Priceless and Poetic

Dubya's autobiography (well, I'm sure he didn't actually write it) is titled "A Charge to Keep", which is a religious phrase that Bush appropriated, claiming that the painting pictured above, which he acquired after being "born again", inspired that thought in him. [Later: It turns out that his story about the painting has morphed with time until it has become not just that it inspired him to think of that phrase, but that it was actually painted to represent that phrase - a complete fabrication as you will see.]

"I thought I would share with you a recent bit of Texas history which epitomizes our mission. When you come into my office, please take a look at the beautiful painting of a horseman determinedly charging up what appears to be a steep and rough trail. This is us. What adds complete life to the painting for me is the message of Charles Wesley that we serve One greater than ourselves."

It turns out, however, that the painting actually depicts the story of a "smooth-talking horse thief" attempting to escape from a lynch mob. It was painted by William H.D. Koerner for a 1916 Saturday Evening Post short story titled "The Slipper Tongue," and in the magazine, the caption printed beneath it was:

“Had His Start Been Fifteen Minutes Longer He Would Not Have Been Caught.”

Ha. It's said (by George himself) that the horseman looks like George, and I would love to know how he got this painting. Did someone present it to him, knowing of its origins, and walk away with a sly smile?

Here's an entertaining video of George taking us on a tour of the Oval Office trying to be poetic and lofty, and telling the whopper tale he's made up about the painting. (As has been noted, everything about this man is a fabrication.)

P.S. Aside from the tale of the painting, there are two other notably glaring and interesting points in the video. 1) the White House video editors didn't see fit to edit out the several spots he stumbled in his presentation and repeated phrases; and 2) when presenting the photos on the table behind his desk (that people see when speeches from the Oval Office are filmed) he describes them as pictures of his family, telling us how important his family is to him. He points out "our daughters", Laura and "other members of the family" (naming Barney the dog and other animals), "my grandparents", and "my dad". There's an obvious omission of that creature who spawned him - no mention of Mom. I couldn't make out if there's really no picture of her.