NewsOK reports Last week, state Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan, D-Stillwater, told Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin to sit down. So she did ... in his chair. Lieutenant governors should be seen and not heard, angry Democrats retorted, thus commencing the Senate's current game of political musical chairs. On Thursday morning, 26 senators went AWOL to protest Fallin's takeover of the Democratic-controlled state Senate. Miraculously, the missing senators appeared at the funeral of former House Speaker Jim Barker that same afternoon.
Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin presides over
the Senate last Thursday.
At 4:30 p.m., our gavel-wielding lieutenant governor once again called the Senate to session. Over the next 7 1/2 hours, the quorum bell echoed throughout the empty Capitol hallways -- every four seconds -- which, doing the math, equals 6,750 times. Alas, nary a Democrat heeded the incessant call to vote on a worker's compensation bill.
Meanwhile, during the late-night session, beneath the dome's soft glow of electric schism -- Republicans ordered barbecue, Fallin conversed on her cell phone, reporters frantically searched for vending machines, staffers dined on pizza -- and only one Democrat showed up, presumably for the free food. Later that evening, the enormous stress of doing NOTHING apparently was too much for one Republican lawmaker who suffered an asthma attack and went home.
Sadly, autopsies have been performed on bodies that accomplished more than our Legislative body did last week. On the bright side, no one fled to Texas. And, perhaps the leadership of both parties have learned some valuable lessons:
Democrats -- Stay in your seats at all times; Gavels may be used as a flotation device.
Republicans -- You'll attract more Democrats, I mean bees, with booze, than barbecue.
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