To solidify Talk To Action's place in the historical record, as home to the original scoop on how George W. Bush accidentally took to comparing himself, one might say, to a horse thief fleeing from a lynch mob (which, given Mr. Bush's current popularity ratings, was simply a metaphor ahead of its time) I have conducted a number of Google searches to demonstrate definitively that Jonathan Hutson's Horseshit! Bush and the Christian Cowboy was truly the first exegesis of this ridiculous tale. My hope is to convince readers that Talk To Action, which doesn't come off as especially "newsy", can be at times far ahead of the curve - sometimes by almost several years. Come over for a visit again, y'all : never know what you might find. Before we turn to Googlish tedium that demonstrates Jonathan Hutson's story first marked this particular territory (with impressive sarcasm too), for those readers unfamiliar with the details of this story, here's the Cliff Notes version:

Hutson's story, on George W. Bush's mythologized account of the painting Bush has dubbed "A Charge To Keep" examined how the painting actually had, as it was originally titled and in its original  context, a radically different meaning than what George Bush tries to impart as he plays docent to White House visitors and paints himself as the courageous, dutiful cowboy-preacher charging uphill (to God? ) in Bush's beloved "Charge To Keep" painting so inspirationally nestled on Bush's Oval Office wall.

The painting in question, by artist, W.H.D. Koerner, illustrated a short story, "The Slipper Tongue", by William J. Neidig, that was printed in 1916 in The Saturday Evening Post.

Mr. Bush claims the painting depicts a Methodist circuit rider,  but "The Slipper Tongue" actually concerned a silver-tongued Nebraska horse thief who winds up fleeing, as depicted in Koerner's painting, from a lynch mob. Now, Mr. Bush might lump Methodist circuit riders in with horse thieves for all we know, and in historical terms there might have been one or two Methodist circuit riders who moonlighted as horse thieves as well. But the short story "The Slipper Tongue" had nothing at all to do with evangelizing; it concerned a criminal perhaps deemed in Western American culture as the lowest of the low - a horse thief - fleeing for his life from a howling mob probably aiming to string him up to the nearest convenient tree limb.

Jonathan Hutson starts out "Horseshit! Bush and The Christian Cowboy" with the following lead that is a textbook-perfect example of how to begin a narrative: beginning with a wide context to locate the story, then zooming into the central argument to tell readers exactly what they're going to get should they read further:

"The central metaphor and theme of President George W. Bush's political identity is the image of the Christian cowboy. That identity is projected through the Bush Administration's policies on issues from global warming to preemptive warfare, which are based on the premise that Bush is a lone cowboy, rushing headlong to carry out a God-given charge. The myth of Mr. Bush as Christian cowboy is symbolized in his favorite painting, which he calls "A Charge To Keep." The painting appears on the back cover of his official campaign biography, A Charge To Keep, whose title is taken from a hymn written by Charles Wesley in 1762. The President talks about the painting and how it symbolizes him and his administration each time he gives a tour of the Oval Office. Mr. Bush is especially pleased when people tell him he looks a little like the Christian cowboy - who, to be fair, he really does resemble.

What's wrong with this picture?

The problem is that like many myths, the symbol of the Christian cowboy has been manufactured. It's built on a pack of lies - fudged facts, omissions, misinterpretations, and leaps of faith - and the myth is packaged and burnished by Mr. Bush's oldest friend, "Spider," an oil tycoon who has a political agenda to push. And that agenda requires a bit of Christian revisionist history (read: pack of lies). This essay aims to unpack, to deconstruct, Bush's Christian cowboy myth and explain the real title of that painting.

In George W. Bush's official 2000 presidential campaign biography, Bush claims that the painting he's dubbed "A Charge To Keep", more or less permanently on loan to Bush from Bush's close friend Joseph I. O'Neill III (also known as "spider")-- the man who introduced Bush to the woman he'd marry, Laura Welch -- was inspired by a hymn by John Wesley:

"I started the [gubernatorial inauguration] day with a church service. One of the hymns I selected is titled "A Charge to Keep I Have." Written by Charles Wesley, the words say:

A charge to keep I have,
A God to glorify,
A never dying soul to save,
And fit it for the sky.
To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfill;
O may it all my powers engage
To do my Master's will!

[Hanging in my office is] a beautiful oil painting by W.H.D. Koerner entitled A Charge to Keep. The painting, inspired by the hymn, [pictures] a horseman determinedly charging up what appears to be a steep & rough trail. This is us. [The painting and] hymn have been an inspiration for me & for members of my staff. "A Charge to Keep" calls us to our highest and best. It speaks of purpose and direction. In many hymnals, it is associated with a Bible verse, 1 Corinthians 4:2: "Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful."

