Busted: Blair Gives Public Treasure To White House

[Mark E. Smith]

The Guardian - 8/28/05

A bronze bust of Winston Churchill, owned by the British Government Art Collection and paid for by the taxpayer, is at the centre of a row after it was loaned by Tony Blair to George W. Bush.

The renowned Jacob Epstein sculpture that sits in President Bush's Oval Office was loaned to the White House four years ago, on orders from Blair's office, in an unprecedented act outside the strict remit of the collection.

The claim, to be made in a BBC documentary on Thursday and supported this weekend by art specialists, forms part of new scrutiny of the GAC and its backroom handling of tens of millions of pounds worth of British art each year.
...
George Bush, a fan of Churchill, who once described him as 'the best example of how individuals can shape history,' now has sole use of the Epstein bust, despite the fact this sort of political or diplomatic presentation of GAC art is not sanctioned by founding principles drawn up in 1898.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,1558137,00.html?gusrc=rss

"Uh, Tony? That dingus of Winnie over there, ya think yuh can gimme it? Look real nice in mah office."

"Of course, George. Anything you want, George. Can I get you 20,000 troops for your Iraq excursion while I'm up?"

[BlueJac]

1. Blair is a liar too

God damn clown that help fix the info leading up to the war.................freaking idiot.

[democrank]

2. Bush probably thinks

Blair gave him a bust of John Wayne.

[TomInTib]

3. I guess that what he uses as inspiration for those wonderful

speeches that he gives...you know - the ones that inspire and unite and mobilize the country for a greater cause.

Maybe he needs to rub that bald head just a little harder and the freepers will enlist!

[xxqqqzme]

4. Napoleon had 'sole use'

of the 'Mona Lisa'. Had it in his bedroom - All those dick-tators R wankers.

[Kokonoe]

5. I guess that proves blair is a poodle dog.

He hands over his countries national treasure on demand.(kidding of course, curious george just tickled his tummy).

[Eloriel]

6. The BIG surprise: Bush apparently knows who Churchill is

This is disgusting. And to think there was a time -- early one, mind you, very early on -- when I thought Tony Blair was the cat's meow. Pffft

[MADem]

9. Naah, he thought it was a bust of WC Fields!! n/t

[Prodemsouth]

20. Here is it how it happened:Rush and other talk show host and

conservative pundits have been blabbing about Churchill, who was a great leader. Bush hears all these conservative pundits lionize Churchill. Bush thinks " Iam a conservative..It will make me look like I know something if I like (admire) Churchill. It is also a kick a Roosevelt, he heard his RIch family talk about what a bad man Roosevelt was- so Churchill should get all the credit for defeating their old family friend Hitler.

[Cha]

7. BUSTED! blair

thinks he's so clever..sneaking Winnie's bust over to the chimphouse.

[beetbox]

8. If you want to send Tony a note

The Blair's summer break has generated even more interest, with added speculation about their whereabouts (concealed for security reasons) until Mr Blair himself decided to reveal they were in Barbados. Now they are said to be eyeing up a luxury villa in a gated community on the island to add to their burgeoning portfolio of properties. The couple already own a £3.65m Georgian townhouse in London, a Victorian house in Co Durham and two flats in Bristol.

In Barbados, the Blairs are enjoying cocktail parties on luxury yachts with millionaire City friends, limbo dancing at barbecue parties, and private excursions for secluded swims near uninhabited local islands.

According to reports yesterday, the couple have been bitten by the Caribbean bug since they arrived on 4 August. It quotes an unnamed "senior government official" who claimed the Blairs have shown an interest in villas in the Royal Westmoreland estate, built on a former sugar plantation around a professional-level 18-hole golf course. It boasts " colonial-style villas, many with their own pool set within fabulous, mature gardens in a tapestry of brilliant colours". Among its owners are tennis player Virginia Wade and former Masters golf champion Ian Woosnam.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article308627.ece

[JohnyCanuck]

10. Every over worked Prime Minister

deserves a nice Caribbean retreat of his own where he can unwind and relax with a round of golf and a rum punch at the bar - especially relaxing, no doubt, after another tough bout of cooking the evidence and selling his fellow parliamentarians and citizens on the necessity of starting an illegal war.

http://www.royal-westmoreland.com/golf.htm

[AndyTiedye]

28. Not Exactly Beachfront Property

" colonial-style villas, many with their own pool set within fabulous, mature gardens in a tapestry of brilliant colours"

That is straight from the sales brochure. Last I heard, villas
at the "Royal Westmoreland" were selling rather poorly, despite
a booming real estate market in Barbados, and the whole enterprise
was looking for a buyer. It is miles from the beach, it's principal
attraction being a golf course.

