December 02, 2002

Yahoo caption: "First lady Laura Bush accepts the official White House Christmas, Monday, Dec. 2, 2002, that was grown by the Hedlund family of Elma, Wash. Standing with Mrs. Bush, left to right, are; Cindy Hedlund, Ed Hedlund and their son Thomas Hedlund. The 18-foot fir tree was grown in Washington state and will be placed in the Blue Room of the White House."
First Lady Opens Christmas Season

WASHINGTON (AP) - First lady Laura Bush ushered in the Christmas season at the White House on Monday by opening the doors to an 18-foot Noble fir that will grace the Blue Room through three weeks of parties and tours.
The tree will be decorated with 400 birds native to the United States, making it the centerpiece of this year's official White House theme — "all creatures, great and small."
The Bushes are celebrating the history of pets at the White House, the role they play in Americans' lives and animals in the wild.
"Families around the United States are comforted and amused by the animals that they get to watch out in nature, like bird watching, or that they live with in their own homes, their own pets," Mrs. Bush told reporters at a ceremony on the North Portico of the White House.
The Bushes have three pets — dogs Barney and Spot, and cat India.
"Our animals have been a great source of comfort to us since Sept. 11, 2001," she said. "They are a great amusement and distraction, but also they make the White House home for us." All three pets went to the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas for the Thanksgiving weekend.
Mrs. Bush said this year's theme will highlight the history of White House animals with papier-mache likenesses throughout the ceremonial rooms — Caroline Kennedy's horse, Macaroni; George Washington's horse, Algonquin; the sheep who grazed on the lawns to keep them trimmed during worker shortages in World War I; the raccoons the Coolidges walked on leashes.
This year's silvery-blue tree was grown by the Hedlund family of Elma, Wash., and arrived in traditional style on a horse-drawn cart.
While Mrs. Bush spoke, anti-war demonstrators pounded drums just outside the gate. She did not acknowledge the protesters, though the sound rumbled across the North Lawn throughout her remarks.
Asked what she planned to give President Bush for Christmas, she said: "That's a secret, and I haven't picked it yet."
She added with a smile, "What do you give the president?"

I wanna know more about travelling with a cat on an airplane...although I do have the dubious distinction of having taken a pug dog to Paris on Air France! (Boy was she thirsty when we got to Orly Airport, poor thing!)
Those protesters must be French! What do they propose we do with a nation-state and/or Islamist terrorist groups who threaten to kill us for being ourselves? Surrender? Wait quietly for our murders?
But back to the animals...
From my house to the White House and to yours, my two wonderful kitties, Morrie and Gina, send you Season's Greetings!
Just seeing the lovely, gracious and feminine Lovely Lady Laura getting in the Christmas spirit gives me profound Comfort and Joy!*

*And for all you little Dimocrat blogroaches, Lefty snerts and Liberalism-loving trolls that have oozed over here from Atrios.com to laugh derisively at the "vile, rascist" Conservatives by comparing Lady Laura to a man (a strenuous, substantive, and incredibly valid intellectual exercise, BTW), Happy Holidays!
Hope you can cuddle up to your autographed pics of your *beautiful and sexy* former Co-President Hillary tonight..becuase you need rest!
That's right, treat her just like you did Katherine Harris in Florida: criticize her looks.