There is rat in the White House

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Apparently, Obama should have rescued a cat....

In the midst of his battle with the titans of Wall Street, President Barack Obama was nearly upstaged by a rodent. Obama had just begun a Rose Garden statement lauding the end of a Senate filibuster on his financial overhaul when some kind of rodent dashed out of the bushes to his right, just outside the Oval Office.

As photographers snapped away in the sun-drenched garden, the critter scurried straight past the gray podium with the presidential seal and made a bee-line for another set of bushes to Obama's left.

It's not clear if the president could even see the streaker, but he didn't show any reaction. And he concluded his statement minutes later, returning to his office without answering a few shouted questions on other topics.

Once he was safely inside the Oval Office, a fierce debate erupted among the photographers and reporters who'd witnessed the dash. Was it a rat or a mouse? Or maybe a mole, or some other kind of related creature.

Before long, experts had joined the fray.

"I would partially rule out rat," said Russell Link, a wildlife biologist who works for the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. "That's due to the lack of a tail that is typically equal to body length."

After viewing a photograph of the surprising scurry, Link said, "My suspicion is it's a vole, commonly called a 'meadow mouse' out our way."

In fact, this wasn't the first time a rodent's been spied in the White House, or even the Rose Garden.

Just last week, as camera crews set up for an Obama statement on the Gulf oil spill, what's believed to have been the same rodent made a dash across the famous garden.

The press work areas behind the White House briefing room have had at least one rat sighting, though that was before a multimillion-dollar rehab project finished by the Bush administration.

Moreover, rodents of all kinds are pretty common in Washington. From time to time, city officials issue alarms about surges in the rat population when residents put out extra-big summer piles of garbage.

Washington is, after all built, along a river, on what used to be a malarial swamp.

[William33 110]

I guess they don't have Orkin on contract....

[Ban Hammer 13,641]

this too, is bush's fault.

[john & jean 37]

the Obama defenders will be along soon

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Well, we must be doing pretty good if a rodent on the grounds of 1600 Penn Ave make the AP news and Forbes. I expect to see some reporting on that cigarette butt someone dropped on the curb in front of my property in tomorrow's paper. After all, there's really nothing else worth of news reporting.

[IndigoSkies 168]

I heard Obama also farts but it hasn't been verifed by independent news source. I expect Wolf Blitzer to be on this ASAP.

[Nagishkaw 510]

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Tastes like chicken!

Edited May 21, 2010 by ##########

[Darnell 8,479]

extra-big summer piles of garbage PRICELESS !

[Obama 2012 1,714]

The administration can't even protect the borders of the White House

[alienlovechild 75]

The administration can't even protect the borders of the White House

Was it Speedy Gonzales? "¡Ándale! ¡Ándale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba!"

In 1999, the Cartoon Network ceased to air Speedy Gonzales. In an interview she gave to Fox News on March 28, 2002, Cartoon Network spokeswoman Laurie Goldberg commented, "It hasn't been on the air for years because of its ethnic stereotypes." This is widely believed to refer to Speedy's fellow mice, who are all shown as being very slow and lazy, and sometimes even appear intoxicated. This is particularly true of Speedy's cousin, Slowpoke Rodriguez, who is exceptionally slow and lazy. Slowpoke is also known to carry a gun.[2]

"In Gonzales' Tamales, the town mice instigate a feud between Speedy and Sylvester the Cat because Speedy has been stealing the hearts of all the females. Much of the dialogue between Mexican characters is in English and the small amount of Spanish that peppers the dialogue consists of basic greetings, goodbyes, exclamations, and misplaced references to popular Mexican foods. This criticism prompted Cartoon Network to largely shelve Speedy's films when it gained exclusive rights to broadcast them in 1999. However, fan campaigns to put Speedy back on the air and lobbying by the League of United Latin American Citizens saw the shorts return to air from 2002.[3] Despite the controversy in the USA, Speedy Gonzales remains a very popular character in Latin America. In Mexico, the Speedy Gonzales show has been on and off part of the regular programing of Televisa's Canal 5 national channel ever since it was created."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedy_Gonzales

[peejay 327]

The administration can't even protect the borders of the White House

It's not a matter of can't...but won't. What would the liberal base think if Obama executed a poor defenseless rat? Where is your compassion and empathy? The rat was just looking for a better life.

[Darnell 8,479]

OMG - a radio interview on NPR about this rodent. OK - this is seriously over the top - must find news source that spews info on immigration topics.