In this age of judicial generosity…when presidential pardons are passed out like breath mints and special prosecutors ask, "Can’t we all just get along," it might seem totally partisan and petty…spiteful even…to ask why departing White House staffers have so much in common with the boys in the hood.

You know, the spray can graffiti artistes…who leave their self-expression in every public place and rely on shrinking city budgets to restore graphic neutrality.

These days, 250 thousand dollars may not seem like much…not to self-made billionaires like Bill Gates and certainly not to our Congressional budget planners.

Still, 250 thousand dollars is significantly more than I earn or pay in taxes and it riles me to think of it being squandered.

Yes…squandered.

Those who inherited the booby-trapped White House, a place that once was both stately and state-of-the-art, are blaming vandals from the departing Clinton administration for behavior that is more than childish, it’s downright expensive.

Inspectors found executive desks damaged beyond repair, office walls sporting messages clearly not penned by the welcome wagon and computer keyboards requiring replacement because the letter "W" had been removed like an infected appendix.

We give the incoming administration this much credit. The Government Services Administration (GSA) is pursuing reimbursement for the damage from those responsible. It may not be possible to recover every penny or identify each of the petty, petulant perpetrators. At least the effort will be made, at additional expense.

Meanwhile, interviews of the dearly departed are being conducted and pictures are being taken of the damage.

We could go on about the pornographic pictures left in computer printers, obscene messages placed on answering machines and trash thrown around the premises but compared to the weightier offenses, those might seem like…well, child’s play.

And how will the incoming Bush administration deal with Operation Sour Grapes? See if this sounds familiar? One Bush aide told reporters, "Whether things were done that were perhaps less gracious than should have been, it is not going to be what President Bush focuses on. Whatever may have been done, we are going to just put our heads down and look ahead."

In other words, more presidential pardons.

I wonder if I might expect such benevolent behavior if I decided to protest the misuse of my tax dollars and decided not to file a return this year?

Nah….

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