CONGRESS FIDDLES; NATION BURNS

posted by Michael Chihak

Your friendly neighborhood members of Congress are on recess for the Independence Day weekend. But wait; isn't Independence Day next weekend? Like four days from now?

Yes, but they needed an early start so they could meet and greet their constituents, none of whom should be too happy with what these public non-servants are doing at the moment.

It's one week since the big Republican walkout from the negotiations dealing with the federal budget deficit and the debt, which now has cleared the ceiling and is poking skyward through the shingles.

Our very own Sen. Jon Kyl, R-AZ, was the last to depart the talks on behalf of his party. Should make all Arizonans feel proud.

And then there was Rep. Raúl Grijalva's countenance on the local TV news Monday evening touting a new solar energy facility in Tucson as he stood in the shade on a 112-degree day. Repeat: He was in Tucson. Not in Washington where the work needs to be done.

Appropriately, during Grijalva's time on camera, a freight train blew its whistle and rumbled by in the background.

He and every other member of Congress need to take a reality pill. They think they're engineering the train, but in actuality, it's left the station without them.