Some people argue that the Bush Administration's War on Terror and the further merger of our civilian government with the military industrial complex is taking our country rapidly down the road to a fascist police state. That's a tall order for discussion. At the moment, I just can't call up the skill to weigh in on such a dark premise. Instead, I would like to digress and comment on the world of art and fashion currently in vogue among those leading our country during this time of war.

What graphic arts genre does this logo for our National Service Corps make you think of? Hint: It comes from a series of logos designed to look sharp when worn as armbands.  My first thought was that the artist who created it may have pulled his inspiration from something that evokes Godwin's Law.  But, really, "Learn and Serve?" Fourth Estate pretender Time Magazine thinks it's wunderbar. For me, that's just too close to "Serve and Obey."

Harsh you say? Let's jump to the world of high fashion in the Bush Administration. Imagine that you are the head of a major corporation that makes cars, or soap or something much more dour than cutting edge software. What would you consider as a reasonable dress code for a female executive or sales person calling on a client or vendor? Get that picture in your mind and then decide if what our Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wore for an appearance at our imperial outpost in Wiesbaden, Germany in the Spring of 2005 was appropriate attire. Compare your opinion to that of our war party's press organ The Washington Post, which gushed at the time:

Rice's coat and boots speak of sex and power...[her] appearance at Wiesbaden -- a military base with all of its attendant images of machismo, strength and power -- was striking because she walked out draped in a banner of authority, power and toughness. She was not hiding behind matronliness, androgyny or the stereotype of the steel magnolia. Rice brought her full self to the world stage -- and that included her sexuality. It was not overt or inappropriate.

Who am I to argue with the Washington Post? We are all probably just thankful that it was not Madeline Albright who tried to pull off this fashion statement.

But, it's a slippery slope, especially when someone as high up the chain of command as Secretary Rice pushes things over the top. By the fall of 2005 we had U.S. DoD apparatchik Debra Cagan showing up to a Hungarian embassy party dressed up as a real dominatrix. At the time, Cagan held the position, Political Advisor to Supreme Allied Commander Transformation. 

The 2005 photo of the androgynous Cagan as dominatrix lay buried on the Hungarian Embassy's website until October of 2007, when Cagan got in a row with some visiting British MPs who claim she made the statement, "I hate all Iranians."  Cagan had been promoted to the position of, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Coalition Affairs. When British papers went digging for a photo of Cagan, her Hungarian photo-op was what they came up with. Her fashion statement in front of the Hungarian diplomats was a good match for the headline, "I hate all Iranians." It also makes for a good story about a high ranking member of the Department of Defense who was charged with having spoken with ill will towards a people currently surrounded on all sides by U.S. military forces.  

Did she or didn't she? Certainly it would be extremely poor judgement, at best, on the part of Cagan if she really did say, "I hate all Iranians." But, let's stick to the question of her fashion sense here. She's standing in front of her wardrobe closet wondering what to wear to the embassy bash where she is going to be awarded Hungary's Commander's Cross Order of Merit. "Now what should I wear. What's going to look good with that medal, hmmm..."  While Cagan is thinking, we should be thinking ourselves. "A high ranking U.S. official is going to be accepting an award from a foreign government... Might'en it be best if they asked someone or took at least five minutes on Google to find out what the Commander's Cross Order of Merit is?"

I don't know anyone in the Hungarian or U.S. foreign services, so I went with the five minute Google search. The award Cagan accepted appears to have been instituted in 1991 shortly after Hungary found itself free of Soviet domination. Actually, it may be more accurate to say that it was re-instituted since Order of Merit medals in Hungary pre-date the Soviet occupation period. If we can trust the Hungarian National Museum as a reference source, the award order that the Commander's Cross Cagan accepted falls under was originally "instituted by Regent Miklós Horthy on 3rd March 1943 to confer honour on foreign citizens for their services done for the Hungarian state either in peace or in war."

Yes, that would be Regent Miklos Horthy, reluctant but willing ally of Nazi Germany at the time. 

Let's cut Cagan some slack though. The government of Hungary can probably site various justifications as to why the medals they hand out these days really are not a throwback to a brief historical brush with Nazism. Even Horthy himself, though having made an appearance at Nuremberg, ended up being put out to a comfortable pasture in Portugal. Still, Horthy was a willing accomplice to the deportation of Hungarian Jews to Hitler's death camps. That's not a good thing. Unless I had something to the contrary in writing from the Hungarian government, I myself would take a pass on their medal.  

Let's go back to Cagan's closet. She should be standing there with at least an inkling that some people, whose taxes pay her salary, are going to be less than enthused that she going to soon be wearing Hungary's Commander's Cross. Would it be too much of us to ask as her employer, "Debra, is it really good judgment to accept this medal, while dressed up like a Nazi boy toy?"

Are we are being too demanding on Ms. Cagan? No, I think we are just asking for good judgment and professionalism while on the job.

Like words, symbols and fashion do make statements. 

So, is our country on the road to fascism? I pray not. But, it's at least clear that the fashionists did not lose WWII.

notes:

1) If there is something more concrete to the Commander's Cross history and it is clear Cagan knew what she was accepting, she should not be working for the U.S. government. It does appear that she has been recently replaced in her last position at the DoD.

2) Yes, upon close observation, the Patriarchal Cross used in the Hungarian Coat of Arms that is designed into the Commander's Cross is the same popular Patriarchal Cross as the one mocked as the symbol for the Norsefire political party in V for Vendetta and used to designate the 33rd degree level in Free Masonry.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments