“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

Allow me to take this day of rest…the Sabbath of the Summer….Labor Day…to share with you some well wishes and reflection of the summer we just had. First let’s review the origins of Labor Day, which somehow got lost in the sauce of barbecues, picnics and final summer blow-out parties. The first Labor Day was celebrated in 1882 in New York City, was started by a carpenters union to honor those who bust their ass. In 1894, President Grover Cleveland rushed legislation through Congress to make Labor Day a national holiday in an attempt to boost his popularity as it was an election  year. Talk about lame duck…the guy lost.

In this year of joblessness, you would think that the Obama administration would have used the week leading up to Labor Day as critical moment to herald in his new plan to bring jobs back to America. Touting a few key talking points that would serve to generate positive conversation around the country at the many barbecues and picnics. Instead, like many poorly planned communication pieces, thank you David Axelrod, he is doing so after the fact, when everyone would rather just tune him out after a lackluster, hot summer.

Enough politics. This summer for me was brilliant. I spend several weekends in the Hamptons, signed fantastic new business, maintained my I MEAN…WHAT?!?-ness and did a little redecorating. How was your summer? Are you ready for the fall? Are you buying a few new key pieces to up your fashion-ability quotient? Are you going to Fashion Lives Downtown and Fashion’s Night Out? Are you going to vote in the November mid-term election? Please do…and remember…Rome wasn’t built in a day…and neither was the re-building of our economy. So, before you go all anti-Obama…which granted…he does have his flaws…but he is not nearly as tragic and scary as the alternative, which seems to be the Tea Baggers and the horrendous conservative Republicans spearheaded by Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and that Oxycontin addict, Rush Limbaugh. Talk about this today as you chomp down on that grilled steak or portobello mushroom.