It's not the way it always goes, but it shows the risk of seeking a new rule. You may end up with a reinforcement of the old rule. More precisely, it shows the risk of ending the enforcement of an informal practice. It led to the formalization of the old practice into an official rule.
In this case, the change that backfired was all about accommodating one person, John Fetterman, a man with mental problems — he was recently hospitalized for depression. It is, it seems, especially important to him to wear hoodies and gym shorts, and what is the big deal? Let the unfortunate man have what he seems somehow to need.
But he's in one party, and there's the other party, and it was a ripe opportunity to drag out the age-old argument: What if everybody did that? And we easily picture the Senate full of unlovable oldsters dressed as if they're about to attend a backyard barbecue. Can't have that. And so, John Fetterman must be forced into a suit and tie, at whatever cost to his fragile mind.
They even resorted to teasing him, calling the new rule "The SHORTS Act" (for "SHow Our Respect To the Senate"). That resolution was introduced by Mitt Romney (along with Joe Manchin). Mitt Romney, teasing a man with mental problems? Fetterman still has the option of standing in the doorway in his hoodie and shorts and participating without entering the room.
Good thing they got that done... as a symbol of all the things they haven't got done.
Posts
97 comments:
You seem sympathetic to John Fetterman. I’m not. If he can’t do the job for whatever reason — and inability to find a suit that that fits him properly seems like a pretty specious reason — then he should resign. The governor of his state, Josh Shapiro, is a Democrat so it’s not as though his party would lose control of the seat.
Oh! That's right. He might miss out on some of the graft. Still not a good enough reason to accommodate him.
Don't worry. Biden is working on fixing the price of concert tickets now. You know, the REALLY important things that need to be done!!!/s
And the funniest part of this whole stupid thing, is that Schumer voted for the new dress code. WHAT the hell did he start this whole thing for. It was a diversion...as usual, to cover up the Biden and the Democrats corruption.
No one is forcing the man with mental problems into a suit and tie. He just needs that suit and tie if he wants to participate in the Senate activities. So like many things in life he gets to make a choice. Does he choose to wear shorts (SHORTS ANN!) or does he choose to participate in the senate?
There was a viral video recently of a young college girl who basically wore a bikini to class. The professor wasn't having it. On what side of that debate do you come down?
"It is, it seems, especially important to him to wear hoodies and gym shorts, and what is the big deal? Let the unfortunate man have what he seems somehow to need."
Except he is not working the counter at a Dunkin Donuts. He is a US Senator and maybe his inability to cope with a dress code is indicative of a lack of fitness for the job. Whether its Fetterman or transgender persons, we seem to just give up in getting people help for what ails them and instead make accommodations that just serves to normalize dysphoria and mental illness.
It's either the US Senate or Fetterman's 'hood Tavern.
Do you really believe that? It’s not a high school. Maybe someone with mental illness shouldn’t be in the Senate. Ithought you were against men wearing shorts.
---And so, John Fetterman must be forced into a suit and tie, at whatever cost to his fragile mind.
Maybe what this is telling us is that John Fetterman should never have been a U.S. Senator.
As for his mind, I'm sure it can handle a different wardrobe. But slobs just want to be slobs.
Let him be a slob at home, but if he wants to be a Senator, he should live up to the role. It might improve his mind.
No offense to people with mental problems, but if your mental problems are so severe you can’t wear proper business attire, you’re not qualified to be a Senator.
CNN asked Fetterman why he wears hoodies and shorts and his answers wasn't because it calms him, or helps him mentally. He said it was for comfort. He and Schumer would have a more compelling argument if they had gone with the mental aspect, not with the truth. Also, Schumer should have consulted with the leadership on his side at a minimum,instead of just deciding on his own to make the decision. Thus the unanimous vote to rescind it.
The article makes it sound like it was just those mean old Republicans who are trying to enforce dress code.
Yet every single dem voted for the dress code. Even lumpy and Schumer.
What a bunch of anti-shorts fascists the demmies are.
John Henry
Ever single repo too, of course
John Henry
If he cannot get by without wearing such an outfit, he certainly isn't fit to be a senator. Oh, wait, we've had a bunch of senators that were just looney tunes but wearing proper clothes.
