I did not see Mr. Andrew Card’s interview where he apparently criticized the Obama White House for their relaxed dress code.
I understand that he said something to the effect that “there should be a dress code of respect” in the White House and that he wished Mr. Obama “would wear a suit coat and tie.”
Apparently he also said:
The Oval Office symbolizes…the Constitution, the hopes and dreams, and I’m going to say democracy. And when you have a dress code in the Supreme Court and a dress code on the floor of the Senate, floor of the House, I think it’s appropriate to have an expectation that there will be a dress code that respects the office of the President.
There is just so much to be said about these comment—especially since they were made by Mr. Card.
Yet, I know that most has probably been said already.
So, at the risk of being repetitive, let me just say the following:
Mr. Card, it doesn’t take a coat and tie to show respect for the Oval Office, the White House, the office of the President, or for the democracy, the Constitution, the hopes and dreams they symbolize.
Those who were beaten in the streets of Selma for the rights promised them by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights did not wear suits and ties.
Those who fought for our hopes and dreams at Bunker Hill, on the beaches of Normandy and in the mountains in Afghanistan did not wear suits and ties.
Those who fought for democracy in Vietnam, Korea and Iraq did not wear suits and ties.
On the other hand, Mr. Card, suits and ties have not prevented some in the Oval Office, the White House, and the office of the President from trampling all over the Constitution and from dashing our hopes and dreams.
