As if Bidenflation, collapsing school test scores, a demolished “border,” vagrant encampments, stool-stained sidewalks, blood-soaked streets, juvenile genital mutilation, surging sex slavery, and mounting foreign threats were not enough, Democrats just trashed the majesty of what has been called “the world’s greatest deliberative body.”

Not even the Senate’s dress code could withstand the Democratic impulse to make things dirty, ugly, and dangerous. Why? That’s what Democrats do.

In a major wardrobe malfunction, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., ditched the 234-year-old commitment that lawmakers govern in business attire. “Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor,” Schumer announced Monday. “I will continue to wear a suit.”

Most will do likewise. Others will start casual-Friday style and devolve from there. 

“This is a phenomenally stupid move,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, told me, adding: “Some institutions require a degree of formality. The Senate is one of them.”

“When you aim lower, you can always get there,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., told Fox News. “The idea of turning the Senate into a sports bar is very unappealing to me,” he said.

Schumer did this for John “Mr. Potato Head” Fetterman, the Democratic root vegetable who Pennsylvanians elected last November. The former lieutenant governor suffered a stroke last year. He lied to voters that he was on the mend. Moreover, he plagiarized Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign playbook: Hide at home and clam up.

Fetterman finally emerged to debate Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz and shocked voters with these opening words: “Hi. Good night, everybody.”

Fetterman seemingly sprang an oil leak when asked to reconcile his pro- and anti-fracking positions. After five seconds of silence, he said, “Uh, I, I do support fracking. And I don’t. I don’t. I support fracking. And I stand. And I do. I support fracking.”

It suddenly became indisputable that Fetterman was too damaged to perform this demanding job. Alas, some 630,000 voters with negligently incomplete knowledge already had cast early ballots. Fetterman beat Oz 51.2% to 46.3%. (This is Exhibit A for why voting should occur on Election Day, not Election Quarter.)

Fetterman’s mental deficiencies supposedly render him incapable of dressing like a man. Instead, he resembles a slovenly boy.

Fetterman’s shabbiness is not just stomach-turning. It’s pathetic.

Senators, past and present, in far worse shape served their people without appearing as if they wandered in after working out:

  • Sen. John East, R-N.C., was confined to a wheelchair after contracting polio as a U.S. Marine at Camp Lejeune in 1955. 
  • Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., endured limited use of his arms due to the Viet Cong’s extreme torture at the Hanoi Hilton.
  • A rocket-launched grenade in Iraq cost Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., both legs. She uses a wheelchair.

These senators, and surely others, wore suits, jackets, trousers, ties, and in Duckworth’s case, corresponding women’s apparel. And now, to appease Fetterman, Democrats have established a mere non-nudity rule. Never mind that Fetterman’s arms and legs still function.

Fetterman should quit making Americans’ skin crawl. If his wife won’t dress him for work, a personal aide should help him put on big-boy pants, button his shirt, and don a tie, even if it’s a clip-on. Add jacket and dress shoes and—Voila!—the junior senator from the Keystone State.

Rather than being the skunk at the smorgasbord, Fetterman should conquer his disabilities, dress appropriately, and move to restore the Senate’s style standards. Otherwise, Democrats will make the Senate look like a redeye flight deplaning at dawn.

The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation. 

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