Sunday Tabs
- Via Fruits and Votes: How unusual is the Netherlands 2023 gap between a leading party with less than a quarter of seats and the second party?
- Via the NYT: Will the Tie Ever Make a Comeback? I have always been a tie guy, but since Covid I have reached the point wherein I have asked myself: what’s the point? The issue for me these days tends to be one of formality.
- Via the NYT: Growing Numbers of Chinese Migrants Are Crossing the Southern Border.
- Via the NYT: Could Haley Really Beat Trump? Big Donors Are Daring to Dream.
- Via WaPo: With a new speaker, the old MTG is back.
- Via NBC News: Sen. Mike Lee promotes a debunked conspiracy theory about a Jan. 6 rioter. The piece is worth a read to get the full scope of the situation. The short version is that Lee apparently is willing to accept vague Twitter-based conspiracy theories despite massive evidence to the contrary. It should be embarrassing, but alas, it is par for the course for Lee.
- Via WaPo: Many former Trump aides say he shouldn’t be president. Will it matter? The only way it might matter is if they largely banded together, along with people like George W. Bush who appears not to be pro-Trump, and they actively campaigned against Trump. But this simply isn’t going to happen as the binary logic of our system will take over.
Some aides say they don’t want Trump to be president again but are loath to be viewed as helping a Democrat. Members of that group, including Barr, have argued Trump is both unfit to serve and has probably committed crimes — but that they still may vote for him over a Democrat.
Marc Short, Pence’s longtime chief of staff and a former Trump adviser, has been sharply critical of the former president.
“If it’s Biden versus Trump, the implicit assumption is, efforts to hurt Trump are going to benefit Biden,” Short said. “If you’re putting yourself against the Constitution, I think it’s disqualifying, but I wouldn’t want to be helping Biden.”
Sigh.
there are 2 possible reasons for taking this stand: They are absolute cowards or they are morally bankrupt.
I vote C): Both.
A discouraged Steven Taylor stands in front of his mirror, making the first loop of a Windsor. It’s morning. He’s had his first cup of coffee but the caffeine does not seem to be lifting his spirits. He heaves a heavy sigh as his fingers seem, almost of their own accord, to abandon the job of knotting. His arms drop, limp, to his sides. “What’s the point? It’s all just shades of gray. . . shades of gray. . .” A single tear rolls down his cheek.
I encourage men to burn their ties publicly.
As to the last tab, some people would rather live in a Hell they made than in the other side’s Heaven.
That sentence used to be hyperbole; no way Biden, for all his good intentions, can produce Heaven. But Adolph and his enablers are more than capable of creating a real Hell.
In my career has professional attorney herder, I worked in the industry that compelled suits and ties for decades. As a child of the counterculture, I refused to wear a serious tie. I reveled in the high quality silk ties with wild abstracts, or busy cartoon characters scattered throughout. One of my personal favorites was an abstract that when looked at closely revealed itself to be hundreds of Wile E Coyotes plummeting to his death. Completely inappropriate for the professional legal office, but so much fun.
@Michael Reynolds:
Personally, I’m the dude rolling in singing the old ELP refrain, “welcome back my friends to the show that never ends…” But after all, I am a crazed Luddite.
ETA got a box of a dozen cartoon ties I’ll be happy to send to anyone here.
@Michael Reynolds: Ha!
One of the sublime highlights of my transition has been jettisoning ties. I’m so happy to be rid of that hell. Oh, and strolling into court sans pants. Just divine.
@Beth:
Did you actually jettison ties, or did you decide that the tie is just an inferior, defective form of the scarf? (And by “you”, I mean “I” since I don’t actually know your particular aesthetic)
@Stormy Dragon:
Oh, I wish I could pull off a scarf. I want to look like a movie star or just jaunty. Instead I look like a crazed babushka.
Lol, my aesthetic is all over the place, but if there was a single starting point it would be, all the women I thought were cool in the 90’s.
@Beth:
There’s the difference: looking like a crazed babushka would be fine with me. =3
Best term I’ve found to describe my developing style since I started transitioning is “woodland goth”.
Suddenly I’m thinking of the Man of La Mancha
To dream the impossible dream
To beat the unbeatable foe.
@Beth:
@Stormy Dragon:
There’s a reason that I went for the weird ties, and not just because they were gifts from My wife and daughter.
I had so much fun yanking the chains of the lawyers I worked for. For a number of years when I freelanced through Kelly services, I would walk into an office in a three-piece suit, my hair in a ponytail, the ends of my mustache and goatee neatly trimmed and waxed and introduce myself as high I’m luddite I’m your Kelly girl.
