Daily Archives: October 27, 2020

On the first episode of VEEP, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss irreverent political satire, fictional Vice President Selina Meyer has an important decision to make. Now, what do you think?" she asks. "Glasses on, the intellectual look, focused form of vision? She takes the glasses off and says, No, glasses make me look weak. Its like a wheelchair for the eye.

It was an absurd moment, politically incorrect, and, as was often the case with the Emmy-winning show, right on the nose. Politicians, like most people in the public eye, obsess over every aspect of their appearance, including something as innocuous-seeming as eyewear. Which leads to the question: Are glassesprescription and/or shade providinga political liability?

Our past Commanders-in-Chief and VPs would almost certainly say noespecially about the latter. Over the years, American Presidents and countless other politicians have sported eyewear at rallies and state fairs, at weddings and funerals, and even while kitesurfing.

But recently one pair of glassesJoe Bidens aviatorshas stood out in a crowded field of political props. Spend any time on the internet and it's next to impossible to avoid seeing memes of the former VP in his now-trademark dark glasses. Biden was early to notice the attention his glasses garneredhis first ever Instagram post in 2014 showcased his Ray-Bans perched on a desk. More recently, the Biden camp has featured the glasses on a variety of campaign merch.

According to fashion observers, aviators may suggest their own political platform: serious but youthful; on trend but not trendy; vintage but not old-fashioned; and masculine but not intimidating. In other words, the glasses reflect (pun intended) an image of Biden that his campaign staff has worked hard to project.

The military developed aviator sunglasses as a lightweight alternative to goggles. They became popular with civilians during and after World War II as photographs of soldiers began appearing in magazines and newspapers. (General Douglas MacArthur famously paired his with an oversize corn cob pipe.)

The glasses were embraced by the counterculture in the 1960s and '70s. Anti-war activists and hippies, male and female, began sporting the frames with colored or oversized lenses (Gloria Steinem, for example, wore a large, lightly-tinted pair) and, in the process, subverted the eyewear's implied military and masculine connotation.

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By the end of the 20th century, aviators saw another surge in popularitythanks in no small part to Hollywood (it's hard to imagine the 1986 film Top Gun, for example, without Tom Cruise's iconic pair). Today, they are even more ubiquitous and mainstream. Theyre classics, right? Robin Givhan, the Pulitzer Prizewinning critic-at-large for the Washington Post, told T&C. I mean, they're not trendy in the least bit, but they're still very relevant.

Joe Biden is not the first politician to wear a set of signature sunglasses. John F. Kennedy was known for his Ray-Ban Wayfarers, which he often donned while sailing. George W. Bush favored sunglasses with circular frames that could be characterized as "very early-2000s." Barack Obama alternated between black Wayfarers and a wraparound, athletic pair. (The biggest dad sunglasses, Lis Smith, the senior communications director for Mayor Pete Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign, said of the latter.) Donald Trump is a recent exception, and eschews all sorts of glasses, including, briefly, a set of solar eclipse glasses.

Alex Badia, style director of Women's Wear Daily, noted that sunglasses are one of the few accessories a male politician has in his sartorial arsenal. They rely on them to project a sense of masculinity without distracting from the overall message, he told T&C.

For that reason, aviators are good call because they're sexy and cool without being overly hip, said Smith. If you're looking for something that says 'commanding and steady,' they are probably the best sunglasses choice for a male politician.

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According to Jen Psaki, former White House communications director for President Obama, matching the right glasses to a candidate's personality is vital. Biden's greatest strength is his grandfatherly empathy, she said. The aviators elevate his cool grandpa vibe without going too far. You know, no one needs to see Joe Biden doing a choreographed dance on TikTok. (Biden, it should be noted, recently posted a Reel, TikToks Instagram counterpart. In it, the Democratic nominee smiles from his convertible, aviators obscuring his eyes.)

Washington, D.C. stylists and image consultants Lauren Rothman and Rosana Vollmerhausen told T&C that they think Bidens sunglasses might be part of broader visual image his campaign worked to create for their candidate. Smith and Psaki disagree, guessing that the aviators are just Bidens favorite glasses; ones hed wear anyway. In either case, what's important is how his choice of glasses is perceived by the public.

Aviators give me a sense of power, a sense of hope, and remind me of a better time, said Badia, describing his impression of the glasses. That's something that really resonates with audiences right now.

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They also ring a familiar bell to people who, well, look like Joe Biden, and in the process, may point towards a certain type of nostalgic conservatism that many American voters find palatable right now.

