One man's view of the world, from the top of this great big rock somewhere in the middle of God's Country, with an eye toward freedom....or at least some way to get back down without goin' over the edge.

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Location: West Virginia, United States

Former U.S. Army, SPC E-4, Veteran of Operation Desert Storm. If you are or have ever been a soldier, you have friends in my house.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Now This Takes Balls (Well, Okay...Just One)

One of the prettiest things to grace the White House all year, the annual Christmas Tree, is up in the Blue Room as we speak.

Every year, an artist is chosen from every district of every state to decorate an ornament to be hung on the tree. Folks, there are some real beauties in the roster.

What's that...you say there's one missing?

Hmmm. Well, whaddayaknow. You're right.

Lessee here...Yep, it's the one from Seattle, WA.

Gee....I wonder why it didn't make the cut?

"Oh, dear," said Seattle-based artist Deborah Lawrence, who created the red and white ornament that salutes Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) and his support for a resolution to impeach the president. "This doesn't really surprise me. But it's disappointing that I won't get to see it on the tree."

Laura Bush asked all members of Congress to pick artists from their districts to decorate ornaments, presumably highlighting local landmarks and heroes. Lawrence, 55, used the opportunity to honor McDermott, a strong critic of Bush. The collage artist glued tiny text on the nine-inch ball thinking no one would actually read her embedded "subversive" message.

Okay, so she tried to be sneaky about it. Alright, I can see getting a private laugh out of slipping a curve ball past the ump.

And she might have gotten away with it, too. All she had to do was not go bragging about it...

Yeah, right. She's an artist AND a liberal. You do the math.

But Lawrence shared her secret protest with friends, and the news quickly spread. "An artist doesn't always get this kind of attention," she told us. "It took on a life of its own, obviously. In a way, I'm speechless."

Oh, if only.

Awright, enough about her.

Here's the official White House photo list of the ones that remembered what they were doing this for.

My personal favorite?

Why, the State ornament of West Virginia, of course. It's purty.