Of Churchill and Zapata: an exceptional possibility

Classic Krauthammer, typical right. Never concede, never apologize. Turn the tables, demand apology from the wronged.

Sure, it was Krauthammer who first contributed to the right's "bust"-gate hysteria by implying that one and only one sculpture of Winston Churchill had once graced the White House, but alas no longer--not, that is, since the advent of the exotically anti-American, very un-Tory, suspiciously foreign, probably Marxist Barack Obama was handed the presidency by a momentarily delusional, suddenly panicked, woefully unaware, now profoundly regretful American electorate.

In the "single-bust" theory, Krauthammer was mistaken. "At which point, [we] would expect [Krauthammer] to say: Sorry, I made a mistake. End of story." This, he does not do; he instead doubles down and pretends the White House has descended yet deeper into the superduper deviousness of its own murky slime.

Nonetheless I don't really care. Do you care? I thought not.

I do wish to note, however, my care of this irony. It's the Krauthammer crowd that is forever bemoaning what they claim is President Obama's inadequate-to-absent belief in American exceptionalism, yet it's the Krauthammer crowd that believes a foreigner should still grace the Oval Office spot now graced by no less than that exceptional American, Abraham Lincoln. Churchill was of course half-American, but it was my understanding that exceptionalists like their heroes all-American.

To wriggle out of this exceptionally contradictory fix the right says that Winnie is symbolic of our historically special Anglo-American relationship, featuring warm moments such as a bloody revolution, the violent persecution of English loyalists, the Anglo-Saxon burning down of our nation's capital city, Great Britain's diplomatic dalliance with the traitorous South, and assorted decades of rabidly anti-English American sentiment against the former sucking the latter into European bloodbaths. I issue no value judgments here, I take no sides. Just saying.   

At any rate, given the tumultuous contours of America's special historical relationship with Great Britain, as properly symbolized, say Krauthammer and the right, by a quasi-Englishman's bust in the Oval Office, I can only assume that when a U.S. president of Hispanic heritage is elected--as he or she surely will be, someday--the right will have no problem with that president featuring a bust of, say, Emiliano Zapata in the Oval Office. After all, Mexico is at least on the same continent as the United States, we once recurrently battled Mexico as we did England (and then there was Mexico's conspiratorial involvement in the "Zimmermann" affair, which is German--Kraut[hammer]!--for "Carpenter"; the plot thickens), and God bless it, it has many of our jobs and it buys our guns and it ships us our drugs. And if all that ain't special, I just don't know what is.

With luck, though, whenever an exotically anti-American, very un-Tory, suspiciously foreign, probably Marxist Latino or quasi-Latino president storms the White House, we'll still have Charles Krauthammer to guide us.

Comments

[Jon Ponder]

There's also the issue of timing. Krauthammer and others on the right insist that the bust was given to Bush after 9/11, but the Bush White House website shows Bush accepting the bust on July 16, 2001. This is only a big deal in that associating it with 9/11 gives the bust added significance in the Republican mind. But who loans things commemoratively? And shouldn't all things that are loaned be returned? (Next we'll hear it was retroactively loaned in July in commemoration of the attack in September.) Here's the link: http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/07/images/20010716-3.html

[Rich (in name only) in Reno]

Mitt Romney will upon election install a bust of Bibi Netanyahu in his Oval Office. This bust will be an audio-animatronic artwork, and will be utilized deliver Bibi’s daily instructions with accompanying thunderous flashes of fire and brimstone. The bust will be activated by a pressure plate in the floor, and come to life as soon as Mitt kneels down upon it. Any deviation from orders will result in a painful blast from twin heat beams emanating from the bust’s eyes.

[BobH]

Krauthammer, the Dr. Strangelove of our times. A movie parody becomes reality. Really? Really Charles? Who cares where the bust of Churchill is? Or how many? Your descent into delusional overdone pettiness is complete.