There are few things more ridiculous in politics than when some right wing shill cues up the righteous indignation machine over something utterly meaningless. Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post, who has no business writing for any site more credible than the Worldnutdaily, shows how it’s done in reacting to an article that shows a picture of President Obama sitting on his desk and another man wearing — gasp! — blue jeans in the Oval Office! She tweeted:
Good grief Get you rear end off JFK desk, Mr. president .. And jeans in the oval office?! .. Slovenly inside and out
When a fellow conservative pointed out that Reagan and Bush both word jeans in the oval office, Rubin replied:
never ever in oval office.. bush made his chief of staff stand outside oval office on a saturday when not wearing a jacket
Really? Here’s a picture of Bush in the Oval Office without a jacket on. And here’s one of Reagan with his rear end on that same desk. And here’s one of Reagan wearing jeans in the Oval Office. So we can expect Jennifer Rubin to Tweet a retraction any minute now, right? Or to declare that Bush and Reason were both “slovenly inside and out”? Of course not. And in her defense, there is an obvious difference; those presidents were Republicans. And white.
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theschwa
September 12, 2012 at 1:45 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
The obvious difference is that Reagan and Bush wore them properly. Obama had his sagging nearly below his ass! And Obama’s Adidases (Adidai?) had no laces!! Or were those Jordans? (probably paid for with taxpayer money!!)
fifthdentist
September 12, 2012 at 1:45 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Well, if your preference is for an utterly incompetent president with an anal dress code over a seemingly — at least on some days — halfway-competent one who has a dude in the oval office with jeans on, vote Romney.
dmcclean
September 12, 2012 at 1:45 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“Get you rear end off JFK desk”
Take that, United Kingdom!
I don’t understand these people. Do they think no one else in the world has access to google image search?
Randomfactor
September 12, 2012 at 1:47 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
But the picture of Reagan was BEFORE Labor Day, so it’s OK.
And I remember Dubya and his incredibly tacky Presidential Cowboy Boots. Bet he wore THEM in the Oval Office, and put ‘em up on the desk he didn’t deserve.
Zinc Avenger (Sarcasm Tags 3.0 Compliant)
September 12, 2012 at 1:49 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I could work as a right-wing outragefactory. Wake up. Go to Google. Type “Obama” and hit return. Take the first result and use it as an example of how he’s going to overthrow Step-Mom, Apple-Flavored Filling Pie, Truthiness, Freedom Torture For Justice, and the American (My Way or the High-) Way.
steve84
September 12, 2012 at 1:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I actually prefer a president/leader who can be casual in certain situation and isn’t stuck up on superficial dress codes
Sastra
September 12, 2012 at 2:03 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ah, but Obama was wearing elitist blue jeans. That’s different.
Ms. Daisy Cutter, Vile Human Being
September 12, 2012 at 2:08 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Those aren’t dogwhistles, they’re foghorns.
John Pieret
September 12, 2012 at 2:14 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Do the editors at WaPo pick the colors of the crayons she writes her stuff with?
raven
September 12, 2012 at 2:16 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Jimmy Carter wore blue jeans a lot.
About what you expect from a dumb Georgia cracker farmer.
(That second sentence is snark BTW.) Carter was a far better president than he has been given credit for. His misfortune was cleaning up after the Vietnam war had set off inflation.
Ace of Sevens
September 12, 2012 at 2:17 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Reagan may have worn jeans and sat on the desk, but he knew better than sitting on the desk while anyone wore jeans.
gshelley
September 12, 2012 at 2:31 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I imagine if he had been dressed in 1700s fashion as the first Presidents would have been, she wouldn’t have liked that either.
usingreason
September 12, 2012 at 2:39 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Let’s talk about Romney’s pressed jeans for a minute here. I mean really? Ironing jeans?? Do you have a butt plug to prevent accidental gas leaks? I find people that iron jeans creepy as fuk. They are jeans ffs.
