What's another two weeks after waiting seven years to get this done?

     At 4:30 p.m. last Thursday the Michigan House finished a watered down version of the anti-bullying bill which has been on again and off again for far too long.

     There was a strong bi-partisan vote as R's and D's finally got their act together to forge a compromise which is what the legislative process is all about.

     "It's not perfect but it's a step forward,"  noted the Senate Democratic leader who had worked long and hard with the House GOP leader to get this done.

      The only step left was for the senate to put its stamp on the measure and send it to the governor for his signature. 

      So the house bill heads to the senate that afternoon only to find the illustrious Upper House had adjourned at 2:20.

      Adjourned as in high tailed it out of town for a traditional two week deer hunting break.  Yeah.  You read that right.

       The senate will take it up after the break but how does this look?

      First of all, who in the heck gets two weeks off to go hunting in the real world?

      Secondly, who in the heck gets two weeks off to go hunting in the real world?

      "It's nothing new. It's been going on for years, probably hundreds of years," confides the GOP guy who runs the senate.

      Sen. Randy Richardville was rather sanguine about the whole thing conceding that he and his colleagues might take a P.R. hit for leaving and this was before he knew the bullying bill was coming over.

      He explains just because everyone is leaving town it would be "completely inaccurate" to say they are still not working.

       His Democreatic counter-part Sen. Gretchen Whitmer suggests just because it has always been that way, does not make it right.

      Now it is true that this anti-bullying stuff gives local school boards six months to develop a policy so it's not as if, all this would change over night.

      But there's the nagging appearance thing:  Some lawmakers go hunting instead of hanging around long enough to help school kids who are threatened at school everyday and fear for their lives.

       Ugh.