Here's What's Happening

Today proved to be a short day with only budget bills being considered. We were done in short order and I get the chance to check in on the old blog for some odds and ends stuff. Here we go:

What's with all the apologizing? First there was Rep. Mark Martin's apology last Friday for his outburst on the House floor during the tobacco tax debate. His mea culpa seemed to be sincere, the members accepted it and everybody moved on. But now, here comes A-Rod, and he apparently has ESPN carrying his apology on a 24 hour basis. Good grief. I haven't heard that many"I'm sorry's" since my mother caught me signing her name to my 7th grade English progress report. Mama's punishment was swift and sure, as she left an indelible mark on the body part where A-Rod injects his performance enhancing drugs. No doubt this world misses my Mama.

We had a busy morning in the Judiciary committee and sent 11 bills to the House floor. Rep. Beverly Pyle's guns in church bill, came back to us with an amendment and it easily passed out again. I voted no this time too, and my reasons are still the same. Also, there was some fairly interesting discussion on a bill by Rep. Dan Greenberg. His bill proposes that anyone, for a fee, can run an ACIC criminal background check on any candidate filing for elective office in Arkansas. Once you get the results of the background check, and find that 40 years ago the candidate signed his Mama's name to a 7th grade progress report, what are you going to do with the damning information. You can (a) call the nearest reporter, (b) use discretion and keep it to yourself, or, (c) blackmail the hell out of somebody. So this is the thought I've got: If times are so bad that we have to carry concealed weapons to church, and run criminal checks on our candidates, then heaven help us all.