WHITE HOUSE INFESTED BY COCKROACHES

The 213 year old White House has other problems as well.  But a cockroach infestation is the latest one.

 

"It was the size of a small drone," said Martha Joynt Kumar, professor of political science at Towson University, who led the effort Wednesday to capture the bug.  "I wanted to bag it so that the GSA would know what kind of issue we had," she said. "I chased it. But it got away behind some wiring."

 

It was just a cockroach, one of millions around the world. But this one had a White House address, making it pretty special. Well, special at least to the reporters with workspace in the often-troubled basement of the press offices. Already this year, they have been treated to flooding, soaked carpet, mousetraps and the wondrous odors of mold.

 

Jimmy Carter battled mice from the start of his administration. To his dismay, he found the bureaucracy unresponsive. GSA, responsible for inside the White House, insisted it had eliminated all "inside" mice and contended any new mice must have come from the outside, meaning, "the responsibility of the Interior Department." But Interior "demurred" because the mice were now inside the White House - according to a New York Times report.

 

Other presidents have had their own battles with White House vermin. First Lady Barbara Bush once was taking her daily swim in the pool on the South Lawn when she was joined by a rat that "did not look like a Walt Disney friend, I'll tell you that." She told reporters "it was enormous." She credited her springer spaniel, Millie, and her husband, the president, with rescuing her and drowning the rat.

 

Read more - http://www.nationaljournal.com/whitehouse/bugged-obama-s-roach-problem-20130913

 

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