Gregory in Seattle
September 12, 2012 at 2:50 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Facts are for America-hating atheist Muslims.
Marcus Ranum
September 12, 2012 at 2:51 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
the Vietnam war had set off inflation.
Don’t you think the 400% oil price-hike had something to do with it?
eric
September 12, 2012 at 3:03 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I wouldn’t care if no other President had dressed informally, I still wouldn’t throw a fit about it.
There was an amusing ‘formal vs. casual’ dress story from several years ago. The Japanese government was trying to save money; one measure they took was to cut AC costs on federal buildings, by raising building temperature set point in the summer. The lower temps had been set with formal suits in mind, so as part of the initiative, the Japanese PM started wearing short sleeves and no jackets, and ordered all civil servants to do the same.
I guess my point is, dress code is what we make of it. The only reason jeans are unacceptable businesswear is simply because businesses and government has decided that they are.
Ellie
September 12, 2012 at 3:25 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“Get you rear end off JFK desk, Mr. president”
Please tell me this person is a child who hacked into her mother’s account, and not someone who writes for what used to be a decent newspaper.
d cwilson
September 12, 2012 at 3:50 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Thing is, if Obama appeared only in a full suit, they’d accuse him of pimpin’ it.
lamaria
September 12, 2012 at 3:53 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“…declare that Bush and REASON were both “slovenly inside and out”?”
Sometimes autocorrect is nice :-)
jnorris
September 12, 2012 at 3:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ed wrote: “And in her defense, there is an obvious difference; those presidents were Republicans. And white.”
Both Reagan and Bush were Real Cowboys too so they can wear jeans!
slc1
September 12, 2012 at 3:56 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Considering that a murdering rapist like Mark Thiessen also writes for the Post, Jennifer Rubin is right at home there. Not of course to forget Charles Krauthammer whose column appears every Friday. Unfortunately, there aren’t too many conservatives who aren’t nuts to choose from. Kathleen Parker occasionally shows signs of sanity.
ArtK
September 12, 2012 at 3:57 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Blasphemer! He has desecrated our holiest of shrines! He is unworthy to be in the room where Jesus gave the Constitution to George Washington!
[/snark]
dmcclean
September 12, 2012 at 4:09 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Who is the guy in jeans?
I certainly don’t recognize him, but with Rubin’s track record I wouldn’t be surprised if he was working for the speaker.
weaver
September 12, 2012 at 5:04 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Isn’t it interesting how the ultra-Right treats the Oval Office like it’s some sort of sacred site, where people should always be in their Sunday Best?
Bit of religious transference at work …
timgueguen
September 12, 2012 at 5:06 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Coming next week from Rubin, a column condemning Queen Elizabeth for wearing a kerchief instead of her crown while working the royal garden.
Michael Heath
September 12, 2012 at 5:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ed writes:
The only reason I know Fred Hiatt’s name, the editor of the WaPo editorial section, is because he allows employees like Jennifer Rubin to work there and doesn’t require assertions to be factually true. It’s like the New York Times hiring Joseph Farah to be their managing editor. I’d like to to see how Mr. Hiatt’s bosses defend his performance. I’m especially interested in understanding whether they also falsely claim his dept. fact-checks their columnists, which we know they don’t procedurally do.
Michael Heath
September 12, 2012 at 5:57 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
raven writes:
Got a cite?
slc1
September 12, 2012 at 6:01 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Re Michael Heath @ #26
Case in point, George Will on global warming where he has been shown to be a congenital liar.
Nick Gotts (formerly KG)
September 12, 2012 at 6:18 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Michael Heath@27,
Googling “Vietnam war inflation” produces multiple cites, although the connection is not universally agreed.
raven
September 12, 2012 at 6:22 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
The conventional view of the inflation of the 1970′s is a product of Johnson keeping the Great Society programs going while simultaneously fighting a very expensive war in Vietnam. Without raising taxes or decreasing spending.
Krugman has a nobel prize.
