Political Grapevine: Blue dress still haunting Bill Clinton
Famous portrait artist says he managed to slip perhaps the most memorable stain on the Clinton legacy into his painting of the president
Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine...
Stop the Presses
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's current status as a GOP presidential frontrunner has thrust him into the headlines-- some of which-- are just plain false.
The Daily Beast is apologizing to the governor and has retracted a story that claimed-- Governor Walker wanted to remove requirements that sexual assaults at state universities be reported.
That would be alarming-- if true.
The Daily Beast-- and other media outlets-- ran with the story, after it was first reported by the website Jezebel.
But Jezebel misunderstood a requirement in Walker's budget proposal -- that some current rules-- be deleted -- because they are redundant with other reporting efforts.
The Daily Beast has since retracted the story, posting a lengthy correction that reads in part:
"Scott Walker's camp assures that he's committed to protecting victims. The Daily Beast is committed to covering the news fairly and accurately, and we should have checked this story more thoroughly."
Artistic License
A famous portrait artist says he managed to slip the most memorable stain on the Clinton legacy-- into his painting of the president-- that now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery: Monica Lewinsky's famous blue dress.
The 2006 portrait shows President Bill Clinton standing by the mantle in the Oval Office.
But look closely—the shadow cast on the mantle next to the president.
Artist Nelson Shanks tells the Philadelphia Inquirer-- that is the shadow of the blue dress.
Shanks says it signifies the shadow the Lewinsky scandal left on Clinton's presidency.
He claims the Clintons hate the portrait, and have pressured the National Portrait Gallery to remove it.
Gallery officials say that's not true.
The portrait caused controversy when it was first unveiled in 2006-- because it shows Clinton-- without his wedding ring.
The Giving Spirit
And finally-- another painting-- passed off as a cheap Christmas present-- turned out to be a multi-million dollar Picasso-- missing for more than a decade.
Customs officials at the port of Newark -- discovered it in December.
Someone tried to smuggle it into the U.S. by Fed-exing it under the classification "art-- craft"-- worth 37 bucks-- with a "Merry Christmas" label.
But inside-- Picasso's ‘The Hairdresser’-- stolen from a Paris museum around the year 2001.
It is believed to be worth-- more than $2.5 million.
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