dagblog - Comments for "The gentleman will remove his hood or suspend. There may be no hoods worn on the floor of Congress (There's a dress code??)"

Davey Crockett, Wonder

jollyroger — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 03:02:07 +0000

In reply to More than you ever wanted to

Davey Crockett, Wonder Boy...

Since I received my wide brimmed leather hat as part of a religious ritual (albeit involving the Wizard of Oz, so what?) can I safely wear it on the floor of the House?

More than you ever wanted to

artappraiser — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 01:18:22 +0000

In reply to no yarmulkas? I doubt that,

More than you ever wanted to know about this rule (back to 1837 and before,) here's a good article from late 2010, Miami Herald's "Truth-o-meter" column that went into depth, In pursuit of an answer regarding newly elected Rep Frederica Wilson, a true "hat lady," including detailed history of the rule and trying to get a straight answer from contemporary House rule sticklers:

http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2010/nov/19/frederica-wilso...

They ended up rating this statement:

Congresswoman-elect Frederica Wilson says hat ban started in 1800s but can be waived

as "half true," based on many things, including this which surprised me:

Even the late Rep. Bella Abzug (D-N.Y.) couldn't sport her trademark broad-brimmed hats when she served during the 1970s."

The answer to your question , btw, is at the end:

An aside: we wondered if the current hat ban rule would prohibit religious Jews from wearing yarmulke or Muslim women from wearing the hijab or headscarf. Steel, Boehner's spokesman, said in an e-mail: "The rule regarding hats has never been interpreted to apply to religious headcoverings."

I sort of enjoyed reading the whole thing, obsessive cultural history buff that I am.

Before I found it, the topic had me checking out whether Rep. David Crockett of Tennessee, 1833-1835, wore his coonskin cap or similar in office. Apparently, judging from this 1834 portrait,

the King of the Wild Frontier could do gentleman townie too.

Edit to add from the article: Unlike the House, the Senate doesn't have a formal written rule banning members from wearing hats. "People don't wear hats in the Senate," said Senate historian Donald Ritchie. "The Senate sort of adheres to an unofficial dress code but it's not specifically in the rules." Sort of the reverse of what most would think at first, but then if one remembers that the Senate was a sort of gentlemen's club from the start while the House was for the rabble, where some might becoming to town from some godforsaken place where denizens were not acquainted with urban manners....

it is ironic that "towelhead"

jollyroger — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 01:01:12 +0000

In reply to hahahahahahahhahahahahahaha I

it is ironic that "towelhead" should be so popular an epithet fom some who themslves are "hankeyheads". why should amount of coverage control?

hahahahahahahhahahahahahaha I

Richard Day — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:51:53 +0000

In reply to no yarmulkas? I doubt that,

hahahahahahahhahahahahahaha

I am speechless. hhahahaahah

That is the single funniest line I have read in a month. ahahahahah

no yarmulkas? I doubt that,

jollyroger — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:33:27 +0000

In reply to There's a dress

no yarmulkas? I doubt that,

I gotta tell ya, I kind of

Richard Day — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:55:09 +0000

In reply to There's a dress

I gotta tell ya, I kind of liked that.

That was fun!

Especially with the Temp breaking his hammer on the desk.

What a sight! hahahahah

SHUT UP, SHUT UP! HAHAHAHAHA

I have nothing but Kudos for that guy Rush.

At last I found a Rush to admire. hahahaha

There's a dress

artappraiser — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:23:54 +0000

In reply to The gentleman will remove his hood or suspend. There may be no hoods worn on the floor of Congress (There's a dress code??)

There's a dress code??

Made me curious so I looked it up. Clause 5, Rule 17 prohibits the wearing of hats and headwear in the House chamber while in session. So he could wear his hoody with the hood down.

Also I presume: no crowns or miters or birettas, nor hijabs nor flying nun headpieces, though I suspect powdered wigs were/are permissible?

(Ran across today's log while doing the search, where Chair reminded members to refrain from trafficking in the well during debate-gotta love some of that 19th-century language.)

There are other ways to

Richard Day — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:18:25 +0000

In reply to The gentleman will remove his hood or suspend. There may be no hoods worn on the floor of Congress (There's a dress code??)

There are other ways to handle bad situations:

There were giants in the

jollyroger — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:13:12 +0000

In reply to The young folks of

There were giants in the Earth in those days...

The young folks of

oldenGoldenDecoy — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:03:41 +0000

In reply to The gentleman will remove his hood or suspend. There may be no hoods worn on the floor of Congress (There's a dress code??)

The young folks of today...

They wouldn't know how to react if they saw this on their iPods or Blackberries..

Ah 1968 ... The days of Ronnie Raygun as governor of the Great State of California...

Yes! That is the steps of the state capitol building.

This really got everyone's attention real quick.

~OGD~