A Republican candidate for U.S. Senate named Thomas Foley is all whipped up over a widely distributed Associated Press photo of two Democratic state lawmakers playing solitaire on their laptops while a budget debate was happening this week. Check out the sinful scene at http://www.courant.com/ or a dozen other places on the Web.

Foley (a former U.S. ambassador to Ireland no less) joined a multitude of irate bloggers, incensed Republicans and indignant taxpayers in condemning those horrible do-nothing Democrats, state Reps. Barbara Lambert of Milford and Jack Hennessy of Bridgeport.

The would-be challenger to Chris Dodd even went so far as to send a letter to the top state House and Senate Democratic leaders, hoping they were experiencing the same "sense of outrage felt by the people of Connecticut over the embarrassing spectacle of Democratic legislators playing solitaire... while important debate was taking place on the state budget."

First, it should be noted the guy who was talking while these two were playing cards was state House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr. of Norwalk.

Now, Larry Cafero can, on occasion, be somewhat amusing. But his shtick wears more than a little thin after a few months of repetition. I mean, has Foley ever sat through a legislative budget debate that's been droning on for five, six, seven hours? Has he ever had to listen to Republican (or Democratic) lawmakers saying the same predictable things endlessly, day and night for weeks? He might see a little solitaire differently if he'd been Cafero-ed often enough.

He also ought to understand that computer solitaire isn't a Democrat-only occupation in our legislature. If Foley had been walking around on the Republican side that night, its a sure bet he would have found some of Cafero's GOP colleagues yawning over their virtual card games.

Second, consider the alternatives. Solitaire, even played on a state laptop, is a relatively harmless way for legislators to waste the public's time. Consider what else they could be doing. Making backroom deals with lobbyists to stick extra slice of pork into the budget is one all-too-real possibility.

The public is usually far safer when members of the General Assembly are spinning their wheels and "accomplishing" nothing. Some legislative veterans estimate lawmakers spend about a third of each session fixing the mistakes they made the year before. If you have any doubts, just keep an eye on what happens next with this lovely two-year, $37.6 billion budget monster. The wobbly, makeshift, Swiss cheese tax-and-spending creation those folks approved is certain to need more shoring up in the near future.

And finally, doesn't Foley have anything better to do as a candidate for the U.S. Senate than get frothy over Democrats playing cards? I don't know, maybe he might try studying up on a few minor issues like health care or Pakistan or how we can keep Wall Street from imploding the economy again. (Then again, he might find that sort of thing a tad boring.)

Foley wants legislative leaders to ban the use of laptops and other electronic devices during debates. If he gets to Congress, is he going to ask that senators actually stay in the chamber to listen to each other make their inane speeches?

The former ambassador isn't alone wanting to beat up on those unlucky bastards Hennessy and Lambert. But you'd think he'd be able to come up with a better line of blarney after spending all that time on the Emerald Isle.