posted By: dewcooper @ 12/03/2008 2:49:23 PM

    I am sure we won't have any difficulties when Obama takes over in January. After all, as a three year Senator, and author or co-author of too many bills to mention, Obama is an expert on the inner workings of Washington politics. With Father Biden holding his hand, Obama and his team will be able to hit the ground running, setting up shop in record time and have all of our crisises fixed by_

    Sorry, I threw up a little in my mouth on that...

    If Obama and Biden weren't governemnt insiders, they might deserve a break. But Biden has been cooking this mess for 30 years, and Obama has been helping to stir the pot for the past 3. They should not get, nor do they deserve, any slack. And going back to the do-nothing Clinton administration is only going to make things worse...

  • Posted By: markci @ 11/13/2008 4:10:18 PM

    *** Comment: (rolls eyes) That first bit about the Bush team coming in to find the staff areas "vandalized" by the out-going Clintonites was debunked years ago. What a crock. ***

    The findings are accurately summarized in the article. Whether the level of damage reported constitutes "debunking" or not is a matter of opinion.

    • Posted By: Lionfish @ 12/02/2008 5:09:39 AM

      This is a bunch of crok

  • Posted By: brydges @ 12/01/2008 9:25:15 AM

    Has anyone seen my Obama check? It hasn't come in the mail yet.

  • Posted By: elleneyegreen @ 11/16/2008 6:05:16 PM

    It is common knowledge that bush lies. He keeps speaking of an "easy transition" as if trying to convince us, as with everything else. He will cause havoc on purpose and then lie some more. Mark my words. Just watch what happens.

    • Posted By: brydges @ 12/01/2008 9:21:19 AM

      It;s common knowledge you have no idea what your talking about. Mindless Liberals like you help the conservative base

  • Posted By: josephjsalas @ 11/24/2008 11:59:53 AM

    Actually, it was only $675.00 in damage during Clinton. lol And talk about mushrooms? Czeck-out
    the NASDAQ freindly taser sales of recent. Just in time to hold back the UAW's when they get
    shut out of the lithium-ion battery cars and the "Genepax" type cars. Remember GM's EV-1?
    I say that the Unions that helped put Obama in place get double-crossed, yes?

  • Posted By: josephjsalas @ 11/23/2008 1:49:22 PM

    Newsweek forgot to mention "me"! lol And talk about handovers! FDR handed the Federal Governmnent
    as well as our courtrooms over to the Central Banks of Europe some 10 trillion and counting dollars
    ago. Q. What will Obama handover to the U.N. (like? wut's left) in the name of a pre-packaged
    re-structure plan. The US Guv is holding the Fan/Fred bag amongst rising un-employment. hmm!

  • Posted By: tonopah87 @ 11/09/2008 11:45:08 AM

    I still would like to know the truth about why the Bush team spread the rumor that the Clintons 'trashed and damaged' the White House before they left. The media at the time believed this story and ran with it. Why? There were stories about how the Clintons and their staff 'pilaged' and 'stole' things out of the White House and Air Force One. Things that were supposedly stolen were items marked with Clinton's name. That's completely understandable because everything would have been re-marked with Bush's name. I believe Karl Rove planted these false accusations to hide the fact that on Inauguration day, Bush's motorcade was hit with tomatoes, and other rotten food. That is childish, obviously, but it was never reported. Instead the trashing by the Clintons made the news. In Michael Moore's movie Farenheit 9/11, you can see footage of Bush's motorcade being pelted with tomatoes.

    • Posted By: John Dough @ 11/22/2008 3:44:58 PM

      They stole all the W's off of the computer keyboards which had to be replaced at taxpayer expense. They stole doorknobs (they did not have Clinton's name on them) and other White House fixtures. I do not call that normal wear and tear. If you caused 15K in damage to someone else's property you can bet you would be held responsible. It may have been what you would call "petty vandalism" and pranking but the taxpayers had to pay to replace those items.

    • Posted By: Mimi13 @ 11/09/2008 12:57:28 PM

      On that Inaugural Day, there was almost as much coverage of the Clintons' long good-bye as there was on the arrival of the Bushies. I think the "trash" stories were planted in an attempt to displace the affection that so many people felt for Bill Clinton, in spite of all his personal frailities.

      • Posted By: tonopah87 @ 11/09/2008 2:18:45 PM

        Well, I hadn't thought of that way. You're right, that could be very true. There was much attention on Bill and Hillary and that could have been a diversion. But that's what I do believe; that the stories of the White House being vandalized by the Clintons were a diversion. And I honestly do not remember at the time hearing about or seeing Bush's motorcade pelted with debris. It just wasn't on the nightly news. But there it is - in that movie. Very interesting. I know it's ancient history now, but I'm still fascinated by it! Thank you for your comment.

  • Posted By: John Dough @ 11/22/2008 3:29:37 PM

    What did Bush Lie about I hear that all the time and the only thing that keeps getting repeated is that he lied about WMD's which everyone belived Hussien had including every democrat in the Clinton administration and congress. If Clinton had not dismantled our ground intelligence service we may have known ahead of time that he moved it all secretly to Syria which is what happened and there would not have been a war.

  • Posted By: HarrisburgPA @ 11/06/2008 12:10:59 AM

    I am surprised that you left out the all-time most traumatic transition in U.S. history: the period between Lincoln's election and inauguration day on March 4, 1861. South Carolina announced its secession in December 1860, followed by other slave states. US troops evacuated Ft. Moultrie in Charleston & invested Ft. Sumter. Senators and congressmen from rebel states were leaving Congress. Confederate commissioners were in DC unsuccessfully trying to officially meet & negotiate a breakup of the Union with President Buchanan. Ft. Pickens in Florida was also under siege. Buchanan's Secretary of War resigned, suspected both of financial peccadillos & if attempting to send arms under his control South where they would fall into rebel hands. Floyd later became a Confederate general. Buchanan's cabinet was fighting for his soul and the Unionists working to stiffen his spine and prevent him from tying the new president's hands. Congress was attempting to find some way to placate the slave states & prevent secession. Virginia and other "border" states were teetering on the brink, and, almost as soon as Lincoln took the oath of office, he was handed a dispatch from the Ft. Sumter commander saying that, if the garrison was not resupplied soon they would have to surrender or starve. Any of the other transitions would have seemed fun to Lincoln by comparison.

    • Posted By: granny43 @ 11/15/2008 10:07:55 PM

      Good report, Harrisburg!! Is it snowing up there yet?

Reply

Report Abuse

Enter comments if any for reporting abuse