If it were not so pathetic, the amateurism of this White House would actually be funny. Let’s face it – Obama hates Winston Churchill, who although a God awful military strategist, was our firm friend and an anti-Communist. For third world liberationists such as Barack Obama father and son, Churchill was an imperialist and they prefer to admire people such as Mao Zedong.
by Nile Gardiner
The White House is continuing to tie itself in knots over the Churchill bust issue. As I noted in my previous blog, Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer was forced to back peddle furiously this weekend after he ludicrously denied that a loaned bust of Sir Winston Churchill had been sent back to the British government by the White House in 2009 soon after President Obama took office. In fact he wrongly accused Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer of an outright lie when he brought up the matter of the bust in an op-ed piece for The Post last Friday. After the British Embassy pointed out that Pfeiffer’s comments were factually wrong, the White House staffer issued an embarrassing clarification in the form of an “update” on the White House blog.
Pfeiffer’s gaffe over the Churchill bust has continued to build momentum in the US media and on Twitter, with former ABC and Fox News correspondent Brit Hume describing the whole episode as “amateur hour at the White House.” Even The New York Times editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal called the White House’s handling of the issue “bumbling and amateurish.” A follow-up piece by Mr. Krauthammer calling on Dan Pfeiffer to apologise for his attack is currently the most-read article on influential US news aggregator RealClear Politics.
The issue was also raised on Monday morning at a White House press conference given by Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest, who has added fuel to the fire with his adamant rejection of the idea that President Obama might have snubbed the British by deciding to turf the Churchill bust out of the Oval Office. In response to a question by an American journalist, Earnest replied (watch the video here at RealClear Politics) that the White House was determined to combat “a myth floating in the darker corners of the Internet” regarding the motives behind returning the Churchill bust:
Question – Can you tell us why the White House decided to weigh in on this whole Winston Churchill bust scandal, and whether you guys are gonna clarify what bust is where, and … [drown out]
Josh Earnest – It is almost like a bad Sherlock Holmes script, right? The case of the missing Winston Churchill bust? Uh – the reason – uh –that we waited on Friday is because there is – uh – a myth floating in some of the darker corners of the internet that suggests that upon taking office the president went out of his way to snub the British people by prematurely returning the bust of Winston Churchill that had occupied a prominent place in the Oval Office of the previous president.
That’s not true. Uh – as the White House curator has previously explained and I believe as we’ve explained on the end of the day on Friday – uh – the bust was loaned to President Bush by the British government. Uh – as is customary at the conclusion of President Bush’s term and before President Obama entered the Oval Office – uh – the bust was returned to the British Embassy.
[.........]
Mr. Earnest, who is clearly no Sherlock Holmes, did not elaborate what he meant by the “dark corners” of the Internet, but he was almost certainly referring to the British press in an insulting fashion, which reported widely on the decision to return the bust and how the move was causing consternation at the time among British officials concerned about a possible weakening of the Special Relationship under President Obama.
First to break the story of the Churchill bust being returned to the British Embassy was The Sunday Telegraph’s Tim Shipman (now at The Daily Mail), who wrote in February 2009:
Barack Obama has sent Sir Winston Churchill packing and pulse rates soaring among anxious British diplomats. 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.”
Two weeks earlier, in January 2009, The Times had revealed the bust had been removed from the Oval Office and placed in storage, in a piece headlined: “Churchill bust casts shadow over the Special Relationship” (no longer online, but available on news databases such as Lexis/Nexis). Significantly, The Times noted that the British government, led at the time by Gordon Brown, was keen for the bust to go back to the Oval Office:
Britain wants President Obama to put a bronze bust of Sir Winston Churchill back in the Oval Office, where it stood for the past eight years as a symbol of an enduring special relationship with America. The White House is not so sure.
[........]
The bronze was lent to George Bush by Tony Blair in 2001 from the Government Art Collection for the duration of his presidency. It is now due to be returned.
However, a spokesman for the British Embassy in Washington said yesterday: “We have made it clear that we would be pleased to extend the loan should Mr Obama so wish.” He added that no response had been received; yesterday the White House declined to comment.
It is very clear from these articles in two of Britain’s leading newspapers that the British government gave every opportunity for the Obama White House to keep the Churchill bust, but the president chose not to do so. After all, he could easily have accommodated both Lincoln and Churchill in the Oval Office. The White House, however, remains firmly in denial over the return of the bust, which carries great symbolism on both sides of the Atlantic.
