Hey Andy? What About Dick’s Breach of Etiquette?
Andy Card is deeply offended that Barack Obama works in shirt sleeves, and not a coat and tie.
"There should be a dress code of respect," Card tells INSIDE EDITION. "I wish that he would wear a suit coat and tie."
[snip]
"The Oval Office symbolizes…the Constitution, the hopes and dreams, and I’m going to say democracy. And when you have a dress code in the Supreme Court and a dress code on the floor of the Senate, floor of the House, I think it’s appropriate to have an expectation that there will be a dress code that respects the office of the President."
I agree with dakine that it is preferable to have a President, in shirt sleeves, working to protect the Constitution, rather than thugs in suit and tie, shredding it.
For myself, if I have a choice of an administration where everyone wears suits and ties and are all buttoned up while they destroy the country and the Constitution (but they look professional while doing so!) or an administration that takes off their coats and gets to work and actually does something to benefit most of the country, I will choose the latter hands down every time.
But I’m also wondering about Card’s misplaced focus on etiquette. Here he is, beating up Obama for his dress code, and ignoring a gross breach of etiquette–one that probably puts our country at some risk, in that it fosters gross insuburdination. As Lawrence O’Donnell explains to David Shuster, former Administration officials simply do not criticize the capabilities of their successors. It is not done.
No former Vice President has ever questioned the ability of the current Administration to protect the United States. This is something for which unprecedented is a mild word.
Yet somehow, Andy Card is able to overlook Cheney’s gross breach of etiquette even while bitching about Obama’s shirt sleeves.
I hope Obama sneaks into the oval office in his PJs at night!
Exactly what I said yesterday, except in slightly different words! I think it is absurd that all the former administration can worry about is whether or not someone keeps a suit coat on. Next thing you know, they will be worrying about dust bunnies under the President’s desk…
It is a shame that Dubya and the Dick couldn’t have taken their coats off and gotten down to some real business for the nation instead of keeping up appearances
Andy Card would know absolutely nothing about “respecting the office of the President.” What’s he ever seen to respect?
I need a shower.
Andy Card receives an honorary degree at UMass, no doubt a proud moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpJOXEFDWhs
1 minute and 40 secs of pure joy for UMass.
Proud to be a grad….
I wonder what Andy thinks of Gerald Ford putting his foot on the desk in the Oval Office? [At least he’s wearing a jacket!]
OT update: see my comment #24 at my Oxdown from yesterday for a summary of my current understanding of the mystery of the mirror of whitehouse.gov on a site in Kiev. I show that the IP address has changed since Obama took over but that a government related site, cybersecurity.gov still shares an IP address with the Kiev site. I still don’t understand what’s going on, but sharing an IP address between government servers and one in Kiev bothers me…
I’m worried Andy Card and his Republican party insiders attempts to undermine the Obama presidency will leave us all less secure.
I’m fine if they all show up in wet suits as long as the job gets done. Why is Cheney giving out an interview at all right now, missing his old spot of power? The man seems not just a fearmonger but feardriven himself and what a message, that we all should be cowering under the beds. Compare his ravings to President Obama’s tone, it’s like chalk and cheese.
Jealousy.
Cheney’s a narcissist.
Along comes the articulate, well-liked Obama who can collect a team, who is a catalyst, and who is among the emerging, ‘global citizen’ perspective of the age group beginning around 1960, who were still in childhood when the moonwalk occurred.
Cheney is jealous, IMHO.
I think he’s such a narcissist that he still thinks he’s the center of the universe, but as BillE and other commenters have pointed out, he’s still got a network in place.
As for Card, it’s precisely in character that he’s focused on appearance, rather than substance. Sad.
Rut roh. Hard to say how many fashion faux paws Ford commits here.
You are a gem JimWhite. Nice find. Perhaps this should be the beginning of a stream of pics of former Presidents and their fashion fauxs…
Lordy.
Man, that one’s worth an Oxdown.
Done.
Cheney is trying to intimidate Obama and Holder. His argument is that if you prosecute war crimes, you will make us less safe.
