How many of you would keep an employee who did this during an engineering meeting?
My issue would be that they couldn't be polite to their colleagues, not that their being bored by someone speaking means they're doing a bad job.
In this case, the politicians aren't supposed to love each other, they're from different parties. Yes, you want them to be able to work together, but saying that one person is boring you doesn't mean you aren't able to do your job and make the decisions you're there to make.
They're still human beings before they're republicans or democrats. I expect them to behave in a manner that says they're putting the nation first, not one that says "boo hoo, you don't agree about my pet projects and issues." There is a lack of mature, even-tempered discourse in Congress that wouldn't fly in a grade school.
I do wholeheartedly agree with your first paragraph, though.
Nation? Politicians are elected to represent their constituents, and not the nation. Factionalism is a key component of the American system. They are supposed to fight for their state and not for America as a whole. In that light, having a politician say that another is 'boring' is perfectly natural.
I think the point is that if you are tweeting when you should be listening, are you actually doing your job? Theoretically, he should be listening to people's opinions on the topic and using points to help form his own opinion. Instead, his opinion (or paycheck) has already been formed and therefore is not doing his job at all. The tweet was blatant proof.
My issue would be that they couldn't be polite to their colleagues, not that their being bored by someone speaking means they're doing a bad job.
In this case, the politicians aren't supposed to love each other, they're from different parties. Yes, you want them to be able to work together, but saying that one person is boring you doesn't mean you aren't able to do your job and make the decisions you're there to make.