Commentary
For years I have been poking fun at Congress, especially the Senate, that insists on referring to itself as the “most August body,” or “hallowed ground” as Sen. Robert Byrd once called it.
Hearing members refer to another as “my good friend from …” when you know it’s probably not true, is part of the civility and the image of statesmanship that that is expected of them when they take the oath.
Though not on the floor of the Senate, recalling Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, standing on the steps of the Supreme Court, shouting that verbal threat against Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, cries out of hypocrisy.
Most recently, in a unilateral decision, Senator Schumer’s swept away the centuries-old tradition that senators dress appropriately on the floor of the Senate, apparently to appease Sen. John Fetterman’s desires.
I suggest that the late Senator Byrd probably turned over in this grave when he heard of this decision. During a December 1996 welcome orientation to new senators, Byrd said, “the Senate is more important than any one or all of us.”
The Senate dress code change is but one criticism of the Senate of late. There was the rather quiet recommendation that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell step down after experiencing blank moments while speaking. With the bribery charges against Sen. Bob Menendez, he has been asked to resign by the governor of New Jersey.
The U. S. House of Representatives operates significantly different than the Senate, with two-year terms compared to the six in the Senate.
Republican Congresswomen Margorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert were criticized for shouting out at President Biden during his 2022 State of the Union Address.
The pair shouted out “Build the Wall,” at one point, but when Biden again repeated the story of his son Beau’s death, Boebert yelled, “You put them in coffins, 13 of them,” referring to the unnecessary deaths caused by Biden’s wrong-headed withdrawal from Afghanistan.
While the State of the Union is a storied and important tradition that warrants decorum and the respect of those in attendance, Boebert’s outbursts was considered beyond the pale.
Her fellow Colorado Rep. Ken Buck credited Boebert as a “courageous woman with strong beliefs, and I know from personal conversations that her feelings came from a place of genuine outrage and perception that President Biden was being given a pass on this disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
More recently, Boebert was criticized for her disruptive behavior in a Denver theater that resulted in her being asked to leave. She has since apologized and has pledged to be more civil in a prime-time news program.
“Its Good To See Some GOP Women With A Little Giddy-Up,” was the headline on a Daily Caller piece by libertarian Ron Hart, who conceded “I never became a full-fledged Republican because in the past they were so stodgy and socially judgmental.”
I agree. We need strong-willed women who will stand up for our Republican values.
South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace made a roomful of Christians uncomfortable at a recent prayer breakfast when she suggested she was almost late because her fiancé wanted to get intimate.
The first female to graduate from the Citadel, Mace is seen regularly on cable news shows, willing to state her views. She’s tough, and doesn’t mince words.
I don’t need to remind you that these GOP women were there when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was wielding the gavel in the House. There was her recommendation that the Democrat Women’s Caucus show up at the 2020 State of the Union address all dressed in white to demonstrate solidarity over the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
And who can forget Pelosi’s disgraceful tearing up of her copy of President Trump’s address in 2020 while on nationwide television.
In her Saturday Wall Street Journal column, Peggy Noonan commented on both the dress code and decorum in Congress. “He (Fetterman) imagines that dressing like a slob deepens his perceived identification with the working class,” she writes.
While I disagree with her that we are in “a crisis” of political comportment, I must reiterate that the Biden era has radically changed the culture. I do agree that we are “witnessing the rise of the classless,” as evidenced by the attacks by Representatives Swalwell and Schiff during the Merrick Garland testimony. Not all of the outrage comes from the mouths of women.
How a representative or senator dresses or speaks, “shows that (he or she) understand(s) that as high elected official of the United States (they) owe the country, and the world, the outward signs of maturity, judgement and earnestness,” wrote Noonan. “That isn’t asking too much. It is a baseline minimum.”
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
