Dennie Rhoades, Barnett
Dear Editor,
I had occasion today to watch a clip of our Missouri House in debate during their rule making session. I don't often get the time to do that in my busy life, so I was excited and happy to have the opportunity to do so. What I saw was disheartening and disappointing.
With the issues currently facing the state of Missouri, I was saddened this topic was even brought before the House let alone actually debated. In reality, it resembled a bar room argument rather than a legitimate discussion of a topic important to the running of the state government of Missouri.
We as constituents should be appalled at the lack of common sense shown in this video clip. If dress code is what our elected officials are wasting our time and money on, why do we even have them?
As a voting citizen of the state of Missouri, I fail to see how what a person wears makes any difference in their ability to do their job, particularly in this case.
I want my representatives to be so concerned with the running of this state that they don't have time to worry about what they are wearing, I don't care if they are wearing jeans and a tee shirt, as long as they are focused on the running of our state to the best of their ability.
I would like to see them so concerned with the well being of our citizens, that they might not even stop to get out of their PJs. And yet, here we are, debating if a blazer is required to pass a law.
The entire debate took place between two women representatives. As a woman myself, I was ashamed of my sex at that point. As they were proving that all of the old stereotypes that supposedly show women are not fit for political service, may be correct.
The worst part is this foolish, idiotic exchange on a topic that should never have been debated on the House floor was visible to every citizen of Missouri via the internet. And remember, videos such as this often go worldwide. Once on the internet, forever on the internet. Do we want our great state of Missouri to become a laughingstock all over the world because of an argument over what someone is wearing? Well, that has effectively been accomplished here.