Kyrsten Sinema - a DINO?

[lpetrich]

Ana Navarro says 'no woman of color' could pull off Sinema's denim number in Senate

Navarro condemned the Arizona Democrat on Wednesday over the casual wear she donned while presiding on the Senate floor Tuesday, joining a chorus of critics who were upset by the lawmaker's apparent lack of decorum.

Sinema wore a black T-shirt and denim vest.

She tweeted
Ana Navarro-Cárdenas on Twitter: "I really don’t care who gets triggered by me bringing race into this. The truth is, no woman of color could possibly dress like this, and act like this, and be taken seriously, much less elected.

I suspect every Black woman and Latina reading this knows what I’m talking about." / Twitter
noting
Don Winslow on Twitter: "Holy shit Arizona. Holy shit. (vid link)" / Twitter
I think that ANC was saying that KS could get away with dressing in such a downscale way because she is a honky.

From the article:

It's not Sinema's first time flaunting her sartorial skills on the Hill.

She's also appeared around the Capitol with colorful wigs and wore a fur-trimmed pink coat on her first day in the Senate.

 

[lpetrich]

Jackie S on Twitter: "@jennycohn1 @donwinslow Here’s an article from 2013
She seems to have been flighty all along. I don’t understand how no one did any kind of research on her (links)" / Twitter
noting
Kyrsten Sinema Talks Running for Arizona Congress and Her Bisexuality - in Elle magazine

Representing Arizona and also a new generation of politicians, Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema knows what it's like to live in an abandoned gas station, treats her bisexuality like it ain't no thing, and isn't afraid to wear fuchsia.

There's much about Sinema's story that seems unbelievable. Only 36 years old, she's a member of the U.S. House of Representatives who also has a master's degree, a PhD, and a law degree. She's never been married, is openly bisexual, and claims no religion—definitely an idiosyncratic bio for a national politician. At a time when the gap between rich and poor in America has never been wider, Sinema, who was homeless for a time as a child, crosses economic divides as well as political ones. Although a staunch Democrat, she was a productive member of the conservative Arizona state legislature, where she served for seven years, and has written a book, Unite and Conquer, about how to build broad coalitions to promote progressive policies; she was elected to Congress in a newly created district that has more Republican voters than Democrat. (Not that her opponent in that race didn't try to pigeonhole her: Republican Vernon Parker ran ads of Sinema in a Photoshopped Janis Joplin outfit under the heading radical left-wing activist.)

...
Joining Sinema are Hawaii's Tulsi Gabbard, a 32-year-old combat veteran who's also the first Hindu rep, and Grace Meng, a 37-year-old Asian-American lawyer from Queens, New York.

...
As I walk into Sinema's office on Capitol Hill—she's been on the job for about 10 weeks—it strikes me that she's even more of a rare species than I thought: an exotic parrot in a town of dark-feathered wrens. She's wearing a full-skirted dress splashed with plum-colored flowers; her eyeglass frames are magenta, the water bottle from which she sips between meetings is fuchsia. (Sinema, the proud owner of more than 100 pairs of shoes, was declared best-dressed politician by an Arizona newspaper for four years running.)

"One of the reasons I ran for office in the state legislature," Sinema tells me between meetings with representatives of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and YMCA, "was to help people. Now I have 13 staff and 10 interns. If people call our office, they're going to get help."

 

[lpetrich]

Colleen G on Twitter: "@donwinslow Wow! I have no words (speechless) . I live in Az. I voted for her. I didn’t want McSally to win. She is not the same person I voted for.She had me fooled. So sad a lot of us were fooled." / Twitter
Evidently yet another bummed-out supporter.

Christie Cirone on Twitter: "@donwinslow (pic link)" / Twitter - another picture of her from that day. She was wearing a black mid-thigh skirt, with some black fringe on top of the lower part ot it.

I like this response:
jackie earls on Twitter: "@OldSiwash @donwinslow She is 45 yrs old and dresses like that??" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

What’s Kyrsten Sinema Up To? It’s Pretty Obvious. - POLITICO

Walk the streets of Kyrsten Sinema’s old stomping grounds, Phoenix’s artsy Roosevelt Row, on a busy Friday night and you might see a dozen or so Kyrsten Sinemas, none of them flattering.

A local dance crew calling itself the Moderate Pixie Dream Girls, whose members dress in pink tutus and purple party wigs, perform on local street corners to protest the Arizona senator’s opposition to increasing the minimum wage or her resistance to immigration reform.

