Blog For Arizona

Michael: Threat of jail time may get attention of Arizona leaders

Raner C. Collins, Federal judge and Bush appointee, wants to lock the Governor and the State Legislative leaders in jail until they resolve the dispute over funding the teaching of English as a second language in Arizona. Now that's criminalizing politics.

Not that I disagree with him; a lot of political disputes could no doubt be solved if our leaders were given some clear guidelines and locked in a room until they reached agreement. We do this all the time in public life: it's called a jury. And jury deliberations, held hostage as they are to unanimity, have a way of making the most intransigent prejudices amenable to reasoned discourse, if only to get home in time for supper.

So fire off that writ, Judge Collins. Throw our disfunctional legislative leaders into a locked room with Janet. I have no doubt about who would walk out of that room, and who would crawl.

posted by Michael Bryan @ 11/11/2005 07:22:00 PM