Goldberg and Guthrie

The White House web page (the president one, not the porn site) has an "Ask the White House" feature, wherein average citizens can ask questions of noted administration officials via the internet.

Here is a list of recent participants in the chat:

August 12, 2004
Andy Card, Chief of Staff

August 13, 2004
David L. Johnson, Director of the National Weather Service

August 18, 2004
John Snow, Treasury Secretary

August 19, 2004
Don Evans, Commerce Secretary

OK, this all makes sense. Then, this:

August 20, 2004
Kerri Strug

Say what? Lovable Olympian Kerri Strug is authorized to speak on behalf of the White House? Apparently so... here is the full transcript.

The whole thing is pretty stupid. Here was one thing I enjoyed:

Katie, from Washington, DC writes:
Hi Kerri - What is like going from Olympic gold to the frantic world of Washington (especially the White House)? Were you able to carry any lessons you learned as a competitive athlete into politics?

Kerri Strug
It is so exciting living in Washington DC! I think it is essential for young people to work in DC for some period of time. There are so many things to do, see, and learn.

I think this is a strange message for the White House to send, given that the Republican party is supposed to be about states rights. On the other hand, that is so last decade.

Overall, there's nothing too bad in the chat. It's seems obvious to me that Kerri Strug did not write it - though there is nothing as obviously fake as there was when the Bush twins were permitted to speak for the White House for a week.

UPDATE: I tried to post this yesterday, but wanted to post a link to a blog - I thought Wonkette - who demolished an "Ask the White House" with the Bush twins, pointing out how obvious it was that two twenty-something girls did not write this. I couldn't find it. But, yesterday, Wonkette posted this, which similarly mocks a mailing allegedly from the Bush twins. Here is that post:

The twins haven't been especially reliable in keeping up our correspondence, so you can imagine our delight yesterday, when we received a long-awaited email from them. We hadn't heard from them since Christmas, which is fine, because that's apparently the last time someone took a picture of the two of them in which they were neither dressed in ball gowns nor horizontal. And this wasn't just any email: It was a "special message from Jenna and Barbara Bush." Sure, if by "special" you mean stump-speech pabulum, if by "from" you mean put their names on it, and if by "Jenna and Barbara Bush" you mean "Ken Mehlmann." Wait, that's not fair. . . of course Ken Mehlmann didn't write that email. Some assistant of his did. The campaign has as much as admitted this, telling Lloyd Grove that while the girls didn't necessarily write the letter, "the language is largely their own." Huh. What language exactly, you think? We're guessing the words "parties" and maybe "big." Certainly not "integrity."

Click on the link to read the full message. Very funny stuff.

UPDATE: Because I know that many of our 5 readers will not follow the link and read the whole letter by the Bush Twins, here is my favorite paragraph:

Our Dad has qualities that are needed in a good President - loyalty, humor (embarrassing as it sometimes may be), compassion, and, most importantly, integrity. We're not the only ones who see it. In fact, our friends - from varying political backgrounds - are supporting our Dad in November. Not only because of his decisions to liberate the women of Afghanistan or bring freedom to the people of Iraq, but because during the last ten years they met a man whose title was Governor or President, but who was always happy to be known as "our Dad." He made everyone feel welcome and comfortable in our house (except for the occasional boyfriend) and our friends got to know him as a really good guy.

UPDATE: This post is getting too long, but I have to point out that Pandagon has the definitive post on the letter from the Bush twins.