Ten Letters a Day

August 3, 2009 4:13 PM

The White House receives over 60,000 letters to the President every day. A new video from the White House briefly shows the process of selecting the ten of them that the President reads, three or four of which he writes responses to, every day.
posted by XQUZYPHYR (74 comments total)

This makes me pretty uncomfortable. It's like a cross between a propaganda film and a corporate marketing video.
posted by nasreddin at 4:21 PM on August 3 [3 favorites has favorites]

Remarkable. I realize there's some spin and a whole lot of polish here, but still. I love that man.
posted by jbickers at 4:24 PM on August 3 [2 favorites has favorites]

ABC News | Feburary 2009 -- "Dear President Obama": The President Reads 10 Letters a Day from the Public, With Policy Ramifications [w/video].

New York Times | April 2009: Picking Letters, 10 a Day, That Reach Obama [w/ slideshow].
posted by ericb at 4:26 PM on August 3 [1 favorite has favorites]

Previious MeFi thread: Letters to the President- and his responses. The story of the President's mailman. A peek inside the White House mail room.
posted by ericb at 4:28 PM on August 3 [1 favorite has favorites]

It's like a cross between a propaganda film and a corporate marketing video.

Okay, granted, but what would you prefer that the White House spin room release?
posted by blucevalo at 4:30 PM on August 3 [1 favorite has favorites]

I would prefer there not be a spin room.

Dreaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam, the impossible dreaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam
posted by absalom at 4:34 PM on August 3 [3 favorites has favorites]

And of course some of those letters get weeded out pretty quickly.
posted by billysumday at 4:38 PM on August 3 [1 favorite has favorites]

People pay $1200 a month for Healthcare? Holy fucking shit.

Also, watching people write left handed still trips me out.
posted by chunking express at 4:38 PM on August 3 [6 favorites has favorites]

I think I'd prefer it in something other than faux-documentary style. I do like the scenes of Obama sitting completely stock-still while reading a letter, that was much more humanizing than the rest of it for me for being so unexpected.

That said, it's masterful PR and I have no doubt it'll get exactly the right message across. Speaking of which, on the rare occasions I visit the White House web site, I'm struck by how perfect that is too. Whatever else Obama does, his people are doing a hell of a job making government look classy again.
posted by Nomiconic at 4:42 PM on August 3 [4 favorites has favorites]

I'm going to go ahead and say that this is much better and more inspiring than most of the spin, propaganda and corporate material in the world today.

Sure, stringed instruments are a good sign that your emotions are being manipulated, but this was also very frank and interesting.
posted by poe at 4:44 PM on August 3 [2 favorites has favorites]

I like that he does this, but they should pick them randomly. If he's getting some sexy letters with Polaroids, he should get the chance to see some!
posted by orme at 4:58 PM on August 3 [4 favorites has favorites]

chunking express: "8People pay $1200 a month for Healthcare? Holy fucking shit."

Yes. Many, many people do. And more. For a data point, I pay just under $300/mo. and I'm perfectly healthy, no kids, early thirties. Over a decade ago I had a very temporary, common, girly health problem and therefore ineligible for cheaper insurance (my insurance had been $200 cheaper, but my premiums have gone up over the years for no reasons having to do with me or my lifestyle). Also, it should be noted that my fantastic insurance covers, oh, just about nothing. Compared to my friends and peer-group peeps I've talked to about this, I seem to have it pretty good. And so I continue to pay this, pray nothing happens, and be glad I'm 'covered'.
posted by iamkimiam at 4:59 PM on August 3 [6 favorites has favorites]

People pay $1200 a month for Healthcare? Holy fucking shit.

This is terrible. Someone should write a letter.
posted by pompomtom at 5:08 PM on August 3 [9 favorites has favorites]

Thank you. It's been nearly 4 days since I've heard how awesome Obama and I was going into withdrawal, but this puts me right as rain again.

Must be that Kenyan magic.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:13 PM on August 3 [1 favorite has favorites]

I like that he does this, but they should pick them randomly. If he's getting some sexy letters with Polaroids, he should get the chance to see some!

