[Vision2020] Missed votes

[Paul Rumelhart]

I hope this topic becomes large enough and loud enough of an issue to 
actually shame our Congressmen and women into actually participating 
and/or voting occasionally.  I was on leave for a few days when I was at 
the Naval Academy and toured DC.  This was in '86, I believe.  One of 
the things I did was watch a session of Congress.  I don't remember if 
it was the House of Representatives or the Senate.  It was a surreal 
experience.  There were, literally, a dozen Congressmen there.  Almost 
every one of them was reading the newspaper and paying absolutely no 
attention to the Congressman that was speaking.  The one that was 
speaking was expressing enthusiastic support for something, I don't 
remember what.  Not one of the Congressmen that were there acted as if 
they even heard what was going on.  That one visit trashed my view of 
our legislative branch forever.  I was actually naive enough at one time 
to think that the idiots running this country actually cared about 
something.  If we're not paying these guys and gals to discuss and 
debate the issues, let alone vote on them, then what are we paying them for?

Paul