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Earthquake Hits Home for Cantor

Although he seems to be enjoying the Mediterranean sun

by
Marc Tracy
August 23, 2011
Rep. Eric Cantor and Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday.(Prime Minister of Israel/Facebook)
Rep. Eric Cantor and Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday.(Prime Minister of Israel/Facebook)

Did you feel it? If you were somewhere on the United States’ Eastern Seaboard a couple hours ago, you may have felt tremors emanating from the 5.8 earthquake whose epicenter was somewhere near the town of Mineral, Virginia, between Richmond and Charlottesville. The jokes have already begun about how President Obama should return immediately from his idle August vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., in order to tend to the wreckage of Washington, D.C. But actually, Obama likely felt the tremors.

Rep. Eric Cantor, Republican of Virginia, on the other hand, would not have: he is currently in Israel, where, an eyewitness tells us, earlier today he had lunch with the AIPAC delegation. Why is this relevant? Because the earthquake actually took place in his district (zoom in, and you’ll see Mineral). Should Cantor return immediately? What message is HaShem sending him? Is his noticeable tanning due to the Middle East climate or a desire to emulate his boss, Speaker John Boehner? Leave your jokes in the comments.

Related: The Gentleman From Virginia [Tablet Magazine]

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.