All the Legislature had to do Friday was pass the budget, drop the hanky, and smile for the camera. Instead we got an embarrassing episode of The Little Rascals, with Senate President Mike Haridopolos and House Speaker Dean Cannon starring as Spanky and Alfalfa.
Because of the required 72-hour cooling-off period, the budget vote could not occur before 10:16 p.m. That didnt stop Haridopolos from counting his chickens and taking public victory laps on Friday afternoon.
We're going to bring this in for a landing," Haridopolos crowed.
Haridopolos has been bragging for months that God is his co-pilot and House Speaker Dean Cannon his wingman. So sure was the Senate president that he could count on his respectful working relationship with Cannon that he repeatedly invited voters to judge his potential as a U.S. senator by his competence piloting the 2011 legislative session.
Captain Haridopolos lost altitude rapidly Friday night. By 1 a.m., his primary opponents were disemboweling him on the Internet as he whined to reporters that he could not understand how the session had "landed in a ditch."
Shakespeare and anybodys mother could explain it to him.
Pride always goes before a fall, and Haridopolos braggadocio about his friendship with Cannon would have telegraphed the dullest audience that the bromance would end in betrayal.
Cannon, too, could stand to brush up on his Shakespeare.
Having gotten the better of Haridopolos in the sophomoric skirmishes that turned the promised sine die stagecraft into a Friday night food fight, Cannon couldnt resist publicly rubbing it in. The speaker was patting himself on the back so hard its a miracle he didnt dislocate his shoulder.
Cue the Greek chorus and stand by for the Universe to give the speaker a post-session spanking.
With reapportionment right around the corner, its not likely that the boy kings of the Legislature will have a statesmanship epiphany. If only we could send them off to Asgard for a little fatherly head-knocking by Norse god Odin. As played by scenery-chewing Shakespearean actor Anthony Hopkins in the summer blockbuster Thor, Odin provides a timely reminder that vanity is not the same thing as leadership.
Guest column: Florence Snyder is a corporate lawyer. She also consults on ethics and First Amendment issues. Contact her at lawyerflo@gmail.com.
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