"In a city rich with sartorial symbols, few have been more memorable than [Curtis] Sliwa’s ruby red headpiece. It helped the Guardian Angels, his subway patrol group, gain notoriety in the 1970s; was his uniform for a career in television and radio and provided an unofficial motif for his unsuccessful first run for mayor in 2021. Yet as he takes a second, seemingly more viable run at City Hall, Mr. Sliwa, 71, is beginning to show up without it... 'For some people, the beret is a defining issue,' Mr. Sliwa said, volunteering that it could evoke a certain Che Guevara-style revolutionary look. 'Guys and gals, I get it. If taking my red beret off will help you just to listen to me, no problem.'... Mr. Sliwa makes a point of wearing his beret underground — he tries to campaign in the subway two hours a day ('It’s the only way') — and on the streets. It makes him more visible.... Mr. Sliwa said he has six berets in rotation. On hot summer days, the wool can create its own small heat dome. 'I don’t mind shvitzing, but my wife does,' he said. 'She says, "oofa, this beret, it can walk on its own by the end of the day."' He is also hearing from friends who think it is worth more on than off.... 'First, I was all for taking his red hat off,' Mr. Dietl said. 'But now I think when Superman came to save everyone, he didn't take his cape off.'"
From
"Curtis Sliwa Wants to Be Mayor. He’s Taking Off His Beret to Prove It. The Guardian Angels founder and Republican nominee for mayor has long been a New York curiosity. Can he become a serious contender?" (NYT).
You know who wore a hat? Lincoln. As Trump likes to say, responding to critics who call him insufficiently presidential: "I would say I can be more presidential than any president in history except for possibly Abe Lincoln with the big hat." And by the way, Trump has a damned distinctive hat and it worked for him.
If the question is how can you be serious in a hat I think we have the answer, and Sliwa made that beret so much a part of his persona that it's the only thing recognizable about him. Without the hat, he's a generic old guy. It's too late to de-hat. He has to convince people he's serious, without de-hatting.
Posts
48 comments:
Heaven forbid they discuss the issues facing New York City.
The survey choices might be too specific, and all of them are about Sliwa - when the real problem is the NYT's treatment of the candidate. The NYT asks the question in a way that they hope provides the answer.
Make New York Great Again
Democrats do no care about anyone - just power and money... and self-enrichment.
Fat white chicks In NYC are going for the squinty eyed Hamas Commie. He has all the dreamy Marxist big ideas.
THAT'S why I knew that name!
How embarrassing.... Because I knew that, whoever he was, he had no chance, I never even googled the guy.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales (1985)
Sliwa and guardian angles rode subways and outnumbered the muggers for the ride.
I got nothing but disappointment asking AI to generate an image of Curtis Sliwa throwing his beret in the air like Mary Tyler Moore.
We might as well take steps toward an intelligent comparison of Lincoln and Trump. What do we have to lose? Lincoln was presidential in the sense that he deeply understood why various people took the positions that they did--even in opposition to him, or to the North or the anti-slavery cause. He would sometimes say: they are thinking and doing exactly what we would if we were in their position. Trump has fleeting moments like this, but unfortunately he goes in for the petulant, vindictive attack on anyone who seems to stand in his way. The attack is often more verbal than anything else, but it is still too much autocratic media mogul who can hire and fire whoever he wants, not enough statesman. The Kennedy brothers and the steel owners/managers: that was petulant and vindictive.
Of course now Trump has the excuse of the years of abuse, being called the Devil a thousand times a day and what not when he is really just a fairly conventional American businessman, maybe with a bit more stubbornness or drive than usual. The lawfare was very bad, and Trump in comparison to his enemies has been scrupulous in obeying the Constitution.
I love the plans for a new ballroom.
The dogs in this fight are unrecognizable to me.
Edna: "No capes!"
Bob: "Isn't that my decision?"
Edna: "Do you remember Thunderhead? Tall, storm powers, nice man, good with kids."