The oil shock probably didn’t help. It’s generally considered that supply shocks won’t result in long term inflation. We’ve had a series of those since then without long term inflation. We are having one right now, gas here is way over $4.00.
raven
September 12, 2012 at 6:27 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
An adverse supply shock should not cause sustained higher inflation unless
That is the claim anyway. Economists rarely agree on anything and it’s a murky enough field that the wackos probably outnumber the real economists.
Modusoperandi
September 12, 2012 at 7:03 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
usingreason “Let’s talk about Romney’s pressed jeans for a minute here. I mean really? Ironing jeans??”
Oh, please, this isn’t a partisan thing. Nor is it some bizarre so-called “dogwhistle”.
All she’s saying is that if Obama truly respected the office he wouldn’t be there.
Modusoperandi
September 12, 2012 at 7:05 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wups. Ignore that first part. I was originally going to reply that my jeans used to have creases, but that in my own defense I was eight at the time and other people did my laundry, and that the reason Romney’s jeans have creases is probably that other people do his laundry as well.
dingojack
September 12, 2012 at 7:23 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
MO – Now that’s not true! At the beginning of every day Rmoney puts on the nice new pair of jeans his servants bought for him the previous day, before throwing out the old pair*.
“It’s good to be the king!”.
Dingo
—–
* Well it’s true that sometimes he condescends to be photographed giving his old jeans to a specially selected deserving peasant. One has to look like one cares or you’ll never get elected.
didgen
September 12, 2012 at 7:49 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
It’s sad that she feels such respect for the furniture, but for the president not so much.
dingojack
September 12, 2012 at 7:59 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Respect for furniture?
I bet she supports the party that loses debates against pieces of furniture!
Dingo
Randomfactor
September 12, 2012 at 8:25 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Hey, Rubin, get your ass out of WoodStein’s newspaper!
Michael Heath
September 12, 2012 at 8:41 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
raven writes:
I’m skeptical having never encountered such a provocative claim:
raven responds with a blog post by economist Paul Krugman; who first quotes conservative columnist Paul Samuelson and then responds:
Aliasalpha
September 12, 2012 at 8:57 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
If it’s jfk’s desk, it may well have seen a lot of arses wearing things considerably less formal than jeans…
hypatiasdaughter
September 12, 2012 at 9:25 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
#12 gshelley
Well, would you want a MAN in the White House who wore a wig, lace and ruffles?
#39 Aliasalpha
I bet that there is an Oval Office equivalent of the “Mile High Club.”
dan4
September 12, 2012 at 9:40 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@3: Take that, United Kingdom!”
Huh?
Rob
September 12, 2012 at 10:32 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Given the stories about JFK and many Presidents since I’m picking that that desk has seen more disturbing things than the Presidents trouser clad butt or a guy wearing a pair of Jeans.
Rodney Nelson
September 12, 2012 at 10:50 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
dan4 #41
The Resolute Desk (from wikipedia):
Nepenthe
September 12, 2012 at 10:50 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m surprised she didn’t mention the shocking photo of Obama slouching in a chair. The extremely presidential Romney is physically incapable of slouching, probably due to a rod firmly lodged along his spine via the rectum.
dmcclean
September 12, 2012 at 10:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
dan4 @41,
The desk has a name, and it isn’t “JFK desk.” It’s named for the HMS Resolute, from whose timbers it was made.
The Resolute itself was a gift from the US to Great Britain. When it later was abandoned stuck in pack ice (remember when this planet used to have arctic pack ice? man, those were the days…, but anyway). The British made the desk from the scrap wood, and “presented [it] by the QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES as a memorial of the courtesy and loving kindness which dictated the offer of the gift of the RESOLUTE.” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolute_desk]
So, the snark was, “hey, Britain, screw you and your generosity, I will just ignorantly rename your pretty f-ing sweet gift after JFK because I’m pretty sure I saw his kid under there once, and for the purposes of this tweet I am talking him up as a real white president who could use a frigging desk without attracting bullshit comments from pseudo-journalists like me.”
bad Jim
September 13, 2012 at 12:07 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Michael Heath, Paul Samuelson was a Nobel Prize winning economist. You’re confusing him with the columnist Robert Samuelson
jenny6833a
September 13, 2012 at 5:04 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
In #6, steve84 says: I actually prefer a president/leader who can be casual in certain situation and isn’t stuck up on superficial dress codes.
