An Iraqi newsman throws his shoes at George W. Bush. Bush throws a house, Blair House, at his successor, President-elect Barack Obama. And so goes the ignominious end of the most ridiculous and dangerous president in American history.
The Obamas wanted to move early into Blair House so their children could start school. No, no, said Bush. That room’s taken. Great evils like war and enforced poverty can cause us to overlook the shallow pettiness that often marks the architects of inhuman global horrors. Bush’s Blair House snub might make a future edition of "Presidential Anecdotes," but it’s unlikely to stay long in the news. Still, I think it is, in its way, as revealing of Bush’s character as the state torture of innocents.
The Sufi poet, Rumi, wrote, "This being human is a guest house." His point is that we should welcome as guests into the houses of our lives not just our friends, but our enemies; not just happiness, but sadness; not just joy, but meanness, too. Rumi’s not writing about etiquette, not advising his readers on how to win friends or influence people. It’s about "being human."
Being human is a guest house. Blair House is the official state guest house of the president. It turns out that Bush’s crony, former Aussie prime minister John Howard, is going to stay in Blair House a night or two during the time the Obamas had hoped to move in (the Obamas checked into the Hays-Adams Hotel, instead, and their children have started school on time). The four adjacent townhouses that now make up Blair House total about 70,000 square feet. It’s bigger than the White House. Mr. Howard must be accompanied by a sizable entourage.
The picture chosen to illustrate this post is by legendary Disney artist Mary Blair. It’s a "Blair House" too, so to speak. Visually, I thought it captured something of the shame of the Blair House incident. Mary’s painting was a conceptual piece for the 1952 Disney short film, "The Little House," about a modest home overrun by modernity and sprawl.
Shadowy figures haul away a saddened little home, it’s eyes shuttered, it’s doors boarded up. Notice, though, that through Mary Blair’s eyes, it’s the little house that seems human while the shadow-figures are made of inhuman, machine-like angles.
Bush is such a shadow-figure, an indistinct shadow at that. It may seem outrageous to say his slight of Obama is somehow equivalent to his atrocities (Iraq, Guantanamo, Katrina) incompetence (Iraq, Guantanamo, Katrina), and greed (the orchestrated theft of billions by his cronies while the global economy collapses). It does, however, reveal his character, and even the goofy pundits tell us that’s what matters to Americans.
Obama, of course, let it go. There was no percentage in pounding on the door from outside when he’ll be in charge of the guest list soon enough.
Bush was successful in a political era that swamped fundamental elements of human relationships (kindness, reciprocity, empathy) in a modern orgy of carelessness, greed, hatred, and the callous disregard of every "Other" on the planet. It’s not unlike how the Little House was surrounded by modern urban sprawl and blight.
Bush’s slight was, in all ways, a small thing. Like the man himself. Why not let it go the way Obama has? Isn’t Bush already history? He is, but not his kind. Remember.
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I recently read that Howard wasn’t scheduled to stay in Blair House until after Obama made his request and it was turned down.
I’m not so sure we know the full story here. But then again, what’s new?
We don’t know the full story, and what we do know makes no sense. I lived among these Bush types for a long time. This is their manner. And it’s disgusting.
I think this was merely another in the series of “I’m still the G*ddamned President!” messages that George and Laura have been sending out lately. Rude, ungenerous, political .. stupid.
And here’s a rub, at least for me. If I’m to follow my own ethical guideline, I have to let the Bush’s into my house. That is, I have to welcome them at least so far as thinking through the consequences of their pathologies. Their own worldview has no such requirement. They just slam the door.
Once a spoiled brat fratboy, always a spoiled brat fratboy.
Bush would be a miserable human being, if he had the capacity for self-consciousness. He has none.
Perhaps, like Abu, he will be forced to wander friendless in the wilderness. That Laura is a part of this is incriminating as well.
Pathetic.
Yes Mr. Bush, and Mr. Howard are both dicks. But think for a minute about those girls- it’s the chance of a lifetime to play Eloise!
The other message – and one which the Bushes should be supremely ashamed for (but which they will not since they don’t seem to have this capacity) is this: The majority of the country may have found you acceptable on Election Day…but WE DO NOT.
The Obamas on the other hand, are a family of extremely clever and patient people –
I think it takes a lack of capacity — even a pathology and metal debilitation — to block such self-knowledge and empathetic resonance with others. If Bush had these capacities, he would (probably) not behave as he has.