Actually, explains Hutson, that's incorrect. Wesley wasn't inspired by 1 Corinthians 4:2 but, rather, by an exposition on Leviticus 8:35 by the  Eighteenth Century Christian writer Matthew Henry.

And, what is Bush, introjected into his cherished painting, really up to ? On that figurative note, but waxing more accurately Biblical than, it seems, than George W. Bush Jonathan Hutson flushes Bush's "responsibility" frame with:

"Ah, horseshit. He's riding recklessly up a cliff, believing he's on a God-given mission and enjoying it so much that he does not heed whether his horse is about to get crippled on the slick shale underfoot. The President, in macho mode, cannot imagine the possibility of leading his imaginary Christian nation right off a cliff. And so that is just what happens. As the Good Book says, "They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them.... In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them." (Deuteronomy 32:28, 35)" - Jonathan Hutson, from Horseshit! Bush and the Christian Cowboy

But, that's a load of hooey, and Hutson unpacks the history of George W. Bush's account,

"Oh, please. The painting illustrated a short story by Ben Ames Williams, published by Country Gentleman Magazine in 1918. And the name of that story was "A Charge To Keep." But that doesn't mean the painting shares the story's title.

No, Mr. Koerner actually created the painting to illustrate a short story by William J. Neidig, published in the June 3, 1916, edition of The Saturday Evening Post. The cover art was by Norman Rockwell, the issue sold for a nickel, the story was illustrated by W. H. D. Koerner, and the name of the story was "The Slipper Tongue." Now that sounds a lot more like the authentic Bushie.

If the imagery of a bold, courageous George W. Bush-- keeping his charge and his faith, charging up a hill, against all odds, blobbity blobbity... --might not seem quite appropriate to many Americans who have endured seven years of Mr. Bush and now contemplate the degraded state of the nation in 2008-- the mangling of Constitutional protections during the Bush years, Bush's disastrous Iraq war, the grinding devolution of the American economy towards second-rate post industrial senescence and so on --what imagery, then would fit ? Wrapping it all up with the narrative crispness of a good trial lawyer, Jonathan Hutson suggests a more appropriate William Korner painting to suit what Jacob Weisberg aptly calls "The Bush Disaster",

"...there is a Koerner painting that does aptly illustrate the Bushie presidency. It's called "Boiling Over." The piece graced the cover of the Saturday Evening Post in 1925 and it reads like a parody of the one that Bushie calls "A Charge To Keep." Here, the reckless cowboy is replaced by a feckless driver. And the horse in danger of becoming crippled is replaced by an overheated jalopy. Our modern-era western rider is slipping the transmission belts of a 1925 Ford Model T touring car, trying in vain to tackle a rocky slope. He leans forward as if to spur his suffering mount, while his Ma and girlfriend throw him icy stares. Two dogs are along for the ride; one decides to bail. The dog is hanging his head over the side door, looking for a way out of this lunacy. As the car cruises to a halt, shy of the mountain peak, radiator sputtering in crisis, the dog spots a clear landing and prepares to make a leap of faith. The dog, at least, appears smart enough to scout the ground first, so he does not land in a pile of horseshit."

That last touch seems more and more apt as, in the long turn of the wheel, with the sweep of time bringing us excrutiatingly closer and closer, with each passing day, to a world without President George W. Bush gazing dreamily up from his Oval Office at an invented persona he'll never be as he inks his signing statements and wreaks all the  havoc he can possibly pack into eleven more months in the White House.

We'll get there... eventually. Have faith.

***

So, here - to celebrate Jonathan Hutson's prescience, are the Google rankings of various terms associated with The "Slipper Tongue"/"Charge To Keep" story and the ranking Jonathan Hutson's "Bullshit! Bush and the Christian Cowboy" holds in the various search results (note - I've taken screenshots of the Google rankings too, because they may soon be displaced by the newer stories on the subject) :

"William J. Neidig" ,"The Slipper Tongue": hits: 3  rank: #1

"The Slipper Tongue" hits: 375  rank: #6

"Ben Ames Williams","A charge to keep" hits: 4, rank: #2, #4

"Ben Ames Williams","George Bush": hits: 28, rank: #1

"George W. Bush","Joseph I. O'Neill III" hits: 17 rank: #4, #6

"The Slipper Tongue","Bush": hits: 324  rank: #9 ( down from #8 earlier today)

"George W. Bush","Corinthians 4:2" hits: 48 rank: #5

"George W. Bush","Country Gentleman",1918 hit: 50   rank: #1, #2