MONTGOMERY -- Sen. Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe, today called for the resignation of a Republican senator who attacked him on the last night of the regular session of the Alabama Legislature.
Barron said he will wait until after the Senate Ethics Commission makes a determination in the case of Sen. Charles Bishop, R-Jasper, before he decides whether to file criminal or civil charges against Bishop.
Bishop struck Barron in the head during a brief scuffle on the Senate floor. Barron did not retaliate.
The Ethics Committee hasn't yet met.
Barron would not say whether the committee should expel Bishop, but he added, "If I were Sen. Bishop, I would consider resigning to prevent further embarrassment to our state and show the nation and the world that Alabama doesn't tolerate this type behavior."
"It is not my desire to file charges against Mr. Bishop, only because of the continued damage it will do to the reputation of the great state of Alabama," said Barron.
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I personally think not filing criminal charges against Senator Bishop sends a far worse message to the rest of the world about the state of things in Alabama. Not filing charges says, "It's ok to settle your differences with a punch" when clearly it is not ok. It says that our elected officials are not subject to the same laws as the citizens they represent. If you or I punched a Senator we'd likely be shot on sight and most definitely prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
It let's economic investors and industrial development folks know that this is the mentality they will have to deal with if they locate in the state of Alabama and that is not a good image to portray to the folks who can provide jobs to people who desperately need them. It sends the message to kids and their parents that it is ok to resort to violence to deal with issues that are not a threat to ones personal safety.
Governor Riley yesterday refused to condemn the actions of Senator Bishop saying only that it was time to move on. Great leadership there Bobby! This was after his initial response of “You know I think Sen. Bishop said it best. He said he’s sorry that it happened, wish it hadn’t happened there, but on the other hand, I doubt if the senator that called him that will ever do it again,” Gov. Riley said.
“I think everyone reaches a point to where you can just take so much and there’s certain things most Alabamians don’t want said to them or in front of them,” Gov. Riley said.
So, according to Governor Riley's logic on that it would be perfectly alright for one of his son-in-laws to smack around one of his daughters because she called him a son-of-a-bitch? Somehow, I doubt that would be the case if Minda or Chryslyn showed up at the Capitol with a black eye and a busted lip.
Truthfully, the only people in the state who have a right to take a swing at the do-nothing bastards are the citizens who are suffering under their 'leadership'. I'll quit bitching if they will line every damn one of them up and let me have a swing.
And while I am at it let me just say HELL NO to the Senate resolution for health insurance. "Why should we have to pay for them to go and get patched up after their Jerry Springer-ish brawls?" as a friend from MySpace put it to me the other day.
2 comments:
You may want to crawl under a rock, but don't feel too bad! I'm stuck in the stone ages (Kansas). Our legislature may be less entertaining, but they put out crap for laws! Sadly enough, I'm beginning to prefer a very uninvolved form of government. I've named this feeling Bushaphobia. "The less the government does, the less they destroy." Sad, but currently quite true.
Hey, Loretta, I have a similar take as you posted on my blog.
Sadly, Bishop and Barron are what pass for leadership in Alabama these days - at least the institutionalized leadership (but not institutionalized!).
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