Tempers Flare During Another State's Legislative Session

Unlike Illinois, at least these two Alabama Senators are members of opposite parties:

Simmering tensions in the Alabama Senate boiled over Thursday when a Republican lawmaker punched a Democratic colleague in the head before they were pulled apart.

Republican Sen. Charles Bishop claimed that Democratic Sen. Lowell Barron called him a "son of a (expletive)."

"I responded to his comment with my right hand," Bishop said. Alabama Public Television tape captured the punch.

In an earlier post, I had written about the intense argument between an Illinois State Senator and the Governor -- both Democrats.  According to the Senator, they were close to coming to blows.  During his post-meeting press conference, the Senator did state that he would like to fight the Governor in one of the taverns in the Senator's district.

If that weren't bad enough, there is a new report that the Democrat Senate President barred one of his own floor leaders from attending any more Senate Democrat leadership meetings.  The Senate President also removed the Senator from the influential Senate Rules Committee. 

Meanwhile, Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich is accusing the Speaker of the House, himself a Democrat AND the chair of the state party, of scheduling three session days a week instead of five.  This is despite the fact that the Governor is constantly under fire for rarely visiting Springfield, which, after all, IS the capitol, and instead favors leisurely workdays at his home in Chicago.  As pointed out by another House Democrat within whose district the Governor lives, the Governor's workdays typically include regular afternoon jogs and plenty of time at his home.  When the Governor does come to Springfield to discuss the budget, he flies down during the late morning, remains for a few hours and flies back home during the afternoon.  This, of course, really irritates legislators, particularly those in his own party.  They therefore don't take too kindly when accused of having a poor work ethic.  The Illinois Democratic Party continues to implode and turn on itself as the overtime session completes its first week.  If only the Illinois Republican Party wasn't to inept to capitalize on this golden opportunity.