That sounds pretty funny. But doing something like that, the majority of the 10 letters on his desk will be any of the following, in order of likelihood:

1) "You're retarded lololol worst president evar"
Just dumb.
2) "Thank you for everything you do!"
Nice, but useless.
3) "Just pull out of (country/supposed lusty coworker) already!" with no useful/constructive criticism.
Just useless.
4) "You're doing a great/OK job, here are some suggestions and ideas and/or heartfelt stories.
The kind of things that are placed on his desk, it seems.
posted by Askiba at 5:13 PM on August 3 [1 favorite has favorites]

I was interested to see that the play set that was installed at the White House seems to be directly in the line of sight of the Oval Office. Also, what is that circular mark on his left hand between the thumb and index finger? I'm assuming that it is not from clearing brush.
posted by Morrigan at 5:15 PM on August 3

That, Barack Obama, is how to use Youtube to get your message across. This, Gordon Brown, is how not to.
posted by rongorongo at 5:22 PM on August 3 [2 favorites has favorites]

What I like best about this is that it's mostly just Obama talking about the letters himself. Sure, he only reads ten each day out of the thousands and thousands that he receives, but he really engages with those ten.
posted by ocherdraco at 5:25 PM on August 3

This reminds me of a student I had... he was a second grader of Mexican descent, one of the most intelligent and aware kids I've ever had. He asked questions that the other second graders didn't understand at all. He came into my room to visit when he was in third grade and wrote the beginning of the Declaration of Independence on my whiteboard... because he was trying to memorize it.

So about the middle of the school year he says to me, "I want to write to George Bush and ask him about the war in Iraq." I told him he could write and I'd send the letter. His letter was incredibly insightful, not just about people dying in the war, but about the price of gas and how it would affect poor people. He wrote that the price of gas would soon be $5.00/gallon, and that poor people couldn't possibly afford it. This was on the same day that George Bush told the media that he WASN'T AWARE that the price of gas would soon hit $5.00.

Just to be clear, my second grader knew that the price of gas would be hitting $5.00/gallon before the president did. (It did hit that price a couple of weeks later.)

I sent his letter to the White House (after telling him he needed to edit to make it more respectful... specifically, I told him that being angry with the president is ok, but that a respectful letter is a better way to express that anger). A couple of other students wrote a letter, but about self-centric things like the price of sports memorabilia.

We got a response on last day of school... a call from the office saying we had a very important piece of mail. I went up at recess and got the envelope, and brought it to Andres... he took it to the back of the room so he could read it by himself, without distraction. After he read it he let me look at it, and it was a masterwork of form letters... each point Andres had brought up was addressed by a meaningless but impressive paragraph.

After he read it, Andres turned to me and said something that I'll never forget, something that has me tearing up even now, as I write this. He said, "I think I convinced him, I think he's going to stop the war." What the hell can you say to a statement like that... I told him that I hoped he was right.

Anyway, the first day of school when Andres was in fourth grade, he ran up to me and wanted to discuss the election. He was for Hillary, and felt that she had been treated unfairly, but was willing to support Obama. I told him that I was happy that our country had progressed to the point that we might elect a black president, and that maybe HE would be the first Mexican-American president, and he replied, "I don't want to be the president." He does want to be a lawyer, though, so there's still hope.
posted by Huck500 at 5:31 PM on August 3 [103 favorites has favorites]

I was interested to see that the play set that was installed at the White House seems to be directly in the line of sight of the Oval Office.

On the "Inside the Obama Whitehouse" news story a few months back, Obama said he had specifically requested that so he could watch his daughters play.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 5:36 PM on August 3

You had me up until, "He does want to be a lawyer, though, so there's still hope."
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:37 PM on August 3

Yeah, that was a bit of sarcasm...
posted by Huck500 at 5:38 PM on August 3

XQUZYPHYR: A new video from the White House briefly shows the process of selecting the ten of them that the President reads, three or four of which he writes responses to, every day.

