What pinched and pecked people Congress members have become. Are these 535 denizens of Capitol Hill the fearless leaders of our nation, the bold and wise representatives of a great and good people?

You would not think so looking at the latest effort by ethics watchdog groups to restrict our lawmakers’ interaction with lobbyists and squeeze all enjoyment and good humor out of public life.

Public Citizen is pressing the House and Senate ethics committees to ban lawmakers from accepting invitations from movie industry lobbyists to see screenings of the latest films before they come out on general release.

A gift! the watchdog barks, and insists that this malign example of inexpensive and inoffensive hospitality be brought to a screeching halt. A movie ticket costs about $9 in Washington and, as Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) points out with characteristic directness, “It’s silly to think that would have any influence on [his] vote.”

OK, so the lawmakers get to rub shoulders with movie stars at such events, and drink a glass or two of gratis wine. But, even so, this is hardly the stuff of a credit card advertisement that might say, “Movie, $9; booze, $20; Hollywood’s magic dust, priceless.”

It is telling that Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and a tireless scourge of all wrongdoing — proven, perceived or alleged — should find himself wrong-footed by the latest Puritanism. When asked by The Hill whether he would attend a free screening with the Motion Picture Association of America, he said he would. But then, upon hearing that this might breach the latest restrictions, Waxman said he would have to look into it and would only do what was approved.

This situation is absurd. We’re not talking here about congressmen who somehow manage to afford a luxurious new house, or who can fill it effortlessly with antique furniture and Oriental rugs. We’re talking about rules so restrictive that they prevent utterly harmless encounters between lawmakers and people with a constitutional right to petition them.

There cannot be more than a tiny and malcontented fraction of the American people who begrudge their lawmakers a free movie every now and then. And lawmakers are far more representative of the public than the watchdogs are.

It is time for Congress to show some spine and stop allowing itself to be pushed around.