That tears it. President Obama, you have just declared war on me. Those of you who are not familiar with the storied history of the greatest man, perhaps, ever to live, pick up a copy of "The Last Lion" by William Manchester. Obama supporters, you are now my enemies. Not the "loyal opposition", you are enemies.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Obama Sends Winston Churchill Bust Back to UK
That tears it. President Obama, you have just declared war on me. Those of you who are not familiar with the storied history of the greatest man, perhaps, ever to live, pick up a copy of "The Last Lion" by William Manchester. Obama supporters, you are now my enemies. Not the "loyal opposition", you are enemies.
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You would make enemies over this? The loan was until 2009, it is now 2009. Obama returned it. This is not an act of war.
ReplyDeleteStick to medicine, please. I seem to remember you writing about medicine at some point a while back.
Sheesh! Politics aside -- have you seen this thing? It's ugly.
ReplyDeleteHere is a quote from the British Embassy in D.C.
A British Embassy spokesman said: "The bust of Sir Winston Churchill by Sir Jacob Epstein was uniquely lent to a foreign head of state, President George W Bush, from the Government Art Collection in the wake of 9/11 as a signal of the strong transatlantic relationship.
"It was lent for the first term of office of President Bush. When the President was elected for his second and final term, the loan was extended until January 2009.
"The new President has decided not to continue this loan and the bust has now been returned. It is on display at the Ambassador's Residence."
So El Jefe didn't want the thing in his office. Don't read so much into it. Let's pick on things of substance rather than the inane and immaterial.
kkmd
it was not asked for, when it was returned the British told us we could keep it, Obama didn't want it. slap in the face. the end.
ReplyDeleteoh, and new zealand, take that ugly thing of sir edmund hillary back, france, the joan of arc thing.... a little 'weird' for us, and, all those statues of the french resistance, nah, won't have any use for those radicals in our administration, india, here's the ghandi and mother theresa busts we won't be needing. ignorant putzes.
ReplyDeleteYou focus on the most inane & irrelevant things......
ReplyDeleteand right now, anonymous, i'm focusing on you, which makes you inane and irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteThe left has declared Churchill responsible for how Obama's Mau Mau grandfather was treated.
ReplyDeleteed,
ReplyDeletei read that too. to me, though, charity starts at home and i notice Mr Obama's brother lives in a mud hut in africa and his mom or aunt was recently deported from NYC. i may have this last bit wrong. this kind of thinking is interesting to me because a black man once insulted my great grandfather and i am now going to get even.
How long will it take for fans of Changey McHoperson to realize not much has changed since he took office...sending more troops to Afganistan (fuck Bush if HE had done it), economy still sucks because WE AMERICANS fucked it up (consumer debt, bad decisions on buying home we couldn't afford and didn't deserve)...golly, I guess one guy can't actually make it all better.
ReplyDeleteBuck up America. WE did this to ourselves. In the long run, this economic debacle is going to be a good thing.
When we make $65,000 as a household, we DON'T get to have two fat new SUV's, 4 big screen 52-inch LCD tvs, a trip to Hawaii every year, and all the best designer clothes for us and our kids.
GET IT???
"and right now, anonymous, i'm focusing on you, which makes you inane and irrelevant."
ReplyDelete911- you rock!
Leaving aside the emotional component of this story to the side(especially to me, a citizen of both the United States and the United Kingdom).
ReplyDeleteI think this story is very telling especially considering Mr. Obama's past snobbish tendencies. This clearly shows that Mr. Obama doesn't have a clue on manners or protocol. So basically he's a snob with no manners, which I find very interesting as I think it's indicative of a type of narcissism that he has. You see it also in his messiah like image as well.
"Men show, by what they worship, what they are." - Calvin Coolidge
I sense that Mr. Obama worships himself...nothing more, nothing less.
You people are hilarious.
ReplyDeleteBush gets sent a bust of Churchill, a person for whom he professes an admiration, and puts it on display. Now Bush is no longer President, but Obama is obliged to keep it or he's "the enemy." To you Lincoln, whose bust apparently has replaced Churchill's image in the Oval Office, is less a proper role model for an American President than Churchill.
