… well, about practically nothing. But even a broken clock is right twice a day. Her time has come:
The Oval Office was done over by chi-chi decorator Michael Smith, who was paid $800,000 to refurnish the lair of the former Merrill Lynch C.E.O. John Thain to the tune of $1.22 million — an effort that featured the notorious $35,000 antique commode.
The Oval Office, the classiest, most powerful place on earth, is now suffused with browns and beiges and leather and resembles an upscale hotel conference room or a ’70s conversation pit.
My first reaction was – $800,000 for that! And she’s right, you know, the place looks pretty bleh. And really brown. She doesn’t care for the rug either:
The cream-of-wheat colored rug is made of 25 percent recycled wool and features 100 percent recycled quotes around the border that have significance for President Obama. (Which means, of course, that the next chief executive will want to carpet copy-edit and put his or her own special quotes on the Oval rug. If the Tea Party triumphs, it might be “Don’t Tread on Me.” If Sarah Palin ascends, it will no doubt be a mama grizzly bear rug, personally bagged by her.) …
Sidetracked by the mosque fight and now admirably plunging into brokering a Middle East peace, Obama clearly needs a reminder about what really counts as the Democrats prepare to get their clocks cleaned. The rug should quote James Carville’s famous admonition: “It’s the economy, stupid!”
(OK, the bear rug would be cool. But I personally think Palin should forgo any animal heads on the walls.)
Dowd thinks the message is off-key:
The recession redo, paid for by the nonprofit White House Historical Association, was the latest tone-deaf move by a White House that was supposed to excel at connection and communication. Message: I care, but not enough to stop the fancy vacations and posh renovations.
Listen, it’s not taxpayers’ money, so I suppose people can give cash for whatever they want. But it does sort of reinforce the impression that the man doesn’t know the value of a dollar.
What’s sad, Rubin, is that you have the same mental age as those kids.
You’re dead right. Our music minister here runs a multi-national Christian ministry, including two major classical-music festivals along the same lines as Interlochen–one here in northern Indiana and one in London. We had European kids (14-26, I think) running all over the place this summer, because the Europeans don’t want to go to London, they want to come here. This is a great little town, but still–it’s a small town in the middle of Indiana corn country, not exactly Chicago (or New York, Boston, LA, etc.); but they want to come here because it’s America, and America is the greatest place in the world.
Ms. Rubin,
I don’t think the elder Obama felt too “warm and fuzzy” about the US either….didn’t he high tail it back to Kenya immediately after dropping out of college?
I was really surprised by this statement of Obama’s. I thought it quite telling of his feelings about America and her people; an argument with which most liberals would agree without a second thought, but which clearly exposes his and their lack of appreciation for just how wonderful this country is.
You should of said Socialist parents in Europe. Liberal in the most part of Europe is understood in the US as classical Liberalism. Or what is standard conservatism.