Obama shoes on Resolute Desk
The first event was unceremoniously returning a bust of Winston Churchill among the first acts after taking the oath of office.
The second event was Michelle Obama fist-bumping hugging Queen Elizabeth and giving her an ipod.
Next was the D-Day dissing where Obama did not invite Queen Elizabeth, is the only living head of state who served in uniform during World War II to last week’s 65th anniversary commemoration of D-Day.
Shoes, as we recall from tearing down the Saddam Hussein statue and the assault on President Bush at the press conference, are highly symbolic to the Muslim world. Putting his shoes on a foremost symbol of US-British alliance is not lost on sensitive observers of US-Muslim relations.
Text on a plaque on the desk reads:
The ship was purchased, fitted out and sent to England as a gift to HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA by the PRESIDENT AND PEOPLE of the UNITED STATES as a token of goodwill & friendship. This table was made from her timbers when she was broken up, and is presented by the QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES as a memorial of the courtesy and loving kindness which dictated the offer of the gift of the RESOLUTE
Nothing is accidental in the White House. Photographs that the White House doesn’t want to get out… don’t get out. This is a message. This is symbolism. This is a statement that nothing is sacred or holy to Obama.
But last week there was no end to mentions (ok, at least five) of the “Holy Quran” in Obama’s speeches in the Muslim world.
Maybe someone can explain why editorial boards don’t insist that the word “Holy” always appear before the words Bible or Torah, as it does for the Quran. Must be that failure to do so might result in a too-typical demonstration from the Religion of Peace.
