Whose broad stripes and bright stars?
Also: menswear staples
You know we’re getting close to voting time when candidates claim with a straight face that they know all the words to the National Anthem.
So: I actually believe Mayor Pete here! He’s exactly the kind of guy who’d not only know all the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner”, but also know that the song was set to an English tavern song (“To Anacreon in Heaven”) and that there’s more than one verse to the National Anthem (four, to be exact, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. wrote a fifth during the Civil War). Buttigieg is that kind of nerd, and as a fellow nerd, I salute that.
He’s also probably - and this is less good - the guy in his unit who un-ironically liked Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA”, which is glorious in its ‘80’s schlockiness. Here, don’t take my word for it:
Feel those synths, fam. I mention “God Bless the USA” because if you’ve spent any amount of time on a military post or base, you’ve heard it. It’s a playlist staple! Which makes me sad, because by any accounting, this is not a good song. Prove me wrong, Pete!
More anthem trivia: John Stafford Smith wrote the actual tune, probably sometime in the early 1770s; he was fairly diffident about claiming authorship throughout his life. The anthem got its start as a poem by Francis Scott Key, titled “Defence of Fort McHenry”. Key almost certainly intended to set it to music; however, it wasn’t his idea to set it to Smith’s song.
No, the credit for that belongs to Key’s brother-in-law, Joseph Nicholson. Nicholson took the poem to a printer in Baltimore, who anonymously made the first known broadside printing on September 17; of these, two known copies survive.
On September 20, both the Baltimore Patriot and The American printed the song, with the note "Tune: Anacreon in Heaven". The song quickly became popular, with seventeen newspapers from Georgia to New Hampshire printing it. Soon after, Thomas Carr of the Carr Music Store in Baltimore published the words and music together under the title "The Star Spangled Banner", although it was originally called "Defence of Fort M'Henry". Thomas Carr's arrangement introduced the raised fourth (PDF) which became the standard deviation from "The Anacreontic Song".
And if you don’t know, now you know.
The Iowa caucuses are in 10 days, people. This is the home stretch. The final CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom caucus poll will drop next Saturday, February 1. The last one had Bernie Sanders in front with 20%, followed by Elizabeth Warren at 17%, Buttigieg at 16%, and Joe Biden at 15%.
What do I expect? Another close spread, within the margin of error. I think what’s going to make the difference is the ground game. Both Sanders and Warren have excellent field operations, so I suspect that they will over-perform their poll standings. I think Buttigieg has a decent field staff in Iowa, but it’s not as sharp as Warren’s or Sanders’. The wild-cards, to me, are Biden’s and Klobuchar’s ground games.
I’ve gotten no indication that there’s any energy to Biden’s effort in Iowa. Everything I’ve seen screams that it’s purely staff-driven and top-down. Klobuchar, meanwhile, has essentially made Iowa an extension of Minnesota — which is part of the reason she’s outlasted so many others on the debate stage.
I’m not making any predictions yet; any that I make are strictly SWAGs (scientific wild-ass guesses). Anyone who states confidently that they know what’s going to happen in 10 days doesn’t. That’s all I got — for now.
Speaking of Amy Klobuchar, Libby Watson’s penned an eloquent denunciation of how our political press overlooked her history of abusing staffers.
Klobuchar’s having yet another “moment”. I emphasize the quotation marks because despite high-profile reporters and commentators doing their level best to hype her debate performances, she’s been mired in the high single digits in Iowa and stuck in the political equivalent of The Phantom Zone in New Hampshire. She’s non-existent everywhere else. That didn’t stop the New York Times from endorsing her, but I discussed that specific wrinkle in my last newsletter.
Maybe that changes if she shocks everyone and finishes third in Iowa, let’s say. But I doubt it; she simply doesn’t have the staffing and infrastructure to take advantage of a breakout moment like that, and she’s not building it out in the next three weeks. The days where a candidate could “shock the world” and surge out of nowhere to be a contender for the nomination are gone.
Regardless of all that, it’s disturbing to me that so many people are choosing to blithely wave away the many credible stories out there [waves in the general direction of The District] about how Klobuchar treats her staff. I’m not talking about yelling; I’m not even talking about throwing folders or binders, though both of those things ain’t cricket. The things I’ve heard are far more foul and disturbing; they’re the kinds of things that would make you curdle.
So why am I not sharing them? Because they’re not my stories to tell.
I know at least three people who’ve worked for her; their accounts only differ in detail and degree, not in substance. They all describe Klobuchar as straight-up abusive; and before you dismiss these people as “snowflakes” or whatever dismissive jibe you were thinking of, they are all strong, flint-hard people who’d merely shrug at working for a “demanding” boss, and do it in stride.
We’ve got a bad habit in this country of treating the abysmal behavior of people in power as the eccentricities that come with talent and genius and leadership. The reality is that we coddle bad behavior, especially when it comes from men. And then we wonder why so many people complain about toxic work environments.
Amy Klobuchar isn’t a demanding boss. She’s an abusive boss, we need to talk about it, and it’s disqualifying — not just for the Presidency, but honestly, for the Senate as well. If we Democrats think of ourselves as the party of the people - especially people who are powerless - then we’ve got to stop making excuses for people who hold power.
OK, switching topics: let’s talk about menswear.
This is my new favorite t-shirt. It’s the Slub Curved Hem Tee by Buck Mason. This particular color (“breeze”? whatever, it’s like a slate-grey or something.) is only in stock in size small, but they’ve got a ton of other colors. Yes, it’s $35, and if you’re a grown-ass man, it’s time you start rocking shirts like this from a quality perspective. Save the Hanes five-pack for undershirt duty; rock this as a piece when you decide to rock a T-shirt only.
I just picked up this shirt at a sample sale, and it is excellent. This is the Stretch Poplin Dress Shirt by Club Monaco. It retails at $98, which, OK, I get it; that’s a chunk of change, and Club Monaco is a pricey place. So, two things:
Look for sales whenever possible;
Sample sales are a god-send.
Also, specifically to Club Monaco — they offer student discounts! No, not even kidding. I will leave to you the ethical conundrum of using your old .edu email as an alumnus/alumna; I merely give you this bit of information for you to do with it as you will.
But let’s step back. My late grandmother Delia, a former fashion designer of some note, introduced me to the concept of sample sales some 20 years ago. Basically, this is when different brands try to move past-season merchandise, samples (hence the name) and other kinds of inventory out the door. If you know what you’re looking for, you can pick up some truly excellent stuff at outrageously low prices. I scored my top-coat, for instance, for $55, and it’s regularly a $450 piece.
The key is to have a discerning eye, and to look for “timeless” pieces. In this case: a blue dress shirt is just never going to go out of style. The collar, the cut, the color; they’re all “traditional”, not fashion-forward — i.e., we’re not talking about a “butterfly” collar like in the ‘70s, or a weird color, or either a super-tight or super-billowy cut.
And that’s the other thing: unlike a lot of dress shirts, this one doesn’t have an excess of material. It’s smartly tailored. So you’re nearly certain to look sharp when you wear this.
OK, I think that’s a wrap on this. I’ve been sick this week, so I need to rest up. Know this: you’re awesome, every single last one of you. I love all of you, just as you are. Go out and do your wonderful, amazing things, and let’s hold each other close.
Remember: if you need anything, just write back. I’ll be here. If you think someone would like this newsletter, just hit that share button below, or forward this to them.