GovernmentExecutive.com

I've got C-SPAN on in my office, and they're showing a debate on the House floor. I am once again astonished by how much time the leaders of the House spend merely trying to get members to be quiet so debate can begin. For the past several minutes, all C-SPAN is showing is members milling about obliviously while a gavel sounds and a voice sonorously (and, eventually, exasperatedly) declares, "Please suspend your conversations or remove them from the floor," over and over again. When members do finally quiet down, it only lasts for a couple of minutes before the din rises again. I know that only dorks like me actually watch House debates, but I sometimes wonder if members give any thought at all to the way they look to the American public as they go about their daily business.