The Purloined Letter

Now that George W. Bush has been inaugurated, his aides are moving into their new offices — and finding the “W” key is missing from their office computers. “There are dozens, if not hundreds, of keyboards with these missing keys,” a White House aide said. “In some cases the W keys have been taped on top of the doorways, which are 12 feet tall. In other cases the key is just damaged, with the spring broken or removed.” Bush aides took the vandalism in stride, with spokesman Ari Fleischer noting his official reaction “would have been ‘wow,’ but the W was removed. So now it’s just ‘o’.” (Washington Post) ...For his part, Clinton claimed in a written statement, “While I disavoW knoWledge of this untoWard cloWning Within the White House Work areas, I Wish my successor Well. —WJC”