By any measure this was an insensitive snub to America’s closest friend and ally, at a time when 10,000 British troops were fighting alongside their US allies on the battlefields of Afghanistan, and continue to do so today. And this was no isolated incident, but part of a broader pattern of disdain for the US-British alliance, culminating recently with the Obama administration’s appalling decision to back Argentina’s call for UN-brokered negotiations over the sovereignty of the Falklands. The White House is quick to mouth platitudes about the Special Relationship, but in practice clearly doesn’t believe in it.
Read the rest - Churchill bust debacle: ‘amateurish’ Obama White House remains firmly in denial over snub to Britain
Tags: Nile Gardiner, Winston Churchill
Anything to keep people talking about his record. They are trying to walk this back and it just isn’t happening. It wasn’t a lie that obama returned the bust back to the British Embassy. Yet they just keep doubling-down on this. Unreal.
Trouble in paradise?
http://weaselzippers.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-big-of-him-obama-donates-5000-to.html?tw_p=twt
Choom is busting out all over!
@ buzzsawmonkey:
LOL! He is indeed. Lying all over the place.
why doesn’t he just say “we sold it on ebay and Michelle bought shoes with the money”. that would put an end to all this.
@ brookly red:
Because apparently Michelle is using campagin money to buy shoes. He is burning through his campagin money like water running through his hands.
Lily wrote:
A record of utter failure.
Guggi wrote:
Now that is interesting.
Winston Churchill stands for everything that Obama despises.
Speranza wrote:
What has he done? Really what postive thing has he done? He got osama bin laden? Really a new book out throws out light that he waffled 4 times on that decision and Jarrett was heavily involved. So really what has he done good for this country?
I got nothing.
@ Guggi:
Very interesting. Feeling guilty?
Drive by post. Today’s ‘Ulsterman’ describes how the Romney team threw a wrench in the cogs of the Ozero campaign team. A great read!
http://theulstermanreport.com/2012/07/31/white-house-insider-how-mitt-romney-mentally-castrated-the-obama-campaign/
Speranza wrote:
There are more things that he despises than he doesn’t.
Obama probably has a soft spot for Caligula as well!
when this story came out i thought it would just go away. i am very, very surprised that it is back in the news.
@ yenta-fada:
Very good…going to read it later. Right now obama is burning through his money like a kid in a candy store.
coldwarrior wrote:
I know …but “they” are keeping it in the news and lying all over the place about it.
Lily wrote:
this was a minor little blurb 3 years ago.
something fishy is going on here…lethinks there is some trickery afoot, trickery perpetrated by the right this time.
someone made the white house defend this again.
Lily wrote:
yeah, over 300 million of us…
coldwarrior wrote:
The Obama people put it back in the news. They got into it with Krauthammer.
Let’s not forget that Chuckles The Clown was all over this issue and called Krauthammer out for being a partisan hack.
Charles will of course deny and rewrite history, like when he back tracked about his past St. Pancake comments.
Rodan wrote:
then they are truly fools
@ coldwarrior:
Charles Krauthammer mentioned it in an article and the White House went into full meltdown mode.
Rodan wrote:
Dr. K. did not back down.
EBL wrote:
Charles Johnson calling anyone a partisan hack is hilarious. Charles Johnson is a cheap partisan whore.
@ Speranza:
No, he was right. The Bust the White House claimed they still had was another one than the bust mentioned by Krauthammer.
This is all they got calling Mitt Romney a felon??? Gee talk about deflecting what your administration is (criminal).
http://weaselzippers.blogspot.com/2012/07/obama-campaign-brings-up-felons-in.html?tw_p=twt
@ EBL:
Charles will claim credit some how.
Guggi wrote:
That’s very interesting. When I watch the Obama regime with their Goebbels propaganda machine, it is clear how helpless many Americans must feel. The media urges on the hatred and demonization of those on the right. The campaign against ‘Zionism’ and Jews is now global and “cool”.
coldwarrior wrote:
and they are incompetent fools. Real amateurs.
Rodan wrote:
Yep shows you that with a little pressure the cracks in obama is showing big time even on this matter. They should have ignored it.
Lily wrote:
The tactics are fascinating, and Romney is using them against those totalitarians.
Rodan wrote:
it was lbj’s bust that they were trying to pass off
lbj is no churchill
@ coldwarrior:
We are still living with many of LBJ’s policy legacy to this day.
