"The Legislative Process:" A Fictional Drama

(Curtain rises: Three imaginary State Senators - - Lazarus, Canvassback and Mullover meet at a coffee shop Saturday morning in Madison. Mullover is studying a newspaper story.)

Lazarus: You read a lot.

Mullover: Yes. Why, this very story, by a Waukesha bureau reporter of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, says the Great Lakes Compact that the Senate passed Thursday will make it easier for Waukesha County communities to apply for water diversions.

Lazarus: Stop shoving that down our throats.

Mullover: You should have read the bill. There were lengthy briefings, you know.

Lazarus: That sounds naughty to me. It is not OK.

Canvassback: I heard on the Senate floor that the bill sent down by the Committee was going to lead to dictatorial and totalitarian measures.

Lazarus: And I’m not familiar with that term “compromise.”

Canvassback: So, Mullover. This reading you're doing: Does it mean that the yelling and swearing at Waukesha’s Mayor Larry Nelson was uncalled for, if there has been this…this compromise?

Mullover: Yes.

Canvassback: So what do we do now?

Mullover: Apologize.

Canvassback: I’m not familiar with that term.

Lazarus: You’re not being fair. This is too much to grasp in a short period of time.

Mullover: Well, how about helping get the bill approved in the Assembly next week? There seem to be misconceptions over there, too.

Lazarus: But the Assembly’s more right about things than we are.

Mullover: It's easy: You sit down with people and go over the facts. It’s called collaboration.

Canvassback: Isn't that a felony?

Mullover: You’ve got the entire weekend to help straighten all this out.

Lazarus: That makes me really angry, Mullover. How can I represent my constituents? You know talk radio doesn’t come back on until Monday.

(Curtain)

Any similaries in this work of art to information in previous posts such as this, or this, are entirely coincidental.