And Obama is not allowed to pick his own Oval Office pieces. Keeping the Bush Office floor rug was a decent gesture of him - nice and big and visible, right in the middle of every shot. Much more decent than the Bushes' remodeling of the Office after Clinton's terms, when they made sure to have TV cameras showing them ripping out everything in the Office. Honor and dignity and all that, right?
It's better to return a statue than put it - where? There's no art gallery for heads of state of other countries in the White House. And it was a piece loaned especially to the President, not the United States. If he chooses not to keep it on display, better it be returned to the people to whom it belongs than stored somewhere in the White House or put on display somewhere else.
And please dump this whole "Obama=Messiah" crap that you on the Right have ginned up. I have not forgotten the Rev Craig's sermon in 2000 the day after Gore conceded and Bush went to church first thing, the sermon that opened with "Now we have a President, chosen by God, to lead us ..."
It's true. You can always know what kinds of shenanigans Republicans are up to, because they accuse the Democrats of doing it to cover their own asses.
"stick to medicine, please. I seem to remember you writing about medicine at some point a while back." - redrox
ReplyDeleteRedrox and others
You really don't get it. With the election of presidents since Clinton (and even before) medicine is now politics. In ten years you will be wondering, when this healthcare system is in shambles, why a few good doctors stood by and let it happen.
Any psychiatrist will tell you, the way you decorate your home and office gives clues to you personality, goals and views on life. Yes, a bust of Churchill is small potatoes, but there is insight. President who abolished slavery, presided over civil war and almost took the US to war with Britain ...in. World leader who prevented the fall of western civilization and unified hemispheres to fight a brutal racist dictatorship...out. Lincoln's election probably resulted in the South's succession and pitted brother against brother in a brutal war that led to hatred of each other for decades. Churchill's election helped unify and rally the allies after the Neville Chamberlain peace treaty debacle, It is interesting to ponder the man who decorates his office this way.
Right now the Canadians are worried the US is going protectionist. Wonder if how a president decorates his office might give a clue?
"You can always know what kinds of shenanigans Republicans are up to, because they accuse the Democrats of doing it to cover their own asses" -KC
ReplyDeleteAgain, you missed the point. The battle line is not Republican vs Democrat. That argument is obsolete and pedantic. The battle being joined is for the very survival of a medical system that will still concerned with the health of individuals vs a bureaucracy concerned with the health of the herd by regulatory fiat. Be very,very afraid, KC
KC,
ReplyDeleteUnder even the lightest examination you're argument(if you can call it that) doesn't hold water. The UK Government didn't give the Churchill bust to please the President. They gave it as a sign of support and a way to deepen ties to the US Presidency. He should of found space for it somewhere. Also, Mr. Churchill was the head of government, not the head of state(that's the Queen...or in Churchill's day, her dad).
Second, you're right...Obama is nothing like Jesus. Jesus was killed after all for preaching things the public didn't like to hear. Obama doesn't have the guts to be a Contrarian on anything of substance. Plus he doesn't preach anything of substance anywho, he's mere image.
Lastly, you're accusing conservatives of projecting, eh? Well, I don't know what planet you live on but I seem to recall most conservatives being very critical of Bush's bailout.
"Obama supporters, you are now my enemies. Not the "loyal opposition", you are enemies"
ReplyDelete911 your hatred of Obama and everyone who voted for him (over 50% of the American electorate) is well known. You already viewed every Obama supporter as an enemy before the bust was removed. I do wish there was some way to throw all of you right-wing morons in a building with all the left-wing nutballs. You can then proceed to kill each other off and leave those of us left who actually want to work together.
Igloodoc
ReplyDelete"Lincoln's election probably resulted in the South's succession and pitted brother against brother in a brutal war that led to hatred of each other for decades"
The civil war was going to happen in the coming years no matter WHO was going to be elected. The pre-war Northern and Southern systems were incompatible in one country. All Lincoln's election did was provoke southern states immediate "secession" (not sucession). Read up on your 1830's-1850's US history.