Rodan wrote:
You HAVE to read ‘The Ulsterman’. It’s not long at all.
@ Lily:
The god-king and his crew are think skinned.
@ yenta-fada:
I did.
@ Rodan:
Still in all they did return a bust of Churchill back to the British Embassy even after the British said he could have it for his years in the White House and obama said, no thanks.
@ Lily:
He’s done. Even kappo Soros mentioned over a year ago that it was time to look beyond Obama. The puppet has played his role.
In the football-scrimmage of the campaign, are these the Churchill downs?
yenta-fada wrote:
Romney isn’t no McCain. I do believe we will be surprised by him. Obama is so easy to make him off balance. He defends on obama-worship and this time around it just isn’t the same as 2008.
@ Lily:
Yet the British love Obama. Some Tory NO said that their heads are with Romney, but hearts with Obama. He said they know Romney would be a better president, but that Obama has that “IT” factor.
I just shook my head.
Buckeye Abroad wrote:
0 had a mission, to steal the American health care system… as soon as he signed the bill he became a liability.
@ Buckeye Abroad:
They have another Obama up their sleeve. I feel this was a trial run.
Rodan wrote:
Very, very thin-skinned.
@ Rodan:
I meet a lot of Brits like that. I don’t understand it either.
Rodan wrote:
Deep down, they miss the Robertson’s Marmalade golliwog.
Lily wrote:
it’s so thin when you look closely you can see they are full of shit.
Rodan wrote:
What “IT” factor? For the life of me I have never seen it. He is a wimp who is scared to death of his own wife! Just think how he reacts to our enemies if he can’t handle things with-in his own family.
Plus on a better note …this is just one person who said that. The British press has done a lot better job of vetting our president this election cycle than our own press ….they are even wondering WHY? our press seems to be stuck on stupid.
@ Rodan:
You’re probably right. I thought Clinton was bottom of the dem barrel in 92′, but they keep digging deeper as time goes on.
They should be hitting the first level of hell at some point.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
Rodan wrote:
Never underestimate the lingering resentment the Brits have for Americans. World War II cost them their empire and their wealth and the U.S. ascended. The Cambridge spies did not love communism so much as they hated capitalism as practiced by the U.S.
Rodan wrote:
Oh dear heavens…hopefully another obama-like politictian will float like a lead balloon.
Lily wrote:
far be it for me to defend 0 but Godzilla is afraid of her too.
@ Lily:
our press seems to be stuck on stupid.
Our press has been the propaganda arm of the democrat party for many years. It wasn’t laziness, it was intent.
Buckeye Abroad wrote:
For one thing he isn’t their president and in charge of their country.
Rodan wrote:
Try the Historic First Female President, one H. Clinton. Just as bad as Obama, but with more competence and better intra-party networking—with direct Muslim Brotherhood contact as a bonus!
Buckeye Abroad wrote:
Oh yes it was intent..but they have really took it to a whole new level I have never seen it like it is now. It is sooooooooo out there for obama they aren’t even hiding it.
Lily wrote:
no the already lost their borders, health care, guns, and freedom of speech… they don’t need a president like him.
eaglesoars wrote:
Yep. The ‘Yanks’ were not all that welcome even during the war. The same sentiment exists in Canada. Obama is VERY popular here.
brookly red wrote:
That’s not defending him that is stating a fact. The damn man is afraid of who he married. Really? Good grief. What a damn wimp.
brookly red wrote:
True..but he would fit right in. The problem is we aren’t brits or Europeons.
Lily wrote:
Mooch would make a good Sec. of State… even Putin would be uncomfortable with her in the room.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
Hopefully she will be too tired after the next 4 years to run. Oh the humanity! We don’t need any more re-treads. But yes I do know she has her eyes on the 2016 election. But a lot can happen between now and then.
Lily wrote:
anymore
Lily wrote:
Many Brits, or most of the world for that matter, simply do not understand America. It’s a pure “love-hate” relationship.
Or as I often heard, “Americans don’t understand the world” with which I automatically reply, “the world doesn’t understand America.”
I encourage people to read the US Constitution. It’s as a radical document today as it was over 2 centuries ago.
It’s from 2010 but Rodan will like anyway
@ yenta-fada:
Yenta, I read your Ulsterman link. Interesting but easily missed is this: If they (Romney) win this state early Election night……..
