Bush chief of staff Andrew Card complained that Pres. Obama insufficiently respectful of Presidency!

[BigBearJohn]

:grr:

---

"...I found that Ronald Reagan and both President Bushes treated the Oval Office with tremendous respect. They treated the Office of the Presidency with tremendous respect. And some of that respect was reflected in how they expected people to behave, how they expected them to dress when they walked into the symbol of freedom for the world, the Oval Office. And yes, I'm disappointed to see the casual, laissez faire, short sleeves, no shirt and tie, no jacket, kind of locker room experience that seems to be taking place in this White House and the Oval Office."

I think there are two general angles to this. The first is that Obama isn't especially concerned about the formality of one's clothing. He was photographed at his desk wearing a shirt and tie, and some of the political establishment gasped because he was seen sans jacket. (Obama, a Hawaii native, reportedly prefers a warm office. David Axelrod said, "You could grow orchids in there.") Suits are common on weekdays, but the president issued an informal edict for "business casual" on weekends. That, apparently, means slacks and a buttoned-down shirt.

Traditionalists may not approve of Obama's easy-going style, but we're a long way from a "laissez faire locker-room experience." A frat house it isn't.

The other thing to consider here is exactly how one "respects" the presidency. For Card and others who served with Bush, it's about choice of clothing. For those who serve with Obama, it's about honoring institutional limits and the rule of law.

Or, put another way, where exactly does a loyal Bushie get off talking about "respecting" the presidency? Did George W. Bush always wear a coat and tie? Sure. Good for him. But while he was wearing nice clothes and demanding that his staff do the same, he also oversaw a scandal-plagued White House that trashed constitutional norms and routinely ignored the laws that the president twice swore to faithfully execute.

---

(Emphasis added by me)

SOURCE: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016690.php

:grr:

[Why Syzygy]

1. The People's House ..

Andy is a citizen and free to express his opinion. He carries no more weight on the matter than you and I, who made sure that OBAMA WON, and can do whatever it takes to get the job done. We did not vote on a wardrobe.

If Andy doesn't like it, let him stay out of the Oval Office, which belongs as much to me as it does to him.

[wroberts189]

2. I've seen bush in the whitehouse without a suit coat signing laws.

They lie...they always lie.


Wish I could find a pic.

[grannie4peace]

3. yeh? bush who was drunk in public?

[KharmaTrain]

4. This Goes Along WIth The Clean Desk Philosophy...

...the sign of an empty mind.

Sheesh...an office is an office. When you win it or earn it or are assigned to it, it takes on the personality of the person who uses it. If that means short sleeves, c'est la vie. This is an OFFICE...the White House has tons of other rooms for other purposes.

I'm not even gonna get into the "disrepecting the Presidency" from a war crimes enabler. While you couldn't see them, there was blood all over the hands of everyone who squatted in the White House from 2001-2009...the least person I need to hear about "disrespect" is that shitstain.

Cheers...

[Xipe Totec]

5. You're not free to dress as you choose, when you walk into the symbol of freedom...

Savor the irony.

[Why Syzygy]

13. mmm.. yummy!

I'm pretty sure Andy Card didn't voice that of his own free volition, since he is surely branded by the Carlyle Group.

[eridani]

6. I'm betting that Obama won't be giving inappropriate massages--

--to female heads of state.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

7. The building's on fire and this dunce is busy enforcing the dress code.

:swat:

Shaddap Andy.

[BigBearJohn]

30. Ain't that the truth.

[tanyev]

8. tanyev complains that Bushies in suits were insufficiently respectful of country!

[Turbineguy]

9. Andy Card

needs a hobby.

[jpak]

10. Fuck you Andy. Bush was disrespectful of the Constitution, human decency, life and God's Green Earth

Oh yeah - 4.7 million unemployed

Cram it clown

[TheCowsCameHome]

11. Oh Andy, you're such a card. A real Mr. Fun and games, you are.

[spanone]

12. bu$h* brought shame to the world, andy, you asshole.

[Canuckistanian]

14. Andy Card will be known as...

The Chief of Staff of The Worst President in American history.

He saw what was going on and did nothing to stop it.

