Mus musculus Among Us
October 1, 2019 12:29 PM Subscribe
A Mouse is on the Loose in the White House, and the Press Corps Scrambles to Chase it Down (Charlie Nash, Mediaite)
"This is how they feed Stephen Miller."
posted by Countess Elena at 12:34 PM on October 1, 2019 [25 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 12:34 PM on October 1, 2019 [25 favorites]
he's cute - let's name him donald
posted by pyramid termite at 12:37 PM on October 1, 2019
posted by pyramid termite at 12:37 PM on October 1, 2019
Elle.com's R. Eric Thomas has an interview with the mouse.
posted by knile at 12:38 PM on October 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by knile at 12:38 PM on October 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Wow, the WH is a virtual Baltimore.
posted by j_curiouser at 12:43 PM on October 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by j_curiouser at 12:43 PM on October 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
You know what they say about rats on a sinking ship... One can only hope this is symbolism for the upcoming Impeachment hearings and investigation.
posted by Fizz at 12:46 PM on October 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Fizz at 12:46 PM on October 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
the rat symbolizes obviousness
posted by cottoncandybeard at 12:50 PM on October 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by cottoncandybeard at 12:50 PM on October 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
No such thing as just one mouse...
posted by sallybrown at 12:50 PM on October 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by sallybrown at 12:50 PM on October 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
"musculus" should not be capitalized. *twitch*
posted by wintermind at 12:58 PM on October 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by wintermind at 12:58 PM on October 1, 2019 [7 favorites]
The mouse is a metaphor for Brett Stephens.
posted by Reyturner at 1:00 PM on October 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Reyturner at 1:00 PM on October 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
Anyone ever heard a landlord tell his "worst tenant" story? Anyone think that basic maintenance of the premises is any kind of priority for this administration.
posted by Horkus at 1:04 PM on October 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Horkus at 1:04 PM on October 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Mods: as per wintermind, please uncapitalize "musculus" in the post title.
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:05 PM on October 1, 2019
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:05 PM on October 1, 2019
Intellectually, I understand that some people feel the way about mice and snakes that I do about spiders*, but it still baffles me on an emotional level. Let the little guys live their lives. It's not like they can do more damage to the White House than the current president.
*in my defense, they have a lot more legs
posted by brook horse at 1:19 PM on October 1, 2019 [8 favorites]
*in my defense, they have a lot more legs
posted by brook horse at 1:19 PM on October 1, 2019 [8 favorites]
Considering how accurate and truthful this administration has been are we really sure it's not a mole?
posted by loquacious at 1:26 PM on October 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by loquacious at 1:26 PM on October 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
There's a mouse—or perhaps a rat—that occasionally trundles across the top of my backyard fence. His name is Sam and we consider it a good luck charm when we happen to spot him. I'm not convinced he isn't some sort of rodent deity considering the number of hawks and owls that live in the trees above Sam's parade grounds. On the other hand, the predator birds have kept the stray cat population down.
I'm not sure what bearing this has on the rat in the white house, though. To clarify, specifically the skydiving rodent mentioned in the article. I haven't seen Sam in a while and had not wanted to consider the likely implications, so perhaps he's scampering around the White House right now. This is now my chosen belief.
posted by Godspeed.You!Black.Emperor.Penguin at 1:33 PM on October 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
I'm not sure what bearing this has on the rat in the white house, though. To clarify, specifically the skydiving rodent mentioned in the article. I haven't seen Sam in a while and had not wanted to consider the likely implications, so perhaps he's scampering around the White House right now. This is now my chosen belief.
posted by Godspeed.You!Black.Emperor.Penguin at 1:33 PM on October 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
That’s not the first rodent they’ve tried to pin down in that room, recently.
posted by darkstar at 1:40 PM on October 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by darkstar at 1:40 PM on October 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
Am wondering how long Rachel Maddow can drag this story out on her show tonight.
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:41 PM on October 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:41 PM on October 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
"A Mouse is on the Loose in the White House..."
