C-SPAN Mixes Up Hawaii Politicians
It started when Rep. Ted Lieu of California was identified as Rep. Mark Takai of Hawaii.
Roll Call’s gossip blog has this item on an unfortunate, if somewhat humorous, recent broadcast on C-SPAN. Excerpt:
Mind you, us print folks have already copped to occasionally being stumped by which older white man in a suit is popping off at the mouth. But our counterparts over at C-SPAN appear to be having real trouble differentiating among Asian-American lawmakers.
The comedy of errors commenced as soon as Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., stepped up to the mics.
Sorry, guys, but the fact that the chair ceded the floor to the gentleman from California should have tipped you off that that couldn’t be Rep. Mark Takai, D-Hawaii, taking the GOP to task about climate change.
Some 13 hours later, it was time to cast Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, in a terribly awkward light.
Yep, in the ultimate #ThrowbackThursday, Team C-SPAN resurrected the nameplate for the late Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii and briefly attached it to the sitting solon.
It’s not the first time that the “Heard on the Hill” blog has reported on the mistaken identification of Asian-American pols. Read Is That Mark Takai? Or Mark Takano? Or Ted Lieu?
To know exactly who is whom in the new Congress, get a copy of Roll Call’s handy guide.
