2005
Week 16
April 23, 2005

Hi

Have you ever noticed that young adults can look like angels? I saw it this week.

The trip home Thursday was the worst driving conditions I have experienced, which is saying a lot. I evidently was traveling with a severe thunderstorm, so could see only a few feet for most of an hour. Plus there was one idiot traveling without lights. My shoulders still ache.

I pulled off under a bridge during a short hailstorm. Was on the inside, on the grassy median. When we decided to move, the driver ahead and I both discovered we were stuck in the slick mud. Two young fellows got out, to try to push her car. Could not. I joined them. We could not do it. One of them looked at my car and said to his buddy, "Maybe we could push that one out." I said if we could get my car to solid footing I had a tow cable and could pull them out.

Another young fellow (they all appeared to be about 20) came across the road to help and they moved me out. I came back with my tow rope and then dropped it to join them as we together were able to push out her car. As the car moved, I, with shoes full of water, fell in the car track, was soaked to the skin with mud and water. In a storm like that, imagine how long I would have been there without those angels?

This week in the capitol, a feeble elderly woman was standing by an outside exit with one hand in front of her. I stopped to see how I might help. She asked if I knew anything. I smiled, as that is an inside joke in the capitol ("Maybe someone knows something about this") and said I would try. She had picked up a gum wrapper, which she felt did not belong on the floor, and wondered where it could go. I received a grace-filled gift.

Senator Chambers exercised his humor in grand fashion this week, with the Speaker as a foil. Chambers had been wasting floor time, big time, and evidently promised the speaker on the next bill he would stop when asked. After about 30 minutes, the Speaker moved from his desk in the back of the room, to the front podium where he checked whose light was on to speak, then, avoiding making a scene by going straight back to Chamber's desk, exited a side door and reappeared at another door near Chambers, to tell him his time was up.

That describes what we saw happen. This was how Chambers narrated it: "I will not be speaking long on this, as I may receive advise from our man. Oh, there is Senator Brashear up front, so I may not push my light on again. Well, now he has disappeared out a door, so I will continue. Oh, now he has reappeared to my left. See? I am a magician, in addition to all the other things I have told you I am. I can make the Speaker disappear and then reappear. All by magic." We did enjoy the embarrassment of the speaker as he tried, unsuccessfully, to be discreet.

With all the stalling, we did nothing of substance this week. The main subject was a continuation of whether or not to amend the constitution to protect our right to fish, hunt and trap. Chambers had more delaying amendments to the resolution, such as "hunting for a way to defend and protect the Constitution of the Nebraska from frivolous amendments that would clutter, demean and trivialize it."

With lots of time to listen and think I did find our philosophizing presented interesting questions. Do we really think we have to protect the citizens from ourselves? We cannot think of anyone on the floor who would support an unreasonable restriction on fishing. How could there possibly be 25 votes at some future date? The PETA organization is the only one that anyone can imagine raising a challenging question. They are good folk, but their ideas on public policy are nutty and meant for advertising. Does anyone really think a marginalized group is going to take over the state? If they did, a sentence in the constitution would be no barrier to them at all. Verily, we should have more confidence in ourselves.

Sigh. Chambers is chewing up the clock, trying to stop the "trivializing" of the constitution. We will take all that time to overcome him, for a matter that is simply of no value whatsoever.

Do remember, government is mostly by committee and is not designed to be efficient. You may remember hearing about the woman, a few years ago, who was not considered competent, being a woman, to sign for a home loan. So her husband went ahead as the sole signer, but they would not accept his signature until they verified that his wife had full time employment.

New word for the week: "flock-shoot." That is when we can fix a number of problems with one bill.

Question: is flock-shooting a right guaranteed in the constitution?

Lowen