# Bush White House to Obamas: Maybe you can find a park bench to sleep on? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 13, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962 "2008-12-13T00:04:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/21 "2008-12-13T00:59:07Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Uh, you may have read the article elsewhere, but you clearly haven’t read the thread. > > FTR: I find it amusing, and maybe transparently petty. Outrageous? Evil? Sorry, wrong thread. Why is it petty to not vacate your place early? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/22 "2008-12-13T01:01:38Z")
> [@wring](#): > > Why is it petty to not vacate your place early? It’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/23 "2008-12-13T01:02:35Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > A. Who the fuck said “outrage”? Not the OP. Then is there another reason that this is in the Pit? ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/24 "2008-12-13T01:04:17Z")
Then why this thread? why your post 20? what the fuck. You say it’s not petty to not vacate your place early, but are ‘amused’ at the ‘transparently petty’ not vacating their place early to accomodate the Obamas. Have **you** read your posts? ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/25 "2008-12-13T01:14:39Z")
It’s not their(the Bushes) place. We’re talking about Blair House, not the White House. Blair House is a historical residence used for accommodating VIPs, it’s billed as “The President’s Guest House” but is generally more of a state residence than part of the personal space the first family has. Whoever Blair House is booked for would have to be bumped. Some foreign dignitary(or a bunch of them) probably. There’s still a lot of business going on in Washington and rather than scramble the housing arrangements of dozens of people, just let the Obama’s make their own plans. That way they get to set their own schedule and no one has to be turned out and their plans/schedules interrupted. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/26 "2008-12-13T01:24:52Z")
The house adjacent from Blair House is [Trowbridge House](http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc25.htm), which is specifically reserved for former presidents and former First Ladies (and heads of state) when in D.C… It would be ironic if the reason the Obamas can’t stay is because GHW and Barbara Bush are in residence. Or because Rosalyn Carter is there and is concerned what it would do to her reputation to learn she stayed overnight with a colored man. Is it tradition for Bush to carry Obama over the threshold after the inauguration or does Obama do that for Biden? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/27 "2008-12-13T01:32:50Z")
> [@wring](#): > > Then why this thread? why your post 20? what the fuck. You say it’s not petty to not vacate your place early, but are ‘amused’ at the ‘transparently petty’ not vacating their place early to accomodate the Obamas. Have **you** read your posts? Is that really the only interpretation you can imagine? You’re positing that I imagine this scenario: **Bush underling:** _“We’re terribly sorry, but we’re going to have to put you up in a hotel for a couple weeks. Terribly sorry for the inconvenience, here’s a fruit basket.”_ **Current guest:** _“No.”_ Is that really the only scenario you can picture? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/28 "2008-12-13T01:35:07Z")
This rates a -1 on the “who gives a toss” scale. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/29 "2008-12-13T01:35:35Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Is that really the only scenario you can picture? Makes a helluva lot more sense than your scenario. Park bench? Where do you come up with this shit? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/30 "2008-12-13T01:36:49Z")
> [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > Makes a helluva lot more sense than your scenario. > > Park bench? Where do you come up with this shit? Awesome. Assuming you’re serious, I count this as a point for me. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/31 "2008-12-13T01:39:55Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Awesome. Assuming you’re serious, I count this as a point for me. You know, Polly Prissypants, not admitting you’re pathetic doesn’t automatically make you less pathetic. Now go cook a five-star meal and shut the fuck up. Reading this thread is taking away from my valuable porn time. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/32 "2008-12-13T01:46:46Z")
> [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > Reading this thread is taking away from my valuable porn time. OK, you get the point back. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/33 "2008-12-13T01:48:58Z")
This thread cracks me the fuck up. You are ALL saying that if the President of the United States wanted to make it happen, there’s a bunch of scenarios where he couldn’t. That’s total bullshit. If Bush wanted to make it happen, he could make it happen. That’s what’s amusingly petty here. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/34 "2008-12-13T01:50:47Z")
This thread is extremely lame but you did manage to get almost 100% of Dopers in support of something related to GWB versus Obama. That takes extreme talent and I take my hat off to you for that. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/35 "2008-12-13T01:56:50Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > This thread is extremely lame but you did manage to get almost 100% of Dopers in support of something related to GWB versus Obama. That takes extreme talent and I take my hat off to you for that. 100%. Of 60,000 members. Um, I think you should check your math. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/36 "2008-12-13T01:59:34Z")
And it turns out every hotel is booked for a full week before the inauguration. The Obamas have had to get a room at the Fairprice Motor Court in Manassas, VA, though his mother-in-law and daughters share a room at Bruce Ephraim Schwule’s Mennonite B&B&Day Spa in Culpeper. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/37 "2008-12-13T02:04:20Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > 100%. Of 60,000 members. Um, I think you should check your math. I’m sure that eventually someone will come along and post that they agree with you. But it won’t be me. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/38 "2008-12-13T02:11:02Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I’m sure that eventually someone will come along and post that they agree with you. But it won’t be me. Man, I picked the wrong week not to have a sock.\* \*This is a joke; I have never had a sock. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/39 "2008-12-13T02:24:02Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > This is a joke; I have never had a sock. Don’t your feet get blistered? Anyway, if the custom is for the outgoing prez to make the WH available on the 15th, why is it a big deal if Obama doesn’t get the place before the 15th? He’ll have four years to trash the place with drunken parties and orgies, so what’s the rush? In the meantime, let him check into the Watergate. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962/40 "2008-12-13T02:25:43Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Anyway, if the custom is for the outgoing prez to make the WH available on the 15th, why is it a big deal if Obama doesn’t get the place before the 15th? He’ll have four years to trash the place with drunken parties and orgies, so what’s the rush? In the meantime, let him check into the Watergate. It’s not the White House at issue, it’s Blair House, the official guest house for the POTUS. > **[Blair House](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blair_House)** > > Blair House, also known as The President's Guest House, is an official residence in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The President's Guest House has been called "the world's most exclusive hotel" because it is primarily used as a state guest house to host visiting dignitaries and other guests of the president. Parts of the historic complex have been used for an official residence since the 1940s. > Located just across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, it is a complex... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-white-house-to-obamas-maybe-you-can-find-a-park-bench-to-sleep-on/476962.md?page=3)