....and honestly it was pretty damn depressing. I happened to be allowed into the senate gallery today, and got to observe them for about 20 minutes.
Well except "them" isnt really accurate. It's more of a "him". Now look to be fair I did miss (by about an hour or so) the big news making confirmation of Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary, since the GOP finally i willing to believe Friends of Hamas doesnt exist.....well that and someone changed John McCain's diaper.
So when I was in there, no big history making thing was happening. But still even granting that it was a bit depressing.
See Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin was giving a speech, on if it was a good idea to arm the Syrian rebels. Now I'll be honest, I wasnt able to in there long enough to know what his position was, as I only caught the tail end, nor is the point of this post to debate if thats a good idea.
The point was WHO was in the chamber. Dick Durbin, who as I mentioned ended his speech and Ben Cardin (D-MD), who had his own speech to give supporting (I believe) Durbin, Harry Reid popped in for a few seconds, I think to confer with a staffer and possibly Ben Cardin (out of my line of sight). (and to be fair also in the room were the required staffers and the presiding officer, who I didnt recognize at the time but believe was either Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) or Lisa Murkowski (R-AL) but thats based on looking at headshots after getting internet back (no electronics in the galley) so I might well be wrong)
That's kinda depressing. I mean look anyone who has access to CSPAN knows congress is fairly boring, especially since most of the procedural stuff is full of so much jargon it barely sounds like English.
But like one of the people in my group put it "you think they would be here out of respect at least, since this is an important issue". And I have to be honest, I agree. Its just sad to see the senate chamber while in session, have more people in the gallery (even excluding my group) than in the chamber itself.
I remember when I went to the UK. On the tour of the House of Common's they mentioned the chamber wasnt actually big enough to hold all the members.....but it wasnt a problem because all the members were never there at the same time, even on critical votes and issues.
I didnt say anything, but my thought was "that just makes your government sound pathetic, like they dont really give a shit." Well surprise.....guess out government really is based on the British system.
Although as far as I know, all our senators DO show up for the actual votes, even if they miss the speeches And to be fair, rarely do speeches change peoples minds.
And thanks to CSPAN (and the internal capital network) Members of Congress can watch the goings-on in either chamber from their office building And given that one of the staffers that was in the chamber was seeming to fill a glass of water on one of the desks on the GOP side, its quite possible that that is exactly what happened here.
Durbin left the chamber after speaking, even with Cardin voicing support, so between that and the cup, I do think its very likely, that at least on the important issues, Congress is at least paying attention, show up to speak when its their turn, and just work better in their office. But still the sight of an empty chamber LOOKS very sad and depressing.
Politics is supposed to be at least half perception, so you'd think Senators would play the game a bit more.....just in case their constituents are in the gallery (although Senator Cardin is my state senator, I'm speaking more broadly).
Point is rather then make me think "dude cool I got to see congress in action" I left feeling kinda depressed and disillusioned which is not good
Moral of the story: Now I know why CSPAN uses so many tight close up's..........
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