Fetterman should keep wearing the trashy outfit and stand up for himself, sorta like wearing a mini-skirt to school back in the 60s.
Schumer made this happen.
MarcusB. THEOLDMAN
Schumer's other notable... Anthony Weiner!
Schumer is on the Biden Spectrum.
Maybe people with obvious cognitive (and less obvious at the time emotional) problems shouldn’t be elected to the Senate. He’s a working class poseur from a well to do if not rich family who got lots of great publicity from his pose. Then was hidden away after he almost died and didn't recover from a stroke that left him cognitively and emotionally damaged. Maybe not Caligula’s horse, but my sympathy would be with him if he resigned. His family and his handlers have not served him well.
He’s supposed to be a fucking Senator for chrissakes not a special needs kid. At the least if so many if you accepted Feinstein’s Senate seat by committee we should just let this problem child stay at the hospital in his sweats…
I would have loved it if all the Republican Senators had shown up one day like they where going to a shindig at Jimmy Buffet's place (R.I.P.). Margaritaville, baby! Key West chic!
Nobody is forcing him into a suit and tie. He already said he would wear a suit when giving speeches on the Senate floor and he gets to continue to vote from the cloakroom. He is a child and the shorts are just an announcement of that.
Yah, Ann’s attitude here is shit. He says he does it because it is comfortable. Certain occasions still deserve a display of respect in dress and despite the dishonorable people we elect to participate there the floor of the United States Senate is one of them.
He wore a suit to the Senate on Thursday. I think his goal with the shorts and a hoodie was to be quirky and stand out. It is attention-seeking behavior that has the side benefit of being comfy.
Not that I don't think he has mental health and cognitive issues, I just am not convinced that the outfit is a result of that. With depression, the difficulty is in having to make choices and decisions about what to wear. Each task you have to do drains you can become mentally exhausted before the day's really begun. But wearing a suit limits the need for choices as well as wearing shorts and a hoodie so I think it's more about ego.
IN the dawning rays of the spotlight on (now) internet celebrity Jordon Peterson, this was his point. Manners, custom, etiquette .. all pushed individuals to respect and accommodate each other. And so if a crazy student asked him, leading a class, to refer to that student by some invented pronoun, of course he would. Just common courtesy. But Peterson challenged the idea of making such accommodation a law. He pushed back on proposals to punish people for being rude, or making a mistake, or a moment's thoughtlessness.
Dress code issues in public schools have been similarly contentious my whole life. A kid is this very week in court because his dreadlocked hair is, as interpreted by the school staff, in violation of their written rules. When I was barely a teen we boys were upset that we might be (lightly) punished for wearing shorts to class on a hot Kansas autumn day, while the girls were allowed bare legs in mini-skirts, hot pants, or even "boy-cut" cut off blue jeans. For five decades, at least, authoritarians have presumed to codify their customs and preferences into rules with penalties.
I propose simply calling out violations of norms. Instead of addressing "My Honored Colleague of Pennsylvania", one might make reference to "My peer, wearing the flannel pajamas." Or: "The undistinguished gentleman representing his parents' basement." The Brit parliamentarians are very experienced at this sort of thing. We could emulate good examples.
Would that repeated instances of taking stadium tickets and gold bars as bribes in exchange for favors could be established as "beyond the norm" as easily.
It wasn’t due to any mental issues. Fetterman simply is more comfortable in gym clothes - sweatshirts and shorts. This is simply a man acting like a child. This comes across in some of his comments and antics, as well. He’s basically a juvenile. And PA voted for him to represent them.
. It is, it seems, especially important to him to wear hoodies and gym shorts, and what is the big deal?
Sure just normalize crazy. That always works well. The massive homeless encampments are the result of pretending crazy is normal.
Is this an excerpt from NPR, or the actual opinion of our host? I expect this kind of idiotic pandering nonsense from an absurd joke of an outfit like NPR, but it’s not formatted like an excerpt. So I’m left wondering…
“teasing a man with mental problems?”
Oh, toughen up, Democrats. Given all the insulting bullshit you fill the airwaves with, drink deeply and give it some more thought.
Fetterman in a suit will resemble Peter Boyle singing "Putting on the Ritz".
You seem sympathetic to John Fetterman.
