There are so many events at the White House. Why, just the other day a local high-school band played for the First Lady. And WTOP political commentator Mark Plotkin was on the scene! He asked Laura Bush a weird question and was promptly escorted away from the White House, which he was already leaving, or something. See if you can make any sense of it.
So the "Ballou Senior High School Marching Band" was being honored -- we can't figure out if the band actually performed, although a marching band is portable by design, so we'll assume the band played on, etc. -- and then Plotkin started yelling "Mrs. Bush, Mrs. Bush!" She apparently acknowledges him and smiles while he says the following:
"Mrs. Bush, do you agree with those who say and believe that members of the Ballou High School band should not grow up to become members of the House of Representatives?"
About halfway through this convoluted question -- and we'll get to the meaning of it all, soon enough -- the zombie smile fades and Laura Bush is FURIOUS. She stomps off. And then, as another Mark (Segraves) at WTOP tells it:
At that moment, White House staff formed a human wall between the press and the First Lady and pointed to the door.One White House staffer told Plotkin he was out of line because the event was "about the kids."
"My question WAS about the kids," Plotkin fired back.
As we left the East Room, Plotkin ran into White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten. Bolten wasted no time telling Plotkin he had been disrespectful.
As we stood in the horseshoe driveway of the White House, Sally McDonough from Mrs. Bush's press office hurried over to us.
"Next time you have a question for the First Lady you can call me and request an interview."
"Great," he said. "I'll call tomorrow and we'll set it up."
"I said you could request an interview."
Plotkin smiled.
Then McDonough asked Plotkin for his name and employer, which she wrote in her notebook.
"Thanks, I'll walk you out."
What the hell, people?
Plotkin's terrible rude question was apparently about D.C. having a voting member in Congress. And that's bad because everybody knows the Bushes hate black people and they get incredibly angry when asked why they won't let D.C. have a vote in the House.
Everybody seemed to automatically know what the question was about, even though the question itself makes no sense. What people, real or imagined, ever said the Ballou High School Marching Band shouldn't "grow up and become members of the House of Representatives?" Is there some ridiculous misperception that if you go to a high school in D.C. you somehow can't later run for the House somewhere? Or is it just assumed that anybody stuck in a D.C. public school will never leave this hellhole?
Anyway, Plotkin will never get a White House pass ever again and his colleagues assume he'll soon be sent to Gitmo to be tortured forever.