Came in here because I misread and thought this was going to be an animal pronunciation game.
posted by iamkimiam at 1:46 PM on October 1, 2019 [6 favorites]
Came in here because I misread and thought this was going to be an animal pronunciation game.
posted by iamkimiam at 1:46 PM on October 1, 2019 [6 favorites]
My mother would have pronounced them like moose/loose/hoose.
posted by pracowity at 1:51 PM on October 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by pracowity at 1:51 PM on October 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
Pretty sure that's a mouse. I used to keep pet mice and rats, and not only is that really small for a rat, even a juvenile female, but rat tails end to be held more stiffly out from the body. Mouse tails are really soft and expressive and bend like the one seen in the video. If a pet mouse trusts you, it will sit in your hand to eat a snack and tuck its tail over and around your wrist.
/mefite pedantry
posted by joyceanmachine at 2:06 PM on October 1, 2019 [11 favorites]
/mefite pedantry
posted by joyceanmachine at 2:06 PM on October 1, 2019 [11 favorites]
There hasn't been a daily briefing in six months, what are the reporters doing in the briefing room anyway?
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:58 PM on October 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:58 PM on October 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
"A Mouse is on the Loose in the White House..."
Mouse loose in house of an obtuse grousing moussed louse come unloose who's abuse has roused us to deduce he's in cahoots with the Russe.
posted by leotrotsky at 3:14 PM on October 1, 2019 [12 favorites]
Mouse loose in house of an obtuse grousing moussed louse come unloose who's abuse has roused us to deduce he's in cahoots with the Russe.
posted by leotrotsky at 3:14 PM on October 1, 2019 [12 favorites]
This is what happens when the president is the first in a century not to have a pet while in the White House. Get a cat in there asap!
posted by Sparky Buttons at 3:14 PM on October 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Sparky Buttons at 3:14 PM on October 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
A cat would walk out at the first opportunity.
posted by zengargoyle at 3:20 PM on October 1, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by zengargoyle at 3:20 PM on October 1, 2019 [12 favorites]
This reminds me of the bit in John Mulaney's Netflix special "Kid Gorgeous at Radio City" where he compares Trump in the White House to a horse loose in the hospital.
posted by ElKevbo at 3:27 PM on October 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by ElKevbo at 3:27 PM on October 1, 2019 [4 favorites]
Looking forward to mousefucker being (re)introduced into the American vernacular, and the revival of disco.
p.s. Even Hitler had a pet
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:15 PM on October 1, 2019
p.s. Even Hitler had a pet
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:15 PM on October 1, 2019
A cat would walk out at the first opportunity.
Have any presidential pets ever ran away? I don't have the spoons for that rabbithole tonight, but if someone else does, I'd be forever grateful.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 5:37 PM on October 1, 2019
Have any presidential pets ever ran away? I don't have the spoons for that rabbithole tonight, but if someone else does, I'd be forever grateful.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 5:37 PM on October 1, 2019
This sort of thing probably isn't that new. I mean, you can't really have a building that big, that's more than 200 years old, and doesn't have all manner of critters running around. I'm sure even under ideal conditions, controlling the pest population is pretty sisyphean.
At least the reporters got to have some fun for once.
posted by gloriouslyincandescent at 6:15 PM on October 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
At least the reporters got to have some fun for once.
posted by gloriouslyincandescent at 6:15 PM on October 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
There hasn't been a daily briefing in six months, what are the reporters doing in the briefing room anyway?
I was wondering what myself. Do they just hang out in the briefing room on the off chance that 45 wants to come by and rant about whatever is on his mind?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:18 PM on October 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
I was wondering what myself. Do they just hang out in the briefing room on the off chance that 45 wants to come by and rant about whatever is on his mind?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:18 PM on October 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
Why were they trying to catch it?
posted by defenestration at 6:36 PM on October 1, 2019
posted by defenestration at 6:36 PM on October 1, 2019
Boredom?
posted by lhauser at 6:43 PM on October 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by lhauser at 6:43 PM on October 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
They spend that time and effort to catch a mouse, but they still haven't noticed the elephant.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 11:43 PM on October 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Cardinal Fang at 11:43 PM on October 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Maybe they should leave the mouse alone and deal with their rampant vermin infestation.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 2:23 AM on October 2, 2019
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 2:23 AM on October 2, 2019
Don''t tell Lennie.
