Office Decoration Has Begun

A series of "Me Walls", but with a Colonel Harrison Flair.

The good Colonel graces the Inner Sanctum.

With carpet having been installed and the office newly repainted, it’s time to decorate. I am starting with the bathroom first. Yes, the Bulwark Cincinnati Bureau has its own bathroom (and shower!).

It seems fitting that Col. Rankin Harrison should grace the wall above my commode, along with a real tweet from Senator Boss Baby¹ / Vice Presidential Hopeful Reply Guy, JD Vance.

I figure if I should start by putting up miscellany that doesn’t merit full feature on the semi-public “Me Wall” in the bathroom.

In a way, it is more for people who really know me and my quirks. Knowing about this blog, for example, might qualify.

Never heard of a “Me Wall” Wall Street Journal writer Elizabeth Williamson explains:

These galleries are the coin of Washington's hierarchical realm, collected by the connected "to visually convey that you're a player in town," says a player in town, who declined to put his name on the record because "that sounds pompous." As administrations come and go, the photos bear silent witness to the evolution of the owner's career, waistline and hairline.

I’m proud of what I’ve done over my career, and I am not going to hide it. Williamson continues:

Me-wall collectors subscribe to a set of informal rules. The most prized office me-wall shots are inscribed and signed by the famous subject, the higher ranking and longer dead, the more valuable.

Most collections are partisan, but one exception is that of former Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar, who was defeated in his 2012 primary by a tea-party challenger. In the Washington headquarters of his new think tank, The Richard G. Lugar Institute for Diplomacy and Congress, the lawmaker boasts a framed montage of himself with Presidents Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, and Bush père et fils.

My Me Wall, as one might expect, is heavily Republican. Which I was, until I wasn’t. Some of the pictures joining people like Jeb Bush, Matt Blunt, both Republican Governors, will be Wes Moore and Josh Shapiro. Of course, my pics with my old boss, George W. Bush, will get a prominent place. There will be a lot of Bulwark stuff and TWS stuff, too, since my career went in the campaign staff → official staff →pundit order.

But you, dear reader, might not know me. You could have come across this by pure luck, or going to my Substack author page. You might not ever get to see the “inner sanctum”, which is my personal bathroom. As I unpack, I figure I can give you a virtual tour of some of the other things that might end up in there.

Is that Nic Cage being held by a Japanese Snow Monkey? It is. You can buy a copy, too.

My buddy Matt Dabrowski, an analyst, pollster & economist, mailed me these campaign posters from Afghanistan when he was there in a role reminiscent of Spinning Boris, an underrated movie you can watch for free on YouTube.

Quick! Which one is Hamid Karzai?

Some legally acquired fallout shelter and street signs.

The Me Wall is a venerable Washington tradition, and I intend to continue it here in my office. I’m still working on bookshelves that aren’t 20+ years old (and match) along with some shelves for my computer setup with local tchotchkes, like a Frisch’s Big Boy bank.

Here are some things that are, for certain, going into the “inner sanctum”

When Jim Traficant (D-OH) was imprisoned, he took up painting. And I own two of his prison paintings.

An animation gel from The Brave Little Toaster, another underappreciated flick.

Yes, kids, that’s how they used to make movies.

My office in the last days of The Weekly Standard.

Of course, what office would be complete without a 1984 campaign poster from Virginia Senator John Warner that makes eye contact with you wherever you are in the room? The CNN Grill caricature below it by MAD! Magazine’s Tom Richmond, probably, too.

And that $1 bill in a frame? That’s Ben Stein’s Money, which I won. In a bet. And not from the show.

Will provide more pictures as the decorating continues.

1. DJ Byrnes of The Rooster, a venerable publication worthy of your support, came up with this term, which I endorse the usage of. And no, I wasn’t lying, I was reporting! Mr. Vance sure seems to be doing a lot of lying these days, about his constituents no less. He has no shame.