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I was struck by the fact, watching President Obama’s speech last night announcing the death of Osama bin Laden, that for the occasion he had donned classic commander-in-chief mufti.

I am speaking here of the dark suit/white shirt/red tie combination that for so long was the default look of the take-charge executive: the look George W. Bush adopted both when he announced the invasion of Iraq and when he stood on the aircraft carrier to announce the American “Victory in Iraq” (not my words).