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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Late Night Open Thread: Sen. Fetterman Stands Out

Late Night Open Thread: Sen. Fetterman Stands Out

by Anne Laurie|  September 19, 20232:46 am| 47 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat

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John Fetterman says he'll 'never understand' progressives who refuse to support Joe Biden

"Get behind Joe Biden's policies, or you're gonna get behind Trump's policies," said the Pennsylvania Democrat.https://t.co/Otq28dHHrT

— HawaiiDelilah™ ?? #MauiStrong (@HawaiiDelilah) September 13, 2023

It’s not as though the man has much choice in the matter; he’s been bigger than most for long enough to have grown comfortable in his fashion choices…

I need John Fetterman to run for President in 2028 or something. Not because of any partisan or ideological reasons — I just want to see the reaction of very angry 45-year-olds who have to wear a suit out of habit while the President wears shorts and a hoodie.

— Lakshya Jain (@lxeagle17) September 17, 2023

You can debate his background all you want. But big, bald goateed fellows who ignore their health for work and only wear suits at weddings and funerals is a fertile audience. You could do a lot worse. https://t.co/IFtEJg0ljQ

— Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) September 15, 2023



Everybody’s got an opinion…

I dress like you predict https://t.co/TDScsGCi2k

— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) September 18, 2023

https://t.co/FTA3NcaJOu pic.twitter.com/DgwmjyzgLF

— Joshua Smithley (@blockedfreq) September 18, 2023

This man calls himself a libertarian https://t.co/GXdWsKWWYi

— chekovian jubilee (@CollieYimby) September 17, 2023

Awful. The Senate chamber isn’t your home, a gym, or an outdoor park. If you can’t dress professionally for work on the floor of the Senate of the United States, then do us all a favor and get a different job. https://t.co/Yc90RrMbxm

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) September 17, 2023

… The intrigue: It’s unclear whether the Senate dress code is actually an official, written policy. It appears to be more of an informal custom, enforced by the Sergeant at Arms.

– No senior staff contacted by Axios on Friday could find a written record of the rules — an omission that also has puzzled some on social media.

Between the lines: Five years ago, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) petitioned her colleagues to make some changes in the dress code, according to New York Times reporter Jennifer Steinhauer’s book “The Firsts: the Inside Story of the Women Reshaping Congress.”

– After some grumbling by males, the standards for women’s attire were relaxed. Afterward, women on the Senate floor were allowed to show their arms. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), a triathlete, often goes sleeveless…

ron has a natural Gollum quality about him that I feel has been underexplored.

— James Palmer (@BeijingPalmer) September 18, 2023

Oh no. How will the guy who marketed himself as a blue collar Pennsylvania populist survive scandalizing politicians in DC by dressing like an everyman?

These guys are so used to being the ones playing the “you could have a beer with him” card they forgot how to counter it.

— Starfish Unexpectedly Cancelled For Hating Hitler (@IRHotTakes) September 18, 2023

Fetterman’s superpower is that Man Big lights up the vestigial caveman part of your brain. If you put DeSantis in the same room as Fetterman and DeSantis pointed this out, you still wouldn’t believe it.

“WHAT YOU MEAN FETTER-MAN NOT FROM STRONG MAN TRIBE? MAN BIG.” https://t.co/NR50spZBmf

— Starfish Unexpectedly Cancelled For Hating Hitler (@IRHotTakes) September 18, 2023

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Reader Interactions

47Comments

  1. 1.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    September 19, 2023 at 2:53 am

    More like “Get behind Biden’s policies or you’ll suffer under Trump’s policies” because that is the reality for us.

  2. 2.

    opiejeanne

    September 19, 2023 at 3:00 am

    Have any of these people yapping about Fetterman ever mentioned Gym Jordan’s appearance sans tie and jacket?

  3. 3.

    NotMax

    September 19, 2023 at 3:00 am

    Could not care less what Fetterman (or anyone else for that matter) chooses to wear or not wear. Picayune caviling.

  4. 4.

    Quaker in a Basement

    September 19, 2023 at 3:06 am

    Wealthy, Yale-educated George W. Bush wears cowboy hats and “clears brush” on his “ranch” and pundits froth about his authenticity. Fetterman wears a hoodie and the same pundits puzzle over what point he’s trying to make.

    Pretty easy to see where the problem is.

  5. 5.

    Danielx

    September 19, 2023 at 3:11 am

    So Fetterman, who got elected by acting and dressing precisely as he does, is supposed to abide by some unwritten rule? A rule imposed by the senate gerontocracy? Bearing in mind that numerous senators manage to make themselves look like complete dipshit fools while wearing some seriously expensive threads…see Tuberville T., Johnson R., Graham L. (shudder). These fucking people…

  6. 6.

    Doc Sardonic

    September 19, 2023 at 3:13 am

    Man could run into the Senate chamber in a loin cloth with a bone necklace, as long as he uses Ted Cruz or Rand Paul’s head as a bung starter I could care fucking less.

    +lots of whiskey

  7. 7.

    Joey Maloney

    September 19, 2023 at 3:18 am

    @Odie Hugh Manatee: “Get behind Biden’s policies or get Trump’s policies up your behind.“

  8. 8.

    HumboldtBlue

    September 19, 2023 at 3:39 am

    Let’s dance.

  9. 9.

    SpaceUnit

    September 19, 2023 at 3:40 am

    As someone who lives in cargo shorts and hoodies I have mixed feelings.

     

    ETA:  Decorum is a thing.

  10. 10.

    eclare

    September 19, 2023 at 3:59 am

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Love it

  11. 11.

    Baud

    September 19, 2023 at 4:04 am

    Dress codes are for people who dress.

  12. 12.

    Central Planning

    September 19, 2023 at 4:18 am

    @Baud: I’m looking forward to seeing your pants code after you’re elected. And not just for you.

  13. 13.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    September 19, 2023 at 4:32 am

    @Joey Maloney:

    That works, too. Also. Ubetcha. ;)

    (gotta have the Palin wink to make it complete!)

    @Baud:

    Chaps count, right? A bit breezy from behind but no swamp ass, that’s for sure. Call it cowboy formal.

  14. 14.

    Dangerman

    September 19, 2023 at 4:58 am

    Shorts and a hoodie? Shit, we’ll have to be having a pants check in some administrations.

  15. 15.

    TS

    September 19, 2023 at 5:03 am

    I used to wonder about women wearing gym shoes to work (while in the high heels & stockings) and then I retired and started wearing gym shoes (and hoodies) everywhere – why on earth I didn’t wear them to work is now the major thought – conformity is such rubbish – it took my daughter to explain it to me.

  16. 16.

    Another Scott

    September 19, 2023 at 5:12 am

    1) I ass-u-me that 99% of their time is not on the Senate floor. I recall C-Span clips of senators walking in, walking by the desk to yell their vote, and walking out. In committee hearings, they’re sitting behind giant panels and only their heads and shoulders are usually visible.

    2) I’m reminded of dress codes at the Vatican, so tourists who bake in the sun before being let inside have the choice of being able to get in or suffering heat stroke.

    3) I’m sure we all remember the picture of Rand Paul in a jacket and tie, and shorts and sandals, waiting for some TV interview that would show him from the waist up.

    4) Ties are (finally!) on their way out almost everywhere in many – even conservative – professional settings.

    5) It’s long past time to stop judging people based on outward appearances.

    Good for Fetterman and others pushing for change.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  17. 17.

    Nukular Biskits

    September 19, 2023 at 5:18 am

    @Baud:

    Dress codes are for people who dress.

    And for those of us who prefer to go nekkid, what?

  18. 18.

    Rusty

    September 19, 2023 at 5:18 am

    I’ve ridden the proper clothing wave from a suit and tie every day to work, to my current workplace where the joke is the only time you will ever wear a suit is the day you interviewed.   I’m now a wedding,  funeral, and add graduation suit wearer.   But wearing a suit at graduations has changed, and I look like a dinosaur in the May heat.  My mother-in-law still insists on giving me a tie every Christmas,  but this is more a passive -agressive act on her part than any fashion statement.

  19. 19.

    Nukular Biskits

    September 19, 2023 at 5:19 am

    @Another Scott:

    Ties are of the Devil.

  20. 20.

    matt

    September 19, 2023 at 5:45 am

    to be fair to Republicans like Amash, dressing up is pretty much the peak amount of work they do in the day. They’re pretty upset someone doesn’t have to put in the same work.

