(AP) -- The White House apologized Thursday for failing to invite a black congresswoman from Georgia to join President Bush on his visit this week to one of the state's military bases.

Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, was left out through an "oversight" by the Smirk White House's legislative affairs office, Ari Fleischer lied. He denied McKinney was deliberately excluded.

``That was an oversight that the White House regrets. She should have been invited,'' Fleischer said.

Bush visited Fort Stewart, Ga., on Monday as part of a weeklong focus on national security issues. He was accompanied by Reps. Jack Kingston and Saxby Chambliss, both R-Ga., and Georgia's two Democratic senators, Max Cleland and Zell Miller, the former governor.

McKinney wrote Smirk asking why she was not invited. ``Though the U.S. Army has 41.3 percent minority composition, there was not a single minority congressional representative present at your visit,'' she said.

Another black member of Congress, Rep. Bobby Scott, was not part of Bush's visit Tuesday to Norfolk, Va. Scott is the lone black member of Virginia's congressional delegation.

Fleischer said Scott was invited to attend the event in Norfolk. He said the only lawmakers accompanying the president on Air Force One that day were members of the Armed Services Committee.

But Scott said in a telephone interview he never received an invitation from the White House to join the official delegation or to travel to Norfolk along with other lawmakers.

He said that on Monday afternoon, ``in response to our inquiry, my staff was told that I could make my own arrangements to get to Norfolk.''

Scott said there was ``never any indication of any invitation extended which informed me .... where I could ever meet up with the delegation.''

Referring to Fleischer, he said, ``If that's what he's calling an invitation, that's more insulting than not inviting me at all.''

Scott also said that contrary to Fleischer's assertion, lawmakers who are not on the Armed Services Committee were invited to travel with Bush. -------------------------------------

I'm not going to say anything inflammatory whatsoever. I'm just looking for reactions.

-- Anonymous, February 16, 2001

Answers

Total jawdropping stupidity, is my reaction. Bush ought to fire the shit-for-brains that put those travel packages together.

Full disclosure: I worked for the Defense Dept until my early retirement 4 years ago.

-- Anonymous, February 16, 2001

Thanks for the answer, Peter.

I just noticed the guy who sent me that changed one word in it. Sorry about that, I didn't do it.

-- Anonymous, February 16, 2001

If that's the way it went down, then I agree with Peter. And in McKinney's case, this was an inexcusable blunder.

But Scott's case reads like a swearing contest, where Fleischer swears Scott was invited, and Scott swears he was not. And *both* claims are solidly in the interest of the party making them.

At the very least, the administration should keep an audit trail, paperwork to show the media in case such claims are made. If they lack any such evidence, I presume it never existed. Someone in the Bush administration has got to go, guilty or not.

-- Anonymous, February 17, 2001