A Pilgrim’s Digression

From Reuter’s “Oddly Enough” news:

Congressman Chases Down Pickpocket

Sat May 26, 11:42 AM ET

A U.S. congressman chased and caught a man who picked the lawmaker’s pocket on Thursday night in Washington’s tony Georgetown neighborhood, a local television station reported.

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, a New Jersey Republican, was walking in the area when a group of young men came up behind him. Frelinghuysen felt someone grab at his wallet and when he turned, the would-be robber took off, WRC TV report.

Frelinghuysen, 61, gave chase and caught the suspect a short distance away. Two passing police officers saw the chase and arrested the 18-year-old suspect, the report said.

Frelinghuysen, a seven-term congressman, was not immediately reachable for comment.

Asked about the incident, a police spokesman confirmed that “something like that occurred tonight in Georgetown.”

“I can’t identify the surviving victim of any crime,” he said. “But, I understand the victim has been calling the news media and telling them his story.”

That last paragraph is almost as good as a punchline. My only question is, at what point in the robbery did the congressman realize that chasing down the perp would be a great PR ploy? I hate to be cynical, but then, politics is a cynical profession.

Personally, I think from the moment Frelinghuysen realized he was being robbed, he probably began considering how to turn the event to his political advantage. That’s just how politicians think.

Well, bully for him, I guess. I can think of a few politicians I wish would take stupid risks with their lives, merely for an ephemeral PR boost. Maybe Representative Frelinghuysen will be an example for his fellow members of Congress.

It would be refreshing to see, say, Arnold Schwarzenegger in firefighter garb trying to save a constituent’s million dollar home from an on-coming California wildfire. Or Dirty Harry Reid bursting in on an armed robbery at a D.C. 7-11 and shooting the perps dead with his trusty Magnum.

Or better yet, Ted Kennedy could become a volunteer lifeguard specializing in saving young, female victims from drowning.

Hm. Better scratch that last one.

Oh, and we need to put a watch on Frelinghuysen’s official website. It would be interesting to see how many hours pass before the official press release goes live. The congressman is probably in a strategy session with his advisers right now, crafting his official statement on the matter.

Anyone taking bets that it won’t include the phrase “tony Georgetown neighborhood?” Most likely, the Congressman was walking home to a rented, coldwater flat in Columbia Heights.