It's more of that cruel neutrality that always seems to favor the Left and the Democrats.
When he was a man with speech problems, accommodation and acceptance seemed reasonable, even laudable.
When he's a man with "mental problems", his fitness to do the job comes into question. If he's a man with something specific, like severe depression, then he can be an advocate and example of how to adapt to social requirements. Right now he's a privileged bum.
We can always have the WAAAH-mbulance standing by outside, in case Fetterman gets the vapors in his first foray into grown-up land.
Fetterman could bring the Democrat Party to its knees. All he has to do is not vote for their bills.
He doesn't understand how to WIELD POWER. The power of slob.
That resolution was introduced by Mitt Romney (along with Joe Manchin). Mitt Romney, teasing a man with mental problems?
If you are actually surprised by this and not just snarking, as the saying goes, welcome to the party. A lot of us figured out that Willard isn't a particularly fine example of a gentleman a looonnnngggg time ago (though I'm not claiming all the attacks on him were justified). He was just our bastard at a particular moment.
I do think you somewhat buried the lede though. I suspect that Manchin had as much or more to do with the resolution than Willard, and likely it's one of the few ways he can get back a Schumer for effectively killing his political career in West Virginia.
I also wonder if this was really as much for Fetterman's convenience as it was for the Democrat Senate leadership's. They had worked out a fairly reasonable compromise of Fetterman voting from the Cloakroom. It sounded more like the objection was that they couldn't engage in the usual horse-trading and vote-whipping in informal private conversation on the Senate Floor with him stuck in a more public space.
This bizarre desire to accommodate all kinds of mental illness does not make us a better society. In other areas of life, it leads normalization of children's neuroses, to the point of mutilation and sterilization. Why cater to something that is so obviously abnormal? Sometimes those with eccentric or aberrant traits need to defer to the norms of life.
what is the big deal? Let the unfortunate man have what he seems somehow to need.
and what he NEEDS, is to be in a hospital or nursing home.. NOT the US Senate
Big Mike said...
"...Oh! That's right. He might miss out on some of the graft. Still not a good enough reason to accommodate him."
He's a voting automaton. That's the reason.
His wife is power-mad. She should have protected Fetterman after his stroke and kept him from running. Instead, Pennsylvania elected a potato as Senator instead of someone who could have actually do the job. And with our Senator-for-Life system, he'll be there for another 30 years, at least. His obituary will say that he struggled to be understood, but he powered through and was the best potato Pennsylvania could send to Washington.
This is not an intractable problem.
Why can't Fetterman wear a suit like this?
And I bet he could get a designer to create a suit jacket with a hood to go with it. Maybe Ye could help him.
What Big Mike said in the first comment. Althouse is going into contortions to defend a man who had no special qualities when he has mentally fit. Tell me, what is so special about this man? Why can’t we take any mentally depressed person off the street and elevate them to the level of Senate? Who do we have to emulate late-stage Imperial Rome antics?
Why a dress code for men only? This must be a violation of some civil rights act or another. If its really important to Fetterman, he need only to identify as a woman.
Point of information. Unanimous consent is different than a unanimous vote.
Wait a minute. You're ready to make concessions for dressing like a grown adult in an important position because Fetterman has had depression issues?
Maybe he should not be in a position being one of 100 making important decisions for the nation and the world if he cannot handle putting on long pants and a tie.
GOOD.
should have called it the DADDY law
Dress Acceptably, Dear Dads of Yesteryear
People who work at Dunkin Donuts work very hard and would be fired if they refused to wear the uniform.
Or were too mentally ill to perform their job duties.
They certainly work harder than Senators.
My surmise is that Fetterman’s continuing problems from his stroke make it hard for him to button up a shirt and tie a tie. That is unfortunate, but perhaps his wife can help him dress appropriately when he wants to appear on the Senate floor.
Anyone else getting mental whiplash from the constant "Don't stigmatize mental illness"campaigns sandwiched between the constant lectures on "encourage, celebrate and applaud whatever pyscho sexual gender lunacy we have come up with today or we will destroy you"?
Fetterman's doctor provided an opinion saying that Fetterman was completely able to perform the job. Ann seems to be second-guessing the doctor based on appearances.
"all about accommodating one person"
But not just that: it was also a knowing middle finger to the existence and impportance of shared, "informal" rules.
