whitehouse.org

The website's purpose was to satirize the George W. Bush administration, their supporters and their politics using farce. The authors depicted the administration and their supporters as greedy, arrogant, overtly egotistical, culturally ignorant, nepotist, misogynist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic power-hungry warhawks who have absolutely no regard for any privacy or human rights other than their own. In keeping with those characterizations, women and ethnic and religious minorities who are in or favor the administration are ironically portrayed as unquestioning flock in (relatively) low-level job positions and who the white men of the administration dislike but keep around for support. For example, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norm Mineta is listed as the "Chauffeur" and unfeatured anywhere but the list of members of the administration,[8] while Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court is listed as the "Best Boy" and is satirically depicted in a reader Q&A session as incapable responding to any questions unrelated to pornography.[9] U.S. Secy. of State Condoleezza Rice is an exception to the rule, but a poster once advertised on the site satirically depicted her exclaiming, "I'm fighting for WHITEY!"[10]

• Speech Transcripts: One of the common strategies of the site was to publish news satire via fake press releases following a real event concerning the administration or its prominent supporters. Each fake press release purported to be the transcript of a speech, the minutes of a conversation or meeting, or an official governmental document. Each was accompanied by a doctored photograph providing a fictional visual scene for the occurrence. For example, after (in reality) Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States came under scrutiny for being a "hunting buddy" of U.S. Vice Pres. Dick Cheney while the Court was considering a case of Cheney's, Whitehouse.org included a fake dual statement titled "Joint Statement by Vice President Cheney and Justice Scalia Vigorously Defending the Propriety of Their Extracurricular Commingling"[11] and accompanied with a false image of Cheney and Scalia together in a hot tub.
• Interactive Forms: The site produced web-based forms to satirize official government online tools, including "American Patriot Registration",[12] "Federal Judiciary Express Confirmation",[13] and a "White House Press Pool Application".[14]
• "Ask The White House" Q&As: Echoing a recurring feature of the same name on the official WhiteHouse.gov,[15] WHITEHOUSE.ORG would solicit reader questions for dozens of members of the Bush Administration, then answer them in character on its own "Ask The White House".[16]
• Propaganda Posters: The site generated scores of satirical posters—many of which were photoshopped variations of actual classic World War II US Government propaganda posters—to critique and satirize the Bush administration. These frequently depicted President George W. Bush as childlike, jingoistic, and/or xenophobic. Sample poster slogans about Bush included "He volunteered for a beer run, and ended up running the world" and "Lookit Poppy—I can president all by myselfs!"[17]
• Micro-Sites: WHITEHOUSE.ORG would regularly launch ancillary parody websites at alternate web domains to house specific thematic content. These included a Bush/Cheney "Re-Selection" 2004 campaign website at georgewbush.org,[18] CRONYJOBS.com[19]—a parody of employment website hotjobs.com specifically for unqualified Bush appointees, and the sibling "abstinence-only" sex education programs "Iron Hymen" (for girls)[20] and "Sex Is For Fags!" (for boys).[21]

WHITEHOUSE.ORG gained attention in the media in 2003, when one page on the website was the center of a dispute between Vice President Dick Cheney's Counsel, David Addington, and John A. Wooden, the Editor in Chief of Chickenhead Productions. Addington made what was likely a litigation threat intended to scare the authors into censoring the website. Addington's effort, whatever the intent, backfired.

In December 2002, Addington sent a cease-and-desist letter to Wooden,[22] arguing that certain characteristics of a satirical biography of Lynne Cheney[23] (Dick Cheney's wife) on WHITEHOUSE.ORG were cause for litigation should Mrs. Cheney decide to file a lawsuit against Chickenhead Productions. Among the characteristics cited: photographs of her were used for a for-profit website without her permission; she was portrayed in the false biography "in a false light"; and that "few people are likely to notice your disclaimer link" and "even fewer are likely to click on the link and actually see the disclaimer." Addington also cited the spoof of the Presidential seal was displayed on every page of the website, asserting such use of the seal was a violation of federal law. In conclusion, Addington demanded that Wooden delete the photographs and fictional text of the satirical page, and to fax him with notifications of the changes, but clarified that "nothing in this request should be construed as expressing the lawfulness, wrongfulness or inappropriateness, or not, of any other aspect of your website".

WHITEHOUSE.ORG responded by doctoring photos of Lynne Cheney on the page with clown noses and the word "CENSORED", and by inserting a special disclaimer that read in part:

Mrs. Cheney's husband wishes you to be aware ... that some/all of the biographic information ... about Mrs. Cheney may not actually be true. ... the editors of WHITEHOUSE.ORG are confident that any rumors about Mrs. Cheney formerly being a crystal meth pusher are 100% likely to be absolutely untrue. Similarly, any stories about her penchant for licking Brandy Alexanders off the hirsute belly of her spouse are all lies, lies, lies!

— WHITEHOUSE.ORG

WHITEHOUSE.ORG then satirized the incident in a fake "Statement by the Vice President" on February 20, 2003, titled "Irate Vice President Cheney Issues a Punctilious, Legally Precise 'Oh, Wise Guy, Eh? Why I Oughta!' Letter to Nefarious 'Whitehouse.org' Terror Portal!".[24]

Wooden also gave a copy of the letter to the New York City chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, who then went to the press to speak out in defense of WHITEHOUSE.ORG's First Amendment rights.[25] Wooden discussed the events in interviews with Salon.com[26] and CNN.[27] In the wake of the controversy, staffers in Vice President Cheney's office disavowed knowledge of Addington's letter, telling the Washington Post, "We consider the matter closed."[28]

In 2004, the Plume imprint of Penguin Group USA published the WHITEHOUSE.ORG spin-off book, llThe White House Inc. Employee Handbook: A Staffer's Guide to Success, Profit, and Eternal Salvation Inside George W. Bush's Executive Branchll. Written by John A. Wooden (Editor), Paul A. Bradley, John DeVore, and Chris Harper.[29]

In 2005, the site's "Reader Mail" feature,[30] which regularly published e-mails from the general public—many intended for George W. Bush—was adapted into an off-Broadway show: "Dear Dubya: Patriotic Letters To WHITEHOUSE.ORG."[31] Written & Curated by John A. Wooden, Directed by R.J. Tolan and Produced by John DeVore, the show ran in an extended engagement, headlining "The Moral Values Festival" in Brooklyn, NY. The New York Times praised its ability to elicit "stunningly double-edged chortles",[32] and NYT Chief Theatre Critic Ben Brantley picked the show for his short list of "potential cult hits."[33]

After six years of regular and frequent updates, WHITEHOUSE.ORG ceased to be updated from September 14, 2007 until shortly before the inauguration of President Barack Obama. During the lengthy hiatus, on May 30, 2008, the site was briefly removed after being hacked and infected with trojan malware.[34] While offline, the site displayed a warning page including the humorous suggestion that "communist Chineses" may be responsible, and indicating there would be no new updates until the web server is "back under our control".[35]

On January 20, 2009, for the last day of George W. Bush's presidency, the site signed off with two final updates: "Mrs. Bush Finalizes Details Of Her Forthcoming Blockbuster Memoir: 'How My Heroic Hubby Saved An Ungrateful World'",[36] and a lengthy satirical farewell speech from the President, headlined "Full Text of President Bush's Emotional Farewell Speech Cataloguing His Unparalleled Competence and Intelligence."[37]