"We were going to the White House, but we couldn’t get in so I felt sad,"

[masuki bance]

Whoever was in charge of getting these kids there on time f****d up big time.

Thursday was supposed to be the highlight of the year for more than 100 kindergarteners from Stafford County, Va. They got up early and took a chartered bus to the White House for a school field trip. But when they arrived, all the 5-year-olds got was a lesson in disappointment.
...

"We were going to the White House, but we couldn’t get in so I felt sad," 5-year-old Cameron Stine said.

Parents say they were just 10 minutes late for their scheduled tour. School officials say White House staff said they needed to get ready for the president's event with the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, so they couldn't come in.
...

A lot of preparing had gone into the trip. Conway Elementary teachers had been planning the trip for months, each child paid $20 for a seat on the chartered bus, and names were submitted to the White House for clearance.

Parents say they tried to make it on time, but their chartered buses hit heavy traffic that slowed them down substantially. They thought they were supposed to show up by 10:15, but they say they arrived at 10:25 instead, and couldn’t get in.

"The person who headed this White House trip up came out and said, 'I’m sorry, the White House tour's off.' There were a lot of crying kids," parent Barbara Stine said....

"Here we have President Obama and his administration saying, 'Here we are for the common, middle class people,' and here he is not letting 150 5- and 6-year-olds into the White House because he’s throwing a lunch for a bunch of grown millionaires," Stine said.

Thursday night the White House released this statement: "The President and First Lady are dedicated to opening the doors of the White House to the public, and it is unfortunate to see young people miss a tour. The visitor’s office is already working to reschedule the group."

Parents say it's probably too late. The school year ends in a few weeks and they doubt the tour can be made up in that time.
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Kindergarteners-Snubbed-for-Steelers.html

WTF?! NBC Puts this caption on this pic-


"President Obama enjoys his new Steelers jersey after making children cry"

[tridim]

1. Next time, leave the school an hour earlier.

This has nothing to do with Obama NBC. Assholes.

[ColbertWatcher]

30. What!? That's crazy, time-traveling witchcraft talk! n/t

[DireStrike]

2. LOL!

That's not right at all for a serious news organization to be doing. But it sure is hilarious.

[lamp_shade]

3. They were supposed to be there by 9:30. They were told the gate would be

held open no later than 10:15. They held it open until 10:30.

[redqueen]

4. It's gonna be a long four years.

[SoCalDem]

5. Poor planning, pure and simple.

If you are taking kids to the White House, you arrive an hour EARLY..It's not like a trip to the local apple orchard or the pumpkin patch

[Buzz Clik]

6. The kids learned a big lesson: when adults screw up, they blame someone else.

[Politicalboi]

16. LOL!

I like that.

[bluestateguy]

25. And also that when you make an appointment with someone, you are expected to be on time

nt

[KansDem]

7. Hey, NBC! At least they weren't sodomized like they were under Bush!

NBC = "aNother Bullshit Corporation"

[HopeOverFear]

8. Can anyone tell that was staged, the way that little boy said that?

He was told to say that AND to make that exaggerated frown. It's so fucking obvious.

[Liquorice]

11. He didn't looked rehearsed to me. I think he was sad about it. But I'm sure they'll reschedule. nt

[Name removed]

15. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[azmouse]

9. I'm sure the WH is on a very tight schedule.

Even being late by a mere 10 minutes can make a huge difference.

[Orangepeel]

12. It seems like they were an hour late.

One of the quoted parents says they were 10 minutes late. That was probably the idiot in charge of planning the trip. If you are supposed to be somewhere at 9:30, they tell you that they will keep the gates open until 10:15, and you show up at 10:30, you aren't 10 minutes late.

I don't think this was the White House's fault, but it was bad PR. I'd think they could have taken the kids on a tour of the press room or something as a consolation.

[sweetloukillbot]

20. Um, didn't Obama's speech yesterday start around 10:30?

Not like he could meet the kids if he was in the National Archives.

[Orangepeel]

24. I don't think you meant to reply to me

Welcome to DU! :hi:

You want to hit the reply link on the message you are responding to, which (I assume) was the original message.

If you were replying to me, I didn't say the kids should meet with Obama. I thought it would be better PR if they had had somebody take them on a tour of something as a consolation for not meeting with him.

edit: I got the date wrong. It was on Thursday. That makes this story extra specially stupid!

[sweetloukillbot]

27. Lol yeah Just getting used to switching from lurking to posting. eom

[Ken Burch]

35. That's what they were illustrating with all those "walk ' n talk" scenes on The West Wing

If the Prez has to have meetings on the run, think what it's like for everybody else who goes through there.