For once, the prog maneuver failed--in part to keep up the illusion that norms still matter.
Are men in shorts actually a problem anywhere in the universe?
What about women with pussy hats?
The USA went from women wearing pussy hats on their heads -- this was 2017 -- to a woman nominated for the Supreme Court saying she didn't know what a woman was.
That's a hell of a fall for feminism!
The pussy hat was very symbolic and academic and a lot of innocent grandmas probably wore pink hats on their heads without even realizing they had a pussy on their head, so it was definitely vague. Not sure if a pussy hat ever made it to the Senate floor or anything.
Maybe it was the seizing of human sexuality for purposes of gender politics that led to the biological deconstruction of women. It's weird that so many women wore pussy hats in public (as a protest!) just a few short years ago.
Weird to make it a hat, a stupid goofy ugly hat. What are we teaching our young girls that so many of them feel like it's a good idea to wear a pussy on your head? And now we're teaching young girls to go ahead and swallow steroids if you don't like your gender.
Sex has become a fashion, a fad, in our society, with huge numbers of people suddenly wanting to "transition." It's like Beatlemania, except with castrations, cancer, and suicide. And doctors profiting from the craze.
That's the problem with fashion. When we deconstruct reality -- when we lie -- the human body is no longer real. It's just some idea. And ideas go in and out of fashion. So it's pussy on your head, and then it's get rid of your pussy.
This might be the most important thing the Senate has done in a long time. It reaffirmed tradition which even the Dems supported. To have left the no dress code in effect would be the sartorial equivalent of tearing Dow a statue or renaming a school. Symbols matter. Traditions matter. It is time we stop ripping them apart.
My big problem with this analysis is Fetterman was not a suitable candidate who won and then develop depression while a sitting senator - he had a major stroke early in the campaign that rendered him incapable of properly serving, plus developed some weird hump in his shoulder/neck that was never addressed or explained, and yet rather than withdraw and allow someone else to run while he went through a proper recovery, he and his handlers pushed forward with the campaign to his physical and mental detriment.
He knew the dress code, and his difficulty in meeting it, and took the job anyhow. Now he shouts his votes in from the doorway? How is that acceptable?
I don't know. Maybe a nice pair of Burmuda shorts. Nothing loud. Subdued browns or greys with a pinstripe. Black calf length socks with tassled black loafers. Blue on white Brooks Brothers
dress shirt and a nice silk school tie. The sportcoat could be seersucker in a tone to match the shorts. Then a big pair of cymbals to give him something to do.
Democrats for empty headed loyal zombies in hoodies.
Blogger tim maguire said...
Is this an excerpt from NPR, or the actual opinion of our host?
I found this unclear as well.
Between Schumer unilaterally imposing his "rule" on the Senate and the passage of this the bipartisan rule (or whatever it was called) I saw article after article all with the theme that even Democrats disliked Schumer's decision. All of those articles used Joe Manchin as the primary source of discontent. The first I heard Mitt Romney's name mentioned was when this new rule was passed. Yet Mitt Romney is vilified for "taunting" a "mentally ill" man while Joe Manchin (the cosponsor) is not even tagged in the post.
It is possible to have empathy for John Fetterman without giving in to every perceived whim. He and Mitt Romney share something in common - both are sons of wealthy fathers in addition to being white men. We're told that being white and male makes you toxic. Being wealthy and living well just multiples that toxicity supposedly. So why the disparate reaction to the two - three if you count Manchin (also wealthy) who gets a pass?
Yes, John Fetterman had a stroke. If he is as frail as this article makes him out, then he should be replaced by the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania. No one is promised a seat in the Senate and there are a lot of male - and female - Democrats in Pennsylvania who could replace him if needed.
If he can't handle getting dressed maybe he shouldn't be a US Senator?
Voters?
Get serious. Fetterman has been brain-dead from jump, and was foisted upon the world by whoever is responsible for stealing the election from Dr Oz.
It has never been clear to me; is there a clearly-articulated mental health reason for Senator Fetterman’s slouch (I won’t even categorize them as “casual”) clothing choices?
I haven’t seen Fetterman articulate it. Has anyone clarified it on Fetterman’s behalf?