[santamargarita]

15. I don't give a damn if he sits around in his underwear, just get the job done!

~

[Golden Raisin]

16. Thank God BushCo personnel are gone.

More "flagpin-lapel syndrome" from these arrogant, holier-than-thou BushCo gang members, with their facile, simplistic and 1-sided condemnations and litmus tests of what qualifies patriotism and "respect for the office of the Presidency". Some damn nerve coming from people who, for 8 long years, pissed daily on the Constitution, sneering at and tearing down everything the Founding Fathers put in place. I guess Gitmo; the blood of countless of our brave American soldiers and Iraqi citizens; Abu Ghraib; destroying the national economy and wrecking the financial future of any American not part of the top 2% elite wasn't sufficient for these sneering effwads. Newsflash for Andy Card: Presidents who allow Abu Ghraib's on their watch are showing the deepest lack of respect for the office of the Presidency and for the U.S.A. At least President Obama, even in (horrors!) "only" his long-sleeved, buttoned-down shirt and tie (there's tres casual. "locker room" style for you) can speak English in complete, cohesive, grammatically correct sentences unlike that sneering, faux-Texan disaster, who by the way, spent an obscene and inordinate amount of time on vacation clearing (or clearin' as Bush would say) brush in Crawford instead of tending to the Nation's and the People's business. And while I'm at it, how "respectful" of the Office of the Presidency was having male-escort-for-pay Jeff Gannon visiting and roaming the halls of the White House dozens of times? I don't care if any of them were humping a purple, polka-dotted giraffe, gay or straight, but don't lecture about "respect". Fucking hypocritical arrogant Republicans. No wonder this country has just about been destroyed after the last 8 years.

[peekaloo]

17. LOL!

oh how we long for when "the adults were in charge".

Fuck off Andy.

[UTUSN]

18. K&R big #5 for, what the O.P. said in the rant!1 n/t

[Ilsa]

19. They really wanted this for the Oval Office and W's dress code:

[Canuckistanian]

20. And Andy Card knows casual when he sees it

[BlooInBloo]

21. In other words: There Goes The Neighborhood....

It's especially funny, because the dogwhistle here is built right smack on top of a flat-out lie:

[4 t 4]

22. My god Blah Blah Blah

Our new president has done more in 10 days then that little smarmy creep could ever do not to mention everything he Did Do was damaging to the people of this world.

[CLANG]

23. By the way, Andy...

FUCK YOU AND THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON!

[Stephanie]

24. Condi was buying herself Ferragamo shoes while New Orleans drowned

The Oval Office was empty during Katrina, they were all off replenishing their wardrobes and working on their tans.

[City Lights]

25. Showing respect for the presidency by wearing a jacket in the OO is like showing your patriotism

by wearing a lapel pin. :eyes:

:thumbsdown: Andy. The window-dressing presidency is over. Oh, and your boy wiped his ass with the Constitution while in the OO, so STFU.

[reggie the dog]

26. the republicans hate people who do not always wear suits it appears

Kennedy was in a shirt in the oval office, Carter probably wore a sweater to keep warm. Reagan wore a jacket, so did Bush the elder and Bush the younger...wow......

[Still Sensible]

27. Style over Substance Bullshit Once Again

It doesn't matter if we are respectful to the office, it only matters that we do all the superficial things that make it look like we are... otherwise we can do whatever we want, because we look respectful.

Take a flying hike Andy! What a douche.

[Solly Mack]

28. So..respect is wearing a suit and tie to torture people....

Warped little fucker

[Monk06]

29. How about Bush waving his Presidink Cowboy boots in the faces of foreing leaders

How low brow is that?

[NYC Liberal]

31. Chimpy wore cowboy boots with the POTUS Seal on them when meeting with

foreign leaders. And other formal occasions too:



Not to mention all the other innumerable ways he has embarrassed us.

[Jim Lane]

32. I want to see Bush and his minions wearing orange jumpsuits -- standard prison issue (n/t)

[noise]

33. Perception over reality

Photo-ops were more important than real political leadership.

Card still hasn't explained why his pal sat in Booker Elementary while the country was under attack. Not even a follow up question for his chief of staff? Are you kidding me?

Bush was the POTUS who exploited soldiers as props in photo-ops in order to attain public support for his occupation policy in Iraq. An occupation policy that was implemented at the expense of those very soldiers! Card's comments are obscene!

[MadBadger]

34. Didnt he say it was a symbol of freedom?