[HopeOverFear]

10. Have you read the comments from that links? Ewww it's some racist stuff

[firedupdem]

33. I never read the comments, they are always like that. Disgusting!

:grr:

You spotted this story the other night on your local news didn't you?

[liberalmuse]

13. LOL, that is hilarious! (The caption, that is)

Jesus Christ, who do they allow to write this shit? "President Obama enjoys a cocktail before his mass slaughtering of kittens and puppies." Take a good guess at what that hack's party affiliation is?

[NYC_SKP]

14. Fuck NBC and their caption. And blame whomever got them there late.

It's their fault, the teacher, the driver, whatever.

They got there late, welcome to life, kids.

I hope they plan to go back and do it right.

[Fire1]

26. Ditto.

[debbierlus]

17. My sister lost her health insurance this week - sports photo ops make me SICK

eom

[countingbluecars]

18. There is little excuse for the planners

of this trip. Stafford County is on the 95 commuting corridor to DC. If you live there, you know about morning rush hour traffic and you plan accordingly.

[KittyWampus]

19. Welcome to life little kid, it's filled with disappointments... and I NEVER GOT MY FUCKING PONY

sorry... just had to get that out.

[asphalt.jungle]

21. pay close attention the last name of all those quoted

it's like a family reunion. they were suppose to be there at 9:30 and arrived at 10:25. also the president wasn't entertaining millionaire ball players at 10:30 either, he was at the national archives.

[HopeOverFear]

23. So they lied

surprise, surprise.

[Number23]

29. Thanks for the info!

The fact that they are trying to portray this as "Obama's fault" and that he "turned crying children away to party with millionaires" would be hilarious if it wasn't so incredibly pitiful.

[asphalt.jungle]

31. And even if he wasn't at the National Archives giving a speech

at that time and instead really "entertaining" the Steelers it still wouldn't matter because unlike the other team visits, this one had a charitable component to it where they put together 3k care packages for the troops overseas.






So saying "the President was putting together care packages for the troops while our kids were out here crying." doesn't have the same ring as "entertaining millionaires."

They are so full of shit it's unbelievable. Her kids are going to grow up unprincipled because they have lying parents who believe that in order to gin up sympathy for them missing an appointment the best course of action is to make it up as you go along.

[bluestateguy]

22. Re-driect their anger at the bus driver who made them late

The president's schedule is not to be messed with.

[LibDemAlways]

28. Nowhere in the article does it say the kids were

scheduled to meet the President, only that they were scheduled to take a school tour. If they were supposed to be there by 9:30, they were almost an hour late and it's understandable that the WH was unable to accommodate them. It makes no difference what later event was scheduled. If you have a White House appointment, double-check the time, leave plenty of time, and arrive on time - or prepare to be disappointed.

[Reterr]

32. Thats just pathetic and dumb

Well can't expect much more from the parent channel of MSNBC...I like Keith and Rachel, but other than that MSNBC is pure trash. That "lock-up" shit makes up about 75% of their week-end programming at least.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

34. Why don't you stop your stupid whining Ms Stine

You are behaving like a child much younger than your 5-year old son. You are not setting a good example and in fact you are evident of small but vocal group of parents who seem to have this entitlement mentality that the whole world should stop for you and your kids. Note, MOST parents do not have this but quite obviously you do.

President Obama is a BUSY WORLD LEADER with a tight and packed schedule. His office obviously took the time and trouble to arrange the tour and get the necessary clearances. And YOU disrespect them by showing up late. Here's a rule of thumb that I try to live by in my life when I have an important event and which the teachers of my school also lived by when organizing school excursions -plan ahead for potential incidents that could delay you and err on the safe side of caution and leave earlier to take this into account. I generally try to arrive to an event at least half an hour before it is scheduled to start so that, if something goes wrong, I can factor it into my schedule and I still won't be late arriving. Anticipating that there may be heavy traffic on the way in on a Thursday morning does not require you to be Einstein

There are other people who need to meet the President and there are other things that he and the the staff need to do. If you are not there on time, life goes on without you (yes, I know that's a difficult concept for you to understand DEAL WITH IT)

The White House is being more generous than it needs to be by trying to reschedule because of your sloppy time-keeping skills. I wonder whether you would have whined so much if it had been Mr. Bush in office, eh?

[Thrill]

36. That lady Stine. Has some serious issues

She also seems somewhat bitter. McCain Supporter? Likely

[RoyGBiv]

37. Who would have guessed ...

I mean, it never would have occurred to me at all that early morning traffic in the DC area might have caused delays. It only takes, what, 5 minutes or so to get from the beltway to downtown ... surely.