You’re right. The two families could not be more different. Quite the contrast.
The message might be “We are better than you” – but in the end, the Obama’s response is the more genuine form of that.
If I were Michelle Obama, I would have called a press conference and thrown a hissy fit at Laura and George.
Good thing I am not, eh?
bushes, still trying to figure out why they cant have a jockey boy on the front lawn.
Who cares? The Obamas have enough money to rent a house for a month to ease the transition for their girls and plenty of staff to help with the moves.
W is a jerk. We knew from before the OO election. Nothing new here.
What’s of more concern is that Obi is apparently being run by the same economic nasties which tanked the economy since the RayGun era.
Change we can believe in?
This morning on FOX clips I saw on CNN Bush said he did not sell his soul.
I guess this means he was short changed and never had one.
215 hrs & 3 min
Yep. And pausing to recognize that is the purpose of the post. It’s also a convenient “down home” story to tell family or others still not convinced of Bush’s lack of honor…
Michelle and Barak Obama have not traveled this journey over the past – what 15 years? – by NOT being people who understand implications and appearances of actions and words. They know they did not have to call ANYTHING – they just have to look like reasoned, intelligent people who are on their way to doing the most important job of their lives…and oh, yes, could we stay at Blair House so that we can get the girls settled in school? By their actions, the Bushes have revealed themselves to be petty, political, stupid, racist, and insensitive.
And their kind has not got away. Which is another reason to focus attention on their pettiness. So we recognize it in whatever new incarnation it appears.
david rovics wrote a song called “In One World” that has been on my mind lately. the hard nosed cynics may think it’s sappy, but i love it because it reminds me to imagine and dream. when i looked for a youtube a few days ago i couldn’t find one, so i posted the audio if anyone wants to give it a listen.
from the liner notes: “Based on a story I read in the Palestine Monitor about a Palestinian refugee from the city of Haifa who went to visit the home of his birth and met the Jewish refugees from Iraq who were living there.”
George Bush sucks; George Bush is a compassionate conservative therefore Compassionate conservatism Sucks.
214 hrs & 54 min
This message is, to me, another manifestation of the whole old line/GOP/legacy/old money/families getting their kids into schools/families keeping their kids out of trouble thing. Bush is petty, nasty and insensitive…because he CAN and has been all of his life. It’s that sense of entitlement – of feeling you don’t HAVE to be nice or courteous to people because of who you are. That’s one of the parts of how bad the public discourse is in this country – that courtesy is not something that everyone needs to put forth..no matter how they feel.
I don’t find it sappy at all. I suppose the “hard-nosed” adjective before cynics might refer to a barricade against hope. Let’s hope their numbers are diminished, for their own sakes and ours.
i agree. furthermore i’m more than a little suspicious about the origins of the story.
I knew what this was about the minute I heard that GWB had refused Obama’s request. This was later confirmed when it was revealed that no one was expected at Blair House when the request was made. This is frequently what it is like being an African American when one encounters people who view one as being different due to the amount of melanin one has in one’s skin. Been there, done that, doing that, living this, will be consigned to continue living this (in some people’s POV, anyway.)
Comment meant for Selise @ 19.
maybe it was a warning in self-defense. i try to qualify as a cynic, but don’t want to be hard-nosed about it especially if it means a barricade against hope (really like that imagery).
O/T
Go Giants!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Back to the game. catch yuz later
I’d be curious to know if any people of color have been invited to stay at Blair House during the W admin.
Yeah. There used to be a time when a WASP could hold up his/her head. Guess they fixed that!
I know what you mean. The personal struggle against cynicism, though, is how hope undoes the cynic from the inside out.
Bush is doing this because he can. That’s the reason – he has the power so he uses it – in small, petty, senseless ways. I am counting the minutes along with Mike.
We are supposed to be buying Georgie a fence and gat for his new 8500 sq ft house in Dallas. Can we put the lock on the outside?
214 hrs & 40 min
House arrest. Not a bad idea.
During the darkest days of Iraq, people came to me and said, ‘You’re creating incredible political difficulties for us,’” the current president said as his term draws to a close. “And I said, ‘Oh, really? What do you suggest I do?’ And some suggested retreat, pull out of Iraq. But I had faith that freedom exists in people’s souls and therefore, if given a chance, democracy and Iraqi-style democracy could survive and work,” the president said. “I didn’t compromise that principle for the sake of trying to, you know, bail out my political party.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..56909.html
707!! As I the new year has started, I’m trying to let go of negative thoughts, feelings, people and energy. That means choosing to be happy, optimistic and compassionate but that was just too funny.
