Ala. Lawmaker Punches Senate Colleague

[FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif][FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif]Ala. Lawmaker Punches Senate Colleague[/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif]Jun 7, 6:43 PM (ET)

By BOB JOHNSON

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - 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.
Barron refused to comment and went into a closed-door meeting with other Democrats. Sen. Vivian Figures went into the meeting carrying first aid supplies, but she said he was not hurt.
Bishop said he regretted throwing the punch because "that's not the way grown men solve their problems," but added that he would not immediately apologize to Barron.
The fight came on the final day of the 2007 regular session of the Legislature. Republicans and a few Democrats have protested all session the Democratic majority's Senate rules, saying they were unfair. They want to bring up an election reform bill.
The Senate had just taken a recess Thursday afternoon when Bishop approached the chair where Barron was sitting. Moments later security officers and others rushed to separate the two senators.
Members of the Alabama House said the incident makes the entire Legislature look bad. "It's certainly a black eye on the Legislature and the Senate in particular," Republican Rep. Jay Love said.



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Lowell Barron deserves much, much worse. Like, tall tree and short rope worse.

Senator Fight!



Bring forth the jello, so that all may inwardly throw up in disgust.

Republicans!

OK, which one is really a Yankee?


mm

It's too bad this doesn't happen at the Capitol Building in Washington. Maybe then, more people would take an interest in politics. Additionally, Jerry Springer would be able to expand his show's content to include political discussions among our esteemed leaders.

Are you kidding? Springer would be out of a job up against C-SPAN's spectacular new ratings.

oke:

Senator Bishop is an Arkansas native (and apparently a mouth breather) and Senator Barron is a native of Jackson County, Alabama.

So they are taking a cue from the House of Commons??

I'm guessing the single negative point I gave him in media central set him in "extra petty douchebag" mode.

So he's moved a step closer to ?

And he proves the point!

Gotta say the thread title is misleading, because the guy comes across more as a drunken wino on the the legislative dole than as a lawmaker.

A simple punch? Big deal. On 22 May 1856 Rep. Preston Brooks (D-South Carolina) beat Sen. Charles Sumner (R-Massachusets) on the floor of the Senate with a cane over a speech about slavery where Sumner insulted Stephen Douglas and Brooks's cousin Andrew Butler. He was beaten so bad that he couldn't return to the senate for three yers.

Good, I'd hate to think that such a menace to society was running around loose.

Barron, clearly.

Democrats were made of sterner stuff back then. Of course, that was before the liberal pussification of the Dems starting with Carter.

Might I suggest a steel cage, some folding chairs, baseball bats wrapped with barbed wire and a few boxes of thumbtacks?




Edited to add an appropriate pic.

Which is part of why my history teacher in high school always colorfully referred to South Carolina as the "Asshole of the nation".