  21. 21.

    Betty Cracker

    September 19, 2023 at 6:19 am

    If I ran the Democratic Party of Florida, I would buy every available ad in every college football game broadcast in the state and run that clip of DeSantis criticizing Fetterman’s wardrobe.

    Has Ron seen us? The people he allegedly represents? 

    We’re the most casually dressed motherfuckers in the country! Fetterman looks like he’s going to the opera in Tampa — it’s a little chilly in the Straz Center, so you might need the hoodie!

  22. 22.

    Baud

    September 19, 2023 at 6:23 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    I would pay good money to have you run the Democratic Party of Florida.

    ETA: And not just for this idea.

  23. 23.

    Betty Cracker

    September 19, 2023 at 6:28 am

    @Baud: I am now a Ron DeSantis birther. No way that priggish fop is a native Floridian. The Dunedin Little League photos are fake! I demand to see the long form birth certificate!

  24. 24.

    eclare

    September 19, 2023 at 6:29 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Great idea!

    PS I am not a Floridian, but except for exercising I am devoted to wearing flip flops everywhere.

  25. 25.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 19, 2023 at 6:33 am

    Really?  DeathSantis de Puddin’ Fingers is chiming in on this?

    Get a spoon, and shut the fuck up!

    And bring hundreds of thousands of COVID-dead Floridians back to life!

  26. 26.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 19, 2023 at 6:40 am

    @Baud:

    Dress codes are for people who dress. 

    You pantsless wonder!

  27. 27.

    hueyplong

    September 19, 2023 at 6:42 am

    This seems like a Biden-is-old news cycle hijacked.

    So there’s that.

  28. 28.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 19, 2023 at 6:42 am

    @Nukular Biskits:

    And for those of us who prefer to go nekkid, what? 

    Suits.  Birthday suits. 🥳

  29. 29.

    hueyplong

    September 19, 2023 at 6:45 am

    @mrmoshpotato: I guess it would be cruelly rude for me to ask to see the list first.  My view on vaccine policy is evolving into one of “compromise” with the far right.

  30. 30.

    The Oracle of Solace

    September 19, 2023 at 6:47 am

    Dress codes are the work of the Devil, especially if one lives in hot and/or humid zones. Where I work there are, quite sensibly, no particular dress codes, so people get very casual. I, on the other hand, will wear a nice blouse & blazer, or a simple dress, and even though I have no particular fashion sense apart from a sort of corporate goth, I get complemented on my fits. Any sort of praise gives me a dopamine hit, so I keep doing it.

  31. 31.

    Anne Laurie

    September 19, 2023 at 6:48 am

    @Nukular Biskits: Ties are of the Devil.

    The Color Me Beautiful inventor broke the ‘tie’ code, back in the 1980s, when even businesswomen were encouraged to wear them (‘pussycat bows’ in twilled silk).  She pointed out that Chinese mandarins wore special collars, as did priests, and that upper-rank military tended to have special neckware, too.

    Wearing a tie (collar) means you’re a good dog, that you’re owned.  Yeah, they’re an expensive fussy pain, but IMO it’s the psychic insult that *really* burns…

  32. 32.

    Princess

    September 19, 2023 at 6:49 am

    What people in middle America really care about is well-dressed senators.

    ”Nixon” is right. Fetterman reaches an audience and a demographic that a) should be with us b) we have more trouble with than we should and c) won’t care how he dresses.
    Also: love the dunk on Silver. What happened to that guy?

  33. 33.

    Baud

    September 19, 2023 at 6:50 am

    @Princess:

    He got successful and started running with a bad crowd.

  34. 34.

    Gvg

    September 19, 2023 at 7:14 am

    I would like senators to dress better by their own choice because I look at our national government as having an international reputation to maintain.  I do mean while on the floor and being public representatives though. I also think it should be more on them and not a code because I have seen how codes get used as petty bullying and not just by parties either. Every type including individual jerks and worse.
    work and school dress codes can be pretty silly if too detailed but also can be necessary because some people have no common sense. Educators have to add in wisdom to ignore even that when a family has no money or is indifferent and a child has no power to obey.