Bob: "Listen, E--"
Edna: "November 15th of '58! All was well, another day saved, when... his cape snagged on a missile fin!"
Bob (chuckles): "Thunderhead was *not* the brightest bulb..."
Edna: "Stratogale! April 23rd, '57! Cape caught in a jet turbine!"
Bob: "E, you can't generalize about these things--"
Edna: "Meta-Man! Express elevator! Dynaguy! Snagged on takeoff! Splashdown! Sucked into a vortex! NO CAPES!"
Do berets "swoop"? I thought they just stayed where you put them.
"And on his head, where a dancing beret has sat every day of his life. Even in bed."
The commie candidate must have the NYT's running scared. IRC, they always hated Sliwa.
Sliwa would be a better leader than asshat Mamdingo.
What a bizarre description - a "swooping beret". What image does that even try to evoke?
The 'voters' of NYC are going to elect Mamdani and will be shocked, shocked to find out that he is indeed a communist and has no intention of fixing any issue facing the city. Then they will blame Trump and the non-existent NYC republicans.
Curtis Sliwa can not be elected. He actually likes his city and wants to fix the issues facing it and the citizens.
I hope he gets voted in as Mayor but if he doesn’t he can star in a reboot of McHale’s Navy.
He wore a raspberry beret
You can leave your hat on
Men without Hats
Hats Off to Larry
All Around My Hat
A few more and we'll have a Spotify playlist
I love Curtis, but he has zero chance of winning. I want Cuomo (never thought i would root for a Cuomo), but he and Adams will split votes and the young, attractive, socialist will win. I haven't been to NYC since 2015, and that streak will continue.
The real asshats here are Adams and Cuomo. Both of who should have dropped out of the race. As it is they are going to split the anti-Mamdani vote. Otherwise, as the legitimate Republican candidate, Sliwa would have a chance.
Sliwa would be a better leader than asshat Mamdingo.
Is that original? If so, I'll have to give you credit for coming up with a racist slur that insults Black, Asian and Muslim people in one word.
To be honest, I voted and answered before looking at the NYT article (I thought it would be paywalled). I like how Curtis looked. He looked old/distinguished, masculine, yet I had the memory of the mischievous beret.
Curtis - Your new hook - "Elect me and I will bring a Golden Age to New York City with the power of my Red Berret". Cue the songs.
Democrats do no care about anyone - just power and money... and self-enrichment.
As they proved yesterday - immediately following the revelations that Clinton, Obama, the FBI and the CIA actively tried to swing an election and, when that didn't work, undermined a sitting U.S. President through lies and collusion with foreign agents, Jimmy Gomez (D. Cal.) came out and said "we will do anything to win this."
The wording of the quote used as this post's headline made me think of Revelations.
Me, I think "Mamdingus" would get the point across better without the racial overtones.
Thanks to Freder for his perpetual alertness to racism in the Althouse commentariat, and his boldness and courage in pointing it out to us.
As long as it isn’t one of those berets that hang down over an eye like an elephant man tumor.
Thanks to Freder for his perpetual alertness to racism in the Althouse commentariat, and his boldness and courage in pointing it out to us.
Someone has to call out you racist jerks for what you are once in a while. You certainly have no problem calling me anti-Semitic when I object to Israeli policy.
You might as well mine the harbor, and blow the bridges if Mamdani win,
FF at 1010 - So you just object to policy, whereas we are all racist. Got it.
After the Socialist-Democrat wins: The poor will remain poor. Lots of programs to help the poor will be proposed, enacted and funded. In short order people will discover the problems remain, perhaps even worsened. Few will connect that failure to the hansom, young verbal tap dancer.
The middle class will find themselves closer to the poor in terms of crime, lack of basic services and cost of living.
The rich will move, taking their wealth with them. Or they will use that wealth to insulate themselves from the continuing rot of NYC.
narciso at 1024 - funny as hell. 1024 is a pretty number, 2 to the 10th power.
yes we are at the Snake Plissken point, it's is a shame they are letting a once great city, one of our original capitals desintegrate like that,
I just saw two commercials for the red beret - one where he pointed out uncollected garbage -- and, another, where he pointed human garbage - homeless guy laying in his own garbage.
