Liz Peek: Fetterman dress code fail begs big question about America’s steep decline
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/fetterman-dress-code-fail-begs-question-americas-steep-decline
Democrat John Fetterman is not just a prime example of arrested development; he is a symbol of the dumbing down of standards and expectations that is undermining our great nation.
Fetterman, the overgrown man/child elected to the senate last year, is mainly known for wearing hoodies and gym shorts, a look that he thinks is cool and which also serves as a middle finger to the establishment. The Pennsylvania legislator is so uncomfortable wearing the normal garb of successful people occupying important roles in our society – a suit and tie, for instance – that Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has relaxed the senate’s dress code, apparently to accommodate this slovenly member of that august body.
Historically, there was no written dress code of the Senate; all members were adults, and they did not need to be told that respect for the institution required them to dress as such. No longer.
The elimination of the senate’s dress code is the least of our problems. Much more worrisome for our country is that the same lowering of standards is taking place everywhere, often in the name of “equity” or “racial justice.”
Educators across the nation are ditching tests and grades, prompted by declining performance and self-serving teachers’ unions complicit in that decline. In Portland, Oregon, authorities are considering new “equitable grading practices,” which would no longer penalize kids who cheat or who skip their homework, because “historical data shows racial disparities in students’ pass/fail rate.” The new approach is meant to be more “fair.” Talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations.
Degrading traditional assessments does not help the kid who gets away with cheating and falls into life-long bad habits or who may need extra help in the classroom. It certainly does not help children who behave and who work hard; they deserve recognition and reward.
Even in higher ed the push for “equity” is lowering the bar. The Metropolitan State University of Denver no longer requires that students use “Standard American English (SAE)” because it is “a social construct that privileges white communities and maintains social and racial hierarchies.”
The harm done by such foolishness is profound; the school acknowledges that SAE “is a version of English that is often expected in professional and educational settings.” Yes, not demanding that students learn to speak and write properly will almost certainly hold them back professionally.
Seattle’s schools teach that “Western Math,” “is used as a tool of power and oppression, and that it disenfranchises people and communities of color,” according to a reviewer from the Hoover Institution. Is it any wonder our kids aren’t scoring well on international assessments?
Bowing to the lowest common denominator in education is hurting our kids; it is also undermining law enforcement.
On his third day in office, New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg published a list of crimes he would no longer prosecute, like trespassing, resisting arrest or turnstile jumping. Crimes that, apparently, Mr. Bragg felt were inconsequential and for which people should not be held accountable.
Inconsequential to whom? It certainly matters to the law-abiding citizens of New York if someone is threatening their neighborhood and consequential to the subway system that an increasing number of passengers are riding for free. Did he think refusing to prosecute people for resisting arrest would make the job of a city cop easier or safer?
New York City Councilman Robert Holden, a Democrat, blames Bragg’s “ridiculous edict” for the unprecedented “lawlessness” we see today on city streets. He is correct.
In New York there is a not-for-profit called Parents in Action that helps families deal with little issues like allowances and big problems like substance abuse. At one gathering, the speaker told parents to set boundaries for their children that are as strict as they could manage. Kids expect and need those restraints. The message was this: teens are bound to break the rules; that’s in their DNA. If you give them a curfew of 10 p.m., they will come in at 11. If you permit smoking cigarettes, they will take up pot.
Alvin Bragg and other permissive DAs take the opposite course, loosening the rules and inviting bad behavior. They disregard the successes of “broken windows” policing, which helped to turn around crime in Detroit and Manhattan. The theory of Broken Windows is that cracking down on small crimes creates an atmosphere of orderliness which reduces the commission of more serious crimes. Arrest the squeegee guys disrupting traffic at intersections or graffiti vandals defacing public buildings and people begin to behave better.
Across the country today we see unchecked thievery, with criminal gangs systematically robbing stores and in turn robbing neighborhoods of vital services. Chicago’s mayor is considering opening city-run grocery stores to fill the void left by companies who have moved out, blaming out-of-control theft. These costly assaults on our commercial enterprises have been inspired – sanctioned – by law enforcement ignoring the shoplifter who pockets a candy bar. If he isn’t held to account, criminals reckon, the door is open.
The idea that we should hold people – and children — to account and to high standards may seem old-fashioned, but look around. Is this new era of licentiousness helping our country to prosper?
John Fetterman is the poster child for celebrating mediocrity. He lived off his parents until the age of 49 and has had one job of substance, mayor of a small town that actually shrank under his watch. His campaign platform contained such gems as “Make more s— in the U.S.”
Mainly, he was elected because some voters in Pennsylvania decided his opponent, a brilliant heart surgeon, was tarred by his association with former President Donald Trump.
Fetterman is not important; with luck he will eventually disappear from the public eye.
What is important is that America wakes up and jettisons the policies and programs that are debasing our country. Let us strive for excellence and set our standards high; only then will we fulfill our potential.
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