Way back when if you wanted to get the job done it was all about appearance.  Only a suit and tie would do.

But, eventually, casual Fridays gave way to casual every day which gave way to work-at-home Zoom calls.  With those calls, it is imperative that you at least appear interested in your job.

But until 18 days passed the Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, appeared uninterested in the East Palestine train wreck.  That is, he was uninterested until the national press and the Ohio citizens were about to go off the rails themselves. Trump’s visit might have increased the “need” to go as well.

Buttigieg flew in yesterday, then put on his costume for the big stage.  He was nattily attired in jeans, dress boots, a yellow safety vest, safety glasses, a safety hat, and dress boots.

Safety first.  Who knows when or if a rouge derailed car might, well, roll over again?

Does it really matter that a figurehead gets on the ground with the folks charged with figuring out what went wrong and cleaning up the mess?  George Bush got pummelled in the press for not going to NOLA just five days after Katrina.  It must.

Perhaps it matters for the populace to feel like their government leaders care.  But make no mistake about it, Pete’s appearance was nothing more than for Pete’s sake.  He’s done nothing in two years in the position except partially filling up a leather chair when he’s not on paternity leave.

Appearances matter.  That’s why Karin Jean Claude Pepe Le Pierre took great pride in telling the WH press yesterday that Biden’s Administration is the most diverse group ever assembled.

The next closest administration is further away than Sham, the 1973 Belmont last-place finisher to Secretariat.  It’s a sham alright.  Biden’s group wins the Triple Crown- Diversity, Inclusion, and Equality.

But old Joe from Scranton gets it.  He wore a suit and tie when he took a surprise business trip to see his boss Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the company headquarters in Kyiv.  Zelenskyy presented Joe with a gold wristwatch for finishing highest over quota in fundraising.

Per Joe his resume includes growing up in a “Puerto Rican-like” neighborhood, attending black churches, lifeguarding, and even conducting an Amtrak train when commuting.

How that train didn’t end up like the one in Ohio is nothing short of a miracle.  Remember, Biden’s former boss, Barack Obama once said, “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to f… things up.”

The air around DC seems as toxic as it actually is in East Palestine.

But, until yesterday Pete didn’t smell it.

It all seems off the rails.

At least we are diverse now.