|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
Spat gives Alabama Senate black eye
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Container
|
| Contributor | The Sunset Provision |
| Last Edited | The Sunset Provision Jun 09, 2007 11:36am |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | News |
| Media | Website - Yahoo News |
| News Date | Saturday, June 9, 2007 05:35:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | A Republican lawmaker slugging a Democratic colleague in the Alabama Senate this week reminded political observers of another black eye for the Legislature: Eight years ago, the lieutenant governor urinated in a jug, discreetly, at the front of the Senate chamber.
Both incidents occurred as tensions simmered over Senate operating rules. And both became fodder for TV comics and commentators.
"It's something everyone is talking about and some people are laughing about. It's a black eye," Glen Browder, a political science professor and former member of the Alabama Legislature and U.S. House, said of the fight.
"It feeds into the stereotype of the rural South," said Merle Black, an expert in Southern politics at Emory University in Atlanta.
Browder, who teaches political science at Jacksonville State University, and Black agreed on something else: Alabama's single blow wasn't nearly as bad as some brawls in foreign legislatures, including a large one last month in Taiwan.
"These are just two guys. It didn't get any more involved," Black said.
On Thursday, the final day of the 2007 regular session of the Legislature, Republican Sen. Charles Bishop and Democratic Sen. Lowell Barron were having an emotional exchange when Bishop hit Barron in the side of the head, knocking him over a desk. Alabama Public Television tape captured the punch.
Security officers and other senators pulled Bishop away before another blow could be landed.
|
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
| Article | Read Full Article |
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