Ask Obama to Arrest Bush as the Two of Them Pass by 40 Feet Away
Join us on January 20th. We have a permit for an Arrest Bush demonstration on the sidewalk in front of the FBI Building. Bush and Obama will pass by at around 11 a.m. on their way from the White House to the Capitol. Obama will pass back by as president at around 3 p.m. Wear your Arrest Bush & Cheney Sweatshirt, other warm clothes, and comfortable shoes. Be patient and arrive very early. Bring all your friends and family and an Arrest Bush sign as your ticket to get into our parade viewing area (everyone with a sign welcome until it fills up). Updates here: http://www.arrestbush2009.com.
We call for the arrest of George W. Bush for instigating war aginst a sovereign nation that posed no threat, wanton attacks on civilian populations, use of torture, and violations of the U.N. Charter.
We call for the arrest of George W. Bush for lying to Congress and the American people about the reasons for invading Iraq, for the deaths of US service members and Iraqi civilians, and for the abuse of the United States Constitution.
US Park Service permit # 09-18 allows for 3,000 participants.
http://arrestbush2009.com/
Karma is coming and George Bush will continue to be shunned by the nation and the world. His shunning of Barack Obama will be nothing in comparison to what George Bush is going to feel.
Is everyone expected to keep their shoes on their feet.
214 hrs & 28 min
mmmm, Mike, have you ever been in DC in January…everyone had BETTER keep their shoes on their feet.
love it! but shouldn’t we be calling for the arrest of VPEBO biden too?
I dunnno. It’s a good way to keep the snow-sludge from ruining your shoes.
BT is upstairs with new thready goodness…Bush: Heckuva Job, Me
Probably…they might leave them all here on the 19th, though..’g’
MONDAY, JANUARY 19th
11:00am CONVERGENCE followed by SHOE THROWING AT THE WHITE HOUSE
Why Shoe Bush?
Our president stood in a nation he had illegally invaded and occupied, where his actions had caused over 1.2 million deaths, 5 million people forced out of their homes, millions more deprived of electricity or clean water and afraid to walk the streets. He stood smiling in a nation he had transformed into a living hell, a place where everyone had seen loved ones and neighbors killed. And when Muntadar Al-Zeidi threw two shoes at him, our president remarked “I don’t know what his beef is.”
But billions of people around the world believed that the pretended obliviousness of George W. Bush to the pain and suffering he was inflicting had gone on as long as they could stand if not much longer, and Al-Zeidi became a hero overnight. His two shoes punctured the Bush veil of separation, the distance Bush pretends to imagine exists between his decisions and the human limbs scattered in the sand of his colony. And while the U.S. media pretended to wonder whether the water torture was “really” torture, the United States and its puppet government in Iraq inflicted on Al-Zeidi one of the more commonly employed torture techniques.
http://shoebush.org/
I think the problem is the kangaroos.
I forgot. They’re the ones with the diplomatic pouches.
Glenn and Hugh! LOL
The security arrangements necessary for the Obama’s while at Hay-Adams, which is outside the White House security perimeter, seems to have made quite a mess of traffic. This wouldn’t have happened if they were staying at Blair House, which is inside the White House security zone. I wonder how local residents and commuters feel about this. Not to mention the additional cost to the taxpayers. And renting a house would have caused the same problems.
Someone has posted David Rovics singing In One World to YouTube now, mind you without a true video. It wasn’t me.
When I read about this, my first instinct did not point to chimpy. The first wife had been in a few revisionist interviews already, and I thought that it was her parting shot. This woman is dumber than a rock…
thank you!
Read your post with interest. You did leave out a coupla things.
Like the media’s go-along-git-along furtherance of Bushspin like the January 15 daymarker. It was not a tradition, it was simply when Bush moved in so in his narcissistic world of history is all about me, BushCo used it as their excuse and the steno-media disgorged it as fact.
Pretty much the way BushCo–and the BushCo media of this era–have conducted business.
Did John Howard actually think it was in his country’s interest to aid in snubbing the new President of the United States?
Or is he–like Bush–one of those heads-of-state whose patriotism (or the pretense thereof) dries up the minute he leaves the job?
i’m thinking that maybe president obama should start a “special” gw bush secret service detail. all agents must have skin diseases, b.o., cronic halatosis, and or constant nose picking.