RW -
ReplyDeleteA statue is a nice gesture, but that's what it is. The real support came from Blair who, wrong or right, supported Bush to the hilt on Iraq and other issues. If the British - and you - are going to reduce their support and ties over a statue, that's completely ridiculous.
They loaned it to us. We and Mr Bush appreciated it. The loan was extended until this year. Mr Obama decided he didn't want it in the Oval Office and returned it to the British government so that their people could enjoy it. The only people making a fuss about it here are the people who see everything Mr Obama does, probably including breathing, as wrong and unacceptable.
Accusing Mr Obama of being all image is equally ridiculous. Mr Bush tripled Clinton's PR and poll budget, strutted across an aircraft carrier kept at sea for a photo op, screened admittees to rallies and speeches for his entire presidency based on political affiliation and clothing - he's the President of the entire country, not just loyal Republicans - so that there would be no visible dissent -- but Mr Obama is the one who is all image. Right.
And being critical of the bailout - which was opposed only by a bare majority of Republicans on Capitol Hill - after eight years of unthinking cheerleading doesn't really convince me of anything regarding Republican "independence" or "principle." McCain was supposed to oppose the bailout as a way to distance himself from Bush, but couldn't muster up a clear message pro or con. Whatever Republicans were doing, it was done to bolster McCain's campaign, not on any principle that had been ignored for pretty much the entire decade prior. Now of course it's easy to oppose the President. Before they go home to their states and talk about how much the stimulus package will be good for their constitutents - the package every single one of them voted against. Flip-flopping used to be a Bad Thing for Republicans to do. Now we could tie a pair of magnets to every Republican Congressman and stick them in generators and power the whole country.
Finally - I am amused by a conservative repudiating the most famous Republican president as a maker of war, and quoting a foreign head of state as a better role model for an American President. I'm not putting Churchill down, I don't know his story as well as you do, and his pivotal role in World War II is well-known and respected even in my basic knowledge of things. But to go as far as you do in more or less insulting an American President, equally pivotal in preserving the United States in a time of war with itself, is plainly unacceptable.
KC
igloodoc -
ReplyDeleteWe approach the question of private insurance vs public financing from different sides. As a consumer and observer of health care in the US, I can tell you that Medicare was very good to my dad in his last years, and to my aunts more recently. Private insurance screwed my dad, my sister, my mentor at work, and several colleagues but hard. So I fear public financing a lot less then you think I should, because I don't see how it can get worse than letting people die while, for example, the insurance company balks at paying for a transplant covered by policy and the hospital refuses to admit him until they do. That's my experience. I imagine you'll blow that off, because it's anecdotal and I'm not able to provide evidence. Fair enough. But it also means that your concerns will meet with profound skepticism.
Doctors and nurses might still care for patients, but the insurance companies that pay (and don't pay) so many of your bills do not.
KC
dear anon O supporter,
ReplyDeletei do not hate any Obama suppporter that i know and, in fact, do not know any Obama supporter well enough to hate them (should they deserve it). i am perplexed by Obama supporters, maddened by them, and declare them my 'enemy', but i don't hate them, and there is a difference... the main difference being that i simply want to avoid them whereas if i were to feel true 'hate' towards someone a confrontation might ensue.
as an example a soldier might view his enemy through binoculars but it would be hard to imagine this same soldier 'hating' them. hate involves personal knowledge on a deep level (or at least the perception of the same).
it is, in fact, the liberal wing of the democrat party that has cornered the market on emotion and hate. obama rode to victory on a combination of puppy-love for the blessed O mixed with a deep-gut hatred of GWB (based on their perceived deep knowledge of his innermost thoughts and motivation (as heard on NPR or CNBC or ABC or NBC or CBS etc...).
unfortunately for your side such emotion can not be sustained so you ride from crisis to crisis and candlelight vigil to polar bear swim to take back the night marches while congratulating yourself for being so caring.