Judging from my lack of success at getting a response, I'm starting to think that including my world-famous classic thrasher mix CDs isn't helping. You'd expect the president to understand late-80s metal bands, but apparently he doesn't. I've even tried labeling my packages so they don't get damaged or thrown away unopened ("CAUTION - DO NOT BEND - AWESOME ANTHRAX INSIDE!!!") but I think he has some secretary who's a real square.
posted by koeselitz at 5:38 PM on August 3 [7 favorites has favorites]

Although, if Andres does indeed become a lawyer, he'll be the kind of lawyer who sues a slumlord and forces him to live in his own building for six months... no doubt in my mind.
posted by Huck500 at 5:44 PM on August 3 [2 favorites has favorites]

Wait, he can read? No way he could have been born in the US!
posted by tommasz at 5:45 PM on August 3

as a techer, i find that statmint vere offensif.
posted by Huck500 at 5:47 PM on August 3 [1 favorite has favorites]

People pay $1200 a month for Healthcare?

I don't. I pay that much for health insurance. Which is a big waste, since I also get nickel-and-dimed with copays. Oh and that doesn't include vision or dental. And a 30% increase every year.

Holy fucking shit.

Yep.
posted by DU at 5:50 PM on August 3 [4 favorites has favorites]

1000 faxes a day? It seems that the 80s are a mite too interested in our present day politics. Let the Time War commence!

On a related note, I imagine that people in the White House mail office are thanking God that flatbed fax machines never became mass-market items.
posted by howfar at 5:50 PM on August 3 [2 favorites has favorites]

Obama replied to second grade students who wrote letters as part of a school project, detailing the adventures of Flat Stanley while in his care.

"Sometimes I get a little nervous before talking in front of a crowd, but Flat Stanley helped me practice the speech."

Full letter and more pictures here.
posted by hindmost at 5:54 PM on August 3 [3 favorites has favorites]

Also, what is that circular mark on his left hand between the thumb and index finger? I'm assuming that it is not from clearing brush.

Stigmata?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:01 PM on August 3 [6 favorites has favorites]

> People pay $1200 a month for Healthcare? Holy fucking shit

Last month I paid $1,300 for health insurance for me, my wife & our two kids. This month I switched to a new plan (same insurance provider) that cost "only" $550 a month, but does not cover the first $7,000 of medical costs.

But I'm not worried. The US Congress is on the job. I'm sure this problem will be solved shortly.
posted by FfejL at 6:03 PM on August 3 [5 favorites has favorites]

please metafilter, for your own sanity, do not click on the video and read the youtube comments.
posted by Mach5 at 6:20 PM on August 3 [2 favorites has favorites]

I pay $750 a month for health insurance for myself and three kids. So I guess I'm getting off easy. Of course, there is that $3000 deductable, copays, and full-priced dental and vision, so its not like its doing me a lot of good at this point. (Except allowing me to get doctors to take us as patients.)
posted by Bueller at 6:25 PM on August 3

Askiba:
3) "Just pull out of (country/supposed lusty coworker) already!" with no useful/constructive criticism.
Just useless.

OTOH, with US military presence in 153 countries (PDF) out of 195 total, that letter writer's got a pretty good chance of being right.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 6:50 PM on August 3

Anyone else have trouble believing that conference room full of people sorting letters? That seems like too nice a room full of well-dressed paid too-well people to be something that they do every day there.

If I were president I'd just offload it to Mechanical Turk.
posted by floam at 6:54 PM on August 3

floam: Anyone else have trouble believing that conference room full of people interns sorting letters?

FTFY. Only kidding about the not-people thing.

A White House internship is enough of an enticement that people will leave school for a semester, pay a ton of money to a shady landlord and earn no money spending 40 hours a week in the EEOB sorting letters.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 7:07 PM on August 3 [3 favorites has favorites]

Obama knows how to play the game.
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 7:08 PM on August 3

please metafilter, for your own sanity, do not click on the video and read the youtube comments.

What -- and miss gems like: "he anikin skywaker now thien he will be
comsumd by the dark side and become darth dem"?

Oh, right.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:14 PM on August 3 [2 favorites has favorites]

New York Magazine's cover story this week: The Selling (and Selling and Selling) of the President.
posted by ocherdraco at 7:17 PM on August 3 [1 favorite has favorites]

"Just pull out of (country/supposed lusty coworker) already!"

Invasion interruptus is not an effective method of diplomacy.

