Mr. Cheney is Inappropriate
So, here’s what I’d like to know. Are we trying to send the message that our VP is too stupid to know what appropriate attire would be for a remembrance ceremony, or that he respects the dead so little that he can’t be arsed to change out of his hiking books and parka?
I’m guessing, based solely on the fact that he has staff to help him dress, that it’s the latter. So there you go: Auschwitz does not matter enough to the VP to actually wear appropriate attire.
aleriel wrote:
I think you’re putting a bit too much emphasis on the attire. Now, I’ll grant that chances are the VP isn’t there because he really wants to or feels that he should be. He’s likely there because it’s politically correct. Nonetheless, if we pretend that he’s there because he feels it’s the right thing to do, who cares what he’s wearing?
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 3:18 am | Permalink
beginning wrote:
*shrugs* Doesn’t bug me in the slightest. It’s winter in Poland, he’s in his 60s, and he has horrible health problems. My grandmother has a pacemaker and we can’t even let her sit near a microwave, much less out in the freezing cold and snow for the duration of a lengthy ceremony. As long as he’s not picking his nose or sticking his arm out in the air, I don’t really care what the man has on, as long as he’s there paying his respects.
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 3:34 am | Permalink
mortaine wrote:
Of the other people who are there, many are older than he is and are concentration camp survivors, so you have to figure there’s at least one other person in the snow with a pacemaker. And yet, somehow they all managed to scrounge up a heavy black overcoat. In winter. In Poland, of all places. I’m thinking that someone might have been able to buy such an item off the rack around there, if all else failed.
No, this is disrespectful and disgraceful, and he’s supposed to be representing this country.
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 3:42 am | Permalink
mortaine wrote:
There are many reasons for him to be there besides political correctness or him genuinely feeling like he should be there. And, perhaps he does genuinely feel that way. But this is like wearing a baseball cap to a funeral. It’s disgusting. Either he should be ashamed that he didn’t know any better, or he should be ashamed for taking advantage of such a solemn moment to thumb his nose at our European allies.
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 3:45 am | Permalink
beginning wrote:
Honestly, this doesn’t seem to be much of an issue to me. He’s there. I think he’s as much of an idiot as the next person, but getting worked up over his clothes seems a little too much for me. It’s not like he’s there in a Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops.
I’ll give you the hat and even the patches on the coat, but this strikes me as a story that was made into a story. Unless survivors were complaining about this before a writer for the Post did, it’s pointless to make that the story.
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 3:51 am | Permalink
jencottrell wrote:
Okay…Steph you have personal hatred/disrespect/diliike of the man…..is that by chance making you overzealous to find fault with him?
Yeah he SHOULD have worn different attire…however at least he knows when Pearl Harbor happened I bet.
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 4:26 am | Permalink
leora wrote:
It bothers me. It’s not that hard to follow the basic rule - wear black to funerals/memorials. That one is so simple I’ve known it for ages, and I don’t have staff hired just to make sure I get my etiquette right.
I wouldn’t mind if it weren’t someone whose job it is to be able to represent the US. I know that when my grandmother died, I didn’t have anything truly appropriate to wear, and I didn’t feel like going out shopping. I wore the plainest black dress I had, and unfortunately, it didn’t fit that well anymore, was overly tight, and came across a bit sexier than I wanted. But it was the best I could do. I understand things like that.
But:
a) he wasn’t caught by surprise that this was coming up
b) he has staff to see to his attire and could easily tell someone to run out and buy him a really warm black coat.
c) it’s the same tradition as in the US. If he messed up one that was different, it’d be a bit more understandable but still a show of incompetence, but just the sheer level of incompetence needed to not be wearing black… it’s disgraceful.
And he’s supposed to be representing me and my nation in remembering the murder of my family members.
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 4:31 am | Permalink
jackola wrote:
Plus, he managed to find a black coat to wear to the innauguration a few days earlier. Maybe he should have had that coat with him.
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 4:48 am | Permalink
mortaine wrote:
Who is this and what have you done with my sister?
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 4:58 am | Permalink
ursamajor wrote:
heh, i’m miffed myself. it’s not like he doesn’t know what appropriate attire is, as he wore it for the inauguration last week. and for god’s sake, it’s a holocaust memorial. you’re supposed to be reflecting upon the horrific happenings and renewing your vows to not let it happen again. you should be out there suffering the cold alike with your compatriots to honor the dead. because your half hour out there with your modern hi-tech parka and hiking boots (or, wool coat and fur cap had you been dressed respectfully) doesn’t even register against the suffering of those who came before you, clothed in a single layer if they were that lucky and certainly not shod.
and as a public figure representing the american people, it is your responsibility to GO BUY A GODDAMN BLACK COAT and show respect to those who died. no, your mere presence is not enough here. even something like the one your wife is wearing would have been much more appropriate.
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 5:02 am | Permalink
lolkje wrote:
My theory is he’s trying to look like a geezer veteran or wartime Veep. Images of “America the Liberator” from World War II, crossed with showing “support for the troops” in Iraq. Something convoluted and questionably relevant, like that.
It’s a lame theory, I admit.
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 5:11 am | Permalink
buffalogal wrote:
Could be worse, he could be wearing cowboy boots and a hat.
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 5:30 am | Permalink
deslea wrote:
It bothers me. It’s not that hard to follow the basic rule - wear black to funerals/memorials.
Actually, I didn’t know this. I mean, funerals yes, but longer-term anniversary memorials, no. We have memorial services for fallen soliders here that are very sombre occasions, but subdued attire is all that’s expected. I had no idea black was expected for something like this. I wouldn’t automatically think I had to wear black to a Holocaust memorial.
On the other hand, I don’t have a whole staff of people to investigate these things for me, nor am I representing a nation. But…yeah.
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 6:43 am | Permalink
wordweaverlynn wrote:
As I said elsewhere: Underneath the parka, he’s wearing a shirt that says, “Ronnie went to Bitburg and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.”
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 8:39 am | Permalink
mortaine wrote:
LOL!!!
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 8:50 am | Permalink
earthdog wrote:
Would you feel the same way if you did not already dislike him?
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 12:41 pm | Permalink
slamlander wrote:
check the Yahoo weather reports darlin’ … it’s been -8C(19.4F) here all week and they’ve been having blizzards up there, with temps droping below -12C. I’m amazed that he’s even there. I’m sure that he doesn’t want to become the US’s first VP-sicle. Parka and hiking boots, along with electric thermals, are perfectly appropriate for Auschwitz, in that weather.
Posted on 28-Jan-05 at 4:03 pm | Permalink
skinglist wrote:
I’m glad you posted the photo, because commentary on his clothes made the current affairs broadcast here and I had no idea what he’d worn.
Not commenting on appropriateness, since I for one don’t feel the need to follow arbitary rules on what you’re “supposed” to wear to something, so I won’t judge anyone else for it.
Posted on 29-Jan-05 at 12:53 am | Permalink