my fear is that by the time the majority of our voting public figures out that Obama's economics are worse than the disease and that he is an empty suit in the most important job in the world the damage to the country i love may be irreperable.
and you will no doubt disagree with my assessment in this last sentence, particularly with my closely held belief that the United States constitution is the greatest governing document ever conceived by man and that our country has done more in it's brief history to advance freedom, not just for it's own population, but for countless millions across the world), and that when Obama talks about our constitution as being "flawed" and indicates to all with ears that his agenda is, at the very least, socialist (and therefore anti-American), then his supporters are my enemmies.
and lastly, you betray your ignorance of Christianity by being amazed that GWBs inauguration included an invocation by a pastor who stated that God had chosen him for the job... what did you expect him to say? that God hadn't chosen him? but i will confess, that if you found this same pastor and asked him if God chose Obama for to be our president and he said 'no' then i too would be shocked. i just wonder what we have done as a country to deserve such punishment.
kc,
ReplyDeletei do not disagree with you about most of what you wrote, but generalizing to one of your family member's experience with medicare to the evil insurance industry strikes me as a bit tenuous.
also disagree with your use of the word 'hit' when referring to the war in iraq as it makes is sound like old saddam was just a regular guy and iraq just a regular country when the US mafia came in and capped 'em and i do believe that's what you think. you are welcome to that opinion but it wasn't shared by the clinton administration which also believed saddam was harboring chemical and bioweapons or, if they did not, were playing a political game by stating that belief publicly.
GWB will be shown to have been a good president and one who saw us through a time of great danger. i hope obama is up to the task of finishing what GWB warned at the start was going to take at least ten years. i was pleased to see that obama is upping the troop levels in afghanistan and that he authorized a missile strike that killed 9 taliban fighters within two days of taking office (i mean, they must have been taliban fighters because O 'authorized the hit', but 48 hours earlier the 'victims' would have been 'villagers').
GWB also made the rookie mistake of going to DC with an honest hand offered across the aisle. he, by his own admission, caved on his market principles and never challenged the left in the open or, as far as i can tell, behind closed doors. he thought that by making nice and playing bipartisan that he could 'change the tone' in washington. he was wrong.
and that's what's wrong with a whole bunch of moderates and conservatives and it took me a long time to 'come out' too but the genius of our political system is not setting out to agree with the opposition, it is in winning the argument and forwarding your agenda. the result of the political battle is the best thing for the country, but conservatives, with the notable exeption of a few loud voices on the AM airwaves, have been scared into silence. fuck that.
obama will not make this mistake but he may overreach and may have already done so. it will, at least, be intersting to see just how much of his own hype he believes and whether he will succeed in fundamentally changing our economic system towards socialism.
best.
Ya know I always thought the Bushes were decontaminating the oval office when they had it razed. I mean, I bet the carpet was like a motel room bedspread.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to think that if there was another civil war, I'd be like a Cate Blanchette-type pioneer.
ReplyDelete911cok,not scary socialism,were doomed
ReplyDelete911cock,did you know that obamas is a communist and the antichrist,be afraid
ReplyDeletestop whimping out 911dic,we enemys or not? I reckon we get you out from behind that keyboard,and see what your really made of, piss and wind I reckon.
ReplyDeleteI find Obama's lack of simple manners to be entirely disgusting, and his utter lack of knowledge of proper behavior to be very telling.
ReplyDeleteWhat is even more disturbing is that I have not heard a peep about this on CNN. Can you say, "Ass-kissers"?
Poor Obama. He can't seem to find his own identity. First he styled himself as 'hope and change'.........which we have seen neither of. Then he repackaged himself as the next Kennedy/Martin Luther King, memorizing the rousing speeches that others had written for him. Now he wants to appear as lofty and good as Abraham Lincoln.........who was believed to be quite the racist himself. Here is a link to the Time article about good old Abe:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,996904-1,00.html
If Obama wants to be seen as a mannerless, boorish elitist, he is doing very well. I hope the next four years pass very quickly, so that we can get someone qualified to be President in the White House.