Exorcising Churchill
Obama removes 9/11 Churchill Statue from Oval office sends back to UK
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washingtontimes.com
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GAFFNEY: Exorcising Churchill
It is no secret that Team Obama is all about symbolism and messaging. So presumably it was no accident that one of the new president's first gestures was to have a bust of Winston Churchill given to the United States by the British government removed from the Oval Office.
Mr. Obama didn't have it relocated to another prestigious location in the White House complex - say, the Cabinet Room or even the First Family's residence. Neither did he choose to put it on display in the Smithsonian, where this likeness of the greatest honorary American could have been enjoyed and revered by the rest of us. No, President Obama had it sent back to the British, who would be entitled to feel offended as well as appalled.
If indeed this explicit disassociation with one of the iconic heroes of the last century was meant to convey a symbolic message, the question occurs: Precisely which message and for whom was it intended?
Several possibilities come to mind. During his long career in various positions in the British government, Winston Churchill was closely associated with his nation's empire and worked manfully to preserve it as the sun began to set on its imperial holdings. Thanks to his own life experiences - notably, his Kenyan father and a formative stay in Indonesia - Mr. Obama clearly identifies with those colonized, rather than the colonizers. Perhaps, he wanted to serve notice of his solidarity with Mahatma Gandhi and the other anti-imperialist revolutionaries who struggled against Churchill and his government.
Alternatively, the banishing of the Churchill bust may have been part of the new president's campaign to "respect" Islam. After all, the former prime minister took a dim view of the Koran and adherents to the brutally repressive theo-political-legal program its authorities call Shariah.
Mr. Obama didn't have it relocated to another prestigious location in the White House complex - say, the Cabinet Room or even the First Family's residence. Neither did he choose to put it on display in the Smithsonian, where this likeness of the greatest honorary American could have been enjoyed and revered by the rest of us. No, President Obama had it sent back to the British, who would be entitled to feel offended as well as appalled.
If indeed this explicit disassociation with one of the iconic heroes of the last century was meant to convey a symbolic message, the question occurs: Precisely which message and for whom was it intended?
Several possibilities come to mind. During his long career in various positions in the British government, Winston Churchill was closely associated with his nation's empire and worked manfully to preserve it as the sun began to set on its imperial holdings. Thanks to his own life experiences - notably, his Kenyan father and a formative stay in Indonesia - Mr. Obama clearly identifies with those colonized, rather than the colonizers. Perhaps, he wanted to serve notice of his solidarity with Mahatma Gandhi and the other anti-imperialist revolutionaries who struggled against Churchill and his government.
Alternatively, the banishing of the Churchill bust may have been part of the new president's campaign to "respect" Islam. After all, the former prime minister took a dim view of the Koran and adherents to the brutally repressive theo-political-legal program its authorities call Shariah.
posted by jillosophy at 2/25/2009 03:36:00 PM
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