Stickers at the hipster coffee shop anchoring the neighborhood feature her face on a milk carton reading “Missing: Last seen defending the Jim Crow filibuster.”

At the national level, though, Sinema’s brand isn’t so much progressive betrayal as raw confusion. When Saturday Night Live parodied Sinema as one of two Democrats opposing President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda, the writers knew how to have fun with her biographical details — “as a wine-drinking bisexual triathlete, I know what the average American wants” — and her fashion sense (“all the Scooby Doo characters at the same time”). But when it came to what motivates her, they drew a blank, settling simply on “chaos.”

More on the satire: SNL sends up AOC and 'wine-drinking bisexual' senator Kyrsten Sinema

But Strong, in a spot-on performance as Sinema, quipped she’d “never tell” what she wanted from the bill because she was purposefully trying to be obstinate. She added she “didn’t come to Congress to make friends”, and “so far, mission accomplished”. Ouch.

Biden quipped that the Arizona senator looked like “all the character from Scooby-Doo” at once.

...
Later in the sketch, Biden attempted to get all the lawmakers to agree on one thing which seemingly anyone would think was good – roads. However, Sinema declared she wanted “no roads”.

When asked why, Kyrsten Sinema simply replied: “Chaos.”

After disagreeing with every suggestion, Biden asked Sinema what she actually liked. She answered that she liked “yellow Starbursts, the film The Polar Express and when someone eats fish on an aeroplane”.

 

[lpetrich]

Back to Politico.

Back home, some of her oldest allies — as well as critics — have an insight for the Democrats who are trying to corral her, and it’s not necessarily a comfortable one: Get used to it. Politically, Sinema’s career looks like she experienced a personal revolution; she began as a left-wing agitator and ended up as a Republican-friendly moderate. But in Arizona, many people see those positions as almost beside the point: For them, Sinema is better understood in terms of pure ambition, and the constant triangulation needed to hold office in a purple state that fancies itself charting an independent course, whatever that requires in the moment. Sinema declined to comment for this report.

“She’s usually the smartest person in the room and she wants to be treated that way,” says Phil Lopes, a former Democratic colleague in the state House of Representatives, who was once a Sinema ally, but no longer.

... But the details of Sinema’s transformation lay in her time in the state legislature, where she learned to distance herself from progressives and made alliances with Republicans that she still leans on today.

...
As Sinema climbed the ranks into state Democratic leadership, she also learned the art of compromise so well that it began to concern some of her progressive allies and former liberal champions.

Including making friends with lots of Republicans.

 

[lpetrich]

Republicans like Andy Biggs, now in the US House in the hard-like Freedom Caucus there.

These days, it seems Sinema’s only fans are Republicans — and one of her biggest might be Biggs.

Biggs was recently captured on video praising Sinema and Manchin for holding up the Biden agenda, while Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds urged Republicans to call their offices and thank them for keeping the filibuster intact.

Her friendship with Biggs was the subject of considerable Capitol intrigue during her days as a state legislator and one of the first big signs that Sinema was changing, says Lopes.

Then her working with a lot of Republicans.

Sometimes, Sinema succeeded in co-opting her conservative friends into backing a liberal agenda.

In 2006, when Sinema was still a true-blue progressive, she asked Jonathan Paton, a Republican legislator from Tucson, to take the lead on her bill ensuring women who breastfeed in public couldn’t be charged with indecent exposure.

“She was very matter of fact about it: ‘Look, if I sponsor it, it’s not going to pass. I’ll do all the work, I just need a Republican to sponsor it for me because that’s the way the world works,’” he recalls. “And I was like, ‘Okay, you know, whatever,’ and I didn’t really pay a whole lot of attention to it, to be honest with you, until the day of the hearing.”

Something that she might claim is what she wants to do.

 

[lpetrich]

Even among her critics, Sinema is widely regarded as among the savviest political operators in Arizona history. She has the book smarts of a lawyer, the emotional intelligence of a social worker and the determination of a triathlete, because she is all of those things.

Nobody gets to the U.S. Senate without a healthy dose of ambition and hubris. But her detractors say in that regard, too, she’s off the charts: That she’s only ever cared about herself, that she craves the limelight, that she’s abandoned all principles she once held dear in exchange for power.

“Kyrsten is one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever known, if not the most brilliant,” says a former Democratic lawmaker who once was close with her in the legislature and was granted anonymity to speak candidly. That’s what makes her conduct in Washington so disappointing: “I don’t think her motivation for casting the votes that she does today has anything to do with what her actual true beliefs are.”

