A Tale Of Two Congressmen

In a display of unprecedented disrespect the Republican Representative from Colorado Springs, Doug Lamborn, has said that even though he“respects the president personally, and the office of the president," he will boycott the President Obama's State of the Union Address since he does not respect Obama's policies. This petulant behavior has been described as a reaction to the fact that he is upset because someone had the audacity to run against him for "his" seat in Congress. “Why would someone want to knock off the most conservative member of Congress?,” he asked about his opponent.

Let's see...because you are an disingenuous, egotistical, self-absorbed, immature, jerk?

Meanwhile another Colorado politician, Democratic U.S. Senator Mark Udall, is asking Congressional members to use the bipartisan seating arrangement implemented after President Obama's first State of the Union speech was interrupted by South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson when he shouted out, "You lie!"

Udall has teamed up with Alaska's Republican Senator Lisa Murkowsk in this effort. The two Senators sent a letter to all Congressional leaders asking them to help make bipartisan seating during presidential State of the Union Address "a permanent tradition."

Political differences will always generate a healthy debate, but too often our dialogue impedes the progress demanded by the American people. Hyper-partisanship has frequently kept Congress from finding common-sense solutions that could spur economic growth or help our middle class. It’s little wonder that the American people have such a low regard for Congress and a lack of confidence in their governmental institutions.

So, now more than ever, we have the obligation to show that there is a place for civility on Capitol Hill and that civility can lead to problem-solving. As we saw last year, bipartisan seating reduced the division we had witnessed for decades at the annual State of the Union address, where Members traditionally took part in choreographed standing and clapping on one side of the Chamber while the other side sat in silent protest. That is an image unbecoming of our institution, especially when we should be striving for ways to put aside our differences and stand united.

I'm happy to learn there are at least two grown-ups out there in that Congressional sandbox we call the
Legislative Branch of our government.