
Yes – this is for real. Today, one day before Valentine’s Day, the House Armed Services Committee invited the Pentagon’s top brass on a date to talk about sequestration — and then stood them up. (This was what the room looked like at about two hours into the meeting, toward the end. The screenshots were taken 5 minutes apart at 1:30. ) I can’t quite make out who the Representatives there are —the ones who where there for their own freakin’ meeting, mind you — and I don’t really want to give them too much praise for simply doing their jobs (but, hey, good on ya’!), but I can tell you that the wall of uniforms in the top pic? Yeah, those guys — they definitely had better things to do.
(I mean, really, what was going on in DC today that was 1) so pressing that all of these Representatives couldn’t be at their own meeting, but 2) not pressing enough to require the presence of any of these military commanders? Maybe Beyonce was in town…)
***UPDATE- My good friend Ellery, who has been working in Washington politics for many years now, tells me that these pictures were taken around the same time the Majority called a vote on the House floor. In other words, the seats were empty because the Representatives had gone to vote. Fair enough. The vote, in case you are wondering, was “To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to clarify that houses of worship are eligible for certain disaster relief and emergency assistance on terms equal to other eligible private nonprofit facilities, and for other purposes.”
So, yeah, that’s totally pressing… Totally worth blowing off the heads of every branch of the military right before Congress’ lack of action decimates the greatest fighting force in the history of the world, even as we are still dealing with terrorism and nuclear threats.
[bangs her head against the wall]
Here’s a list of some of the people who should never be allowed the privilege of (not) serving their constituents again:
Members of the Committee
For the 113th Congress, the House Armed Services Committee will be led by Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) with Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) serving as the Ranking Member. The following members will serve on the Committee:
Updated: January 9, 2013
Republicans
Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, Chairman, California Visit Site
Mac Thornberry, Vice Chairman, Texas Visit Site
Walter B. Jones, North Carolina Visit Site
J. Randy Forbes, Virginia Visit Site
Jeff Miller, Florida Visit Site
Joe Wilson, South Carolina Visit Site
Frank A. LoBiondo, New Jersey Visit Site
- Rob Bishop, Utah
Michael Turner, Ohio Visit Site
John Kline, Minnesota Visit Site
Mike Rogers, Alabama Visit Site
Trent Franks, Arizona Visit Site
Bill Shuster, Pennsylvania Visit Site
K. Michael Conaway, Texas Visit Site
Doug Lamborn, Colorado Visit Site
Rob Wittman, Virginia Visit Site
Duncan Hunter, California Visit Site
John C. Fleming, Louisiana Visit Site
Mike Coffman, Colorado Visit Site
- Scott Rigell, Virginia Visit Site
- Chris Gibson, New York Visit Site
- Vicky Hartzler, Missouri Visit Site
- Joe Heck, Nevada Visit Site
- Jon Runyan , New Jersey Visit Site
- Austin Scott , Georgia Visit Site
Steve Palazzo , Mississippi Visit Site
Martha Roby , Alabama Visit Site
- Mo Brooks , Alabama Visit Site
- Rich Nugent, Florida
- Kristi Noem, South Dakota
- Paul Cook, California
- Jim Bridenstine, Oklahoma
- Brad Wenstrup, Ohio
- Jackie Walorski, Indiana
Democrats
Adam Smith, Ranking Member, Washington Visit Site
Loretta Sanchez, California Visit Site
Mike McIntyre, North Carolina Visit Site
Robert A. Brady, Pennsylvania Visit Site
- Rob Andrews, New Jersey Visit Site
Susan A. Davis, California Visit Site
James R. Langevin, Rhode Island Visit Site
Rick Larsen, Washington Visit Site
Jim Cooper, Tennessee Visit Site
Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam Visit Site
Joe Courtney, Connecticut Visit Site
David Loebsack, Iowa Visit Site
Niki Tsongas, Massachusetts Visit Site
John Garamendi, California Visit Site
Hank Johnson, Georgia Visit Site
- Colleen Hanabusa , Hawaii Visit Site
Jackie Speier, California Visit Site
Ron Barber, Arizona Visit Site
- Andre Carson, Indiana
Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire Visit Site
- Dan Maffei, New York
- Derek Kilmer , Washington
- Joaquin Castro, Texas
- Tammy Duckworth, Illinois
- Scott Peters, California
- Bill Enyart, Illinois
- Pete Gallego, Texas
- Marc Veasey, Texas