The Senator and the Bad Romance

Close your eyes. Imagine you are at a Lady Gaga concert. What do you see? A smoke-filled stage and a flaming angel statue? Check. A gang of muscular, nearly nude, male back-up dancers wearing what can only be called minimalist lederhosen? Yup. Gaga herself decked out in lingerie that looks like it was fashioned out of fishnet and a freshly-killed raven? Of course. Hordes of young fans screaming to the lyrics to songs about getting black-drunk in a cab, Mexican ex-lovers, and stalking celebrities? Definitely. New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg, the oldest member of the Senate, celebrating his 86th birthday with his wife, Bonnie? You bet.

That’s right. While every other 86 year-old was spending his birthday at home, opening box-set after box-set of Ken Burns documentaries, and gumming down sugar-free birthday cake, Sen. Lautenberg was at Radio City Music Hall tearing it up with the First Lady of glam-rock-electro-pop-dance. When asked why he chose to attend the concert in the first place, the Senator, like most Gaga-goers, said he was looking for a bit of escape from the daily grind:

“Last week in Washington was like a bad romance. I wanted my birthday to be a little more fun.”

A Lady Gaga concert: More fun than sitting through an Appropriations Committee hearing.