Bob Schieffer, at long last in blue jeans!

MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012

Softball king learns a new trick: We weren’t surprised by Bob Schieffer’s questions, which resembled softball played from a tee.

(We expect to discuss a few of those questions as the week proceeds.)

We were surprised by Schieffer’s wardrobe! On yesterday’s Face the Nation, Schieffer appeared in a sylvan setting for his face-to-face with Mitt Romney. And how odd! Coordinating with his guest’s dressed-down look, Schieffer appeared in blue jeans!

To enjoy Schieffer’s look, just click here.

Coming from Schieffer, this constitutes a remarkable fashion statement. In Octobber 1999, the CBS cypher interviewed Candidate Gore at a Portland, Maine farmer’s market. Given the setting, Gore appeared in perfectly sensible attire.

Schieffer, who looked a bit overdressed, was snide about Gore's attire in real time, then became outraged as the years passed.

Four years later, he was still venting about the occasion on a Washington radio station (see THE DAILY HOWLER, 12/13/03). The trigger for his breakdown was the fact that Gore had endorsed Howard Dean for president, thus bypassing Joseph Lieberman.

Mind-reading like Sybil the Soothsayer, Schieffer went into a very loud fury. Go ahead! Just try to believe that he staged this remarkable rant:

SCHIEFFER (12/12/03): I think that this thing, this Gore thing, I think is rather interesting in that perhaps it tells us more about Al Gore than it does about this campaign. I find it just remarkable that he would basically stab his old running-mate, Joe Lieberman, in the back in order to get himself back in the game. Because that’s clearly what he’s trying to do here is—now once again, Al Gore, who has either sought public office or held public office all his life, sees a chance, one more chance, to get back in the game. I guess his analysis is that if Dean wins, then he’s a king-maker; if Dean doesn’t win, then he’s serving notice to Hillary Clinton you’re not going to have a free run at this thing in 2008, I’m going to be right there again.

It’s very interesting—we’ve seen Al Gore change his story, we’ve seen him change his persona, I remember in the 2000 campaign when he showed up at Face the Nation dressed as a farmer! I remember when he changed his—he was going to get out of the blue suits and stuff. Now it seems he just as easily changes his friends. I don’t know what impact this is going to have on Howard Dean but I suspect it’s not going to have a good impact on Al Gore.

Just for the record, Candidate Gore did not show up at Face the Nation “dressed as a farmer!” In a rational world, caring professionals would have come and led poor Schieffer away.

But you don’t live in a rational world. You live in a world where the hustlers and wh*res pretend that such statements make sense.

During Campaign 2000, the novel on which the “press corps” agreed featured Gore as a hopeless changeling. By the fall of 1999, Gore’s perfectly unremarkable wardrobe had become a key line of attack.

Gore’s wardrobe had been perfectly sensible when he appeared on Face the Nation. Four years later, the superstar Schieffer still felt the need to attack.

Well yesterday, a very old dog finally learned a new trick! Bob and Mitt were nicely coordinated, with Mitt in his khakis and Bob in his jeans.

During Campaign 2000, Candidate Gore was endlessly trashed for wearing each type of pant. The climbers and children all kept their traps shut, pretending this made perfect sense.

Today, you see them starring on Hardball. This is the way George Bush reached the White House. Yesterday, Schieffer pulled on his own farmer pants.

Ain’t life in the matrix grand? Does any of this make sense? How often do citizens notice?

Concerning Gore’s farmer look: Back in 1999, the Portland Press Herald described Gore’s outfit for his Face the Nation appearance. According to reporter Joshua Weinstein, the candidate was “casual in khakis, a green shirt and gray V-neck sweater.”

Four years later, the disgraceful Schieffer was loudly complaining that Candidate Gore had been “dressed as a farmer.” Yesterday, the very old dog dressed way, way down to coordinate with Mitt’s khaki pants!