Exposing A President Well Heeled*

Honestly, I never imagined anyone would ever pull the curtain back on The Great Intimidator.

… And it didn’t even come from a back-stabbed former foot soldier or a half-bought off biographer.  Instead, the illumination comes via a cute Sunday travel/fashion piece on the new, hip, swimming-in-cash D.C.

Yes, the photo spread in yesterday’s NYT Travel section not only exposed the persona of the Prez, but it nailed the rest of the story too, told in vibrant reds, along with some white and blue — revealing how post 9/11 America came full circle, so that, today:

Politics Is Fashion…

Shopping is Patriotism…

and… War Is Accessorizing.

So, whereas the media has been scared to death to peel back even a single layer of the charade that is George Bush, this clever take-down, in the guise of a couture piece, simply dresses it up in … a dress.

Yes, our chickenhawk, our codpiece, our Georgette — in this dead-on interpretation — is actually a fashion model.  A piece of eye candy.  The far right’s anima.  Dick’s Ford girl.

I love shot #1, of Georgette in the back of an open limo flanked by two “secret service agents” in deficit-busting suits by Zegna.  (Obviously, no expense is too great to support the troops that police the photo ops.)  I’m also intrigued by the possible “last-motorcade” allusion to JFK in that ’61 Continental (via in-broad-daylight).  (This Administration, too, has become legendary by death.  Led by this pretty poser, however, all the dying is by proxy).

I love #2.  Seven years in front of the cameras and Georgette hasn’t said a damn thing.  And, not like she ever intended to.  But then, what do you expect, when you depend on your news from the microphones of WIM?

What I really love, though, is shot #3 (above).  Check this caption:

LADY LIBERTY On the Lincoln Memorial steps: Valentino cashgora skirt suit, $4,530. Thomas Pink shirt, $130. LaCrasia gloves. Countess Mara tie. Hermès bag. Christian Louboutin shoes.

What a riot!  It’s not just Georgette (who re-branded the military salute as White House sign language years ago), but also the neocon’s Lady Liberty.  Okay, ready?  “I pledge allegience, to the flesh, of the United States of Hermès.”  (By the way, any extra fabric for those huddled masses?)

But the real screamer is the proximity to still another uniform.  (We all know the drill:  Another day, another Georgette sighting at a base, depot, yard, post, dock, proving ground, armory, fort, camp, barracks, facility, field, reservation, installation or garrison.)  How timely, though, that this prop — sporting a line of medals — has his head cut off.  (I say, beware the soldier these days who, lacking his own head, might have the urge to Betray Us.)  From the start, though, these guys have been voiceless and mindless in all this, right?  Also intriguing are the two Marines marching up the steps.  Some funereal news for Mr. Lincoln, perhaps?

And then, I didn’t notice the price on the uniform.

*A note on “well-heeled” here. View slide show here.  “Capitol Gains” article here.

(image: Miles Aldridge.  New York Times.  T Magazine.  September 24, 2007. nytimes.com)