I know I’m not the only one who smacked his brow in amazement upon seeing this cool cat arrive in Baghdad the other day.
Nice shades, dude! And with that white windbreaker too; kind of a Tom Clancy - Al Davis thing, talk about mission-appropriate! And the way you left the sunglasses on, when everyone around you had removed theirs - way to distinguish yourself in a crowd! No it’s not cowboy at all! Never let them see your eyes! Duke was right about you for sure!
Even when you scoffed at that one question and made a big show out of reading your canned pablum response off that index card, you didn’t appear arrogant! Man, is the Arab world going to love you! Such respect!
With our blood and our souls we redeem you, Jay Garner!
Well, that would probably be the toughest “What to wear to the party” call that I’d ever have to make, personally, and I’m just glad it was him and not me.
What would you wear, anyway, to take charge of a foreign country under these particular circumstances?
A business suit would be Wrong.
Army fatigues would be Wrong.
Superman costume would definitely be Wrong.
I’ll take DDG’s point about a tough call. I’d also throw in board shorts with a surfboard, or ski attire as being inappropriate but what would be wrong with straight fatigues? It’s not like seeing “The Man in Charge” in full army regalia is something unusual in Baghdad.
I think he was going for the Macarthur thing. I was expecting a corncob pipe. No comment on what political conclusions can be drawn from that – I’d rather not get angry before 9 AM.
What do you mean, what would I wear? What Garner wore was perfect. The guy should start his own catalog, call it maybe “J. Warlord”, or “Military-Industrial & Fitch”.
If I could have added anything, maybe just a “These Colors Don’t Run” or “Let’s Roll!!!” baseball cap.
(I mean, since he can’t wear actual Jedi robes. He already looks too much like Sen. Palpatine anyway.)
Imagine the heartbreak of Magnum P.I. fans everywhere, if even what the guy wears to his coronation as “Mesopotamia czar” was micromanaged by those guys in Washington.
“People of Iraq, I stand before you today without the tyrannical restrictions of pants. I hearby commit myself to bring you the same freedom my genitals now enjoy. God willing, we will prevail, in peace and freedom from fear, and in true health, through the purity and essence of our natural fluids.”
He’s a retired general; if they’d wanted a gen-yew-wine military governor, they’ve got Tommy Franks right there on site. But they don’t want to rub the point in too badly to the Iraqis that the reason Garner was in Baghdad at all, shades or no, was because the U.S. Marines put him there.
Hence, a “retired” general, and civvies of some sort.
Saw Garner on the news again last night. I am happy to see that he took my advice about not ditching the sunglasses! For me, nothing says “trustworthy, honest broker” like a guy who never removes his sunglasses even when he’s indoors. If those heathens want to look a God-fearing American in the eyes, they need to work for the privilege!
He had forsaken the Al Davis getup for a plain khaki outfit (which would have been invisible were it not for those long, pointy collars - clearly a kind of “throwback uniform” meant to commemorate 30 years of fighting worldwide terrorism), very practical and talk about chic!
I hope he does not revert to form and show up one morning wearing a guayabera with baggy shorts, black socks and sandals, and carrying a metal detector. That would not be very colonial-gubernatorial! Though I imagine the metal detector would help protect him from land mines.