Early? That means it’s on the east coast. My guess is either Pennsylvania or Virginia. Given the influence of Philadelphia on Penna’s politics, my money is that the state they’re talking about is Virginia.
@ brookly red:
LOL! He would be afraid she would whip his a$$! The woman is un-hinged to be honest and her husband is un-hinged in a different way.
Rodan wrote:
Insanity.
@ eaglesoars:
I should have added that this Ulsterman rpt confirms A LOT that was writtin in the book The Amateur.
@ Guggi:
It’ too bad that the co-chairs of the Congressional Nostril Caucus, Henry Waxman and Sheila Jackson Lee, are both in safe seats.
Buckeye Abroad wrote:
Very well put. The world doesn’t understand Americans. But hey when they are in trouble “Who Do They Call????” It surely isn’t the Ghost Busters. It’s the United States… We hate the Americans ..oh look bad guys …We Love the Americans.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
/Nostrilcaucus? you mean the french guy who predicted the anti-christ would have big ears?
Lily wrote:
For that matter, if Israel had gained sovereignty over one square inch of land for every humanitarian action it has performed—earthquake relief in Haiti, tsunami relief in the Indian Ocean, medical assistance in Africa, irrigation assistance, etc., etc.—it would have not only full control of the West Bank and Gaza, but be halfway to Iraq by now.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
they had the west bank and gaza plus the sinai… they gave it back.
brookly red wrote:
The Congressional Nostril Caucus is full of snot “noes.”
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
I detest Waxman since I met him in The Hague.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
Very true.
brookly red wrote:
Yeah. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Which is dumber; to believe Arab promises, American presidents, or your own left wing? Seems like a tie to me.
Guggi wrote:
You saw him in person and did not turn to stone? I congratulate you.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
well at least when the arabs promise, you know they are going to try to deliver…
gotta go…..
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
Not only the story about Winston Churchill’s bust that continues to have legs so does this story which I thought would die down..but just keeps going and going..seems Rahm is catching some blow-back. Good.
It is amazing this story has legs yet other important issues don’t.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/31/chicago-religious-leaders-back-chick-fil/#ixzz22ET9rytr
@ Lily:
It’s our system of chicks and ballet-sense.
@ buzzsawmonkey:
@ eaglesoars:
Virginia, eh? Good work, Sherlock!
@ brookly red:
1. Arabs are allowed to lie about their promises…the koran says so when they are dealing with infidels. So if they promise peace you know you are getting the excate opposite.
2. If they promise violence..they do make good on that.
Obama couldn’t deal with having that eebil white colonialist Churchill staring at him in the Oval Office.
@ The Osprey:
True just like a vampire can’t deal with crosses.
The Osprey wrote:
Churchill would have thrown up listening to Obama’s private talk.
@ Lily:
Rahmbo Emmanuel said Chick Fil-A does not represent “Chicago Values” -- I sure hope it doesn’t, otherwise its competition such as KFC would be sleeping with the fishes.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
Whatever Ha’aretz urges, do the opposite.
Guggi wrote:
He is one ugly mofo!
Speranza wrote:
Not only that if he could talk from the dead he would have put the fear of life into him. Maybe that is what he was scared of..Churchill haunting him.
@ Speranza:
Yeah Chicago values aren’t excatly the greatest at Rahm’s type of values.
brookly red wrote:
She cannot be worse then Hillary.
Rodan wrote:
There, fixed that for ya!
Speranza wrote:
U R wrong.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/-JbBi4lKFSFw/UBVQKQKKpTI/AAAAAAAAkKM/tVlkMAEkrxo/s1600-h/Screenshot%252520Studio%252520capture%252520%252523637%25255B3%25255D.png
yenta-fada wrote:
OmG, this is a photoshop, isn’t it ?
This can’t be true !!!
@ yenta-fada:
Good night in Georiga what in the world makes her think she looks good in that! I swear she has the fashion sense of a 2 year old.
Her flat overly bright shoes that never match what she is wearing and now this. Good grief.
@ Guggi:
A total fashion disaster to be honest. Don’t know if you can photo-shop that. Besides I have seen her in just awful clothes and shoes. Just awful.
Lily wrote:
Especially once Winston had some brandy in him as the fascist Lady Astor could attest to.
Interesting. They are eating their own.
http://weaselzippers.blogspot.com/2012/07/occupy-wall-street-protesters-targeting.html
Speranza wrote:
Oh yeah he could go on a roll and never would back down from a fight especially if he had some brandy in him. LOL.