posted by lordrunningclam at 4:35 AM on October 2, 2019
posted by lordrunningclam at 4:35 AM on October 2, 2019
Does not surprise me. I was in the basement of the White House a handful of times, and felt that my basement was nicer. (And I did not have a very nice basement at the time)
At least it wasn't flying cockroaches, which I sometimes had in DC.
posted by MtDewd at 5:29 AM on October 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
At least it wasn't flying cockroaches, which I sometimes had in DC.
posted by MtDewd at 5:29 AM on October 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
Here's Wikipedia's list of presidential pets. Two notes:
1. The only reference to mice is for Andrew Johnson, who had no other pets but "Fed white mice he found in his bedroom"
2. Calvin Coolidge had a raccoon named Rebecca, who gets her own Wikipedia page. Originally intended to be Thanksgiving dinner, they kept her as a pet instead. They got her a male companion named Reuben, but he frequently escaped and wound up disappearing for good. In the Hoover administration the raccoon house was occupied by a wild possum named Billy.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:38 AM on October 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
1. The only reference to mice is for Andrew Johnson, who had no other pets but "Fed white mice he found in his bedroom"
2. Calvin Coolidge had a raccoon named Rebecca, who gets her own Wikipedia page. Originally intended to be Thanksgiving dinner, they kept her as a pet instead. They got her a male companion named Reuben, but he frequently escaped and wound up disappearing for good. In the Hoover administration the raccoon house was occupied by a wild possum named Billy.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:38 AM on October 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
In the Hoover Carter administration the raccoon house was occupied by a wild possum named Billy.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:53 AM on October 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:53 AM on October 2, 2019 [5 favorites]
Calvin Coolidge had a raccoon named Rebecca, who gets her own Wikipedia page. Originally intended to be Thanksgiving dinner
...what?!
posted by sallybrown at 6:15 AM on October 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
...what?!
posted by sallybrown at 6:15 AM on October 2, 2019 [3 favorites]
Calvin Coolidge had a raccoon named Rebecca, who gets her own Wikipedia page. Originally intended to be Thanksgiving dinner
clinteastwood_shudder.gif
I mean. I mean, if you're going to be eating garbage that's been reprocessed into meat, have a fuckin pork chop.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 6:15 AM on October 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
clinteastwood_shudder.gif
I mean. I mean, if you're going to be eating garbage that's been reprocessed into meat, have a fuckin pork chop.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 6:15 AM on October 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
...moose loose in the hoose
This is from the cartoon Lighthouse Mouse, which is a Merrie Melodies cartoon in which a mouse and a baby kangaroo switch places in a comedic way, making Sylvester the Cat believe there's a giant mouse, so from the beginning I imagined this is the scenario the White House Press Corps are in, opening and closing doors, looking for the mouse, getting kicked in the gut by a kangaroo upon opening a door the mouse had just crawled underneath.
posted by AzraelBrown at 8:02 AM on October 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
This is from the cartoon Lighthouse Mouse, which is a Merrie Melodies cartoon in which a mouse and a baby kangaroo switch places in a comedic way, making Sylvester the Cat believe there's a giant mouse, so from the beginning I imagined this is the scenario the White House Press Corps are in, opening and closing doors, looking for the mouse, getting kicked in the gut by a kangaroo upon opening a door the mouse had just crawled underneath.
posted by AzraelBrown at 8:02 AM on October 2, 2019 [2 favorites]
' "Hoots Mon" is a song written by Harry Robinson, and performed by Lord Rockingham's XI. It was a number-one hit single for three weeks in 1958 on the UK Singles Chart. It is based on the old Scottish folk song "A Hundred Pipers".' Youtube. (tho I'm not understanding the visuals.) Other Scots sentence is "It's a braw, bricht, moonlicht nicht."
Ah, just discovered the song draws on the cartoon! My bad!
Lighthouse Mouse
posted by glasseyes at 9:36 AM on October 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
Ah, just discovered the song draws on the cartoon! My bad!
Lighthouse Mouse
posted by glasseyes at 9:36 AM on October 2, 2019 [1 favorite]
« Older Thee Temple of #MeToo | no YOU got distracted by a wiki while researching... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Quindar Beep at 12:31 PM on October 1, 2019 [26 favorites]