I could hardly believe the tone of
this piece in today's Washington Post. Is Robin Gihvan a style columnist? She sounds like she's been watching "What Not to Wear" or "Queer Eye."
Cheney's attire at the Auschwitz commemoration ceremony was indeed a breach of protocol. Nonetheless I was a little surprised that this article appeared top of the website.
The vice president, however, was dressed in the kind of attire one typically wears to operate a snow blower.
More below the fold.
LOL!
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.
The tone of the piece all but says Cheney's dress conveyed "raised middle finger" and mentions that Cheney has a perfectly nice formal overcoat-he wore it to the inauguration. Oh, and there's a photo too.
No doubt the WH is having a tantrum over this one. Let's see if it gets "updated" over the day.