For the people in his age cohorta lot of them supporters of histhe aviators are just one more thing that ring a bell, a familiar bell, said Dr. Lourdes Font, an associate professor at FIT. Oh, we know this guy, right? We know who he is.

There's no question that appearance matters in politics. Look back at the famed Nixon versus Kennedy presidential debate, where TV audiences viewed Kennedy more favorably and radio audiences, Nixon. Or simply ask any woman working in or around the political arena.

When I was pregnant with my daughter and I was the spokesperson at the State Department, I used to get comments on Twitter about how I was not taking care of myself, Psaki said. Well, that's because I'm seven months pregnant and I've gained like 30 pounds!

Psaki's experience was by no means unusual. Whether its Hillary Clintons outfits or Nancy Pelosis haircut, its been widely reported that female politicians must pay far more attention to their appearance than their male counterparts. America has a narrow definition for what a politician should look like, and those parameters are even narrower for women.

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One example of how this manifests can be seen in how infrequently female candidates become the subject of fashion memes. The closest female equivalent to Joe Bidens aviators are Hillary Clintons pantsuits. Even though those outfits ultimately developed a loyal following, they were also met with a mixture of confusion and distain. Project Runways Tim Gunn once said, rather infamously, "Why must she dress that way? I think she's confused about her gender!"

Biden already looks like the typical American president, so, with his wardrobe, he can afford to be whimsical in a way that still seems on brand. And that brand? Distinctly masculine, nostalgic, and, yes, meme-able.

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What Joe Biden's Signature Aviator Sunglasses Say About the Rest of Us - TownandCountrymag.com

Federal Appeals Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett, soon to be sworn-in as our newest Supreme Court justice, somehow managed to maintain her composure earlier this month while a couple of Democratic senators made fools of themselves during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings.

To me, it looked like a congressional version of that old movie, Dumb and Dumber.

Barrett, a supremely well-qualified nominee to the nations highest court, looked bemused as Sens. Maizie Hirono of Hawaii and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island used their time to ask absurd questions or spin tall tales about far-fetched conspiracy theories. The good citizens of Hawaii and Rhode Island should be embarrassed for their senators and their states.

Hirono distinguished herself by asking Barrett, the devoutly Catholic mother of seven children, whether she had ever committed a sexual assault. Barrett kept a straight face as she replied with a definitive No, Senator! Perhaps Hirono thought she was back at last years contentious confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, which turned out to be an extremely ugly exercise in character assassination.

In those hearings Democratic senators went through Kavanaughs high school yearbook to determine if he ever did or said anything that was politically incorrect. I quickly pulled out my West Seattle High School yearbook, the Kimtah, to see whether anyone had written anything offensive by todays very sensitive standards. I didnt find anything too offensive but of course Kimtah is a Native American word because we were the proud West Seattle Indians. I dont apologize.

Back to Barretts Senate hearings. Whitehouse spoke for 30 minutes without asking a single question of the nominee. Instead, he digressed into what the Wall Street Journal called Glenn Beck territory. Whitehouse devoted his time to a Glenn Beck-style tutorial on the vast right-wing conspiracy (remember that one?) that is supposedly buying the federal courts, the Journal opined. Some of you may know that Beck was too conspiratorial and weird for Fox News.

Mr. Whitehouse had the bad luck to be followed by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who related Mr. Whitehouses ties to such Democratic dark money as Demand Justice and Arabella Advisors, the Journal continued, recalling that Whitehouse had attempted to find the hidden messages in Justice Kavanaughs high school yearbook.

While senators Hirono and Whitehouse were embarrassing themselves and their constituents, Barrett passed the challenging confirmation hearings test by answering senators questions with serene dignity to the best of her ability. To the best of her ability because the conservative judge invoked the Ginsburg Rule named after her liberal predecessor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg which advises judicial nominees to avoid giving their personal views on issues that may come before the court. No hints, no forecasts, no previews, the late Ginsburg told senators during her 1993 confirmation hearings.

So while Democratic senators repeatedly pressed Barrett for her personal views on hot button issues like abortion (Roe v. Wade), Obamacare and presidential elections, she politely declined to answer by invoking the Ginsburg Rule. California senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris the Democrats vice presidential nominee who had earlier criticized Barretts Catholicism, tiptoed around that issue in their questioning of the judge.

