Thursday, March 05, 2009

We Know It's Been A Long Week But . . .


SLEEPING IN'S FOR SATURDAYS
As many members of the House took part in an emotional and at times deeply personal debate over abortion Tuesday, St. Louis County Democrat Patricia Yeager was asleep on the House floor.
The Notebook isn't out to be cruel, but after reading Tony Messenger's Twitter about how Rep. Yeager had again "been asleep for almost an hour," during Thursday's debate, I was a bit alarmed. How often does this go on? Does anybody ever tap her?
Say what you may about the annual abortion debate, but it's nothing if not lively.
There's also the fundamental issue of just wanting to know your lawmaker is awake, and maybe at least half-listening to the issues at hand. (Can you imagine the television ad that could be written?)
My question is if Yeager is the only offender, or are there more sleeping on the job?
We know the session days can be long up there, but if you need to catch a few Zzzzs, it might be a better idea to camp out in your office -- and not in plain sight of reporters.


2 comments:

Busplunge said...

I thought cameras weren't allowed on the house floor.

David Catanese said...

Busplunge,

Cameras are allowed on the House floor, with permission from the Gallery attendants, of course. On the Senate side, you need the signature of a Senator. But in most cases, that's just a formality.

--Dave