Friday, January 28, 2005

Reflections on Dick Cheney's Attire at the Holocaust Commemoration

Reflections on Dick Cheney's Attire at yesterday's Holocaust commemoration:

As a health and safety professional, kudos to Vice President Dick Cheney for dressing appropriately for the weather while at work.

As a father who will never again be able to get his children to dress appropriately (if uncomfortably) for an "occasion," curses on the VP.

As a husband whose wife frequently corrects his "fashion statements," I say "You go guy!"

But as an American, I say "Wha the fuh?"
At yesterday's gathering of world leaders in southern Poland to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the United States was represented by Vice President Cheney. The ceremony at the Nazi death camp was outdoors, so those in attendance, such as French President Jacques Chirac and Russian President Vladimir Putin, were wearing dark, formal overcoats and dress shoes or boots. Because it was cold and snowing, they were also wearing gentlemen's hats. In short, they were dressed for the inclement weather as well as the sobriety and dignity of the event.

The vice president, however, was dressed in the kind of attire one typically wears to operate a snow blower.