@ eaglesoars:
That’s a good point!
Lily wrote:
I’ve never seen any similar fashion desaster from any First Lady. I’m speechless.
I see why Cruz is winning. I’m watching Dewhurst and he’s rambling about Gay Marriage.
@ Guggi:
Neither have I. She dresses just horrible to be honest.
Guggi wrote:
disaster (Desaster = German for disaster)
@ Guggi:
You still got your point across.
In either languague she is total fashion disaster. Those ugly flat bright colored shoes that never match what she is wearing too are horrible.
Well hell after all,, Churchhill was a gun clinging, bible thumping, cigar smoking, war monger, no way should any think like him be near the dear leader, it might upset his pot smoking and cocaine sniffing.
Like that.
thing@ taxfreekiller:
Lily wrote:
but they are all the rage on Klingon…
i couldn’t resist.
well this could be Romney’s answer to the “felon” ads…
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/31/illegals-released-feds-19-murders-142-sex-crimes/
@ Guggi:
It IS not photoshop. Mooch has stated that the woman she would most like to be in the world is Beyonce. Values!
@ brookly red:
Excatly. Obama released them and guess what they committed 60,000 crimes.
/winning hearts and minds he is. I swear whatever he touches turns to crap.
Lily wrote:
Would never happen to us
yenta-fada wrote:
Oh she is very happy to smooch with the Hollyweird crowd and the music scene crowd.
/makes for an excellent first lady now doesn’t it?/not.
Guggi wrote:
I have a LOT more where that one came from. She thinks she is 22 years old and very SEXY. Mooch’s own brother said that any guy she ever dated never came back for a second date. The Obama thingie was a Reverend Wright marriage of convenience by all circumstantial evidence.
Guggi wrote:
Never, ever. If I can’t wear heels (like I use to be able to) there are tons of nice shoes with lower heels that look very nice. But bright colored flats that look like horrible slippers and don’t match. Oh the humanity!
Lily wrote:
First Lady? She doesn’t even qualify as First Broad.
yenta-fada wrote:
Hard to come back when she bites their heads off and eats them.
yenta-fada wrote:
LOL!! I think he said he was surprised someone actually married her.
/now my brothers have said a lot of things but they never said they would be surprised if a man actually married me.
YIKES…says a whole lot about her.
yenta-fada wrote:
Beyonce didn’t build her career, somebody else made that happen.////
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
True. LOL!
Lily wrote:
Her husband is all about athletes and movie stars. He hasn’t met with Paul Ryan for over a year regarding economic policy. Same with the ‘Jobs Council’. It’s always party time at the WH unless it’s campaigns, golf, or world travel. They aren’t even bothering to keep up appearances.
yenta-fada wrote:
Her middle name is “Fury”, isn’t it ?
yenta-fada wrote:
Nope why should they? The media is in the tank for them…but people just aren’t buying what they are selling anymore.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
nom, nom, nom
Whatever her getup, Michelle always sports The Perpetual Scowl of the Incompetent Supervisor™.
@ buzzsawmonkey:
She doesn’t appear to be a ‘happy person’ now does she?
yenta-fada wrote:
The deal they made with the devil was for 4 years… they both agreed.
Why? Because 0 figured he would never survive 4 years with her and she figured she ain’t afraid of no debel.
@ brookly red:
Oh but the debel will have his due.
Lily wrote:
I am just worried that after 4 years is up the whole country goes to hell.
New thread.
Guggi wrote:
The ugly goes straight down to the soul. Her brother also said that Mooch didn’t compete in sports because she couldn’t stand to lose. The rumors say that she lost her law license because of possible extortion charges. The fancy job she had in a Chicago hospital was involved in a ‘patient dumping’ scheme. They brought patients in, counted them in the stats, and then dumped them on other hospitals. AFAIK, of course. RIX would know more because he is in Chicago and has followed this for a long time. At any rate, neither Mooch nor Ozero have legal licenses to practice law anymore.
brookly red wrote:
That is a concern he sure has done a number on this country in just 4 years.
taxfreekiller wrote:
FTFY
Rodan wrote:
I assume he is against it.
Lily wrote:
She looks like a castrated guy.
@ Guggi:
Now Michelle, if something dis-assed her, it might not be a disaster, if you get my drift.
Alberta Oil Peon wrote:
Her drift is as large as the Grand Canyon.
Macker wrote:
You really have issues with references to homosexuality.