President Obama's address on financial reform was a major White House media event on Thursday. In addition to the usual attendees, there was one extra guest. Wearing eyeglasses and toting a tiny briefcase in its mouth, a rodent occupied a place of importance in the grass, right in front of the Presidential podium.
Although there was some debate about its exact species, most seemed to agree that it was a 'vole,' otherwise known as a meadow mouse.
Some female members of the press didn't wait long enough to find out. Instead, they beat a hasty retreat from the Rose Garden. The first young lady to run across the grass screamed out her feelings at the top of her lungs: "Forget about cleaning up the banking scum. There's a mouse in the house."
Interviewed after the event, the rodent assessed the press conference as "boring and predictable," adding, "I made a quick exit and scurried away as fast as I could. I had more important things to do."
Indeed. Last seen, the vole, wearing a striped bow tie, was munching a hunk of cheese and boarding an Amtrak train to New York. It's rumored that he had an important meeting at the New York headquarters of Goldman Sachs.
