UPDATE: There Will Be No White House 'Impeach Bush' Ornament After All

Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress at 4:18 PM on December 2, 2008.

Update: (For the original story scroll down)

This morning, the Washington Post reported that Seattle-based artist Deborah Lawrence would have her ornament hung on the White House Christmas tree. The ornament saluted Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) for attempting to impeach Bush. Sally McDonough, a spokeswoman for First Lady Laura Bush, reported this afternoon that the ornament would not be displayed:

"It's inappropriate and it's not being hung," she said. She said that when asked about the issue yesterday, the White House tree decorations were not complete. "We reviewed the ornament along with all the [other] ornaments, and Mrs. Bush deemed it inappropriate for the holiday tree."

Lawrence responded, "Oh, dear. This doesn't really surprise me. But it's disappointing that I won't get to see it on the tree."

When Laura Bush asked members of Congress to pick local artists to decorate the White House Christmas tree, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) turned to a local arts organization who assigned the task to Deborah Lawrence. The Seattle-based artist said, "I was at first nauseated, then realized it was an opportunity to highlight Jim McDermott because he's a hero of mine." So Lawrence, who frequently combines politics and satire in her work, covered a nine-inch ball "with swirly red and white stripes -- and, in tiny glued-on text, salutes the Democratic congressman's support for a resolution to impeach President Bush." (HT: HuffPost)

Update: The artist who made the ornament isn't quite sure why her ornament will be allowed to hang:

"Apparently, they didn't read it -- or Laura Bush is more progressive than I believed."

Tagged as: bush, white house, christmas, laura bush, christmas tree, rep. jim mcdermott (d-wa), deborah lawrence

Faiz Shakir is the Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Editor of ThinkProgress.org and The Progress Report.