Some people have their priorities in the right place.
The economy is circling the drain, Gaza is on fire, American workers are losing their jobs by the hundreds of thousands every month .... but all that stuff can wait.
Because Thursday night the University of Florida plays the University of Oklahoma for the national championship of college football. So Republican Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida wants House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call a timeout on the floor of the House so the Florida and Oklahoma delegations can attend to more pressing business.
"As you may be aware, on Thursday January 8, the University of Florida and the University of Oklahoma will play for the national football championship. Members of the Florida and Oklahoma delegations have expressed interest in attending the game as the congressional schedule allows. However, votes are currently scheduled to continue into Thursday night and Friday afternoon. We ask that you move these votes to either Wednesday and/or Thursday morning to allow Members to attend this historic game."
It's just awfully inconvenient to have to stay in Washington to vote on stuff when there is a football game going on. And it's not like any of that stuff to be voted on is important, right?
And what votes does Congressman Stearns want rescheduled? Oh, only some minor issues... including the certification of the Electoral College vote that will make Barack Obama the next President of the United States.
Now, being a football fan, I'm not entirely unsympathetic to Congressman Stearns. So I have a suggestion that might make everybody happy.
Instead of shutting down the House, how about setting up some big, flat-screen TVs all around the House chamber and have the game on while the House is in session?
Votes could be scheduled to coincide with commercials. In fact, voting could end as the commercials end. That way it keeps everything moving along nicely.
And in keeping with the sports bar theme of the night, replace the House pages with Hooters waitresses and serve beer and nachos.
Or maybe Congressman Stearns can just go home and watch the game and everybody else can just do their jobs without his input.