Pardon my snickering!

Rare Kerry appearance causes uproar in Senate. It's kind of like bird watching when some poor befuddled specimen gets blown across an ocean and the birders turn out in droves to view the wonder.

On the Senate floor, Democratic minority leader Tom Daschle accused the majority leader, Bill Frist, of saying that Kerry should not be allowed to ''parachute down and have a vote" after so much time away on the campaign trail.
...
He also was able to sit for a ''class picture" yesterday afternoon of the full Senate; had he not been there, Kerry aides said, Republican media strategists would have had a photo at their disposal of all but Kerry present on a day when senators were debating veterans' benefits and Pentagon spending.

I'm glad Lurch takes the people's business seriously.