She seems like some bizarro AOC. The two women are both very smart and very fond of clothes. But while AOC wants to build an environmentally-conscious social democracy where people enjoy artistry, it's hard to see what great goals KS has.

 

[lpetrich]

"Other longtime allies and supporters of Sinema are bewildered." Like longtime environmentalist and supporter Sandy Bahr of the Grand Canyon chapter of the Sierra Club. "For years in Congress, Sinema and Bahr were still close. But these days, Bahr can hardly get a meeting with her, securing a single 5-minute session since Sinema became a senator three years ago."

Manchin has come in for pressure from the left — protesters have been kayaking up to his houseboat — but he has had no problem debating them, even on the water.

Sinema, meanwhile, hasn’t been spotted around her old haunts since she was photographed in April flaunting a ring reading, “Fuck Off.”

...
As a state lawmaker, Sinema would sometimes speak at three public events a day and was among the most quoted and quotable lawmakers, he says. But now she’s “almost reclusive.”

So she was more AOC-like in her early years, talking a lot and having good relations with activists. Now she's the opposite.

Former Arizona Democratic lawmaker Debbie McCune Davis, a solid progressive who was something of a mentor to Sinema during her early years at the Capitol, says she saw a change once Sinema ascended to Democratic leadership. Suddenly, Sinema was keeping the door open to the payday lending industry and others who were in direct opposition to Democrats’ agenda.

...
“It’s unsettling because you vote for someone because you believe you know what they stand for. And right now, I think people are very confused about what Kyrsten stands for,” she says. “I haven’t given up on her. But I know people who have.”

Then on KS wanting to be like John McCain.

But that comparison, Adams acknowledges, misses the first 20 years of McCain’s history, before Tea Party activists overtook the state Republican Party, when he built up a political machine and passed out favors like Halloween candy.

Sinema lacks the same strong relationships with local elected officials that McCain once had, which makes occasionally breaking with the party far more difficult. In addition to quite distinct biographies — McCain, of course, was a war hero and presidential candidate — their temperaments couldn’t be more different. Unlike Sinema, McCain would talk to the press for hours at a time. And Sinema doesn’t have the fiery, confrontation-loving spirit that leads one to hold court with critics. Agree with him or not, McCain had a way of making people feel heard, even if not convinced.

Then on speculation that she will become an Independent. I've seen similar speculation about Joe Manchin, and these two would join Bernie Sanders and Angus King.

 

[lpetrich]

Kyrsten Sinema in All Her Bad Outfits Is the New Ivanka Trump - "Why do we care so much about Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema’s clothes, including this week’s now-notorious denim vest? Well, without her words, they are all we have to go on."

Have you missed Ivanka Trump’s breathlessly variable White House fashion—her pristine, all-white “I’m rich” outfits or knifelike Louboutin stilettos? Probably not. ...

Don’t fret, for a torch has been passed. Ivanka may be holed up in her million-dollar Miami compound, but another high-powered white woman is dressing to enrage: Kyrsten Sinema. Her clothes appear to be an extension of her political persona: she will do things her way, thanks very much, and she does not care if you don’t like it, or don’t understand it—such as her wearing a denim vest to preside over the senate earlier this week.

...
Despite the “our office is here to serve you” blazed on her official website, Sinema does not hold town hall meetings with constituents. She cried victim when protestors followed her into the bathroom to grill her about Biden’s Reconciliation Bill and amnesty. (Heaven forbid a public servant is made to feel the slightest bit uncomfortable when the people she represents attempt to hold her accountable for her actions.)

...
It was against the Senate’s dress, for one (no denim allowed) but it also seemed to encapsulate everything that is grating about Sinema’s fashion point of view. She says nothing of substance. She seems to actively hate the people she was elected to serve. But she does this all in a painfully curated—and pretty annoying—alt-aligned wardrobe. So often that dress code overshadows what she does, and gives Sinema’s defenders the perfect opportunity to cry sexism.

But of course it’s not about the damn vest, or the expletive-laden ring, or those cheap party wigs. It’s about Sinema’s refusal to do her job and make the lives of Americans just a bit easier. She insists upon going her own way, right down to the tacky clothing. The pieces are not the problem; it is what those pieces represent.

Reminds me of the bad old days of the Soviet Union, where Kremlinologists would try to guess the Soviet leaders' policy directions from who shows up at official events and who doesn't.

