I don’t know what is more insightful: That George W. Bush had a bust of Winston Churchill in his inner sanctum or that Obama got rid of it.
Both says a lot about how either president sees/saw their roles in the most powerful office of the US. George W. liked to see himself a “war president”:
I'm a war president. I make decisions here in the Oval Office in foreign-policy matters with war on my mind. Again, I wish it wasn't true, but it is true. And the American people need to know they got a president who sees the world the way it is. And I see dangers that exist, and it's important for us to deal with them.
That statement puts this report in the Telegraph into a very interesting context:
A bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned to George W Bush from the Government's art collection after the September 11 attacks, has now been formally handed back.
The bronze by Sir Jacob Epstein, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds if it were ever sold on the open market, enjoyed pride of place in the Oval Office during President Bush's tenure.
But when British officials offered to let Mr Obama to hang onto the bust for a further four years, the White House said: “Thanks, but no thanks.” Telegraph
Churchill, of course, liked to stand on rooftops in London while German bombers dropped bombs all around him. You know, just like George W.
[...] wrote about the Winston Churchill bust George W. Bush had in the Oval Office that was recently removed by [...]
uh oh , here we go, down the yellow brick road again. R E S P E C T costs you nothing……you know Lincoln and Churchill had more in common than Lincoln and Obama…..but there you go…..democrats are not only intellectually superior, they are better and superior to you and me,and will never get it, and that song will never change…..great to see Nancy spending many American $ in Italy, she should pay her own way entirely , what a show pony, she would not have been in Churchill’ s government ; I have come to the conclusion, that the real bankruptcy in America is not in business, but in the intellectual grappling with truth, sorry to say Obama is wavering on this line…read Churchill, he was not writing autobiographies…..mmmmmmmm jan
You quite obviously are of superior intelect as I have not the slightest idea what that comment is supposed to say.
Do you mean to say he should have kept it?
Let’s see… it was “on loan” and removed prior to Obama’s inaugruation and every President decorates differently. Yet, the wingnuts are going crazy proclaiming this is just another sign that Obama intends to turn this into a fascist socialist Muslim country. George Carlin was right.
The bust of Winston Churchill wasn’t loaned to the former president just after the attacks on 9/11 for “decorative” purposes. Either you aren’t being intellectually honest, or you are in complete ignorance of recent history and hence the symbolic meaning of this bust. Perhaps you should be getting your enlightenment from other sources than just the late great George Carlin. Maybe read a biography of Winston Churchill, or some history books on WWII.
It is amazing to me that abeloved man such as Mr. Obama is that he can be rude and unpresidential. First the ‘bust’ now giving the Prime Minister of Great britain a DVD set? Is it just me or is there more to this snide attitude toward Britain…Enlighten me please.
While I am not ‘amazed or shocked’ at anything Barack Obama does; it is ironic that he would remove a bust of a man who history clearly shows was a great statesman, thinker and contributor to the betterment of society in general; and replace it with a bust of a man who is known to have the strongly held belief that Blacks were intellectually inferior to and should be kept separate from, Whites. Although Abraham Lincoln did ‘emancipate’ the slaves; he did this for the preservation of the Union. He did not do it because he believed in integration, affirmative action, or the true equality of the races. So, each day when Obama gazes lovingly at the bust of Abraham Lincoln, it is likely that the spirit of Lincoln gazes back in disgust that a Biracial man is sitting in the President’s chair. I still marvel at the fact that Obama’s Black ethnicity has become such a large part of his Presidency (historic ‘first “Black President”, ‘At Last’ sung by Beyonce at Inauguration, etc.) when all during the campaign all we heard was ‘this is not about race at all.’
There is no non-Jewish statesman more responsible for the resurrection and reclaimation of the nation of Israel than Sir Winston. We now see more clearly President Obama’s views on the Israeli-Arab conflict. I do not think the bust of Sir Winston staring at him while he pens statements about the “occupation” of Jerusalem gives President Obama neither comfort or guidance.
However, I wonder if President Obama is aware that Mr. Lincoln was also a “Zionist” and supported the return of the Jewish people to their ancestral land.
Who cares??? Some of you act like it is a big deal that Obama has different taste that George Bush… Who cares?? It doesn’t matter what Prez Obama does or doesn’t do… it will always be the wrong thing to some people!!!! Get over it!
winston churchill was a facist and racist so its not suprising he has been removed! end of story
brits wake up, you caused alot of damage to the world
the germans have admitted what they did was wrongs, now its your turn
Memo to mike richards..Quit Fucking your mother