I wouldn’t read much into this, or think it suggests any profound political point. Nor is it important in which order the Secretary of State lists European allies. And Mr. Obama is a smart fellow. He probably appreciates that the Parliamentary forms extant in Kenya stem from the colonial British, as they do in much of the old Empire, notably India and the "Great Dominions."
The bust is one of four or five copies sculpted by Jacob Epstein, and regarded as the most valuable of its kind ever commissioned. This one is British property from the government collection at Cockburn Street, London; another is at Windsor and the others are, I believe, in private hands. (I sold one myself, from the Donald Scott Carmichael collection, when I was a Churchill bookseller a decade ago; it is now in Connecticut.) The bust is neither U.S. nor Bush property. In an official White House tour video in 2001, George Bush said: “My friend the Prime Minister of Great Britain heard me say that I greatly admired Winston Churchill and so he saw to it that the government loaned me this and I am most honored to have this Jacob Epstein bust of Winston Churchill.” In the years since, zealots and Bush-bashers demanded its return, since in their view Bush was undeserving, or was using it to proclaim himself another Churchill. In fact, he was simply an admirer of WSC, like most of us. For an example of the depths to which this depravity sank, see http://www.churchillbust.co.uk/ Since the Epstein was loaned to Bush for the duration of his term, and was not a gift, it is unremarkable if the new President wished to return it. There's a good background article on the subject, dated 20 January 2009, at: http://xrl.us/bedqih I should add that The Churchill Centre is inquiring through mutual colleagues on the extent of President Obama's own admiration for Churchill, hoping to rope him into our orbit at an early opportunity.... --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/ChurchillChat?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