 

[lpetrich]

Sinema denim vest denounced: Darcy cartoon - cleveland.com

With a cartoon of KS wearing that denim vest with "I REALLY DON'T CARE DO U?" on its back, and holding a gavel with "Build Back Gridlock" on it. A reference to a jacket that Melania Trump once wore.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, wearing a denim vest and black t-shirt while presiding over the U.S. Senate, looked more like she was presiding over a biker rally or the Jan 6 insurrectionists invasion of the Senate chamber. At least she skipped wearing the fur hat with horns.

...
Wearing biker garb wasn’t the first time Sen Sinema’s wardrobe garnered attention while presiding over the Senate. In February she sat behind the desk wearing a pick sweater with the words “Dangerous Creature” on the front. It was a nod to the quote from Lisa Keyplas that “a well-read woman is a dangerous creature.”

 

[lpetrich]

Take note, AOC — Kyrsten Sinema’s bad style actually makes a statement

With some more KS pictures, saying that in that denim vest, she looked like "Ponyboy’s long-lost sister who made manager at JC Penney."

There is also a picture of KS wearing a mid-thigh-length gray dress, a knee-length black jacket over it, and a light purple wig.

While disgraced former Congresswoman Katie Hill, who has shown a strong aversion to clothing all together around staffers, tweeted: “I hate to go after Sinema for her clothes when there’s so much legitimate stuff to attack but that vest is truly awful.”

Ironically, Hill has also been vocal about the “sexist” pressure put on female candidates to have the right clothing to be taken seriously.

Also has a picture of her wearing a floral-print dress and another pattern dress with a light pink/orange wig.

Katie Hill on Twitter: "I hate to go after Sinema for her clothes when there’s so much legitimate stuff to attack but that vest is truly awful." / Twitter
then
Katie Hill on Twitter: "I mean, if she was great in every other way I’d probably say it was cool but she’s not so… " / Twitter

Seems like a sensible perspective to me. I recall after Trump's great attack on "the Squad" in mid 2019, its members turned down interviews in fashion magazines with fashion shoots, because they wanted to be taken seriously as legislators. But more recently, at least some of them did do a fashion shoot. They may have been more comfortable in their roles by then, felt better accepted.

 

[Harry Bosch]

Take note, AOC — Kyrsten Sinema’s bad style actually makes a statement

With some more KS pictures, saying that in that denim vest, she looked like "Ponyboy’s long-lost sister who made manager at JC Penney."

There is also a picture of KS wearing a mid-thigh-length gray dress, a knee-length black jacket over it, and a light purple wig.

While disgraced former Congresswoman Katie Hill, who has shown a strong aversion to clothing all together around staffers, tweeted: “I hate to go after Sinema for her clothes when there’s so much legitimate stuff to attack but that vest is truly awful.”

Ironically, Hill has also been vocal about the “sexist” pressure put on female candidates to have the right clothing to be taken seriously.

Also has a picture of her wearing a floral-print dress and another pattern dress with a light pink/orange wig.

Katie Hill on Twitter: "I hate to go after Sinema for her clothes when there’s so much legitimate stuff to attack but that vest is truly awful." / Twitter
then
Katie Hill on Twitter: "I mean, if she was great in every other way I’d probably say it was cool but she’s not so… " / Twitter

Seems like a sensible perspective to me. I recall after Trump's great attack on "the Squad" in mid 2019, its members turned down interviews in fashion magazines with fashion shoots, because they wanted to be taken seriously as legislators. But more recently, at least some of them did do a fashion shoot. They may have been more comfortable in their roles by then, felt better accepted.

Dumb question, but why in the world are we focusing on her clothing and her style? If she were a male, no one would care what she wears.

 

[lpetrich]

Because she doesn't give much else to go on. It's sort of like Kremlinology during the bad old days of the Soviet Union: trying to guess what that nation's leaders will do next from who shows up where in official events.

Also, her clothing gives us a lot to talk about, even more than what her female colleagues wear. Mostly solid-color pantsuits or skirtsuits or dresses. AOC says that she wears solid colors much of the time because that's what shows up well on video.

As to male politicians, doesn't anyone remember the right wing getting outraged when Barack Obama wore a tan business suit?

Male fashion in Congress doesn't have a lot of variety -- the most I've seen is Rep. Jim Jordan going jacketless.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Take note, AOC — Kyrsten Sinema’s bad style actually makes a statement

With some more KS pictures, saying that in that denim vest, she looked like "Ponyboy’s long-lost sister who made manager at JC Penney."

There is also a picture of KS wearing a mid-thigh-length gray dress, a knee-length black jacket over it, and a light purple wig.

