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We’ve learned the hard way over the past seven
years that President George W. Bush lives in his own fantasy world —
a place in which reality is whatever he wants it to be and facts are not
allowed to intrude. We should have known this from the start of his White
House tenure, for he practically painted a picture of it for us. More
accurately, he showed his predilection for delusion by hanging his favorite
painting in the Oval Office. It’s a 1916 cowboy scene by W.H.D.
Koerner titled “A Charge to Keep,” and, in Bush’s own
words, it depicts “a horseman determinedly charging up what appears
to be a steep and rough trail.”
In Bush’s head, that rider epitomizes his own
courageous political journey, dashing ahead against steep odds and
naysayers (who are embodied in the artwork by two other horsemen following
the daring hero). Visitors who’ve been shown the painting have
commented that the hard-charging character bears a remarkable resemblance
to Bush himself. Over the years Bush has added a Christian morality
tale to the painting, declaring that the artist based it on a Methodist
hymn and that the indomitable horseman is really a circuit-riding minister
rushing passionately ahead to spread the religion of Methodism (which
happens to be Bush’s own chosen faith). It’s all very inspiring, except for one small
detail: It’s not true. It turns out that W.H.D. Koerner painted the
work to illustrate a Saturday Evening Post short story titled “The Slipper Tongue.”
The story is about a slick-tongued horse thief, and Koerner’s
painting — far from illustrating bold moral leadership —
depicts the horse thief frantically fleeing a lynch mob. So when Bush says that he sees himself in the
painting, he might inadvertently be revealing the truth.
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator,
columnist, and author.
This article appears in Feb 7-13, 2008.
