by David Safier
I've been told House Speaker Kirk Adams and Senate Pres. Russell Pearce are not the best of friends. I don't know if there's any personal animus, but I know neither wants to help the other move up to the next political rung. Maybe it's because both of them covet one particular rung.
I posted this morning about "I'm-the-Law Pearce" saying Sal Reza, a political activist, is banned from the Senate building. Pearce has no authority for the ban based on state law or the Constitution (Bye-bye "Rule-of-Law Russell"). He figures it's enough that he's Senate Pres. What he says, goes.
According to Howie Fischer, Pearce has gone even further in his desire to clamp down on everything he dislikes. He's thinking about banning bullhorns on the mall.
Pearce also told Capitol Media Services he is weighing whether to ban bullhorns and other amplifiers that have become commonplace at rallies on the lawn.
"We're just going to make it more respectful down there," he said. "They have a right to protest, bring signs and all that. But I'm not going to tolerate where they're loud and rude, disrupt other press conferences, disrupt other people."
The problem is, Adams doesn't agree.
It's going to quite a scene, isn't it? People standing an inch behind the line Pearce draws in the grass, their bullhorns turned up to eleven, pointed at the Senate building. When they don't have a specific cause to shout about, they'll just yell about their free speech rights.
QUESTION: What if someone tried Pearce's stunt when Tea Party members were protesting? Can't you just hear the Nazis/Hates-Freedom/1st-Amendment sound bites flying like spittle from Russell's lips?