Get the Congressman some coffee
Published October 5, 2013
by Gary Pearce, Talking About Politics, October 4, 2013.
The government is shut down, so Congressman George Holding got some shuteye. On camera.
At the moment one of his Republican colleagues declaimed, “It’s about time to do what’s right for the whole country,” the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina was catching a few winks. CSPAN’s camera caught him. Unfortunately for Holding, he was presiding over the House at the time.
Now, I will not criticize Congressman Holding. I feel his pain. It was the House. It was a Republican congressman speaking. It was 3:36 pm. A lot of us need a mid-afternoon shot of caffeine.
But think back to the infamous clip of ex-Congressman Bob Etheridge throttling an obnoxious political operative on the streets of Washington. The clip haunted Etheridge and hounded him out of office.
Congressman Holding’s seat may be secure enough that he can sleepwalk his way to reelection. But when and if he runs statewide, he can count on his opponents gleefully seizing on the moment he fell asleep on the job.
