This morning's Boston Herald has a story about their Lieutenant Governor, Kerry Murphy Healey. She's running to succeed her boss, Mitt Romney, this fall. On a recent tour of a seafood plant in New Bedford, she was obligated to wear a hair net in certain areas. And with the memory of John Kerry in the NASA bunny-suit and Michael Dukakis riding in a tank, her staff forbid the press from getting any pictures of her with her hair bundled up in a hairnet.
This is one thing that really irritates me.
I was, quite frankly, disappointed with the folks who had loads of fun at Kerry's expense over that photo. I am one of John Kerry's bigger detractors, but that photo was not something to mock him over. Well, maybe a little -- it was a silly-looking photo, and Kerry's trip to NASA was more grandstanding than anything else, but the mockery focused on how ridiculous he looked.
While yeah, he did look ridiculous, but that's not his fault.
Certain types of places require certain sartorial concessions. When one is riding in a tank, one should wear a helmet. When in a NASA "clean room" environment, you put on the bunny suit. When you enter a Japanese home or a mosque, you take off your shoes.
And if you go into a food-preparation plant, you put on a hairnet.
I can understand why Healey's staff didn't want pictures of her wearing the hairnet. It would have been a cheap gag for her opponents, and none of those seeking the Democratic nomination strike me as being above such a stunt.
Nonetheless, I still think it's a damned shame that such things are considered worthy of derision.
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Comments (7)
The Kerry photo was sauce f... (Below threshold)1. Posted by jpm100 | August 16, 2006 11:25 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The Kerry photo was sauce for the goose. There were magnitudes more photos of Bush caught in unflattering instants being circulated at the time. Not to mention countless Photoshopped Chimp, Hitler, or Hitler-chimp photos.
The Kerry photo topped them all.
BTW, its not a bunny suit. Its a Umpa-Lumpa lab suit from the 60's Willa Wonka Wonkavision scene.
1. Posted by jpm100 | August 16, 2006 11:25 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on August 16, 2006 11:25
2. Posted by The Listkeeper | August 16, 2006 11:45 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Actually, the thing to do is go with self effacement in such situations... Preemptively striking kinda kills everyone elses' jokes.
2. Posted by The Listkeeper | August 16, 2006 11:45 AM |
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Posted on August 16, 2006 11:45
3. Posted by tarheelcon | August 16, 2006 12:51 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The other alternative is to have of Healey's hair in your clam chowder.
3. Posted by tarheelcon | August 16, 2006 12:51 PM |
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Posted on August 16, 2006 12:51
4. Posted by ed | August 16, 2006 12:53 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Hmmmmm.
Personally I'd wear one of those bunny-ear headbands with the bunny-suit and have some fun with it.
The real key to these sorts of situations is never be photographed alone. Always have other people, who are dressed similarly, right next to you so they cannot be cropped out.
It's when context is either purposely dropped or excised that the ridiculous floats to the fore.
4. Posted by ed | August 16, 2006 12:53 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on August 16, 2006 12:53
5. Posted by kbiel | August 16, 2006 1:28 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The real key here is to not take these tours and invite the press to get the free publicity. If you invite the press to some event, then campaigning becomes the sole reason for the event regardless of the original intention. And if the press is there, you will have to put up with any unflattering photos they happen to take.
But what makes the photos funny is that most of these pols, republican or democrat, have no clue what normal, hardworking people have to do to perform there jobs and seeing these people pretend (even if it's a requirement of the tour) to be normal people is just funny.
5. Posted by kbiel | August 16, 2006 1:28 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on August 16, 2006 13:28
6. Posted by Bill M | August 16, 2006 1:35 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I sorta agree with JayTea on this one, but...if carried to it's logiocal conclusion, there would never be a picture of John Kerry, 'cause he looks silly in any situation.
{Just had to get that out of my system -- feel much better now!}
6. Posted by Bill M | August 16, 2006 1:35 PM |
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Posted on August 16, 2006 13:35
7. Posted by Jim Addison | August 16, 2006 2:11 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Well, when a guy goes on a tour FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE of having a photo-op, if the images make him look like a bloody fool, whose fault is that?
Kerry had no particular reputation as a backer of the space program, or desire to tour their facilities WITHOUT the cameras there. You pays yer money and yer takes yer choice, like the man said.
Dukakis' tank ride was even more outrageous, since he represented the side who wanted to gut our defenses, and which had broadly supported the pro-Soviet "Nuclear Freeze" movement front. If "Iron Mike" wanted a photo-op, he'd have been better off putting flowers into soldiers' rifles.
Here's a good rule of thumb: if you don't ACT stupid, it's much harder to make you LOOK stupid.
7. Posted by Jim Addison | August 16, 2006 2:11 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on August 16, 2006 14:11