General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsInterior Sec. Zinke flies a special flag over his agency when he is in the building. Like the queen.
Link to tweet
Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)These people are beyond nuts.
FSogol
(45,446 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,584 posts)Who the hell are these people? Who does shit like that? Has any other cabinet secretary ever done that? What kind of ego...
Oh, never mind.
sarisataka
(18,483 posts)And I believe the custom is they should be flown over the office when the secretary is present.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)Paladin
(28,243 posts)Robert Mueller needs to step the pace of his investigations and legal maneuvers. We need to be demonstrating in the streets as never before. This nation is in mortal peril.
Judi Lynn
(160,449 posts)He's no doubt far less qualified for that position than any of his predecessors.
When will this a-hole's administration finally be swept away? They are all dirtbags.
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,290 posts)by Megan McArdle
August 19, 2013 7:00 AM
Its a Monday in the middle of August, and we could all use a break. So lets go back in time to January 1970, when President Richard Nixon was preparing for a visit from Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Nixon, who thought his White House uniform guards looked slovenly, had them outfitted in new uniforms, based on the honor guards he had seen, and been impressed by, in Europe.
My husband, upon seeing this, immediately said Oh my God, those look like marching band uniforms! You can kind of picture them sticking a flute in those holsters, cant you? If an enemy charged the White House, they could quick-draw and start fifing away. Give em the old Yankee Doodle Dandy, boys!
The public reaction to the new uniforms was not good. Heres how Richard Reeves describes it in President Nixon, Alone in the White House:
A couple of days after the State of the Union address, Democrats and the press finally got a chance to mock Nixon. The occasion was a state visit by Prime Minister Harold Wilson of Great Britain and the official unveiling of new White House police uniforms, inspired by the honor guards Nixon had seen in Europe. The cops were wearing double-breasted white tunics with starred epaulets, gold piping, draped braid, and high black plastic hats decorated with a large White House crest. They look like old-time movie ushers, said the Buffalo News. The Student Prince said the Chicago Daily News. In the Chicago Tribune, a Nixon friend, columnist Walter Trohan, was more serious, saying the uniforms belonged onstage, calling them frank borrowing from decadent European monarchies, which is abhorrent to this countrys democratic tradition.
The uniforms didnt last long. The black hats were the first to go, and by the mid-1970s, the whole uniform had been abandoned. In 1980, the barely-used uniforms were repurposed as yes, you guessed it, the uniforms for the Southern Utah State marching band. Apparently, the college beat out rock singer Alice Cooper, who had wanted five of the tunics for his band. The marching band paid the General Services Administration $90 for shipping, plus a charge for cleaning and pressing.
Theres no larger point to this except, I guess, that we democracy-loving Americans dont want any movie ushers or fife-and-drum corpsmen on the steps of our White House. I just figured we could all use an afternoon laugh.
January 1970: The White House guard (secret service uniformed division) publicly revealed their new uniforms which featured a white, double-breasted tunic with gold shoulder trim and a stiff shako hat with peaked front. They replaced the black uniforms the guards had previously worn on ceremonial occasions.
President Nixon had ordered that a new uniform be designed after he had seen what palace guards wore in other countries and had decided that the White House needed something as fancy.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,584 posts)Not enough decoration; should be more like this:
They should also have high, shiny black boots.
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,290 posts)Vinca
(50,236 posts)He must have been disappointed there weren't rose petals scattered along his route.
rusty fender
(3,428 posts)Has a special ring to it...