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Sensenbrenner: On Bureaucrat Watch
Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) regularly walks around his office to make sure his staff members are at their desks, according to a tipster.
If they’re not, according to the source, they can expect to hear from the congressman, who tells them that they have “failed the day.”
So what gives?
It turns out the reason Sensenbrenner is so tough about staff being at their desks is because approximately a decade ago, a Madison, Wis., radio station liked to play a game it called “Bureaucrat Watch,” where a DJ would call the office of a politician on Capitol Hill at 4:59 p.m. on Fridays to see whether anybody answered the phone. Unmanned offices were said to have failed Bureaucrat Watch, and could be assumed to be wasting taxpayers’ money.
According to a former staffer, Sensenbrenner’s office failed Bureaucrat Watch a few times, which made the congressman, understandably, “pretty upset.”
The game may be over, but the term is still around: Today, if staffers aren’t at their desks, Sensenbrenner and the rest of his staff joke (sort of) that they’ve failed Bureaucrat Watch.
The same thing can happen to staffers who don’t answer their cell phones.
Other Sensenbrenner tidbits: He is a big stamp collector and still uses a typewriter to keep in touch with “lots” of pen pals around the world. Sensenbrenner, who registered at No. 26 on The Hill’s list of wealthiest lawmakers, also likes to take the Metro.
Sensenbrenner’s office declined to comment, but a current staffer told ITK she had never seen or heard of Bureaucrat Watch.
Survivor: Jeff Flake edition
Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) spent a week during the August recess alone on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean, testing his survival skills while carrying only a few essential items.
As he recounted to The Arizona Republic, Flake was dropped off in the Marshall Islands with little more than snorkeling gear, a water desalinization pump and a Hawaiian sling to spear fish. He slept in a hammock and swam and fished in the ocean, avoiding the sharks.
“My diet was coconuts and a lot of crabs. I lit fires with a magnifying glass and a coconut husk, too,” Flake said. “I never was an Eagle Scout, and I’m doing penance for it now.”
No word on whether Flake talked to a volleyball à la Tom Hanks in “Castaway.”
Flake said he has long wanted to learn if he could live off the land and sea with no help from anybody and that he’s been planning the trip for two years. He did not notify the media before he left.
The Marshall Islands are composed of more than 300 unique islands located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Between 1946 and 1958, the United States government tested more than 60 nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands, causing the Atomic Energy Commission to list the nation as “by far the most contaminated place in the world.”
John Kerry: Wedding planner?
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) spent his summer commuting between Boston and Washington nearly every weekend in order to help his youngest daughter, Vanessa, plan her wedding, the bride explained to ITK in a recent interview.
Vanessa Kerry, a practicing physician based in Boston, will wed her longtime boyfriend, fellow doctor Brian Nahed, on Saturday, Oct. 10.
Among the senator’s tasks so far? Tasting potential wedding cakes, picking music, sketching a wedding gown and making sure the wedding date doesn’t conflict with any Boston Red Sox home games.
Kerry reports that the couple decided to go with a chocolate and vanilla cake, so that “there’s something for everyone.”
But according to his daughter, Sen. Kerry’s biggest contribution may be in the music department. Vanessa told ITK that her dad has “gone way above and beyond with every aspect of the music, from interviewing potential bands to listening to songs to adjusting various playlists on everything from all-out rock ‘n’ roll to dinner music.”
She also pointed out that her father brings a unique expertise to the musical element: Sen. Kerry has played the bass guitar since he was a teenager, so “he really knows what he’s talking about.”
Kerry and Nahed didn’t hire a designated wedding planner for the Boston nuptials, so the senator’s input, which includes keeping “designated folders” for various elements, has been “an extraordinary gift” for the couple. “Especially,” said Vanessa, “in light of the fact that my mother can’t be here to be part of it all.” Dr. Kerry’s mother and John Kerry’s first wife, Julia Thorne, died of cancer in 2006.
Contrary to the experience of many brides-to-be, Vanessa said that planning her big day has been “so much fun,” thanks in large part to her father’s participation. “He’s solved so many problems,” she gushed, and his presence is “a great way to keep a sense of humor about an extraordinary industry that neither of us knew much about.
“We’ll both be standing there, trying to pick a tablecloth, which is neither of our fortes, and we’ll just start laughing.”
McCain’s Tweets heard around the world
The prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan, Barham Salih, surprised Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) during a recent trip to Iraq when Salih told the senator that he knew the details of a hiking trip McCain took with his son Jimmy in August.
McCain recounted the exchange during an appearance on NBC’s “The Tonight Show”: “He says, ‘Oh yeah, I follow you on Twitter. Weren’t you in Canyon de Chelly with your son a few days ago?’ ”
McCain posted photos from the trip on his Twitter page, where more than 1.3 million people follow his frequent Tweets — more followers than any other member of Congress.
“It’s amazing, when you think about it,” McCain last week told late-night host Conan O’Brien, who replied, “He knew what you had for lunch, probably.”
Twitter is a family affair for the Arizona Republican: His daughter Meghan McCain boasts more than 50,000 followers to her Twitter stream; wife Cindy just under 10,000.
McCain clearly enjoyed himself during the talk show appearance; the following day he Tweeted, “Back in Arizona. Had a great time on the Tonight Show last night — Conan is a funny guy!!”
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