Obama arrives for White House tour, talk with Bush

[onehandle]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON – President-elect Obama and President Bush gathered Monday for their first face-to-face meeting, an Oval Office session that comes during a historic shifting of power to a new administration.

Obama and his wife, Michelle, arrived at the South Portico 11 minutes early with President Bush and first lady Laura Bush waiting for them. Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Obama enjoyed a warm greeting, while the president and his successor exchanged smiles and a handshake.

Taking a bit of prerogative, the president-elect put his left hand on Bush's back as the two couples entered the Diplomatic Reception Room.

Bush and Obama strolled along the Colonnade and waved for their cameras while their wives began a meeting of their own. The president and the president-elect then headed into the Oval Office to talk about the future of the country, with topics likely including the financial crisis and the war in Iraq.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081110/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_obama

[av8rdave]

1. Can you imagine how much Bush must hate this day?

Oh well...sucks to be him!

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Really, I don't think anybody will be more relieved to be out of office than W.

[edbermac]

3. Are you kidding? He's relieved!

In a few weeks he'll have somebody else clean up the mess he's made for the past 8 years.

[Cha]

4. Yeah, Obama really took

a "preogative" with bush all right!

[debunkthelies]

5. Hand sanitizer

Did Bush hand him the hand sanitizer this time? Hmmm. :sarcasm:

[xochi]

6. The Obamas tour their future home

Source: politico.com

By CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN | 11/10/08 8:41 PM EST Updated: 11/10/08 8:41 PM EST

For a famously punctual White House, President-elect Barack Obama met the first test: He arrived 14 minutes ahead of schedule Monday for the earliest courtesy call to a sitting president during a transition period in 16 years.

Obama stepped from a black limousine shortly before 2 p.m., turned around to take his wife’s hand, and they walked together to greet President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush, who were waiting at the White House entrance reserved for visiting heads of state. The first meeting of the future and current first couples appeared friendly from the start: Barack Obama clasped Bush’s arm, while Michelle Obama kissed Laura Bush’s cheek.

“Thank you so much,” Barack Obama said to the Bushes as he and Michelle took their places for cameras capturing the historic image.

The rite of passage, televised across cable TV news shows, was cloaked in significance on multiple levels: the arrival of the first African American president-elect at the White House, the orderly transfer of power between leaders, and the amicable hand-off from one political party to another after a tense presidential race.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15483.html

[Testament]

7. From MSNBC with video

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27640254/

WASHINGTON - All smiles and compliments, President-elect Obama and his wife, Michelle, called on President Bush and first lady Laura Bush Monday in a White House visit that was part political ritual, part practical introduction and a striking symbol of the historic transfer of power to come.

The president and Obama talked war and financial crisis. Laura Bush and Michelle Obama talked about raising daughters in the nation’s most famous house.

Then Obama flew back to Chicago to work on setting up the new administration that will take over on Jan. 20.

[quidam56]

8. Wish the Bushies were all packed and ready to go, TODAY !

I wonder where The Bush Library will be ( aren't they passing that around like a hot potato ) It shouldn't take up too much space for all the positive wonderful things W's done for America.

We finally have a statesman with an IQ coming to The Whitehouse. If an Obama America comes to fruition, we have to be the ones to change things from the bottom up. This will be the best administration in most of our lifetime but we gotta get out there and help make the changes and make sure so many Bush blunders are over turned ! END MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL ------> http://www.wisecountyissues.com

[grasswire]

9. Hey. Bill Clinton was a "statesman with an IQ". (eom)

[clspector]

10. Bush library...

>>I wonder where The Bush Library will be ( aren't they passing that around like a hot potato ) It shouldn't take up too much space for all the positive wonderful things W's done for America.<<

It's at SMU in Dallas. The cost -- between $200 and $500 million. That's a lot of money for "My Pet Goat."

[OakCliffDem]

11. San Francisco turned down Proposition R

Even without renaming the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant in honor of Bush, I am sure they could find a room (chamber) somewhere below the waterline to open his Library.

[BayjanDem]

12. They turned it down

:( Too bad.

[OakCliffDem]

13. Yea, I was heart broken. But only for about two seconds

http://www.smartvoter.org/2008/11/04/ca/sf/prop/R/

Proposition R
Renaming the Oceanside Water Treatment Plant
City of San Francisco
Ordinance - Majority Approval Required

Fail: 92,373 / 30.18% Yes votes ...... 213,735 / 69.82% No votes

[xochi]

14. Awww.... These people have no sense of humor!

And it would've been a great tourist attraction, too. Then again, if they HAD renamed it, it probably would have immediately overflowed....