Washington Whispers
D.C. Style: Brooks Brothers Cowboy
It doesn't take much to start a heated debate in Washington, but a tussle over the proper combo of pants and cowboy boots? Giddyap. It started weeks ago when we ran into South Dakota Sen. John Thune, tall and handsome in his black boots and cuffed suit pants. Very urban cowboy. But are cuffs right with boots? Sure, he says. Thune's not alone. Texas Sen. John Cornyn likes cuffed pinstripe trousers with his handmade boots. Fellow Texan Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison even wears boots sometimes. But she defers judgment on the fashion issue. "As far as with suits, that is above my pay grade!" At the White House, President Bush and his Texas staff like to swagger in their roper boots, sometimes with cuffed pants. "West Wing Texans," confides a Bushie, can "go both ways--cuffs or no cuffs--with their boots."
But others say them's fighting words. Virginia Sen. George Allen heads that posse. He wore boots as a boy and has worn them in politics ever since a consultant told him to switch to wingtips in the only campaign he lost. Why no cuffs? "They catch all sort of junk, like grass and burrs," he tells us. To find out who's right, we turn to Brooks Brothers Fashion Director Glen Hoffs. "A cuffed trouser is truly a traditional statement, and anyone who is wearing a cowboy boot in lieu of a dress shoe is definitely breaking with tradition," he says. "My recommendation would be no cuff on a trouser that's being worn with a boot."
He Takes a Licking, Keeps on Ticking
We have proof that White House Chief of Staff Andy Card isn't tired, despite what the critics say about his six years at the president's side. Turns out he wants to be at his desk so bad that he'll play injured. Card often mountain bikes with President Bush. It normally goes well, but on March 11 he crashed. "I'm OK," he chirped, hopping right back on his ride. He even went biking the next day with the prez. But by Tuesday, March 14, he felt a little pain in his left arm; a visit to the doctor revealed a bruised left wrist and a fractured elbow. Of course, he went right back to work--but only after his left arm was put in a splint.
Tony the Tiger in Khakis and Polo
Would Tony the Tiger wear pink? We'll find out this week when Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, former head of Kellogg's, helps preppy fashion giant Ralph Lauren open his new store in Tokyo. We're told that Gutierrez will show up wearing a Polo tie, but we don't know the color. The visit is more than just an administration bid to promote U.S. investment overseas. Turns out the two share a hardscrabble past: Both are the sons of immigrants who started small--Gutierrez selling cereal out of his car and Lauren selling ties at Brooks Brothers. "It's Tony the Tiger meets Mr. Polo," says a Commerce insider.
When Younger Is Not Always Better
There's one place where young people aren't being heralded as the saviors of tomorrow: the CIA. Seems almost half of the agency's analysts have less than three years of experience, and the youth bulge is especially acute in the Near East and South Asia divisions. "In an area where Nebuchadnezzar is recent history," frets John Kringen, head of the Directorate of Intelligence, "this is not a good thing." Kringen rarely speaks out, so that makes his comments to an audience of former intelligence officials especially bleak. But there are no easy answers. With the agency on a hiring binge to overcome a Clinton-era hiring freeze, Kringen says it will take five to seven years--"maybe 10"--to correct the shortcomings.
One Newt--and Nation--Under God
God rules! says Newt Gingrich, and he's written a new book to spell out what he means. Titled The Creator's Gifts: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, the former House speaker's book makes the case that the Bill of Rights and Constitution came from God. What's more, he wants people to recognize that everything they hold dear comes from a higher power. "The good things of life are from God," explains Gingrich's publisher, Mark Gilroy of Integrity House. The book by the potential 2008 GOP presidential candidate is out this summer and includes an unusual insert: a guide to God in Washington buildings like the Supreme Court.
Canada's More Than Molson, Eh?
He had heard all the weird stories before, but when then Canadian Ambassador Frank McKenna was whipsawed during a C-SPAN appearance by an Arkansas woman who read a litany of misconceptions about the neighbors up north, he went into action. "Do Canadians have a way to respond to this?" he asked press aide Bernard Etzinger in the car back to the embassy. "We should." Prompted by his C-SPAN experience, the embassy recently created Connect2Canada, a website where ex-pats in the United States tell stories that dispel the myths and poke fun at some Americanisms, like the beer. It's just one part of a broader effort to expose America to the serious side of Canada. The embassy is also placing ads in the Washington Metro system that highlight the nation's military involvement in Iraq.
Did Trigger-Happy Brits Blow 1775?
Today's Army is much more of a thinking person's service, which is why all majors have to take a counterinsurgency class at the Army's Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. There, Special Forces Maj. Christopher Schmitt teaches a course that suggests alternatives to guns and bombs, like psychological warfare and public relations. During a recent visit, we learned that Schmitt has his students test strategies on the Red Coats' move against Sam Adams and John Hancock, an act that helped spark the Revolutionary War. His question: "Could Sam Adams and John Hancock have been discredited by nonmilitary actions? Could they have looked at nonkinetic ways to address the Colonies' grievances? "Think about it: Instead of a refreshing Sam Adams, a tepid Boddingtons might be our favorite microbrew.
With Suzi Parker, Julian E. Barnes and Kevin Whitelaw
This story appears in the April 3, 2006 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.