Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Barkings From Rush Limbow-wow and Delusions of Churchillian Statesmanship From Eric Cantor



President Obama better get used to correcting right-wingers and presenting what REALLY was said and done. The bust of Churchill in the oval office is the subject. This supposed exchange was broadcast by Rush Limbow-wow (my name for him - he reminds me of a very overweight pitbull):

RUSH: He just saw it sitting there in the Oval Office, said, "What the hell is this?"
Somebody said
, "Well, that's a bust of Winston Churchill."

"Churchill? Why is that here?"

"Well, the Brits gave it to George Bush after 9/11."

"Well, get it outta here."

"Do you want to put it someplace else in the White House?"

"No. Get it out of here!"

So Obama sent it back to the Brits and it's over there in the British embassy in Washington. I'm not kidding you. He walks in the Oval Office, he sees the Churchill statue. The British gave it to George W. Bush after 9/11. They didn't even ask for it back. He just decided he didn't want the bust of Churchill plaguing him as he saw it every day in the Oval Office.

The real story:

"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."

Makes sense, actually. While Churchill was undoubtedly one of the world's great statesmen, his premiership presided over suppression of insurgents in Kenya and Obama's grandfather was supposedly tortured by the British. A very nervous British embassy has plans for Prime Minister Brown to present President Obama with something relating to the time of Abraham Lincoln to whom Obama is devoted. Plus: the reason it was a loaner was probably because no Briton with integrity could see it winding up in Crawford, Texas.

Limbow-wow made it sound as if the President thought the bust was ugly and that since it was "given" to George Bush, he didn't want to set eyes on it ever again. The value of the bust, BTW, was about $700,000 and was considered a valuable treasure by the British. Of course, Limbow-wow assumes that: a. Obama being African American wouldn't appreciate a valuable piece of art and b. that he would actually talk that condescendingly to a staff member and c. that he would knowingly offend the British government .

Limbow-wow, again, is barking up the wrong tree.

Now another slam against Churchill, this time someone lesser than the great Limbow-wow.

From The Washington Independent:

...[Eric Cantor was] telling The Washington Post that he’s “studying Winston Churchill’s role leading the Tories in the late 1930s, a principled minority that was eventually catapulted into power over the Labor Party.” The 1930s were, of course, the “wilderness years” in which Churchill was sparring with the leadership of his party, who actually ran the government (through a coalition arrangement) from 1931 to 1945.
If anyone in Congress could be listed as the least talented man to imitate Churchill in any way, it would be Cantor. There is nothing in his past or education to indicate that he would know Churchill's domestic strategies and policies. Cantor maybe the House's Minority Whip, but after aligning himself against the great Churchill, he'll look more like Minority Wimp.