After John Fetterman (and a few of his colleagues) decided that shorts and a hoodie were just fine for the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body, Bill, Steve and Scott tore into this idea and trashed it so thoroughly that two days after the episode was recorded (and the raw footage sent to 100 Senators), the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to institute a dress code.
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23 replies on “No More Senate Slobs”
I want to see Senators looking like NASCAR drivers so we know who bought them and who the Senators owe their allegiance to!!
Same goes for all of Congress.
I don’t own a suit anymore and haven’t worn one in almost 30 years. I do own a couple of nice blazers/sport coats, a few pair of dress slacks, dress shirts and a few ties. Some people would call that stuff a suit, it’s not. The last time I wore any of those was 5 years ago when my nephew graduated from High School. I was probably the most over dressed man in the auditorium.
I didn’t care.
That was a big day for my nephew. I dressed up because of him, not because of me.
The same applies to a Senator on the Senate floor. He’s not wearing a suit for reasons of his own appearance, he’s wearing a suit for the Senate. Which is a slightly more important thing than a high school graduation ceremony.
That was supposed to be a like. Damn iPhone keyboard and fat fingers. Sorry
You can undo and redo like and dislike buttons simply by clicking them again. If you accidentally click a like button just click the dislike button to remove your vote. I.E. if there are no other votes the count reverts to zero. If you accidentally click the dislike button click the like button once to remove your vote and again to add a like.
I’m not in this for the likes so I don’t really care what anyone else thinks of my posts. But it’s frustrating as hell when you can’t get the site to work the way you want it to so I’m providing some insight as to how this site works.
I think it was Susan Collins of Maine who suggested that she would wear a bikini in the Senate floor. (We always knew that deep down she was too casual to be a Republican, lol).
Aaaargh!
I now must pour bleach into my third eye to erase that gawd-awful image.
Thanks for that.
Unfortunately, I have a medical issue that normally prevents me from wearing a suit. I have spent my entire life trying to cool down. I can put on a suit and, within about one hour, I will pass out due to simply being too hot. This means that I can manage at an interview, just take off the jacket the moment I am seated. I can manage at a wedding as long as I am able to change immediately after. I would love to be able to wear a suit more often. Unless I can convince a place to set the thermostat at about 45 degrees, it simply will not work.
Of course, I agree it is right for the senate. I am simply not cut out for that environment. I suppose I could look really sharp while delivering a cutting remark… before I pass out on live TV LOL
For starters, if restoring the dignity of the Senate is a worthy cause, how about repealing the 17th amendment?
I’ve retired from my primary job going on 18 years now. I served as a technician for a defense contractor & was among a fair number of techs (>40.) We worked on the ground floor of our building and our dress was casual generally.
On occasion executives and tours would walk through on a mezzanine above us and stop to observe. Once in a great while, the techs would get together and agree to “dress up” on a specific day, which was always of our choosing and voluntary.
I used to walk the plant during lunch for exercise, through both manufacturing and executive offices. My route was routine and included several floor levels, as well as stair wells. I usually walked unnoticed in my normal dress.
On one occasion when the techs “dressed up”, I wore a 3-piece suit. It was interesting to note the reaction of the executives when they noticed the many techs who had dressed up. We were greeted with approval, as one might expect.
But the tell was in my lunchtime walk. People who never said “hello” before would smile and greet me. The level of dress made the difference.
Ok, I’m confused and conflicted about this episode. And my confusion has nothing to do with what’s going on in the U.S. Senate.
Years ago, when I was a younger lad, I saw this show on the internet, where some guy is, in the early episodes, first sitting in front of a screen, yapping away about something. Then a few years later, that same guy is walking into an amazingly ornate 3d computer graphics created studio stage, again yapping about something.
Regardless of the stage, this yapping guy was wearing a handsome natty suit and tie, looked sharp, shaven, good hair cut, and carried himself, presented himself and his topic in an AUTHORITATIVE manner. He appeared like an expert on the topic upon which he was passionately speaking. Because he looked and sounded like an expert, I listened carefully and closely, and found I was agreeing with this person. So much so, I watched out for the next time he’d appear on the internet. Eventually, I began to pay money to this new network, just so I could hear this authoritative guy speak on other topics.
Fast forward to this episode. Same guy speaking, sitting in front of a cardboard cutout of The Gorn, no suit, no tie, and somehow, dressed and speaking more casually about the needs and benefit of dressing more formally and the importance of doing so. Same guy has said in the distant past, that wearing a suit projected an image of professionalism or authority, or respect for the viewer or audience, now he has commented in other shows like TSL that folks don’t want that, a suit and high production values are not “Authentic”, that casual connects more with the listener.
By now you know that guy is Bill. I’m simply confused. It’s important to project a good image in the senate, but it’s ok to present important topics, ideas, messages, casually in dress and presentation? I’m simply confused.
On top of that, his cohort just happily told us that basically he was fibbing all those years doing on-camera appearances (presumably with PJTV) faking the whole thing by “topping” himself off with a coat and tie, but wearing cargo shorts out of the camera’s frame. Yet same guy brags about being the guy to continue to wear a long sleeve dress shirt and tie at his place of business.
Fellow BW members, am I just low blood sugar, lack of caffeine, or grumpy from a bad nights sleep? Or was this episode cringy on more than just a few levels????
(Yes, Yes, Maybe and Yes?)
Oh, and Fetterman’s the perfect representative for the fine folks who voted for him.
And, to beat anyone else to the punch in telling me, I’ll save you the typing….