The classmate whose autobiography I edited last year - he was in a local chapter of the Guardian Angels and met Silva several times.
Curtis Sliwa may be an awesome candidate. I have no idea, not being anywhere near NYC. However, his trademark beret and association with the Guardian Angels will always overpower his message. He is therefore, hard to take seriously.
As someone on X pointed out, the GOP in blue strongholds consistently picks the worst candidates to run, guaranteeing Democrat victories.
Joe Bar - You are correct. I suppose "great/good" R candidates don't care to run becuase they know they will lose and also they don't want the shit they will take from "professional" conservatives.
probably, but we are talking about a self destructive electorate, who is immune to evidence,
Freder, I appreciate that you are uniuquely situated for determining what is indeed racist to, um, who was it again? Oh yeah, your "Black, Asian and Muslim people".
Curtis' beret reminds long-time NYers of his heroic role as the founder of the Guardian Angels, a multi-ethnic group of volunteers helping to keep the city safe (it also has chapters elsewhere). As a Sliwa fan for decades ("Curtis and Kuby" radio show), I can attest that absolutely NO ONE knows NYC and its neighborhoods more than Curtis. He'd make a wonderful, inspirational mayor!
The poor will remain poor. Lots of programs to help the poor will be proposed, enacted and funded. In short order people will discover the problems remain, perhaps even worsened. Few will connect that failure to the hansom, young verbal tap dancer.
The middle class will find themselves closer to the poor in terms of crime, lack of basic services and cost of living.
The rich will move, taking their wealth with them. Or they will use that wealth to insulate themselves from the continuing rot of NYC.
So, NYC will limp on as it has for the last forty years and the status quo will remain? Hardly a condemnation of Mamdani. Over the last forty years has had liberal (Dinkins and DeBlasio) and conservative mayors (Guiliani, Bloomberg, Adams), yet we have the same issues vexing NYC (although with a few dips and surges, crime overall has gone down significantly).
The fact is the mayor can not do much of anything without the approval of Albany. He doesn't control the MTA. He can't even change speed limits without state approval. The police department will do whatever the hell it pleases as will the teachers and Sanitation department. At best the mayor can nibble at the power of the entrenched interests.
Freder, I appreciate that you are uniuquely situated for determining what is indeed racist to, um, who was it again?
Iman deliberately misspelled "Mamdani" and threw in a blatantly racist term for Black people (Mandingo) and you are telling me that is not racist? WTF man!
FF at 1133. Rudy and Mike were not conservatives. They were moderate to liberal R's. Maybe the liberalism is the problem.
Rudy and Mike were not conservatives.
That is a funny one. In what way was Guiliani moderate to liberal under any definition of the term (other than appearing in drag in a bizarre video with Trump)? Bloomberg was and is economically conservative. Granted his stand on gun control (which is actually fairly moderate for NYC) and his failed campaign against Big Gulps gave him the illusion of being some kind of liberal. I notice you had nothing to say about Adams, who is an actual Democrat.
He seems like a nice guy, but it's hard to take him seriously or think he's up to the job. To be fair, though, how many New York City mayors were up to the job? Bloomberg, Giuliani, Koch were. De Blasio, Dinkins, Beame, Lindsay definitely weren't. Adams is somewhere between the successes and the failures. I was going to say that at least he hasn't been indicted like some earlier mayors - but he was. Payback for criticizing Biden.
Lawyer Ron Kuby, who was mentioned here last week, used to do a radio show with Sliwa - Curtis and Kuby. The usual right vs. left team.
FF at 1201 - Social liberals, correct? Also, they bought off the unions, like R's have to do in NYC. There are other areas, but let's see if you agree to those 2.
Why wasn't Sliwa born with a silver spoon in his mouth?
Because he already had Sliwawear.
The dingo ate my baby!
Freder, you continue to make my point for me. Only you can't see it.
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