(Brinksmanship, indeed.)
posted by rokusan at 7:20 PM on August 3

Ok. There is a fly staring at the president right at :16 in the video. A fly. Staring. Calculating. Plotting his revenge.
posted by xorry at 7:33 PM on August 3 [10 favorites has favorites]

So this birth certificate has been doing the rounds, leading to much rejoicing among the birthers. Now, the source of the forged image has been found.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:39 PM on August 3

This is sort of derail-y, but I was really surprised by what the secretary/intern/admin was wearing when she took the letters into the Oval Office. It was really casual. I guess the president was somewhat casual, too (no tie). But she was really casual.

I'm surprised that the West Wing has a more relaxed dress code than the podunk hospital where I work.
posted by jeoc at 7:56 PM on August 3 [1 favorite has favorites]

Daaaaaaaaaaamn, that's good PR.
posted by signal at 7:57 PM on August 3

It's like a cross between a propaganda film and a corporate marketing video.

I dunno, it's a lot warmer than stuff the WH has put out in the past, but not appreciably more spinful.

In years past if there had been a YouTube it would probably have been full of Gordon Brown type declarative "I'm your President! I do good things for you!" speechifying on the one hand, and Roger Ailes There's a Bear in the Woods level scary messaging on the other.

But what annoyed me was seeing them drop a little health care messaging in the midst of this otherwise innocuous -- if full of itself -- public-face-of-the-President pontification. Why the hell aren't they using this capability to sell health care?! It's being said they have lost the framing war and are certainly doing little to dispel the idea that the public has -- on both sides of the aisle -- that we're discussing "government-run health care" instead of some insurance reforms that don't even create a single-payer system.

Wake up!
posted by dhartung at 8:06 PM on August 3

dhartung: The president has addressed health care in other youtube videos. He also did a town hall style debate that was braodcast on ABC, he's done a bunch of speeches. Frankly I don't even know how you can say he's not trying to "sell health-care". In fact I'm not even sure what you are trying to say. First you say you're annoyed he brought up healthcare in this video, then you say he needs to try to sell it more?

Then you say we need to "dispel" the idea that it's government run health-care, but the "public option" certainly would be a government-run program that would compete with regular insurance companies for those under 65, just as medicare does now. That would just be insurance but it would certainly qualify as "government run" health care.

So are you saying you would prefer the president to change his messaging, or just do less of it? or do more of it? And if you think he should do more of it, have you been keeping track of all the stuff he has been doing?
posted by delmoi at 8:17 PM on August 3 [1 favorite has favorites]

Thank you, XQUZYPHYR, for leading me to my favorite ever YouTube comment, reprinted here in its entirety:

I wish there was a way to be sure he is aware of whatever each citizen wrote. How do you "KNOW" that he has read your letter saying things you want to just know he should be aware of.

Like:
Mr. President, when are we going to have a public discussion on how tax dollars are funding the construction of that city WE built on Mars?

or

Mr. President, we hope you have adequate security clearance to know that all of your adgenda can be cheaply accomplished with shelved technologies.

God Bless America. God Bless America.
posted by hifiparasol at 8:22 PM on August 3 [1 favorite has favorites]

What I like best about this is that it's mostly just Obama talking about the letters himself. Sure, he only reads ten each day out of the thousands and thousands that he receives, but he really engages with those ten.

I think this is just what Obama is like. He's always really present in the moment. He focuses, he relates, he engages. I remember being charmed by pictures of him holding babies during his campaign. You could tell he was focused on the baby, and really engaging with him or her rather than merely posing for a photo op. And I've heard Canadian news anchor Peter Mansbridge talk about what it was like to meet Obama, and how Obama took the time to introduce him to some other Canadian guy who happened to be on the scene even though there were aides at Obama's side having kittens because it was their job to get Obama to wherever he needs to be on time, and they were saying, "Mr. President, we have to go. The helicopter's waiting." Mansbridge commented that Obama is just "that kind of guy", that he just likes to set people at their ease.
posted by orange swan at 8:28 PM on August 3

The White House is totally not leveraging Web 2.0 technology. Instead of paying all those staff members to read and sort the mail they should scan all the letters, put them online, and let the general public vote them up/down. Then the President reads the top 10 for the day.

The results would either be more representative or more hilarious or both.
posted by Jacqueline at 8:32 PM on August 3 [12 favorites has favorites]

We could call the process "Diggocracy."
posted by Jacqueline at 8:34 PM on August 3 [3 favorites has favorites]

So this birth certificate has been doing the rounds, leading to much rejoicing among the birthers. Now, the source of the forged image has been found.