“Lighten up, Francis”…..
Nice jab, here’s the counterpunch you’re probably expecting from someone …
Your comparisons are fallacious because you’re comparing unlike things. A carefully scripted and choreographed presentation with CGI graphics in front of a green screen is not the same as an informal discussion between friendly peers of long acquaintance. Those are two completely different formats. Neither of those things is the same as being elected Senator and making an appearance on the Senate floor. Appropriate attire for the circumstances encountered. I’m a little surprised you even went there.
Words are not important by reason of originating from a man in a business suit, nor are any and all words uttered by a man in a suit important. The importance does not originate in the attire.
Attire may or may not add to the gravity of what’s being said. If we were in a combat zone and I was dressed in USMC camouflage with a rifle in my hands while I spoke to you that is an example of accoutrements adding a lot to the gravity of what’s being said. If both of us were in a combat zone and I was wearing a business suit the message would carry a different connotation, even if I still had a rifle in my hands. Appropriate attire for the circumstances encountered.
If you were giving a skateboard demonstration I doubt you’d appear for the event dressed in a business suit. If you were standing on a stage giving a talk to investors about a skateboard company you worked for you’d do well to wear a business suit for that event. Same topic which is skateboards, completely different situations. Appropriate attire for the circumstances encountered.
I don’t think anyone has any doubt about Bill’s lack of hypocrisy. If he were called to testify before the Senate he would appear in a suit and tie. If he were elected Senator he would report to his office every morning in a suit and tie. When that sort of attire is the correct choice Bill makes the choice correctly. I don’t think this is even questionable.
I think you’re quibbling over apples and oranges. Being somewhat of a compulsive quibbler myself I feel I represent some small authority on the matter of “quibblage” and can recognize it when I see it.
Consider yourself chided. You did accomplish one major achievement here. Now Doc Jackson doesn’t have to feel like he’s special because I chide him all the time … 🙂
….from someone like…..ACTS!
Not only expecting it but hoping for it. Yeah, you’re right, Afterburners / Firewalls are indeed different from TSL’s as you described, and both are completely different from the role of senators in our congress. And Yes, Bill’s not a hypocrite, for I’ve seen him in person and indeed, when he’s at a public speaking event, it’s a suit.
Was I low blood sugar? Probably. Grumpy from a hard night’s sleep? Undoubtedly. Was I quibbling?….Maybe. Should I probably not have hit the “post comment” button, yeah, probably. But I did, and I received a cogent, thoughtful response to my confusion.
Boom. I got a twofer. Confusion cleared, AND got my recommended daily allowance of Chide!
Feeling much better now. 😉
Lol, well if you’re going to drop the trap door in your long handles and hang it out there in the breeze … I’m gonna take a shot at it. I can’t resist a target like that.
No harm, no foul. I’m sure someone else was thinking the same thing you were and what you posted allowed us to take that out, turn it this way and that, have a good look at it and see if that sort of critique had any merit.
You’re allowed your low blood sugar and hard night’s grumpage. At least you have excuses, I’m pretty much fresh out in that department.
Be well 🙂
Festerman stated that this new rule wouldn’t affect him, because on those occasions where he is running the Chamber and in the Chair, he would put on a suit anyway.
But he’s already put the lie to that, as he’s presided over the Senate twice already. In a hoodie and shorts.
Even the “Conservative Shaman” guy looked better in that chair than Festerman did. Utterly disrespectful.
John T. Molloy “Dress for Success”.
Service jobs mean giving up your personal likes and dislikes in order to serve, and if that means dressing like a gentleman or lady, so be it. Anybody unwilling to show proper respect to those they serve don’t deserve to be holing any kind of leadership position. This guy is one of those who pushed the meme “Trump is un-presidential.” Hypocrisy much?
When its all a show, bought and paid for, natty dress is everything. Dressing down then makes everyone more aware of the fakeness.
To Bill’s point, when you are _acting_, clothes make the man.
Scott is tearing up due to his belief that some of the Senators actually care about what he cares about, the U.S. Constitution. Sadly, 99% of them do not and even the ones that do are corrupt (Multi-millionaires within 1-2 terms, with a salary in the low six-figures).
What if it involves “official” presentations to paying members, and those all-important potential members among the non-paying public?
Do you gentlemen have a dress code? If so it apparently allows t-shirts, polo shirts, and open-collar dress shirts. Shall I take any particular message from that?
It was Ronald Reagan who first made the rule that no one would enter the Oval Office without a suit and tie, properly worn. Within my lifetime, anyway.
All of you are correct: respect for oneself, respect for one’s office, respect for others; all are linked to how one is dressed. When I was called to the Emergency Room at night I made an effort, depending upon how critical the time was, to put on a jacket, decent clean shirt, tie, and appropriate slacks, because my presence was a message of respect for those three I listed above.
Agree with serious jobs should be honored with serious attention to what you wear. There’s been a relaxation in what physicians wear. I don’t go along. When I practiced in a highfalutin hospital in a prosperous suburb of Atlanta, you better believe I took it seriously. Now I’m in a rural area that’s a mix of hillbilly and super-rich. My compromise is no tie. But my white coat is heavy starch and clean.
And I would guess that the hillbilly clients actually want their doctor to look like he knows what he is talking about. Otherwise Uncle Clem could put a poultice on it.
One of the things I like about my current sawbones is that he’s always in a shirt and tie. And if what he’s going to be involved in involves blood or fluids, he puts a lab coat on.
Good, old-school doctor.