Carefully following the inverted pyramid rule of good journalism, the Post’s story about Bobby Jindal’s oil spill response puts this in the 8th paragraph of about 30:
He still struggles with political aesthetics: In the first days after the crisis, Jindal showed up wearing a blue blazer at a news conference in a broiling marsh. Only recently has he donned the standard governor-in-crisis uniform of rolled-up shirt sleeves.
Sometimes I think this blog is too hard on the DC media, then I read shit like this.
El Cid
On this:
For my part, I never look at it from their point of view, nor do I want to.
Linda Featheringill
I actually think that Bobby Jindal has been doing his best to deal with the situation, although maybe not with the style and grace some people would like to see. He has tried to secure what benefits are available for his people. He has had his feet on the ground in the trouble spots. And his push for the artificial “barrier islands” might turn out to be very helpful in preserving the land.
I don’t care what the dude wears. And I suspect the people in southern Louisiana don’t care that much either.
Historical note: This pettiness among the press is not new. Right after JFK was killed, there were several obviously East Coast reporters carping about the clothes and the accents and the local manners of the Johnson crew who were trying to secure continuity of government. As Lady Bird said of the time, a lot of people were doing the best they could during a difficult time.
DarcyPennell
Oh, for the days when feminists pointed to newspaper articles about female public figures that focused on their clothes, and complained that men would never be treated like that.
pharniel
You can never, really, be too hard on the DC courtisans.
They’re about as usefull as the last Louis’ court.
Linda Featheringill
@DarcyPennell: Wonderful! A good laugh early in the morning!
[and yes, we did make that complaint a lot.]
Comrade Javamanphil
@DarcyPennell: LOL! Nobody could have predicted that the Heathers would become more vapid when criticized for their sexist reporting.
middlewest
And 3 pages to get to one empty quote from a scientist. Gog damn. Y’know some people think he’s doing it wrong; maybe they should talk a scientist or two about if any of this shit is gonna work?
El Cid
Hey, maybe the crazy right might be able to take down the new Arab-Muslim Miss USA, because a Detroit radio station once invited her and others to dance around a pole at a strip club. But she didn’t strip. There aren’t naked pictures of her or videos of her pleasuring herself like Princess Jesus Boobies. Still, the howling will begin.
middlewest
@DarcyPennell: That double standard has been out the window since the Clinton administration, but it usually applies to men only to suggest that they’re effete or gay, like Earth tones and haircuts and that shit.
I don’t even know what he’s trying to say about Jindal here. What does a blue blazer mean?
David
How the passage should read:
Jindal’s Chief Of Staff told Jindal’s personal assistant to have Jindal wear a blue chambray shirt for the photo op. With the aid of a stylist, the personal assistant crumpled up the perfectly pressed, clean shirt a few times before Jindal put it on. One sleeve was rolled up slightly differently than the other. Then, with the aid of a clean sponge and some Evian, the shirt was made to look sweat stained.
ET
The 44 words in that snip are taking the place of 44 words that would have said something better and/or more informative. Why didn’t that get edited out because they were a waste?
DougJ
Amazing.
jon
If he wanted to look like a Man of the People, he’d only appear as a helicopter.
Michael
Can we finally ditch the coat and tie as the male default uniform?
fucen tarmal
hey, if obama can be blamed for his katrina, why not blame jindal too. i applaud the vapid response in the organized media, it makes the amateur media feel like they are a part of the freaks.
cmorenc
Jindal at times nearly succeeds in convincingly appearing to be a pragmatic conservative blessed with a nimble mind who’s most concerned with making conservative-modeled government work well for people at street level of society…UNTIL THAT IS the next batshit-crazy notion spews from his head and mouth, or he warmly embraces or openly sucks up to other batshit-crazy ideologues, and you realize what a fundamentally unsound wingnut resides at his core.
Which is unfortunate, because it really would be better if American conservatives had a solid, full bench of sane, pragmatically minded smart folks who shared some of the same end-goals as progressives, but just strongly believed in going about it with methods more consistent with conservative governmental philosophy. Amazingly, Mitt Romney once seemed to bona fide be this sort of ideal conservative-minded guy – my how things change.
geg6
There is no possible way to be too hard on the Village. They prove it every day.
Patriot 3
@jon:
Leave Kenneth Alone!
Sheila
There are political aesthetics? I never would have guessed.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@geg6:
We must destroy the Village in order to save
itourselves. Nuking from orbit is too good for them.Mumphrey
Maybe this is petty; I don’t know. But I believe politicians should look like they’re dressed for work when they’re out before the cameras, or even when there’s a good chance that they might end up on camera. Women should wear a suit and scarf or whatever the equivilent is. Men should wear a suit and tie. This is their job. They should look professional. I don’t think it’s too much to ask. I know that the rolled-up-sleeves look is meant to show us that they’re just down-home regular folks, but to me it isn’t respectful to the positions they hold or the people they represent. I know that it gets hot sometimes out in the sun when they’re answering the questions, but surely they could have forseen that when they ran for their jobs. If sweating a little in the sun is too much for these people, then they shouldn’t have taken their jobs in the first place. Nobody made them take them. Lots of people who make a lot less than they do, without all the perks and benefits, wear suits every day; they can suck it up, too.
NoFanOfAyn's
The best possible governor for this kind of disaster, said an interviewee on page 1.
Yep. With or without proper dress for disasters.