The sense I'm getting from various righty blogs is that the original document is the fraud designed to lead us off the trail, while the fake Kenyan certificate is the real one.

I just hope they don't find out Obama was born on Mars. Thats gonna blow our whole operation.

there is no cabal
posted by Avenger at 8:43 PM on August 3

The sense I'm getting from various righty blogs is that the original document is the fraud designed to lead us off the trail, while the fake Kenyan certificate is the real one.

The Australian image dates back to at least Oct 2006. As someone pointed out, if our president had the foresight to plant this fake evidence so long ago, we should be grateful to have such a superhuman president.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:52 PM on August 3

The results would either be more representative or more hilarious or both.

We tried that already, and it didn't work. Smoking pot still isn't legal.
posted by Loudmax at 8:52 PM on August 3 [2 favorites has favorites]

I just hope they don't find out Obama was born on Mars. Thats gonna blow our whole operation.

funny you should say that....
posted by lalex at 8:56 PM on August 3

I just hope they don't find out Obama was born on Mars. Thats gonna blow our whole operation.

funny you should say that....
posted by peacay at 9:24 PM on August 3

Wow. I knew that insurance costs were out of control in America, but I'm kind of flabbergasted.

Here in Korea, where many Americans are flying in to have health care done because flight included it's cheaper than and as safe as having it done back home, my wife agonized over the $70 a month we recently started paying, which is basically super-premium private top-up health insurance that covers everything that the normal government health insurance (which is a damn-near free paycheck deduction) doesn't, or doesn't cover completely. Freaking everything.

The reason she was agonizing (other than her frugal nature) is that it would have been half that, but the extra $35 a month is for a life insurance policy that will pay out the equivalent of about a quarter million US if I kark it.

I say this not to gloat, but to put (as if you didn't know already, I know, I'm sorry) the insane amounts that some of you folks are made to pay into perspective.

The brutal irony is that the policy is from the Korea insurance arm of AIG -- the American International Group. Or at least until they get around to their rebranding. [/tangent]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:28 PM on August 3 [3 favorites has favorites]

please metafilter, for your own sanity, do not click on the video and read the youtube comments.


"ForceSmart (52 minutes ago)
Terrorists behead our soldiers they capture. We only subject them to some tough physical and mental strain to get vital info. Grow a spine, you yellow lib."

ARRRRRRGHHSDGSFHSHFSS

MY BRAIN!!!
posted by litleozy at 12:50 AM on August 4

$1200
The strangest part is the extremes. I used (2005) to be a state worker and paid $16/month. There was a more comprehensive plan which cost $32/month and practically came with blowjobs during office visits. My salary was kinda shitty, but the cost of health care was just invisible to me.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 4:11 AM on August 4

$1200
I pay $350/month for myself, my wife and our infant daughter. We have a coinsurance payment of 20% on all expenses, up to a maximum of $4k/year (after which we're covered at 100%). So far, pretty much everything has been covered -- including a series of expensive diagnostics I had when I severely messed up my shoulder in a bike accident last year, our daughter's birth and my wife's acupuncture and chiropractor visits (!).

Not cheap, but reasonable IMO compared to our alternatives. Why do we have decent coverage? Because I work for a gigantic international company. A company that took a look at how amazingly expensive and crappy their 3rd party health plan was (especially for pensioned employees), said "Fuck it" and started their own, self-funded, non-profit health plan. A certain state BCBS administers it, but they have to maintain a ratio of cost to claims processed or else it goes to another company.

I'm told that we save on the order of a hundred million a year thanks to this plan, which puts a bit more use-based cost burden on the employee (thanks to coinsurance) but covers a lot more than the old plan and has great customer service.

I came to this from a group plan I purchased through a professional association when I was an independent contractor. I have a warm and fuzzy memory of going to a client site barely able to breathe thanks to my pneumonia, since I had to earn the money required to pay the $2.5k I was charged for an emergency room visit the night before.
posted by xthlc at 5:55 AM on August 4

I used (2005) to be a state worker and paid $16/month. There was a more comprehensive plan which cost $32/month and practically came with blowjobs during office visits.

And which state is this?