It seems that the entire basis for Althouse’s snark aimed at Romney is based on a serious mental health need in the part of Fetterman. I doubt that any of this is a real Althouse defense of Fetterman per se. Althouse chose to highlight Romney. And I will bet that if there had been a genuine physical dexterity problem such as buttoning dress shirt buttons or tying ties, Romney would have sought an accommodation.
Two Senators of different parties, Bob Dole of Kansas, and Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, were both severely wounded in WWII in Italy. Dole lost the use of one of his arms, and Inouye lost an arm. For both, putting on a button down shirt, a tie and jacket on a daily basis would be laborious. But they honored the Senate and its decorum by dressing respectfully at all times. Dressing like you are going to gym or a Saturday morning mowing slob says —look at me, I am so special I don’t have to show you any respect.
Fetterneck has emotional support wear.
"Let the unfortunate man have what he seems somehow to need."
But even the president of the United States, Sometimes must have, To stand naked.
Bob Dylan
If John “Uncle Fester” Fetterman needs to wear a hoodie and shorts to help with his mental health, he needs to resign immediately and find a job where he can wear his preferred attire. BTW, I get the feeling that his preferred brand of hoodie is Carhartt. Has some checked to see if Carhartt is paying Fetterman to wear their product - I have seen video of him wearing at least 6 different Carhartt hoodies in the Capitol building. That might be an illegal campaign donation. My kid who is in the military can buy socks for wearing while on duty but the socks can’t have a company logo / name on them - good luck finding socks with no logo today especially when the companies want people to be seen wearing their clothing with a logo prominently displayed (free advertising for them, overpriced and not long lasting items for the consumer). Congress should be following the same rules as the military with their clothing.
The argument could be made that forcing Fetty to stand upright and wear a suit and tie might help him in his quest for mental health (and, conversely, that allowing him to lounge around his jammies might be attenuating his mental funk).
Certainly it's a theory that competes well with the assumption that he "needs" to dress like a slob.
I wouldn't mind the Senators demanding respect if they were respectable.
"Fetterman still has the option of standing in the doorway in his hoodie and shorts and participating without entering the room."
He also has the option of resigning. As you say, he has mental problems. Acknowledge that and step down.
Althouse:
"And so, John Fetterman must be forced into a suit and tie, at whatever cost to his fragile mind."
So the guy on the street can't wear shorts but an addle-brained Senator can?
Is you attitude towards him sort of like letting the rioters burn down parts of a city to placate their fragile minds? And fragile they are.
Or perhaps letting someone in torn jeans and a tee stroll into a high-class restaurant to sit and eat?
Fuck Fetterman, he and his knew the position he was seeking and its protocol.
I absolutely hate suits and friggin' ties, but I wore them when I contracted into corporate because I had the brains to realize that my appearance/actions affected a lot more than just how I developed software.
If you don't want to lose status, don't do things that cost you status.
Uniforms are important signifiers.
Fetterman should not be in the Senate because he is sufficiently disabled so that he cannot do the job.
The only reason girls wore short-short miniskirts way back was the same reason cheerleaders do those wide split high jumps - to show off their underwear.
The only reason Fetterman is a slob is a "Fuck you." to everyone else.
Question to Ann - if Fetterman's fragile mental health led him to believe he absolutely needed to walk around in tighty-whiteys, would you support him?
Better they play games among themselves, than do what they normally do to the rest of the country.
Observation. We’ve come a long way from the days when the US Senate was described as “the greatest deliberative body in the world.”
I remember when Marjorie Taylor Greene was on the floor of the house displaying oversized hard-core pornographic photos and I had to avert my eyes because a man sitting behind her was not wearing a necktie.
"good luck finding socks with no logo today"
Monkey doll socks.
Fetterman needs to consult Angus Young about how to pull off the shorts look.
I saw article after article all with the theme that even Democrats disliked Schumer's decision. All of those articles used Joe Manchin as the primary source of discontent. The first I heard Mitt Romney's name mentioned was when this new rule was passed.
I noticed that as well, and the uncritical acceptance of the NPR framing of the resolution.
