Happy 85th birthday to Brian Lamb. In 1979, he founded C-SPAN with the idea that the public should be able to watch government at work without a journalist telling them what to think about it. The network brought Americans unprecedented, uninterrupted coverage of congressional proceedings. It also gave ordinary citizens the opportunity to question politicians and public figures directly through live call-in programs. Lamb also created Booknotes, where he spent an hour each week interviewing the author of a nonfiction book. Over 15 years, he conducted more than 800 interviews, reading every book himself (not every host does, or should, do this). In the 1980s, a young congressman named Newt Gingrich recognized the power of the cameras. He and his Republican allies delivered speeches attacking Democrats, often to a nearly empty House chamber, knowing Americans were watching at home. House Speaker Tip O’Neill became so frustrated that in 1984 he ordered the cameras to show the empty chamber, exposing the tactic. It was an early demonstration of how television could be used not just to document politics but to shape it. The opportunities for political theater were real, but they were far outweighed by what Lamb gave the public. A chance to see and hear its government firsthand. The idea of watching government at work becomes more complicated when so little governing is getting done, as has been the case for years. That’s hardly Brian Lamb’s fault. He gave the public a window into Washington. What they see through it is another matter.