Just curious.
posted by grubi at 6:04 AM on August 4

Fuckity fuck sticks, the birther meme got into this thread too?! It's about LETTERS! Agh!

And health care.

Like my health care.

Which has such a high deductible I have low to nil chance of ever having it pay anything. But I pay them a bunch, so I can wait 2 hours to see my doctor. Awesome.
posted by cavalier at 7:06 AM on August 4

Doesn't this level of "managed access" make anyone just a wee bit uncomfortable? How much tummy stroking does the populace need in the media (traditional or new) about Dear Leader anyway?
posted by fet at 7:07 AM on August 4

I'm impressed by his modesty. He doesn't seem to mind being addressed as "Mr. Obama," he hand-writes the letters, and he signs them, "Barack Obama." Affected or not (and I don't think it is), it's a refreshing change from the arrogance and unearned pride of President Bush.

Obama's held as many prime-time press conferences as President Bush did during his entire presidency.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:16 AM on August 4

I would prefer there not be a spin room.

I'm sort of confused about this statement. I mean, I get that you're saying that you would just like the White House to communicate directly with the American Public, but are you also saying that you'd prefer there be no professionals dedicated to figuring out the best way to do that?

Because there are about a million different things the President could talk about at any given time, and a million different ways he could talk about it. And a big part of the president's job is to advocate for his policy proposals, like health care, etc. Advocacy requires messaging. I can guarantee you that if Obama had no "spin doctors," there is no way we would even be holding a tiny shred of hope for health care reform.

OK, off the soapbox. In other news, I know the woman who brought the letters up to Obama's secretary. Go Joani!

Anyone else have trouble believing that conference room full of people sorting
letters?

What l33tpolicywonk said. Those are either interns or recent grads whose entire job is to read correspondence. Congressional offices have these staffers too - it's an entry-level job. They're dressed to the nines because this is Their Big Shot.
posted by lunasol at 8:20 AM on August 4 [2 favorites has favorites]

For those interested in the birther thing (sorry cavalier) do NOT miss yesterday's amazing on air meltdown by the lead birther Orly Taitz.
posted by CunningLinguist at 9:02 AM on August 4

Wow, is Orly Taitz a real person?
posted by Dr. Send at 10:01 AM on August 4

You know you've fucked up with Ann Coulter is calling you a crank.
posted by chunking express at 10:11 AM on August 4

Wait, that nutjob's name is really Orly? Orly?! No way.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:18 AM on August 4 [1 favorite has favorites]

delmoi, none of those videos are making the rounds, but this is. It's actually not something I'm making up that the Obama team isn't getting its message out on health care -- apparently there's concern that the "teabagger" movement is seeding/astroturfing congressional town halls and listening sessions.

So, no, the Obama/progressive message is not out there, not getting out there, not being put out there effectively. We're coasting on a lot of public support and trust, but I'm worried that won't be enough.

And the public option is not government-run health care. It's a government-run insurance program. Please don't confuse the two; it's part of the problem.
posted by dhartung at 10:35 AM on August 4

I guess this is offtopic, and I suppose I derailed the thread with my comment on healthcare, but this is an enjoyable read.
posted by chunking express at 11:09 AM on August 4

He does want to be a lawyer, though, so there's still hope.

Yeah, I favorited the comment (because I loved it) in spite of this - and I'm a lawyer.
posted by The World Famous at 12:51 PM on August 4 [1 favorite has favorites]

I'm surprised that the West Wing has a more relaxed dress code than the podunk hospital where I work.

There's a Terry Pratchett quote that seems somewhat appropriate here: Glass glitters more than diamonds because it has more to prove.

Or something along those lines, anyway. It's that whole thing about not needing external signifiers because you've already got the power and/or money. cf Donald Trump's hair.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 3:17 PM on August 4

I think that the scene with the President's secretary (who is a friendly acquaintance of mine -- hi Katie!) was probably filmed on a weekend. The dress code in the West Wing is slightly more casual now than it was under W, but jeans still don't cut it during the week. Suits are pretty much mandatory for both men and women, although people can and do take their jackets off during the day. Saturdays are much more casual.
posted by fancypants at 4:04 PM on August 4

Orly Taitz Interviews Herself
posted by Anything at 6:01 AM on August 12