Attending a march like this to demonstrate respect for the victims and concern about the rampant musslim terrorism we all face is a far cry from "doing 'hands-on' foreign relations, negotiations, diplomacy and the like."
There is no reason at all why any member of the legislature, or for the matter the judiciary and any other American as well, should not feel free to attend and demonstrate their respect and concern at time like this.
It is an insult and a sad commentary on the entire government that not one elected official had the sense of honor to participate in this march.
These kinds of insults always come back to haunt the responsible parties.
I think they expected, just as you and I did, that a senior official, such as the vice president, secretary of state or at least a cabinet official of some kind, would be there. We have never seen this kind of behavior before in our long history and I think it still takes some people by surprise.
You know, FDR didn’t attend the march after Pearl Harbor, either.
Oh, wait...