Mornin’ Politocadoes!
Following an uproar from the GOP and Washington elites, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has unanimously passed a resolution formally instituting a dress code in the Senate. Prior to this resolution, there had technically been no formal dress code for Senator conducting business in the Senate. The assumption, presumably since the beginning of the republic, was to dress professionally whatever that meant at the time, but this could also vary by each Senator’s office. The informal dress code was then enforced by the Senate’s Sergeant-At-Arms. Schumer had attempted to do away with that hard requirement since it really wasn’t in the rules.
The whole thing is broadly seen as a reaction to Sen. John Fetterman’s (D-PA) finding comfort in wearing his usual attire, gym shorts and a t-shirt or hoodie, to conduct Senate business following his hospitalization for severe depression. The GOP sent letters urging Schumer to reverse course seeing casual wear as eroding the gravity of the chamber that sends Americans to war.
While this is pretty rich coming from the party that has time and again used civility politics to push the most absurd and dehumanizing shit through possible, I also kind of understand it. Dressing professionally does give an air of gravity or leadership to whatever it is someone is doing. Is a suit appropriate for all occasions? No. But looking serious goes a long way in trying to convince people what they’re doing is for the good of the country. That being said, keeping rigid in what is considered “professional” isn’t helpful in the long run.
Back in 2018, Sen. Amy Klobuchar led efforts to reform the dress code for women. Her efforts, which annoyed male colleagues, resulted in new options for female senators including allowing women to go sleeveless. Rules for attire changed and the world didn’t end. Granted, nobody takes Kyrsten Sinema (who often wears sleeveless dresses) all that seriously anymore but it’s hardly due to her choice of attire. It’s the quality of the person and the things they choose to fight for that determine whether someone’s a serious person, how they dress can add or subtract from it. Susan “Concerned” Collins of Maine joked that she
It’s also worth noting that the dress code resolution only seems to have had male senators in mind? There’s nothing in the resolution about what female senators should be wearing. I don’t doubt that there are similar implications for women in the Senate, the fact that it’s not mentioned at all just creates another informal dress code that’s enforced. It just happens to be for women. It’s almost like there was a beef with one very specific person in mind. Hmm.
Welcome to Thursday! Please be excellent to each other in the comments. The Mayor McSquirrel Rule remains in effect.Something to keep in mind! Police are using digital data to prosecute abortion seekers, and Facebook and Google are helping them! Even if they are not legally required to do so, the tech giants will aid them in this since it’s technically *against the law*. Please be careful when looking for abortion providers or helping someone who is looking for that assistance.
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