A White House Halloween. The Obamas celebrated Halloween in style Saturday night with a dancing skeleton band and plenty of costumed goblins roaming the North Lawn.
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A White House Halloween: Obamas turn White House into Orange House
By Jimmy Orr | 10.31.09
A White House Halloween?
That’s what happens when a president has young children. He better celebrate Halloween. And President Obama is — with a lot of style.
In the recent past, the White House website has received the majority of the Halloween treatment with the residential staff recounting the legends of presidential spirits and other bumps in the night at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
This year, the largest website celebrating Halloween is Google (they’ve switched their logo again). As for President Obama, he went full out — turning the White House into a Halloween carnival.
As Mel Brooks said in “History of the World, Part One,” it’s “good to be the king.” Or the president. Or the president’s daughters.
Because when it comes to trick or treating, they definitely had the coolest house on the block. (Technically speaking, it’s the only house on the block — because it takes up the entire block, but still…)
As we told you earlier, more than 2,000 kids in the DC area got to trick or treat at the president’s house today. They were greeted by a Chicago-based jazz band appropriately clad in skeleton costumes while Star Wars creatures and other costumed performers roamed the North Lawn among giant 1,000 pound pumpkins.
One of those Star Wars creatures? White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. He was decked out as Darth Vader. To conservatives, nothing’s changed — except his apparel. They must undoubtedly believe that he must feel more comfortable in this menacing costume.
The end is nigh…
The glow of the White House was distinctly different as well. Orange flood lights gave it a more eerie look. If President Obama already frightens those in the tea party movement, then imagine what dancing skeletons in front of a fiery-looking White House must do.
Yep. Armageddon is here.
Conservative websites, predictably, are taking aim at the president in seasonal style.
One video on Pajamas TV has President Obama telling children that they have far too much candy in their Halloween bags and that some of it should be redistributed to children who didn’t get candy for themselves.
“What? It’s Halloween, they can get their own candy,” said one trick-or-treater dressed in a pirate costume.
“What about kids that are less fortunate than you,” the president asks.
“It’s Halloween. It’s free,” said the pirate.
“Maybe for kids like you who can afford costumes,” the president replied.
“Hey commander-in-chief,” the kid said. “See my eye-patch? It’s felt. We’re not exactly running a Disney-budget on this one.”
The president goes on to say that if the children give him half of their candy, he’ll give them credit for new candy.
Predictable? Yes. But it’s still funny.
Halloween always gives those in politics an opportunity to explain how their opponents are the most frightening part of the season.
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<< Hey, let’s go trick or treat at the White House! | MainComments
3. vickie | 11.01.09
These people need to quit partying on the White House lawn and having a big time at taxpayer expenses while people are trying to find jobs and listening to the lies about jobs saved and created. they just had a big Latina Fiesta with Gloria Estafan and other Wise Latina/o celebrities performing. The Obamas are long on educational achievement and charm, but he is woefully short on delivering good government to a country of people he actually wants to destroy and put to work for the Latino/Catholic population explosion that he wants us to give our home and livlihoods to. If you haven’t noticed that Obama is a racist, you haven’t been paying attention.
4. Vickie’s home | 11.01.09
Dear Vickie (#4): I just can’t wait to take your home and livelihood. Thanks! -Wise Latina/o
5. CAT | 11.01.09
I’m a Conservative, so obviously I am not a big fan of the current administration, but who cares? This is a non-partisan subject. I think what the Obamas did for Halloween was amazing. People should stop worrying about who paid for the White House Halloween Party and just enjoy what good sports everyone was to let their hair down and even get dressed up for an occasion that is really all for the kids. If I lived in DC and had the opportunity to take my children Trick or Treating at the White House, I surely would have regardless of my politics. It just seems petty to criticize how they celebrate Halloween when there are so many other, legitimate issues to voice contention about.
6. Boleyn | 11.01.09
Partying on the white house lawn at big taxpayer expense? Ummm…I spent all day as part of the team decorating that portico and lawn last night…relighting candles in paper bags after every rain shower…for free. Spirit of volunteerism and all. And I’m proud to have done it. You should have seen those little kids’ faces last night…it was amazing. Seperate the issues, people.
7. Not Vickie | 11.01.09
It is unfortunate when people allow jealousy and ignorance to blind them to the sweetness of the White House treating thousands of kids to a night they will never forget. What a nice treat for the little ones.
8. Cathy | 11.01.09
We have need of some fresh new ideas in our country. Halloween doesn’t scare me. Its a holiday with decorations and candy and its fun for the family. What scares me is people who really believe in witches and ant-christs and all the superstitious stuff and spend their time fearfully demonizing anyone that doesn’t agree with them on everything.
9. Greg | 11.01.09
Dear Vickie (#4): Why so racist? What’s wrong with Latinos? As a White Male, I’m glad we’re importing all the potential for economic growth in the form of a huge labor pool from Central and South America. The same thing happened with the Chinese and the Irish and the Italians, and on and on…
Obama a good President. It’s going to take longer than 11 months to fix what’s been going wrong on so many fronts for over 8 years.
11. Mario | 11.02.09
It’s ridiculous to call him a racist. It’s also funny how people can be so critical of a man who hasn’t even had a chance to prove himself. Can we at least give him the same opportunity all the other presidents have been given?
13. ernaE | 11.02.09
Poor poor Vicky, your ancestors stole native american soil, stole the country. Americans are not only anglos, from all over the world people came to the US, and wanted a piece of the “pie” too. So what’s wrong with that? You are talking about obama wanting to destroy “people”, which people are you talking about? White people? You forget his mother was white too? How can he ever think of destroying part of his own being? Poor, poor Vicky
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Jimmy Orr has worked in politics for the majority of his professional career working for two U.S. Senators, two Governors and one President. Most recently, Orr served as White House Spokesman and Internet Director for President George W. Bush and Special Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger for Internet Communications.
David Cook is Washington bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor and host of the Monitor's newsmaker breakfasts. He was the Monitor's editor from 1994 to 2001. Cook is a graduate of Principia College, served in the U.S. Army, was a Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, and is a member of the Gridiron Club, Washington's oldest journalistic organization.
1. PWB | 11.01.09
How cynically Monitor of you.