    I had jobs I could dress like a slob. They paid terrible and were dead ends. Getting ones with dress codes was after college and involved working in air conditioning with health insurance and pension plans. So I don’t really associate dress codes with the devil like many do. I am a woman and never wore a tie, but they always seemed like a stupid hated fashion. I don’t recommend high heels. They also need to die out. Like smoking, the bad health effect does not show for years or decades and isn’t the same for all, but it’s bad for feet.

    So this is a mixed feeling on Fetterman being held up as an example because of the way he dresses. He votes well though. That seems more important.

  35. 35.

    New Deal democrat

    September 19, 2023 at 7:16 am

    @Baud: Silver himself probably doesn’t get the dunk by Joshua Smithey. He would probably reply, in all earnest, “I wasn’t wrong. I *told* you there was a 43% chance Fetterman might win!” Which is 1 of the 2 big problems with his model. The other being that he never figured out that once he stopped being a bug on the wall, operatives would try to “game” his system (see, “Red Wave, 2022”).

    Also, he completely failed to get the idea of leading vs. lagging indicators, both in economics and epidemiology. And doesn’t understand that he doesn’t get it.

  36. 36.

    Michael Bersin

    September 19, 2023 at 7:40 am

    Thirty-eight years ago it was ties, sometimes a jacket with elbow patches, button down shirts, pressed slacks, loafers. Now I present in front of my classes in solid color polos (and in a hoodie in colder seasons), jeans, and comfortable running shoes. Sometimes I wear the shoes that are decorated in a multi-color swirl – still comfortable.

    If the institution wants to dictate how I dress, then they can also provide me the clothing budget that allows me to meet their requirements. Otherwise, I’m going with comfort and creative individuality.

    Being an old fart who has been tenured for over twenty years allows one to ignore the irrelevant and concentrate on what is truly important.

    Concert dress is another matter. Have tuxedo, white dinner jacket, and tails, will travel. Though I do have to check if they still fit…

  37. 37.

    Betty

    September 19, 2023 at 7:53 am

    @Princess: He had dunks for all of them. I wish I could remember them all. He is on Threads if anyone wants to follow him there.

  38. 38.

    Steeplejack

    September 19, 2023 at 7:58 am

    @opiejeanne:

    Gym Jordan usually wears a tie—yellow, to go with his light blue shirt—which makes his coatless appearance even weirder.

  39. 39.

    Suzanne

    September 19, 2023 at 8:01 am

    FWIW, I think Fetterman should wear exactly what he wants. I also like many of Kyrsten Sinema’s outfits. I’ve never been comfortable with the criticism of her clothes as proxy for her being “unserious”. Let people wear what they want and stop worrying about it.

  40. 40.

    twbrandt

    September 19, 2023 at 8:36 am

    I don’t much care how Fetterman – or any other Senator – dresses. I very much care how he votes.

  41. 41.

    charon

    September 19, 2023 at 9:14 am

    @Anne Laurie:

    Actually ties are phallic symbols

     

    (so, aggressive).

  42. 42.

    Miss Bianca

    September 19, 2023 at 9:15 am

    Not only are ties on the way out, it seems like nylon stockings are, too – at least in my neck of Redneckistan. The last time I went shopping for some nylons was to wear to a memorial service for a friend’s husband a couple years back – and I couldn’t find any! Anywhere! As one who has always loathed them and resented having to wear them back in my temping days in Chicago, I say…Yay? Yay-ish?

  43. 43.

    Paul in KY

    September 19, 2023 at 10:40 am

    I think he would make a great President.

  44. 44.

    Paul in KY

    September 19, 2023 at 10:45 am

    @Baud: Money changes everything…

  45. 45.

    wjca

    September 19, 2023 at 12:09 pm

    @Baud: Dress codes are for people who dress.

    As in, wear a kilt?

    No doubt there will be inspections to assure that it isn’t being worn “highland” . . .

  46. 46.

    Jackie

    September 19, 2023 at 12:52 pm

    I would love to see our Democratic senators do a John Fetterman Day and all dress in hoodies and shorts – including Schumer 😁

  47. 47.

    Ruckus

    September 19, 2023 at 3:45 pm

    @Jackie:

    Think he owns shorts and a hoodie?

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