There'll be a crush of cameras at the front door of the White House on January 20 as scores of media outlets scramble to record the moment that the new president walks in. But, wait--who're those people who'll be sliding in quietly behind him? They're the ones who'll spend the next four years whispering in the president's ear, sitting in strategy sessions, running presidential councils, filling agency slots, and pulling the levers of executive power.
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George the horse thief
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WE'VE LEARNED THE HARD WAY over the past seven years that George W lives in his own fantasy world.
From the start of his presidency, he has all but drawn a picture of his weird approach to reality for us by hanging his favorite painting in the Oval Office. It's a 1916 cowboy scene by W.H.D. Koerner which, in Bush's own words, depicts "a horseman determinedly charging up what appears to be a steep and rough trail."
In Bush's head, that rider epitomizes George's own courageous political journey, dashing ahead against steep odds and naysayers (the two other horsemen following the daring hero). Visitors who've been shown the painting by Bush have commented that the hard-charging character bears a remarkable resemblance to George himself.
Over the years, Bush has added a Christian morality tale to the painting, declaring that the artist's indomitable horseman was a circuit-riding minister rushing passionately ahead to spread the religion of Methodism (George's own chosen faith).
It's all very inspiring, except for one small detail: It's not true. It turns out that this picture is an illustration for a Saturday Evening Post short story, "The Slipper Tongue," about a slick-tongued horse thief. Far from illustrating bold moral leadership, this work depicts an outlaw frantically fleeing a lynch mob. So when Bush says he sees himself in the painting, for once he might be right!