Fancy Nancy Pelosi finally lives like the average American worker. Well, she didn’t give up her pricey dessert and college tuition priced fridge — but she does have to wear a mask at work. No longer an accessory to match her pantsuits for photo-ops, but mandated on the House floor. GOP Congressman Gohmert’s (R-Tx) positive COVID test pushed Nancy into the daily grind of wearing a mask in the real world. 

Louis Gohmert pushed her into the to the working class

How we’d love to see Fancy Nancy slinging plates at the local diner. Struggling to breathe, while shouting through a gingham swatch of fabric for hours on end. Unfortunately, it’s not quite to that level of hell. But we can all thank Texas Rep Louis Gohmert for Nancy’s recent edict, via Politico, to the House.

Members and staff will be required to wear masks at all times in the hall of the House. Except that members may remove their masks, temporarily, when recognized,”

Mask up or face the harsh penalty for disobedience!

The speaker has the authority to direct the sergeant at arms to remove a member from the floor as a matter of decorum,” Pelosi said, adding that not wearing a mask would be considered a “serious breach of decorum.”

Ohh, Nancy will have you ejected from the floor faster than a middle aged liberal will whip out a camera app to record a micro-aggression!

What happened to finally make the House of Representatives suffer the same fate as the average American working stiff? Texas Rep Gohmert tested positive of COVID-19, and Fancy Nancy jumped on the opportunity to grandstand the new requirement.

Fancy Nancy’s many masks, for her many faces

Fancy Nancy has a color matched designer mask for every occasion (worn smartly around her neck as a scarf)! Except when she’s in front of a camera, or on the House floor (well, above it all on her pedestal), or taking photo ops in her office (where her staff is certainly suffering under their masks). But now that a conservative has brought Covid to “her” house, she’s all for masks,

“It’s a sign of respect for the health, safety and well-being of others present in the chamber and in surrounding areas,”

What boggles the mind is why she waited so long to mandate masks in ALL of the public spaces and meeting rooms of the House. The prevailing advice is “wear a mask when you are near people outside your immediate family and in confined spaces.” Many American citizens can’t grocery shop without masks, nor can those workers be unmasked while doing their jobs, despite being behind plexiglass shields. But Nancy didn’t act upon the current wisdom of compulsory covering for members of “her” House. Mandates are for peasants, not politicians. The Associated Press reports that prior to the recent change,

Mask wearing had been strongly encouraged but not enforced for lawmakers in the Capitol, while other workers and law enforcement officers were required to wear masks. Committees had rules requiring face coverings in hearing rooms, but until now, they hadn’t been required in hallways or personal offices.”

Fortunately for Fancy Nancy, her designer scarves double as very ineffective PPE, should she ever use it for more than a photo-op while condemning the unmasked. Especially when the mask topic involves President Trump. On July 10th she said on CNN State of the Union,

I’m so glad that he obeyed the rules of the Walter Reed. You can’t go see our veterans who are there without wearing a mask. Now, he’s crossed a bridge,”

Concluding with,

If we want to stop the spread of the coronavirus, you have to wear a mask.”

Well Nancy, it only took you an additional 29 days to mandate that same policy for the floor of the House.

Representative Gohmert is getting flack for the mask, or lack thereof

Louis Gohmert has a history of not wearing a mask in the common spaces of the House. And for that he is taking heat. Well, and that he’s a Republican who can be lambasted by a relentless and completely biased media. They are blaming him for bringing “THE COVID” to the House, but not Pelosi for the lack of mask requirements. The Associated Press shares a common tone to the reporting,

The 66-year-old Gohmert, one of the House’s most conservative and outspoken members, told a Texas news station that he tested positive before boarding Air Force One and planned to self-quarantine. He is at least the 10th member of Congress known to have tested positive for the coronavirus.”

Note the “conservative” and “outspoken” editorializing? Also… he’s the 10th member of Congress to have tested positive for COVID. My local restaurant shut-down because one employee tested positive. My kids school district outside of Austin, Texas will close the school for a week if there is a single positive test. And they are required to wear masks. All Day Long.

But despite having a population of people well within the “at risk” age groups, the House approached this with a “Meh, wear the mask for the camera” approach. Fortunately for Speaker Fancy Nancy, an “outspoken conservative” representative tested positive, and potentially exposed others to the virus. Now she has an opportunity to grandstand and mandate for “her” House something that the rest of us have been doing for months.

We wish Congressman Gohmert a speedy recovery from his currently asymptomatic bout of coronavirus, and hope his intended regime of hydroxychloroquine and zinc is an effective treatment.

Featured image: Flickr/Keith Mellnick License: CC BY 2.0Image Cropped: 400×400