Back in the day when he was sane, Jonah Goldberg talked about the essentially dishonest nature of people claiming to be 'socially liberal but fiscally conservative' because the need to be "socially liberal" always seemed to override "fiscally conservative" except when it came to paying taxes. I see much the same in people who claim to want to see 'moderate Republicans', often referencing Romney by name, regain control of the GOP. They seem to be fine when such Republicans are bashing on other folks elected with an (R) behind their name but as soon as there is even a hint of effective opposition to Democrat priorities or pieties, their support evaporates.
" at whatever cost to his fragile mind"
If his mind is that fragile, he does not belong in the Senate.
Obvious to all non-Democrats.
Blogger Rich said...
I remember when Marjorie Taylor Greene was on the floor of the house displaying oversized hard-core pornographic photos...
Bullshit. She displayed selfies and other photos taken from Hunter Biden's laptop.
I hate all this "We more important things to do" crap. This should've been written by staffer in 30 minutes. And then passed by voice vote in 5 minutes. They can walk AND chew gum at the same time.
But if they're going to spend hours "negotiating it" and making SPEECHES about it. Yeah, maybe they should be doing something else.
Notice that Mittens has retired and been in the Senate for 5 years, yet he's the one demanding everyone do this or do that. Just like he was shouting at the NY Goober Congessmen "You don't belong here". The man has a serious ego problem. And a problem respecting those who disagree with him. But no matter how he acts, he's "Good ol Mitt" "Honorable Mitt" "Mitt the family man" to some.
As I've said before, these guy are clowns. So if they start dressing the part, I'll be happy. the less respect we have for them, the better.
If his mind is so "fragile" that he "needs" to wear a hoodie and shorts to work, he is objectively unfit for this particular job and should resign.
When Fetterman debated Dr. Oz his suit was absolutely terrible. Fetterman is not poor. He could afford an honest-to-goodness tailor who would make him suits that are both attractive and comfortable. His cognitive abilities seem to be improving, which is great for him and his state. His juvenile posturing has obviously not been affected by his troubles. Fetterman needs to get over himself.
I think you imply (without saying so) that the Senate could have made an exception for Senator Fetterman without jettisoning a Senate dress code formal or otherwise. Maybe. Although it raises the question whether Fetterman is mentally and emotionally capable of functioning as a United States Senator.
A broader question raised is "why dress codes?" in whichever body or setting. When we lived in the UK the British school we attended had a school uniform. Why? Hard to say. The elite American school we later attended had a uniform for middle and/but a dress code for high school. Why?
Now we live in Baton Rouge where schools have uniforms and it makes sense. No more "poor kids wear grubby clothes and rich kids wear nice" although frankly most kids from middle-upper income families attend private or parochial school. And lower income families have trouble affording uniforms.
A dress code might serve to mark the character and purpose of the setting. We dress *differently* for school than we dress to play or do chores. Why do some ministers/priests wear clergy garb? It serves to mark their role in the faith community. The rather progressive Baptist church where I served had no dress code. However I started dressing differently (button down shirts, slacks, shoes) for that very reason. Plus cassocks look super cool. In Speech class at Cornell we were told that when we dress differently (more formally) people take what we say more seriously. Even if that makes no sense.
The United States Senate is the United States Senate. If there are rules for decorum then it might be reasonable to expect rules for dress. It marks the setting and the people for their distinctive role within our polity.
Fetterman needs to consult Angus Young about how to pull off the shorts look.
And that's the other thing; if my lower legs were that scrawny there's no way in hell I'd want people seeing them.
If his mind is so "fragile" that he "needs" to wear a hoodie and shorts to work, he is objectively unfit for this particular job and should resign.
If Fetterman wants to be a Senator, he can pull it together.
Feels like Althouse trolling.
Fetterman has been brain-dead from jump, and was foisted upon the world by whoever is responsible for stealing the election from Dr Oz.
@frenchy, I blame Sean Hannity and Donald Trump for picking up Mehmet Oz by the seat of his britches and hoisting him over the finish line in the first place. Dave McCormick finished second by only 949 votes despite Trump’s endorsement of Oz and Hannity using his bully pulpit on Fox News to push Oz’s candidacy. McCormick had a much stronger campaign organization than Oz, and would not have spent the months between the primary and the general complaining that he needed more money and more money and more money. Kathy Barnette is an attractive black woman who briefly was in a rough tie with Oz and McCormick, following which Hannity spent a fair amount of time on his show blasting her candidacy as a person who had “no chance to win.” And perhaps so, but she was ideally placed to call out Fetterman for that time he stuck a loaded shotgun in a black jogger’s face for the “crime” of jogging while black in Fetterman’s home town.
