Putting On Airs.

       I just got an email from one of my Senators. Actually he's not necessarily my Senator, but he does represent Pennsylvania as one of its Senators. Anyway, in the newsy post he tells about how he stands up for justice, as though anyone would admit to standing against justice who is running to keep his job. But he goes on to tell how he has "spoken on the floor of the Senate." He even had a picture of himself holding up a poster sized photo of a man in uniform.
       Would you like to guess how many Senators were in the background, sitting at their assigned seats? Well except for the young woman helping to hold up the poster, there was a total of zero members present in that photo. Now, I'm sure there were at least one or two present, probably waiting their turn to speak. When you see a Senator speaking on some subject not up for a vote and even many that are, there usually are very few members present. They have more important things to do.
       The Senate is billed as the most important deliberative body in the world. Well, sometimes that's true, but most of the time they're off meeting with lobbyists and fundraisers. Sometimes they manage to squeeze time in for a hearing or two, especially if the media is present. Don't get me wrong, I think the Senate is important and Senators are required to make hard decisions. Decisions that will determine whether or not they will get the funding they need to get reelected.
       It's just that when you hear one mention how he or she spoke on the floor of the Senate about this or that of interest only to his constituents, you can be fairly certain he was there all alone. Hey, as a visitor to Washington being shown the Senate Chamber when it is not in use, I could speak in that Chamber. Like to ask a question or something.