csua.org/u/cvx -> www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/21/AR2005072102347.html
More An Image A Little Too Carefully Coordinated By Robin Givhan Friday, July 22, 2005; Page C02 It has been a long time since so much syrupy nostalgia has been in eviden ce at the White House. But Tuesday night, when President Bush announced his choice for the next associate justice of the Supreme Court, it was h ard not to marvel at the 1950s-style tableau vivant that was John Robert s and his family. There they were -- John, Jane, Josie and Jack -- standing with the presid ent and before the entire country. The nominee was in a sober suit with the expected white shirt and red tie. His wife and children stood before the cameras, groomed and glossy in pastel hues -- like a trio of Easter eggs, a handful of Jelly Bellies, three little Necco wafers. There was tow-headed Jack -- having freed himself from the controlling grip of his mother -- enjoying a moment in the spotlight dressed in a seersucker su it with short pants and saddle shoes. His sister, Josie, was half-hidden behind her mother's skirt. And she was wea ring a yellow dress with a crisp white collar, lace-trimmed anklets and black patent-leather Mary Janes.
Even the clothes are conservative: Judge John G Roberts, left, and h is wife Jane, right, with their children Jack and Josie listen to Presid ent Bush's announcement. Even the clothes are conservative: Judge John G Roberts, left, and his w ife Jane, right, with their children Jack and Josie listen to President Bush's announcement.
Two cute blond children with a boyish-lo oking father getting ready to take the lectern -- Jack Edwards? And through their clothes choices, the parents have created the kind of honeyed faultlessness that jams mailbox es every December when personalized Christmas cards arrive bringing gree tings "to you and yours" from the Blake family or the Joneses. Everyone looks freshly scrubbed and adorable, just like they have stepped from a Currier & Ives landscape. In a time when most children are dressed in Gap Kids and retailers of sim ilar price-point and modernity, the parents put young master Jack in an ensemble that calls to mind John F "John-John" Kennedy Jr. Separate the child from the clothes, which do not acknowledge trends, pop ular culture or the passing of time. These clothes are Old World, old money and a cut above the li ght-up/shoe-buying hoi polloi. The Northwestern women's lacrosse team raised eyebrows when several playe rs wore flip-flops to their visit with President Bush. In this case , an addendum would have been helpful: Please select all attire from the commonly accepted styles of this century. One can't give in fully to private aesthetic pref erences. Instead, one asks what would make other people feel respected? What signifies that the mome nt is bigger than the individual? In announcing John Roberts as his Su preme Court nominee, the president inextricably linked the individual -- and his family -- to the sweep of tradition. There was only the fe eling that, in the desire to be appropriate and respectful of history, t he children had been costumed in it.
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