Date of the Union

I love, love, love, the plan for folks from either side of the aisle in Washington to mix it up, seating-wise, for the State of the Union speech.

First, the serious, grownup reasons:

--We elected you to go to do the NATION'S business. That means a bunch of people from across the nation, working together. The least you can do is sit together. This isn't the Civil War.

--You're perpetrating a seating arrangement from an acrimonious period in American history that is now considered quaint. The Whigs are no more. We have BlackBerries and we let women vote and stuff. Let's get with the times.

--You are "officials" now. We hold you to a wee bit of a higher standard than other people. (See Watergate, Rangell, et al) Every day, Americans go to work with people they don't particularly like. From the chicken factory to the newsroom, we all sit down each day with people we don't agree with. But you know what? I still get the damn paper out. And chickens turn up in the grocery store. You can do the same.

Now, the fun reasons:

--OMG, Gillebrand and Thune (shown here with a soldier just returned from the Middle East) are going to sit together. The Prom Queen and King of Washington. How fun is that?

--Much more guesswork as to what seatmates are talking about.

--Much more sport in comparing outfits from either party. Who has the nicest tie in Florida? Who has the best outfit in California? This kind of armchair quarterbacking is going to be easier with the bipartisan seating arrangement.

--It is ticking off a particularly snooty lawmaker, whose SPOKESMAN had to comment on the issue, because he couldn't be bothered. When asked who this particular lawmaker would sit by, the SPOKESMAN said, "whoever sits next to him." Oooo, I bet YOU'RE fun at parties.