Pre-marriage, my favorite tie that I would wear to work was a bow tie – sky blue with gold Lamé Paisley thread. Unfortunately on me it looked like a spinner prop on the nose of a 747, but I loved the tie, and the looks I got. But nonetheless, I loved that tie. Tough to pull off when you wear a 54 Xtra short troll jacket.
Good times, and thanks for the memory trigger!
@Beth:
@Stormy Dragon:
A sample for your amusement…
https://1drv.ms/i/s!AsT3UHUivznsgZlvOusJ-9lHNJ_g2Q
This bowtie is in memory of Senator Paul Simon D Makanda, Illinois.
It has been years since I’ve donned a regular tie, but occasionally wear a bow-tie (yes one that I knot myself). As I slip toward elderlyness, having a young woman, tell me that she loves the look or that it’s cute is a bit of an ego booster.
Men look much better with a well fitted suit and tie. And most men could use all the help they can get with looking better.
@Flat Earth Luddite:
I love that tie!
@Mister Bluster:
@Sleeping Dog:
I like bowties purely from an aesthetic standpoint, but I unfortunately tend to see them as a red flag on a certain sort of man, because of the “CPAC Bowtie” phenomenon.
Now visibly queer people, especially women, wearing bowties? Mm mm mmmm…
@Michael Reynolds:
@Steven L. Taylor:
I still wear ties; but never for work.
Only to be a bit weird when out for an occasion. 🙂
And usually not with a suit: chinos, moleskin waistcoat, gingham shirt, paisley tie.
And a silk scarf and an overcoat in colder weather.
And a walking stick (because I need one, these days).
Hyper-retro, LOL.
@Flat Earth Luddite:
Unfortunately, given curly hair (back when I use to have hair), could never do a pony tail.
But I think a bald head plus sideburns, ‘tache and beard makes me look sufficiently nasty.
LOL.
@Stormy Dragon:
I mostly like the Goth aesthetic, but there is too much black for me. Lol, I’ve worked to hard not to wear ALL the colors. I wear a lot of pink these days.
@Flat Earth Luddite:
That’s amazing.
@Gustopher:
I’ve come to wish that men wore better fitting clothes in general.
@Beth:
@Stormy Dragon:
You (didn’t) ask for it, but (most) of the remains of the collection
https://1drv.ms/i/s!AsT3UHUivznsgZl2yCvkBq7mT-BDfQ
I always told anyone who complained that you could make me wear a tie to work but you couldn’t make me wear a serious tie. One judge actually complimented me on that on the record.
@JohnSF:
Oh , I pulled off the smiling psychopath look most days. Kept my hair longish until I lost it during chemo, and what came back wasn’t worth growing back.
ETA in my neck of the woods, we frequently see guys who are bald on top with a long ratty ponytail, or even a man bun. Not a look I ever want to be accused of.
@Beth:
But when you resemble a shortish beer keg, it’s tough to get a good fit. Attorney herders generally couldn’t afford bespoke suits in my day.
@Flat Earth Luddite:
Oh, no doubt. Good suits are ungodly expensive and you always need more than one. My point is more general. I think it’s always been there, but it seems like most men wear clothes that don’t fit right. Like, no matter your build, there are clothes that make the whole shebang, bang.
@Stormy Dragon: Stormy? You’re transitioning? I guess I missed that. Best wishes to you. I know you got this. Can I give you a “dad hug”?
@Jay L Gischer: @Jay L Gischer: FYI, Stormy’s recent announcement: https://www.outsidethebeltway.com/mondays-forum-153/#comment-2840278
@Beth:
I had two, both purchased very lightly used from a local charity shop. Got the closest thing I could to fit me that I liked, and paid for tailoring. Did that twice, then the industry moved away from suits daily for me. One stayed in the closet at work for court days. Haven’t pulled it out since 2011, except for funerals.
IIRC, Cracker found custom tailoring in ROK significantly cheaper than here. I know he came home with some killer duds
@Beth:
Ever heard of “pastel goth”? =3
@Jay L Gischer:
Thank you, and yes, hugs are always good.
When I retired I got rid of every pair of dress slacks, every dress shirt, and every tie in my closet. I think I might still have a sport jacket in there, but I’m not sure why.
They will never get me back in clothing like that again. I will attend weddings and funerals in jeans and track shoes.
@Flat Earth Luddite:
If they’re bow ties I’ll take ’em. I still wear bow ties in my middle school classroom because they’re fun. Not often, but enough.