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George W. Bush Misinterprets His Favorite Painting

Slate's Jacob Weisberg has uncovered the real meaning of George W. Bush's favorite painting, "A Charge to Keep," which hangs in the Oval Office and is the namesake of his 1999 ghostwritten autobiography. It's not—as Dubya likes to tell visitors—an image of a steadfast Methodist missionary. Rather, as Weisberg explains in his new book, The Bush Tragedy:

...that is not the title, message, or meaning of the painting. The artist, W.H.D. Koerner, executed it to illustrate a Western short story entitled "The Slipper Tongue," published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1916. The story is about a smooth-talking horse thief who is caught, and then escapes a lynch mob in the Sand Hills of Nebraska. The illustration depicts the thief fleeing his captors. In the magazine, the illustration bears the caption: "Had His Start Been Fifteen Minutes Longer He Would Not Have Been Caught."

Ah, the irony. So where the heck did Bush get the idea that the painting wasn't of a rustler but rather a man—who just happens to bear a passing resemblance to him—on a mission from God? I suppose everyone's entitled to their own interpretations of art, but that's really a stretch, even for a president used to making his own reality. Anyway, this may explain why Bush keeps referring to that Picasso he calls the "The Party So Fun They Invited a Horse."

Comments

What's even funnier...Bush is scared of horses!! It's amusing that his favorite painting would feature a horse.

What a wuss.

Posted by: blue on 01/25/08 at 10:34 AM Respond

And, as if to top of on irony, Bush is a afraid of horses.

Posted by: tr on 01/25/08 at 12:08 PM Respond

Nooooooo!!! ReALLY? The cowboy is afraid horses???

there's this over @ Kos:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/29/15241/8004

Reminds me of this joke =D

Three Texas plastic surgeons were playing golf together and discussing surgeries they had performed.

One of them said, "I'm the best plastic surgeon in Texas. A concert pianist lost 7 fingers in an accident, I reattached them, and 8 months later he performed a private concert for the Queen of England."

One of the others said. "That's nothing. A young man lost both arms and legs in an accident, I reattached them, and 2 years later he won a gold medal in 5 field events in the Olympics."

The third surgeon said, "You guys are amateurs. Several years ago a cowboy who was high on cocaine and alcohol rode a horse head-on into a train traveling 80 miles an hour. All I had left to work with was the horse's ass and a cowboy hat. Now he's president of the United States."

Posted by: GetReal on 01/25/08 at 7:38 PM Respond

giddy up!

Posted by: Darlene on 01/26/08 at 4:10 PM Respond

I think it does resemble George, like real life stealing from the common man and running away. He sure tries to make people think he is doing good, truth always prevails for those that pays attention, to what really goes on.

Posted by: mike on 01/27/08 at 8:29 AM Respond

I would like to see a proper bibliographic citation to the Saturday Evening Post
article.

As a good Liberal, I believe in the objective truth and like to get a edition date and page number

Let the Republicans make up facts, i'm
going to stick to solid library facts

Posted by: pat on 02/13/08 at 3:00 PM Respond