Remember when Clinton staffers trashed White House before hand off to Bush?

Remember when Clinton staffers trashed White House before hand off to Bush?

Donald Trump said at the debate that he would consider whether to accept the election results at a later date. The media and Democrats (but I repeat myself) are pretending to be apoplectic, as if Trump had violated a core principle of our democracy that no election result could be contested.

The NY Times hyperventilated, Donald Trump’s Contempt for Democracy, while WaPo called it Trump’s breathtaking repudiation of American democracy.

In fact, Trump “threatens” to do only what Democrats have done in the past when it comes to disputed elections:

https://youtu.be/tEPWuvs5Wm4?t=1m19s

Had Trump given at the debate as detailed a statement above, I’m not sure we’d have the current breathless feigned shock. Or at least it would have been harder to fake.

As we know, Democrats never accepted George W. Bush’s 2000 victory, contested it in the courts, and only technically stopped contesting it after the Supreme Court ruled that selective recounts only in counties in which Democrats expected to pick up votes was unconstitutional. (A later media consortium later determined that Bush won the election based on a recount of the entire state.)

But Democrats never actually accepted the legitimacy of the Bush win, even if they were resigned to the Supreme Court ruling. For years, and even to this day, Democrats claim that Bush stole the election or that Bush, in Hillary’s own words, was “selected, not elected.”

There’s a good historical example of how Democrats reacted to the Bush win. Democratic staffers in the Clinton White House were so incensed at the result that they trashed the White House before handing it off to Bush staffers.

I thought of that trashing when I saw tweeted a copy of the lovely note George H.W. Bush left for Bill Clinton as G.W. Bush vacated the White House:

A long, long time ago, in a land far far away, politics had grace. George H.W. Bush's letter to Bill Clinton on leaving office: pic.twitter.com/bJn6ojWRS4

— Saba Gul (@sabagl) October 16, 2016

This L.A. Times article from 2002 reflects on how Clinton staffers vandalized the White House, Clinton Transition Left $15,000 Damage, GAO Says (emphasis added):

A yearlong investigation into whether Clinton administration aides left the White House in fraternity-party disarray as they vacated the presidential premises has turned up about $15,000 in damage, according to a government report released Tuesday.

Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) asked the General Accounting Office last June to look into allegations that Clinton staffers had ripped phone cords from walls, left obscene voicemail messages, defaced bathrooms and vandalized computer keyboards by removing the ”W” keys when they left the White House. A number of items, including a 12-inch presidential seal and several antique doorknobs, were assumed stolen.

”The Clinton administration treated the White House worse than college freshmen checking out of their dorm rooms,” Barr said Tuesday. ”They disgraced not just themselves but the institution and the office of the presidency as well.”

The GAO concluded that ”damage, theft, vandalism, and pranks did occur in the White House during the 2001 presidential transition.” The report stated that some incidents, such as removing keyboard keys, placing glue on desk drawers and leaving obscene voicemail messages ”clearly were intentional,” and intentional damage would constitute a criminal act under federal law. No prosecutions are planned, though.

The trashing of the White House and almost 15 years of rejectionism are symbolic of how Democrats never accepted the legitimacy of the Bush victory. And still don’t.

Still waiting for NY Times and WaPo editorials about how Democrats have contempt for and repudiate the foundation of our democracy.

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