While disgraced former Congresswoman Katie Hill, who has shown a strong aversion to clothing all together around staffers, tweeted: “I hate to go after Sinema for her clothes when there’s so much legitimate stuff to attack but that vest is truly awful.”

Ironically, Hill has also been vocal about the “sexist” pressure put on female candidates to have the right clothing to be taken seriously.

Also has a picture of her wearing a floral-print dress and another pattern dress with a light pink/orange wig.

Katie Hill on Twitter: "I hate to go after Sinema for her clothes when there’s so much legitimate stuff to attack but that vest is truly awful." / Twitter
then
Katie Hill on Twitter: "I mean, if she was great in every other way I’d probably say it was cool but she’s not so… " / Twitter

Seems like a sensible perspective to me. I recall after Trump's great attack on "the Squad" in mid 2019, its members turned down interviews in fashion magazines with fashion shoots, because they wanted to be taken seriously as legislators. But more recently, at least some of them did do a fashion shoot. They may have been more comfortable in their roles by then, felt better accepted.

Dumb question, but why in the world are we focusing on her clothing and her style? If she were a male, no one would care what she wears.

That's not true. Jim Jordan has been called out for not wearing a jacket. And while completely foreign to me, there seems to be some validity to making statements with clothing.
I'm currently wearing a Minus 33 mid-weight base layer in grey with Sorel slippers.

 

[Elixir]

Which is more likely Donald wearing a diaper or Joe?

Take note, AOC — Kyrsten Sinema’s bad style actually makes a statement

With some more KS pictures, saying that in that denim vest, she looked like "Ponyboy’s long-lost sister who made manager at JC Penney."

There is also a picture of KS wearing a mid-thigh-length gray dress, a knee-length black jacket over it, and a light purple wig.

While disgraced former Congresswoman Katie Hill, who has shown a strong aversion to clothing all together around staffers, tweeted: “I hate to go after Sinema for her clothes when there’s so much legitimate stuff to attack but that vest is truly awful.”

Ironically, Hill has also been vocal about the “sexist” pressure put on female candidates to have the right clothing to be taken seriously.

Also has a picture of her wearing a floral-print dress and another pattern dress with a light pink/orange wig.

Katie Hill on Twitter: "I hate to go after Sinema for her clothes when there’s so much legitimate stuff to attack but that vest is truly awful." / Twitter
then
Katie Hill on Twitter: "I mean, if she was great in every other way I’d probably say it was cool but she’s not so… " / Twitter

Seems like a sensible perspective to me. I recall after Trump's great attack on "the Squad" in mid 2019, its members turned down interviews in fashion magazines with fashion shoots, because they wanted to be taken seriously as legislators. But more recently, at least some of them did do a fashion shoot. They may have been more comfortable in their roles by then, felt better accepted.

Dumb question, but why in the world are we focusing on her clothing and her style? If she were a male, no one would care what she wears.

That's not true. Jim Jordan has been called out for not wearing a jacket. And while completely foreign to me, there seems to be some validity to making statements with clothing.
I'm currently wearing a Minus 33 mid-weight base layer in grey with Sorel slippers.

My uniform!!

 

[Rhea]

Male fashion in Congress doesn't have a lot of variety -- the most I've seen is Rep. Jim Jordan going jacketless.

You forget Matt Gaetz’ cobalt blue windopane check suit. It was fabulous. I unironically loved it.

 

[ZiprHead]

Remember the tan suit?

I really don't care how people dress, within reason.

 

[Rhea]

 

[lpetrich]

Obama's tan suit debuted five years ago and sparked a huge controversy - The Washington Post

Ronald Reagan wore tan suits during his presidency. So did Dwight D. Eisenhower, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

But on Aug. 28, 2014, when President Barack Obama showed up for a White House news conference dressed in beige, the light-colored suit became a matter of national import. Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) fumed that the suit pointed to a “lack of seriousness” on the president’s part, cable news shows held roundtable discussions, fashion critics and image consultants weighed in, and TV news reporters conducted man-on-the-street interviews to find out what the people of Northeast Ohio thought of the controversial look.

Biden Wears Tan Suit Almost Exactly 7 Years After Obama Controversy

• Biden wore a tan suit almost seven years after conservatives criticized Obama for wearing one.
• A Republican congressman at the time said Obama's suit sent the wrong message to ISIS.
• And the Fox Business host Lou Dobbs called the suit "shocking."

 

[blastula]

Dumb question, but why in the world are we focusing on her clothing and her style? If she were a male, no one would care what she wears.

It's because she's willfully such an empty suit there's nothing left to talk about.