At CNN, "Obamas, Bushes to meet at White House":
Barack and Michelle Obama will get a tour of their future home Monday as they meet with the Bushes at the White House.
President Bush and the president-elect are expected to hold a meeting in the Oval Office, while first lady Laura Bush is expected to show the incoming first lady around the property.
Bush has pledged to do everything he can to make sure the transition is smooth.
[ ... ]
The courtesy tour is a historic formality. Monday will mark the first time since 1988 that a Bush has not hosted or been hosted by a Clinton.
Hmmm---it seems to me that Monday will involve a "Bush host," so that can't be quite right. Yet it's "sort of" clear what the writer is trying to say.
But---how to rewrite to make it correct? To make it fun, I require that the reformulation begin with the words "Monday will mark the first time since 1988 that..."
"Monday will mark the first time since 1988 that the transition has not been between the Bush and Clinton families."
In the end, this isn't that significant of a fact, except to point out that these two families have been ruling the country for 20 years.
We need you for hoops on Wednesday!
Posted by: James | 2008.11.10 at 09:33 AM
Well done, James.
I'll test your skillz Wednesday on the court.
Posted by: Thane Plambeck | 2008.11.10 at 10:43 PM
Whats wrong?
NOT[(Bush hosted by a Clinton) OR (Bush hosted a Clinton)]
=
NOT[(FALSE) OR (FALSE)]
=
NOT[FALSE]
=
TRUE
Right?
Posted by: WW | 2008.11.19 at 12:36 PM
I read it as
NOT [ (Bush hosted) ] or [ (Bush hosted by a Clinton) ]
=
NOT [ TRUE ] or FALSE
=
FALSE or FALSE
=
FALSE
but I agree that your parsing is what the author had in mind.
Posted by: Thane Plambeck | 2008.11.23 at 10:10 AM