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January 5, 2006

Brimming With Bravado

By Michael Shaw

Abramoff-Hat



JIM LEHRER: The hat thing is interesting. It’s not only a Fedora he was wearing yesterday, it was a black hat.

JAY WEAVER: Correct.

JIM LEHRER: And the one today, of course, was not only a baseball cap; it was tan, right?

JAY WEAVER: Correct.

JIM LEHRER: Yeah, yeah. And what is the significance of that, Jay, what do you think?

JAY WEAVER: Not exactly sure. I mean, the one in
Washington appeared to be one suitable for more inclement weather. It
was a Borcelina, I believe, and, of course, that’s a Fedora type hat.
The one down here almost kind of looked odd because he was wearing a
dark blue suit, so the contrast was very striking.

And he had kind of a, you know, more of a boyish look. I’m not
sure, I guess it was suitable for South Florida’s sunnier weather. But
it didn’t make sense to any of us.

JIM LEHRER: Okay. Well, we should stay tuned, should we not, Jay?

JAY WEAVER: Well, I think you need to stay tuned in Washington. I
think that Jack Abramoff is going to be speaking volumes up there.

Well, Jack Abramoff has certainly got our attention.

If it initially looked like Jack could simply be pigeonholed as some gangster wannabe, his decision to dress in a style traditional with his Jewish Orthodox faith as he left court in Washington on Wednesday seems to have rendered those initial characterizations as insensitive at best.

Perhaps playing off the story, Abramoff came back today with a new
headdress for his guilty plea in Florida.  As someone who, we learned
yesterday, loves to accessorize, Abramoff is also a master at the persuasion game.  Thus, they’re now speculating on The News Hour why Jack would be wearing a baseball hat.

Bball-Hat

Should somebody be subjecting this image fragment to detailed visual
analysis to make out what those letters on the cap actually spell out?

Tie-Closeup

And while we’re at it, is that the tie with the GOP elephants?
(Or are they camels?  Or, maybe even some kind of Indian insignia?)

Finally, given Jack’s baseball reference, will he now become better known for his reputation as the King of the Skybox rather than simply the host of world class golf junkets?

Well, Jim is staying tuned.  And if it’s good enough for Jim….

(image: Joe Skipper/Reuters.  January 4, 2006. Miami, Florida.  Via YahooNews)

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  • lemondloulou54

    Robin Givhan in the WaPo says the hat is from a fancy Vegas resort, the name of which I can’t remember. No word on the tie. . .

  • idiotsavant

    And while we’re at it, is that the tie with the GOP elephants? (Or are they camels? Or, maybe even some kind of Indian insignia?)
    That’s the new logo of the Republican Party, a camel passing through the eye of a needle.

  • lytom

    How big is Jack A’s hat closet?
    The hat issue is a great one for the US mainstream media to discuss while the real issue of corruption is on the backburner. Let people have a fancy and wonder, seduced by the hats. The enraged energy can be channeled into hats:-)
    Go on Jack and next time wear a sombrero!

  • Mad_nVT

    Maybe the hat says “Scam”, because it is such a good ID for Abramoff.
    Maybe the tie has pairs of llamas, or maybe alpacas, or maybe vicunas, whatever– at least llamas are famous for spitting, and that is what Abramoff has been doing to us for the past few years.
    If the press doesn’t keep paying attention, Abramoff’s dirty deeds will be able to disappear, and the DC scoundrels will get off again.

  • the_Demo_in_the_cracy
  • Cactus

    At first, I thought his tie pattern was a llama and wondered if he was getting donations from the Incas, now.
    Here is a man who is so nondescript that we have to comment on his hats and his ties. He looks like Mr. Average Guy in a suit; a bit good looking, a bit tall, a bit stocky and yet to all intents and purposes an evil genius at funneling money from everywhere and anywhere into the coffers of the republican party and his favorites. WAPO has a great chart [The Abramoff Galaxy washingtonpost.com) ] that will set your eyes spinning.
    It recalls to mind Hannah Arendt’s observation about the banality of evil.

  • readytoblowagasket

    The BAG said: “If it initially looked like Jack could simply be pigeonholed as some gangster wannabe, his decision to dress in a style traditional with his Jewish Orthodox faith as he left court in Washington on Wednesday seems to have rendered those initial characterizations as insensitive at best.”
    Wait a minute, The BAG. Insensitive at best? But Jack Abramoff *IS* a gangster (his “gang” being a group of spectacularly slimeball Republican associates, some of whom already have a criminal record; his method of intimidation being to seduce with gobs of money). Another reading of Dowd et al could be that when someone acts like a gangster in the first place, a visual association likely follows. The association is not necessarily based *solely* on ignorance of Orthodox Jewish customs of dress. Yes, they got it wrong technically, but how could they have gotten it right? A picture of Abramoff as a devout member of any faith does not (and should not) make sense morally. If anyone biased the public in the wrong direction, Abramoff himself did through his “corrupt” actions.
    Here at BnN, another way of looking at the issue is to ask ourselves: Do we view Jack Abramoff’s display of faith differently than we viewed Tookie Williams’s display?

  • Colin

    RE: the hat. It looks awfully like the FARSCAPE logo. See http://www.scifi.com/farscape/.
    But you’re right about the …ATA, it sure looks like it.

  • Kitt

    CaScata.
    Llamas (?)

  • http://justbetweenstrangers.blogspot.com/ acm

    I just keep thinking, the fedora must be something he sometimes wears (having given no thought to how much it would make him look like a gangster), and after the criticism he dug out or borrowed this alternative. Leaving open the question of why he feels it so necessary to wear a large hat (once the fashion/piousness of the original was overwhelmed with unfortunate associations from others) — would it be more embarrassing to be coming out of a federal trial wearing a yarmulke? somehow bringing his faith down with him? (Or is it just that nobody has ever seen him wear one, outside of schul?) Once you let go of the original hat, with its personal motives, you’ve gotta have some reason for choosing to look like you don’t know you’re going someplace formal/serious…

  • coal_train

    He is ready to play ball with the prosecutors?

  • Bixby

    Yep. Definately Cascata. Compare:
    http://www.caesars.com/Cascata/

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