Adding Insult to Expulsion

And when former ABC White House correspondent Sam Donaldson, famous for shouting out important questions to Ronald Reagan, asked Bush an idiotic one -- "Mr. President, should Mel Gibson be forgiven?" -- Bush responded: "Is that Sam Donaldson? Forget it. You're a has-been. We don't have to answer has-been's questions."

Even a press corps used to chuckling and guffawing at Bush's frat-boy towel-snapping responded with what the White House transcribers recorded as an "Ohhhhh!" over that one.

All in all, an appropriately ugly and useless sendoff to a room where both respect and self-respect have been in short supply.

The Coverage

Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Peter Wallsten write in the Los Angeles Times: "The White House on Wednesday bade farewell, at least temporarily, to a frequent thorn in the Bush administration's side: the presidential press corps, whose members are moving across the street to make way for a nine-month renovation of their currently cramped quarters."

Peter Baker writes in The Washington Post that Bush "seemed to be smiling a lot as he contemplated life without reporters underfoot.

"For now, the media will be moved to a government building next to Lafayette Square, where press secretary Tony Snow will conduct briefings. Except for a handful of pool reporters kept in a trailer and television correspondents doing stand-ups on the lawn, the White House will be free of the media for the duration. . . .

"Snow tried to dispel any fears of a secret plot to never let the press back in. 'There will, indeed, be a new press room,' he said. 'It will be right here in this very spot, and the carpets will be clean, the electric -- the connections will be up-to-date, and it will be a more congenial and helpful work environment for all.'"

Jessica Yellin reports for ABC News that some reporters are "spinning conspiracy theories -- that the White House won't let the press corps back in.

"'All they have to say is, "Oh, the fire officials deem the place a fire hazard and there's not enough room for all of you," ' one reporter said. 'Then they turn it into more White House offices.'"

But here's the most plausible-sounding assurance yet: "Snow added that he looked forward to getting the press back as soon as possible because he would have to make the daily walk to the new space, which could make for 'bad hair days.'"

After his remarks, Bush wandered over the front row of seats for a little glad-handing. Yochi J. Dreazen writes for the Wall Street Journal that "when he was told that it was the birthday (86th, for those who keep track of such things) of White House press corps doyenne Helen Thomas, an acerbic critic of his administration, Bush leaned in close to her and asked Thomas to give him a big kiss. She opted not to."

Brian Williams bid a wistful goodbye on NBC to his old stomping grounds; Jim Axelrod filed a light-hearted report for CBS. For more images, the White House Web site has a panorama of the briefing room, and a virtual tour led by former press secretary Scott McClellan.