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Legislators Lambert, Hennessy Caught Playing Solitaire In Capitol

by Yuliya Talmazan | September 2, 2009 at 10:17 am

3335 views | 3 Recommendations | 3 comments

Two US democratic legislators were caught playing Solitaire on the their laptops during an important budget debate in the State House thanks to a photo made by an AP photographer. The photo shows two US legislators - a male and a female - playing the computer game on their computers while the House Republican Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr. delivers his presentation during a debate that took place on Monday, August 31. The duo's faces cannot be seen, but despite that, both of them have been identified -- they are Barbara Lambert and Jack F. Hennessy. It is not clear whether any disciplinary action will be taken against the two.

Interestingly, the photo also shows laptop of a representative just behind Lambert and Hennesy, playing the clip of a baseball game. The owner of the laptop is not in the photo frame, however, so he or she could not be identified.

The Associated Press picture has appeared in any number of venues, and it shows two lawmakers sitting in the back row of the historic Hall of the House in Hartford during the lengthy debate over the two-year, $37 billion state budget.

During the long debates at the state Capitol, legislators often work on their laptop computers - as seen in the photograph. Sometimes they are answering e-mails from constituents, while other times they are researching important information on pending bills. Other times, they are playing solitaire.

Lambert made a comment, saying it was the first time she ever played Solitaire. She also said she was fully knowledgeable about the budget and made up her mind long before the opposition speaker took to the stage.

"We had a lull and I had it on my screen," said Lambert, adding that she had thoroughly studied the various budgets introduced over the last few months and there was nothing Cafero could say to change her mind from supporting the Democratic package.

"I was still listening to him," Lambert said. "I asked Jack what he was doing and this is probably the first time I've played solitaire. I have no excuses because I work very, very hard and I was certainly listening intently, but Larry was really going on. I respect Larry as an individual. He's humorous. There's laughter when he's talking. He should know I always look at him."

Hennessy said his attention was also entirely centered on the speaker.

Hennessy, a member of the legislative Finance Committee, said he was also paying attention. "I was listening to every word that Larry said," he said in an afternoon phone interview.

Cafero, the speaker who was presenting while Lambert and Hennessy were playing Solitaire, had the reaction of frustration and dismay.

"They were playing solitaire," Cafero said. "Maybe I was boring. God bless them. What you want from me? I hope they won the game. I don't know how they played. They don't owe me an apology. The picture speaks for itself."

"I think it is symbolic of their frustration," he added. "Like, what the heck are you guys doing up there, you don't get it, and I think that is why it is getting the reaction it is."

So, it seems the problem of keeping legislators' attention is a significant one. To me, the solution to keeping legislators focused on doing the job they have been elected to do is to ban personal laptops during House sessions. Instead, why not provide legislators with in-House computers with limited Internet access, no computer games and no attention-diverting applications of any kind? After all, there is a simple trick that many university professors use -- they prohibit students from using laptops during their lectures, carrying out demonstrations that necessitate a computer themselves. But, will there be anyone who will dare curb the use of personal laptops by legislators in light of the incident? It remains to be seen.

What is your take?

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Landon Brands (not verified)

at 15:12 on September 4th, 2009

I can't believe these Representatives can get away with this. Or maybe it's just symbolic of the way the 111th Congress has been so far - anything brought up by a Republican is essentially ignored. Either way, these people need to find work elsewhere. You can see the original photo that this article describes here: www.courant.com/news/breaking/hc-monday-budget-meeting-pictures-0831,0,4194637.photogallery

Glenn W (not verified)

at 10:44 on November 4th, 2009

Landon, this has nothing to do with the 111th U.S. Congress. This is the Connecticut State House.

dblair (not verified)

at 09:18 on November 12th, 2009

This is just further proof that Congressional members, especially democrats, think they are bullet proof right now, due to Obama's election. This is a travesty and any members of congress found to be using their laptops during such sessions should be disciplined severely the first time they are caught doing so, and thrown out of congress the next time they are caught playing games with our futures. solitaire is not in their job descriptions. We do not pay them or elect them to play games, though from the crap coming out of the 111th congress, i am cetainly not surprised. Perhaps congress should make policies that forbid the use of session time for anything else. if they were caught in this kind of a situation in private enterprise they would be written up, the first time, fired the second or third time. Congress should enact such a policy immediately to insure that this does not happen again. It is shameful of them to play computer games while so many Americans are out of work, fighting overseas, on food stamps, living in tent cities after working all their lives, homeless, bankrupt etc. It is shameful! Wake up, America and throw all of these bums out next election!