Have You Gotten Your Invitation Yet?

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HAVE YOU GOTTEN YOUR INVITATION YET?….According to the New York Times, the printing company that won the bid to produce a million inaugural invitations for Barack Obama is located in the unlikely sounding town of Dumbo. But no. It’s not Dumbo. It’s DUMBO, which trusty Mr. Google informs me is a Brooklyn acronym for “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.” Jeebus. Do New Yorkers have acronyms for everything? If we did this here in Irvine, my neighborhood would be called something like JAFEC — “Just Above the Freeway East of Culver” — which, come to think of it, might be an improvement. Probably wouldn’t pass muster with the local association, though.

Elsewhere in the Times piece we learn why this particular company was chosen:

According to Mr. Donnelly, Precise Continental was selected over rival printers because it is a union company, it uses recycled paper and it is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which promotes responsible forest management.

Of course! But I wonder what the equivalent kind of thing would be for a Republican inauguration? A print shop whose health plan doesn’t cover Plan B and encourages its employees to come to work packing? Or just a straight-up reward for whatever printing mogul bundled the largest number of maxed-out contributions to the campaign?

There’s even a tangential personal connection in the story in this sentence: “The first order arrived by truck on Monday, from Neenah Paper, a Wisconsin company.” An old high school friend of mine works for Neenah Paper, so I’m glad to hear they got the order. I haven’t actually heard from this friend since, um, high school, but still — good work, guys.

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