Sure, debate Missouri lawmakers’ dress code. But this decorum matters a lot more | Opinion
The wardrobes of Jefferson City lawmakers are in the national spotlight this week, thanks largely to former Sen. Claire McCaskill: “Missouri House of Representatives,” she tweeted Wednesday. “Adamantly opposed to any govt suggestion of wearing a mask but now busy telling elected women representatives to cover their arms.”
She was quote-tweeting state Rep. Peter Merideth, a St. Louis Democrat, who noted that the first individual Republican to propose an amendment in the state House that day was state Rep. Ann Kelley of District 127, who did propose codifying new rules about woman reps’ attire.
But is this really such a pointless debate? From ancient Roman senators’ flowing robes to the fussy white wigs of British Parliament, ceremonial garb is as old as government. It’s long been GOP gospel that Ronald Reagan so revered the presidency that he would never dare enter the Oval Office without jacket and tie. As photos from his own library show, the Gipper sometimes did business wearing a polo shirt. You don’t have to be Sunday church-ready to get things done.
The decorum and traditions that we hope our elected officials honor actually do matter to how the public perceives their seriousness. One of the reasons Chief Justice John Roberts reportedly resisted remote Supreme Court video arguments during the COVID-19 lockdowns manifested embarrassingly on May 6, 2020, when the microphone of a participant captured the loud flushing of a toilet during oral arguments.
When we’re reminded explicitly of the mundane details of life, it’s easy for an important illusion to shatter: The people running the government aren’t high-minded oracles of virtue floating above the rest of us — they’re just people, some taking their roles more seriously than others.
So, sure, it’s fine to debate whether Missouri’s woman lawmakers should have to wear blazers, sweaters or whatever else their peers decide on the state House floor. Fellow Republicans were right as rain to get angry at state Sen. Mike Moon’s childish stunt of wearing bib overalls into the chamber last session.
Instead, why don’t we channel some of our outrage into the steady erosion of the norms of government that concern how officials actually conduct themselves? When then-Rep. Roger Marshall boasted about joining other GOP members of Congress storming past Capitol Police and invading a Secure Compartmentalized Information Facility in the U.S. Capitol to disrupt a Pentagon official’s testimony in Donald Trump’s first well-earned impeachment hearing, or when political operatives brazenly ignore congressional subpoenas because they know the opposing party is afraid to step up enforcement — those are breaches of regular order that ought to upset every American, regardless of party.
Let’s quit worrying so much about what our politicians are wearing to work. Instead, focus on what they’re doing to dismantle the machinery of our government in our name.