[tiptoe]

11. Bliar kissing a** for a "cushy job" w The Carlyle Group down the road...

...presuming, of course, he isn't too preoccupied avoiding capture for war crimes...when the opportunity arises...down the road with...the "New World Order"

[oasis]

19. Blair's in solid with Carlyle now.

[struggle4progress]

12. Pretty much sums up the whole crowd, don't it? Takin and givin away ..

.. what ain't theirs ...

[frankly_fedup2]

27. Now those stupid mistakes are starting to make sense . . .

Like the rioting right after our troops get into Baghdad. They were allowed to run amuck in a museum that holds treasures from the beginning of mankind. How much you wanna bet some of those priceless artifacts that are still missing are safely put away in some people's private collection. Like the troops that caught Saddam (one now has spoken out against the war and says the troops need to come home), presented Bush with the gun Saddam had on him when they captured him. I've read where Bush proudly shows it off to World Leaders that visit. They also say it's in the room where Clinton and Monica did their little thing. From the way the neocons talk, I would have thought that room would have been burned.

Another thought . . . the 9 billion dollars that was "supposedly" lost due to bad accounting.

We have to pay the IRS every year. This year we got off cheap . . . around $1100.00. I told my husband we ought to tell them that we had the money and were going to send it; however, our accountant must have misplaced the funds somewhere. So how many years do you think we would get after they took our home and belongings?

A bunch of bullshit is all we have had from this administration. Then Jerry Falwell always asks his church to pray for President Bush and his wife and daughters first. Then pray for the troops. (I put them in my first priority).

[Benhurst]

13. The Poodle should loan some of the crown jewels to Laura and

the twins, since Liz II is getting a bit long in the tooth to wear them.

[Gemini Cat]

16. He'd like to but they are under lock and key

in the Tower.

[1932]

14. I hope BBC does an expose on Greece "loan" of the Elgin Marbles.

It's pretty rich of the BBC to do a show complaining about British art going to the US when their museums are filled with the art of the nations they colonized.

[BillZBubb]

22. Oh, so you are defending Blair?

After all it's just another case of art abuse? Please.

I hope the BBC does an expose on Bush and Blair's criminal war and all the lying that went into it. You can worry about the Grecian fresco. Your priorities are interesting...

[1932]

30. I'm defending proportionalitly. The Elgin Marbles are worth so much more

than some silly little bust of Churchill. And it's silly for a nation that has taken so much art and wealth from other countries to flip out about a loan of something this small.

[pinniped]

15. We always knew the POS* had a thing for W. Churchill.

This POS probably has seances where they would try to ask Churchill for advice, obviously he never materialized.

[Benhurst]

21. He gets off fondling the bust's bald head, while sighing "Jeff, Jeff." NT

[maddezmom]

17. * probably swiped it when he visited

:shrug:

[Brightmore]

18. I can't believe I used to think Blair was a good guy

:blush:

[Darth_Kitten]

23. I never trusted him.

NEVER.

This was long before he became a preening poodle. :(

[Gyre]

24. "Winnie" is spinning in his grave.

Now if we can only get shrub to join him.:)

Gyre

[Robeson]

25. Blair was just saving Britain from U.S. airstrikes....

...since he knows thats our usual modus operandi when we want to loot another nations national treasure.

[anotherdrew]

26. I hate to think what bush does with the bust when he's alone with it

bring it home blair... why the hell his party doesn't fire his ass is beyond me.

[tanyev]

29. I hope our Glorious Leader hasn't decorated it with a Sharpie.

Moustache, funny glasses, evil eyebrows, etc. Georgie's quite a card.