Makes one want to dust off the old tinfoil hat to block the radio messages coming in through ones flouridated teeth. What exactly does Cheney know that maybe DHS should know?
Look, the republicans have been using attacks and power and control since as long as I can remember. Clinton had his own problems but two important notes here. One, do you remember the first two years of the Clinton administration? I believe he lost those seats at the 2nd term in part because of Whitewater. And I think it’s noteworthy that Clinton got approved, her finances passed the muster…again. Which speaks to me loudly at a time when even Panetta is looking dirty.
They will systematically destroy and my fear for Obama was exactly this. What is happening right now, is the ONLY reason I wanted Hillary as President. (I know, she has her issues but the one thing I knew they would do it attack in this way and I felt that the Clintons were better prepared for THAT battle and that Obama’s “easy” style has the potential of becoming a Jimmy Carter in office. (who was a hell of a lot smarter than he was ever given credit for in part because of the constant attacks by the right).
Regardless, this is what they do and it works. It will not stop and I pray that Obama and the rest of the gang understands that you cannot do this without complete personal accountability. I think it’s fascinating with all the “dirt” leveled at the Clintons, when it comes to the financials they keep coming out just shy of “in trouble”. (dirty enough perhaps?) Obama needs to understand that this is what each and every democrat will face. Lots of attacks, discrediting. That is the ONLY way they win. And it will not stop. It never stopped during the Carter administration, nor the Clinton administration.
He’s got to get a fire wall up.
Oh my god could I appear any more illiterate…??
Would Andy have a problem with Saint Ronnie?
Hey, who moved the Jelly Beans ?
Now there are hints that Chaney is becoming unhinged. Stay tuned, as his mental control disentegrates further his tongue will become uncontrollable, and his accusations more bizzare.
Might prove revelatory. Definitely would prove entertaining as the mad old uncle’s visit.
I guess it’s ok to fart at your aides and laugh about it in the oval office, as long as you have a jacket on. And torture.
What these morally bankrupt idiots find offensive is really offensive.
Gawd, the stupidity of our political discourse.
Hey media! To quote John Stewart: “Stop. You’re hurting America.”
Saw Chuck Todd on the tv this morning lecturing Obama about what a poor job the Democrats have done in framing the stimulus. The other day he declared that Democrats have “lost the spin battle.” Of course, the passive continues to be the rule. No acknowledgment that Chuck Todd himself determines the framing and who wins the “spin battle.” These things just happen all on their own. Gee, I wonder if the fact that Republicans still outnumber Dems by about 100 to 1 in TV appearances might have something to do with “the spin battle”.
And of course, no thoughts whatsoever about media maybe playing a role in helping the country out of this disaster. No, it is all just a big game for them. I would really like to see nearly every one of the pundits and talking heads in a bread line.
.
Bingo.
And the financial reporting has been… well, let’s just say if it had approached excellence, we wouldn’t be in this mess because they’d have reported on Madoff and related scams years ago.
One wears a tie when one is in court. There are no other obligations to wear a noose. Save one.
The petty distractions mount in orchestrated din. I wonder what they are meant to hide? There are some jobs one never retires from: senior posts in Russian intelligence or the CIA, senior Chinese army officers, and political hit men for the party. Andy is such a card.
Appearance versus reality.
They bushies wore suits and ties to design torture.
I don’t care if people dress as ditch diggers, which they might need to do, to get back to the Rule of Law!
IIRC from reading, after Thom Jefferson was inaugerated, one of his first diplomatic encounters was when British ambassador arrived to present crdentials. TJ deliberately appeared in his sleeping clothes and slippers to demonstrate that The Crown was not going to be treated with fawning deference.
Also, didn’t TJ skip post-inaugeral festivities and retire directly to the White House? Sure hoped our newprez would have demonstrated leadership and done likewise…talk about folk popularity.
Newprez is imprisioned by his own choices for
bedfellowsinner-circle. Recall “I screwed-up”.Ooops! You’ll be back on the TeeVee with that apology real soon, right Andy?
Matthews whacked Andy Card’s comments.
+http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/06/matthews-card-getting-a-b_n_164662.html