A Public Hanging (Of Sorts) For The Bush Family
You've seen him assaulted with a shoe, but care to see President Bush "hung?" That's a scenario Mr. Bush decided was worthy of a joke this morning in Washington.
"I suspected there would be a good-size crowd once the word got out about my hanging," the president said at the unveiling of his portrait at the National Portrait Gallery. The portrait by Robert Anderson – a classmate of Mr. Bush at Yale – will be hung in the exhibition "America’s Presidents," and is available for viewing starting tomorrow.
CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller writes: "Since the gallery now has portraits dating back to George Washington, he noted the symmetry - from George W. to George W."
Mr. Bush also noted that the artist said he had a lot of trouble with the president's mouth. "And I told him that makes two of us," Mr. Bush said.
One more crack: President Bush said the artist had to use alot more gray paint that in a previous portrait of a slightly younger Mr. Bush for the Yale Club.
First Lady Laura Bush's portrait, by Aleksander Titovets, a Russian painter who now lives in El Paso, Texas. The portrait of Mrs. Bush won't hang near her husband's – it will be on display on the first floor in the north hall of the gallery.
Despite being allotted less desirable portrait real-estate, Mrs. Bush was all smiles and joviality, too. According to the official transcript of the unveiling, she said:
"I suspected there would be a good-size crowd once the word got out about my hanging," the president said at the unveiling of his portrait at the National Portrait Gallery. The portrait by Robert Anderson – a classmate of Mr. Bush at Yale – will be hung in the exhibition "America’s Presidents," and is available for viewing starting tomorrow.
(AP Photo)
CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller writes: "Since the gallery now has portraits dating back to George Washington, he noted the symmetry - from George W. to George W."
Mr. Bush also noted that the artist said he had a lot of trouble with the president's mouth. "And I told him that makes two of us," Mr. Bush said.
One more crack: President Bush said the artist had to use alot more gray paint that in a previous portrait of a slightly younger Mr. Bush for the Yale Club.
First Lady Laura Bush's portrait, by Aleksander Titovets, a Russian painter who now lives in El Paso, Texas. The portrait of Mrs. Bush won't hang near her husband's – it will be on display on the first floor in the north hall of the gallery.
Despite being allotted less desirable portrait real-estate, Mrs. Bush was all smiles and joviality, too. According to the official transcript of the unveiling, she said:
Sasha [Titovets, the Russian painter] said that he postponed telling his mother when his work was chosen for this portrait. He thought the news might be "too big" for her. (Laughter.) And history shows us that these assignments can sometime turn out poorly. Years ago, Peter Hurd was commissioned to paint Lyndon B. Johnson's portrait for the official White House collection. President Johnson took one look at the final portrait and declared it the "ugliest thing he'd ever seen." (Laughter.) Across Washington, the joke spread at Hurd's expense that artists should be seen, but not Hurd, at the White House. Peter Hurd's portrait of President Johnson now hangs here in the National Portrait Gallery.The first family wasn't (quite) all jokes. As Mr. Bush reflected on being custodian of the presidency these last eight years, Knoller reports, tears welled in his eyes.
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
I am lucky, I guess, as there are those whose memories are stacked with negativity, with a focus on that which angers them, and there are others who, after all has been said and done, are inclined to look upon even those who have let them down with a sense of what good they have done.
So, to Mr. and Mrs. Bush, all best wishes in your retirement from the White House, and for a long and happy next phase in your lives.
we should all be so lucky...
Oh, except RowdynTxn
Posted by tincup356
Because George Bush has not done anything treasonous. You need to study what it takes to be charged with treason. Your verbal statements come closer to treason than anything George Bush has done in eight years. He has exercised the perogatives of a president and commander-in-chief. What is your excuse?
The story title gave me unfounded hope.
No one has exactly understood him for eight years.
When he understood himself through his portrait, tears must have welled in his eyes.
He receives taxes from the American, so he owes responsibility for the national(the American) interest.
I receive no tax from anyone, so I owe no reponsibility for any nation''s (even the Japanese)interest.
Posted by powersmaker at 04:33 AM : Dec 20, 2008
Oh I don''t know... why spoil a little peace in that place too!
Posted by jedi23231 at 01:24 AM : Dec 20, 2008
NO the stains on him are BRIGHT RED and can NEVER be washed off. You can''t make this Incompetent piece of Human Trash anything but what he is, a pathetic little man who desired glory and was willing to pay for it with AMERICAN LIVES and Well being!
The fact remains that most people voted for George W. in 2004, but of course you can''t find anyone who will admit that. Sigh. In recent months the President and administration have been above reproach in their sensitivity and care in being above the fray while the financial sector shakes and the economy snaps.
Remember when liar Bill Clinton (yes he was disbarred from practicing law in AR for his perjury) left office, the Dems leaving the white house took all the ''Ws'' off the keyboards requiring the government to spend millions repairing computers willfully damaged by partisans. That was wasteful humor.
I''d doubt we''ll see that this time. (Thankfully).
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by twilah-2009
December 22, 2008 3:15 PM EST
- Of all the comments listed on just the first page alone, I think the most intelligent one was from the 15-year-old, who was taught to respect those in authority. To those others, shame on you! This is the example you are setting for our youth today. Good going!
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