I sometimes wonder whether the online version of the Tennessean deliberately tries to hide some of its better pieces. A reasonable person might think that he or she would find Larry Daughtrey's column under the "Government & Politics" heading. Maybe it is there, but it's not easy to find. Instead, one has to look under the alliterative "Voices & Views," which sounds kind of like the name of a bad college poetry class. Moving on...
In this week's column, Daughtrey, reflects on the sorry spectacle of Senator and former Lt. Governor John Wilder's efforts to save his 15-year old plan to select judges "on merit, rather than by the raw politics of partisan election." He begged and he failed.
Daughtrey points out, as anyone who has been on the Hill the last in the last few years would know, the Senate Republicans that Wilder is used to working with, are just about gone. It's a sad way to end a career that has been characterized by consensus building and setting a civil tone in the Senate, the odd comments about the cosmos notwithstanding.
The most chilling line in the piece is the last: "Sometimes when you backtrack an old lion, all you find is the hyenas." The results of this fall's elections may "let the Senate be the Senate" again, but I suspect the partisan tone will linger.
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