Casual Day at Auschwitz

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Rspaight
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Casual Day at Auschwitz

Postby Rspaight » Fri Jan 28, 2005 9:38 am

This administration keeps insisting on acting like asses on the world stage, and then arrogantly wondering aloud why everyone hates us.

Memo to Big Dick: pay a visit to Mens Wearhouse before your next somber official appearance.

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Dick Cheney, Dressing Down
Parka, Ski Cap at Odds With Solemnity of Auschwitz Ceremony

By Robin Givhan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 28, 2005; Page C01

At yesterday's gathering of world leaders in southern Poland to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the United States was represented by Vice President Cheney. The ceremony at the Nazi death camp was outdoors, so those in attendance, such as French President Jacques Chirac and Russian President Vladimir Putin, were wearing dark, formal overcoats and dress shoes or boots. Because it was cold and snowing, they were also wearing gentlemen's hats. In short, they were dressed for the inclement weather as well as the sobriety and dignity of the event.

The vice president, however, was dressed in the kind of attire one typically wears to operate a snow blower.

Cheney stood out in a sea of black-coated world leaders because he was wearing an olive drab parka with a fur-trimmed hood. It is embroidered with his name. It reminded one of the way in which children's clothes are inscribed with their names before they are sent away to camp. And indeed, the vice president looked like an awkward boy amid the well-dressed adults.

Like other attendees, the vice president was wearing a hat. But it was not a fedora or a Stetson or a fur hat or any kind of hat that one might wear to a memorial service as the representative of one's country. Instead, it was a knit ski cap, embroidered with the words "Staff 2001." It was the kind of hat a conventioneer might find in a goodie bag.


It is also worth mentioning that Cheney was wearing hiking boots -- thick, brown, lace-up ones. Did he think he was going to have to hike the 44 miles from Krakow -- where he had made remarks earlier in the day -- to Auschwitz?

His wife, Lynne, was seated next to him. Her coat has a hood, too, and it is essentially a parka. But it is black and did not appear to be functioning as either a name tag or a billboard. One wonders if at some point the vice president turned to his wife, took in her attire and asked himself why they seemed to be dressed for two entirely different events.

Some might argue that Cheney was the only attendee with the smarts to dress for the cold and snowy weather. But sometimes, out of respect for the occasion, one must endure a little discomfort.

Just last week, in a frigid, snow-dusted Washington, Cheney sat outside through the entire inauguration without so much as a hat and without suffering frostbite. And clearly, Cheney owns a proper overcoat. The world saw it during his swearing-in as vice president. Cheney treated that ceremony with the dignity it deserved -- not simply through his demeanor, but also through his attire. Would he have dared to take the oath of office with a ski cap on? People would have justifiably considered that an insult to the office, the day, the country.

There is little doubt that intellectually Cheney approached the Auschwitz ceremony with thoughtfulness and respect. But symbolism is powerful. That's why the piercing cry of a train whistle marked the beginning of the ceremony and the glare of searchlights signaled its end. The vice president might have been warm in his parka, ski cap and hiking boots. But they had the unfortunate effect of suggesting that he was more concerned with his own comfort than the reason for braving the cold at all.
Last edited by Rspaight on Fri Jan 28, 2005 2:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Ess Ay Cee Dee
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Postby Ess Ay Cee Dee » Fri Jan 28, 2005 10:15 am

Moderator:

Please move this thread to "Politics" and teach Ryan how to use the Forums. Thank you. :twisted:

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Postby Rspaight » Fri Jan 28, 2005 10:21 am

Fuck.

Ryan
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney

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Postby CitizenDan » Fri Jan 28, 2005 11:39 am

Rspaight wrote:Fuck.

Ryan


Ryan --

Please stay out of the duration for the thread of the duration. Thank you.
We were right about Vietnam. We were right about Nixon. We were right about Reaganomics. Trust us -- we're right about Bush, too.

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Postby Rob P » Fri Jan 28, 2005 12:16 pm

Got GORFed? Please call a spiritual advisor.

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Postby Gee Oh Are Tea » Fri Jan 28, 2005 2:44 pm

CitizenDan wrote:
Ryan --

Please stay out of the duration for the thread of the duration. Thank you.


There's gotta be a "remainder" in there somewhere as well.

It's likely Cheney was dressed in a practical way because after the ceremony he was going out to the back of the site to check out the orientation of the barracks for research into a future "camp" for Islamists, political opponents in the United States Of Iraq, deposed members of SH.tv, etc.

Cliff

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Rspaight
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Postby Rspaight » Fri Jan 28, 2005 2:58 pm

Despite being told to stay out the the remainder of the duration of the rest of thread's duration, I must ask...

Can you imagine the firestorm Rush, Hannity, Fox News, etc., would have ignited if Clinton had pulled a similar stunt?

He'd have been impeached before we heard the end of it. You thought Haircutgate was bad...

Ryan
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney

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Postby Gee Oh Are Tea » Fri Jan 28, 2005 3:42 pm

Rspaight wrote:Despite being told to stay out the the remainder of the duration of the rest of thread's duration, I must ask...

Can you imagine the firestorm Rush, Hannity, Fox News, etc., would have ignited if Clinton had pulled a similar stunt?

He'd have been impeached before we heard the end of it. You thought Haircutgate was bad...

Ryan


It could have been worse .... Cheney might have worn that Nazi outfit Prince Harry had on a few weeks ago.

Cliff

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Postby Rspaight » Fri Jan 28, 2005 4:34 pm

Or he could have turned up at Bitburg by mistake.

Ryan
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney

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Postby dcooper » Fri Jan 28, 2005 5:15 pm

That picture of Cheney in the parka reminds me of the last scene in Stripes after John Larroquette's character has been transferred to Alaska and they show the newspaper headline welcoming him to his new assignment.
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Postby Dob » Sat Jan 29, 2005 7:06 pm

dcooper wrote:Stripes...John Larroquette's character...

Capt. Stillman. Who so famously uttered, "Oooooh, I wish I was a loofah!"

Or was it Bill O'Reilly who said that?
Dob
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