The dogma lives loudly within you, Feinstein had said when Barrett was confirmed to the Federal Court of Appeals in 2017. How sad if modern liberalism cannot abide the hopeful center of Amy Coney Barretts life, Wall Street Journal Deputy Editorial Page Editor Daniel Henninger commented last week. The truth is that liberals cant abide a judge who interprets the Constitution as written.

Guy W. Farmer is the Appeals senior political columnist.

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Guy Farmer: Dumb and dumber in the U.S. Senate - Nevada Appeal

To call the cancellation of DC Comics John Constantine: Hellblazerunfortunate is underselling it. Writer Simon Spurrier, along with brilliant artists like Matias Bergara and Aaron Campbell, have created a truly beautiful series. As a creative team, they allow events to unravel in each arc so gradually that every narrative beat feels inevitable. But with Hellblazers cancellation, this creative team has the task of tying everything up in the space of a couple of issues. DC Comics John Constantine: Hellblazer #11sees writer Simon Spurrier, artist Aaron Campbell, colorist Jordie Bellaire, and letterer Aditya Bidikar hurriedly getting through what feels like five issues worth of material. They continue to do incredible work, though one wonders about the scope of what they had planned.

Spurriers script is pretty tightly packed in this issue. Clem Thurso, the British M.P. that this issue centers around, explains to Constantine how they are connected. Spurrier uses Constantines voicemail to get through all of this exposition. So much of what Spurrier does here shouldnt work. But the substance of what Spurrier has to say is always so mesmerizing. Brilliantly, Spurrier uses real-life horror to scare us. Its not the demons or underground cults that should scare us; its the growing collective hatred for others. Spurrier has his finger on the pulse of Britain, which works in Hellblazeras a microcosm of the world at large. Putting us in the shoes of Clem Thurso for an issue and watching his rise to power as he feeds off of hate and fear, we see the real horror thats going on, both on and off the page.

Campbell makes this issue outright terrifying. For one, we see Clem Thurso on the phone to Constantine at the beginning. With his face folded back a little, we can tell hes not fully human. But the fear in his eyes is. Then, as we see Thursos rise to power, Campbell depicts him as laid back and comfortable in the midst of all of the evil hes causing. Evil is Thursos comfort place. So seeing the fear in his eyes, Campbell has us question, What could scare a demon? Every chance Campbell gets, he keeps the horror off the page. We dont see whats scaring all the other characters. Its Thursos eyes like pinpricks as he runs in the opposite direction that Campbell wants us to see, or Constantine trying not to hurl. When Campbell finally does lift the curtain, the horror and disgust do not disappoint.

Bellaire uses reds, yellows, and greens to depict the various forms of evil throughout this issue. When we see Thursos rise to power, Bellaire depicts these scenes in an untainted red. It has the look of pure evil, but an evil we can understand. In the modern-day, we see Constantine investigating what got Thurso so upset. The greens with which Bellaire colors these scenes look sickly like something is rotting beneath the surface. And as we cycle back and forth between these scenes, we begin to see Thursos scenes get infected. Its no longer the pure red we saw at the beginning. These scenes begin to turn a little orange as Thursos own experiences with this new evil begin to spread the yellowing rot. Thursos influence is becoming something else. Its evolving into a different kind of evil. One even he doesnt fully understand. In the final moments, Bellaire allows green to become overpowering. You can almost smell death in the air.

Bidikar nails the voice of Thurso. Plenty of letterers use bolding a lot in their work, but Bidikar uses it with incredible effect. Every word Bidikar bolds is a word that Thurso is savoring. But OHHH! If we dare to say so? Thurso says to a crowd. The OHHH takes up several lines of his dialogue and looks uneven. It has a flourish to it, just like Thursos speech. He revels in the hate. Were persecutedfor beingpolitically incorrect. Bidikar shows how Thurso harps on every word that he knows will get a rise out of people. He has his buzzwords to keep the sheep in line. But Bidikar also shows how sadistic Thurso is on his own time. I simplyhadto have his face, Thurso says. He peeledwith the verygreatestof ease. You can almost hear Thurso licking his lips, relishing every sick moment.

DC Comics John Constantine: Hellblazer #11 is another incredible issue. There are signs of this creative team rushing, but far less than one would expect. This series is huge and bold. It deserves 30 more issues, and this creative team does a spectacular job tying these threads together. With one issue to go, they gear up for a heartbreaking finale. Pick up John Constantine: Hellblazer #11, out from DC Comics October 27th, at a comic book shop near you!

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Review: The End is Nigh in JOHN CONSTANTINE: HELLBLAZER #11 - Monkeys Fighting Robots