Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Gene Taylor Dresses Too Casually For One Elected Republican

The Hill is one of two respected newspapers covering politics exclusively in Washington D.C. It helps add perspective and understanding to complex issues and covers issues in a timely fashion. So this is just silly:

To joke about clothing comes easier. Last year, a group of GOP lawmakers playeda practical joke on Boehner, a self-appointed fashion critic. They wore their
worst ties to work just to annoy him. Though it hasn’t happened yet, the plan
was to have the wife of Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa), one of the pranksters, sew a
pillow for Boehner made of all the bad ties. There are men in the Capitol who
are sick of bad taste. Last week a senior aide to a Democratic senator said with
all the money some higher-level aides earn, their fashion sense ought to match
their bank accounts. He spoke on the condition of anonymity. “We sadly lack it,”
he said of fashion sense. “Too many suits are being purchased at big-box stores
[rather] than Hugo Boss or Barney’s.” He added hopefully, “We’re getting better.
There are some good tailors and some good clothiers and people should [take
advantage].
Now the strangest part of this article on Men's fashion in Washington is this tidbit tucked away at the very end of this very long article:

One GOP lawmaker who wished to remain nameless said he detests the more
casual look worn by lawmakers such as Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.). Nothing
against Taylor personally, he said, but “Dockers and a blazer is too casual for
what was intended here.”
Ironically, this lawmaker confesses that he once showed
up to vote on the House floor in khaki shorts and a blazer. It’s against the
rules of the House, but it was necessary — he had been traveling and was rushing
to a vote.

Weird. And go Gene! There is no way he beat my having attended a "We the People" competion (I wasn't in it) wearing a three piece suit and running shoes.

7 comments:

  1. haha. That Repub. is such a loser. He's just jealous of Gene b/c he has better fashion sense then he (the Repub) does.

    Go Gene! Wear what you want to the capitol...woo hoo! =]

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  2. Our Senators/Congressmen should be working to govern - not being fashion plates!

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  3. I personally wouldn't mind if Gene didn't bother to wear shoes, so I'd say he's doing fine. Common folks don't need tailored suits.

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  4. I urge the editors of this Blog to not get to enamored with Gene Taylor. I know there is a tendency for Dems to overlook things he does, but his record of voting shows that he often will vote against the better interest of his constituents.

    I cite the following as examples: he voted for the Military Commissions Act (eliminated habeus corpus; negated Article 3 of the Geneva Convention which outlaws torture); he voted against the non-binding referendum condemning the "surge" (now our troops are serving 15 months over there; and their turn-around time at home before another tour has been shortened); he voted against the bill that funded the war and set a time line for withdrawal.

    I again emphasize this - don't give him carte blanche.

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  5. And Congressmen's fashion sense has what to do with how they govern...?

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  6. I'm not wild about Taylor politically. Pre-Katrina there was a lot of talk about him switching parties. And despite the fact that he's been around a long time, he missed out on the promotions and chairmanships the other old hands got when the House switched hands.

    My principle attraction to Taylor is his character. He calls a spade a spade ( referring to insurance companies as "worse than child molesters" is one of my favorites ) and he seems to have a "get your hands dirty" mentality that I like.

    Of course the coolest thing about GT is that all the girls I know on the hill describe him as "the one who that looks like Robert Redford. Oh, he's so dreamy."

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  7. And regarding the appropriateness of the comments surrounding the congressman's fashion sense, I have only the following to say...

    Since when have Republicans cared about governing? If they were worried about it, they'd be better at it.

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