Does anybody besides me notice how being a prominent Democrat is a “get out of jail” card whenever they display open anti-black racism? Like Fetterman with his shotgun or Joe Biden referring to LL Cool J as “boy”?
The military can require members to wear uniforms. The Senate can require uniforms too, why not?
I bet if Senators were required to wear ermine lined crimson robes and gold chains, they would all love it.
I think that Fetterman feels bad about his body image and thinks wearing a suit makes him look funny. He needs to get some advice and find something like loose dark green pants and a light colored tweed jacket, with a well tailored puffy shirt with an unbuttoned collar.
"I remember when Marjorie Taylor Greene was on the floor of the house displaying oversized hard-core pornographic photos and I had to avert my eyes because a man sitting behind her was not wearing a necktie."
^^^
How to say "I don't understand the topic" without actually saying "I don't understand the topic".
Unfortunately, being a Senator may require some minimal amount of effort.
Come on folks, Althouse is goofing on y’all. She takes the absolute most extreme example of an asshole in shorts and abs all of you agree with her viewpoint. by the way, she is right. adult men in shorts look like some weird mutant chicken hybrid.
Anyone so mentally damaged he's not capable of wearing "business formal" clothes to work is too mentally damaged to be deciding laws for the rest of us.
So yes, they're not "taking care of business." because what they should be doing is expelling Fetterman
lane ranger said...
"Feels like Althouse trolling."
The problem with trolling in text is that if you never admit it later, the text speaks for you.
Josephbleau said...
I think that Fetterman feels bad about his body image and thinks wearing a suit makes him look funny.
If Ted Cassidy can look good in a suit, so can this clown. Although to be fair, Cassidy was at least handsome.
Maybe Fetterman's eye/hand coordination is off and he can't deal with the manipulation of the various components (pants, shirt, tie, shoes, etc.) involved with getting dressed. Simple solution! Fabricate a one-piece garment that looks like a suit et al from the front but is actually based on a Wuhan Lab environmental garment into which a person steps while another person (maybe the former staff member from Diane Feinstein's crew who used to yell YES or NO at the late Senator on committee votes) zips Fetterman up from the back. Make a bunch of such garments! Either that or require all members of Congress, both houses to go naked (hospital slippers are okay). Why not! Our Emperor (Biden) is already out there in his new suit of clothes. An added benefit is if everyone is naked we can easily see who is wearing the "hidden" money belts.
The slob-ification of America continues apace! If Fetterman wants to be a slob, due to cultural relativism, why not?
"John Fetterman must be forced into a suit and tie, at whatever cost to his fragile mind."
If his mind is that fragile, he has no business being there. He should resign and go home.
Find a less fragile Senator.
He can resign and dress like a bum all day long as a private citizen.
Haven’t read a single comment supporting the permissive approach to Senator Fetterman’s senatorial attire.
Big Mike: "@frenchy, I blame Sean Hannity and Donald Trump for picking up Mehmet Oz by the seat of his britches and hoisting him over the finish line in the first place. Dave McCormick finished second by only 949 votes despite Trump’s endorsement of Oz and Hannity using his bully pulpit on Fox News to push Oz’s candidacy."
Was it really Trump's endorsement of Oz that cost McCormick the Rep Primary win? Remember, the delta between Oz and McCormick, as you noted above, was a mere 949.
Let's recall the actual results:
Candidate % Votes
Mehmet Oz 31.2% 419,999
Dave McCormick 31.1% 419,048
Kathy Barnette 24.7% 331,864
Carla Sands. 5.4% 73,316
Jeff Bartos. 5.0% 66,619
Sean Gale. 1.5% 20,251
George Bochetto 1.1% 14,480
That looks like one heckuva lot of non-Oz/non-McCormick votes and voters unmoved by Trump's endorsement. About 500,000+ in fact.
Exit question: why was McCormick unable to persuade just .2% of those non-Oz/non-McCormick voters (approximately) to come over to his column and put him over the top?
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