Two questions:
1) Why only in certain situations?
2) Is there any reason he shouldn’t be nude?
Modusoperandi
September 13, 2012 at 6:07 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
jenny6833a “2) Is there any reason he shouldn’t be nude?”
Don’t white conservatives already feel inadequate?
democommie
September 13, 2012 at 8:22 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“I guess my point is, dress code is what we make of it. The only reason jeans are unacceptable businesswear is simply because businesses and government has decided that they are.”
While I was still part of the workforce* at Verizscum I worked in a Boston highrise. I was on the elevator, one fine summer day, sharing it with a gent from some financial services company on one of the floors above Verizon’s leasehold. He was wearing a suit. I was dressed more appropriately for the weather (and the fact that the temperature in my office/copy center was never much below 80 degrees during the summer) in a pair of walking shorts, sandals and a nice neon, Hawaiian shirt.
After several sidelong glances, the gent turned toward me and said, “Is it ‘friday’ on your calendar?”. I replied, “No, I’m in the union, I have no dress code. If I was not, and it was friday, I’d be wearing a thong.”. I think I pretty much melted his brain with that searing image.
Reagan was from an era when nobody wore jeans except for drudge work. Bush and Obama are both from an era that wears jeans for everything except formal occassions (and I’ve seen jeans at plenty of weddings and funerals–on both men and women). Like most everything else the GOPinheads come up with to hate on the PotUS it’s a manufactroversey.
democommie
September 13, 2012 at 8:28 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“MO – Now that’s not true! At the beginning of every day Rmoney puts on the nice new pair of jeans his servants bought for him the previous day, before throwing out the old pair*.”
Do Mittmoroni’s jeans have the “relaxed fit” spandex/cotton/polyester fabric to allow them to stretch over his magic underoos without creating unsightly bulges?
* That was dingo jacks, “*”, you’ll have to ask him what it’s about.
democommie
September 13, 2012 at 8:33 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
There’s a certain segment of the GOP* that would prefer to see the president in khakis, with a name tag, saying, “boy” and some corportate logo like, “Merry Maids” on the back. Well, that or chains.
* The 99.999…% that make the rest of them look bad.
Modusoperandi
September 13, 2012 at 9:24 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
democommie “Reagan was from an era when nobody wore jeans except for drudge work.”
Herb: “It’s the dungarees versus the suits, Les.”
dingojack
September 13, 2012 at 10:22 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Demo – “‘Your Highness is like a stream of bat’s piss’. It’s one of Wilde’s”.
:) Dingo
Modusoperandi
September 13, 2012 at 10:38 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wups. Working link
boselecta
September 13, 2012 at 10:46 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Fifthdentist @ 3: “if your preference is for an utterly incompetent president with an anal dress code”
Hey, I don’t think you’re required to have your magic underwear actually riding up your crack ;-)
democommie
September 13, 2012 at 11:10 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“Hey, I don’t think you’re required to have your magic underwear actually riding up your crack ;-)”
Boy, ain’t that just like a progressislamogaytheistofascist! Introducting a “Wedgie Issue” into an otherwise sane and sober GOP Shampaign!!
left0ver1under
September 13, 2012 at 2:58 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
dmcclean (#3):
That’s not why they do it. They assume that no one will check the facts.
Most Americans are too lazy to check, and those who willingly swallow the koolaid are mental midgets and/or never doubt what they’re told.
There may be some who check facts, but it’s not a majority of people.
jameshanley
September 14, 2012 at 2:36 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Get you rear end off JFK desk, Mr. president
That’s Marylin’s spot!