February 03, 2009 02:17 AM UTC

Oy Gevalt, Another Israel Resolution?

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• by: Colorado Pols

Perennial sound and fury in the Colorado Senate today, signifying…well, as the Rocky Mountain News reports:

A man holding a sign and hollering pro-Palestinian remarks was removed from the Senate gallery today amid the most partisan – and surreal – battle in the Senate so far this session.

Lawmakers voted on two separate resolutions, one promoting peace and one supporting Israel, but eventually the debate linked the two resolutions.

Republicans were furious when Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, who had sponsored the peace and nonviolence resolution, voted against the Israeli resolution. She later explained her vote by saying she wasn’t elected to vote on international issues…

The Senate opened with state troopers posted at the entries to the Senate gallery, where visitors can watch the proceedings one floor below. The officers were on high alert because of protests in the morning outside the Capitol over the Israeli resolution by Sen. Joyce Foster, D-Denver.

It supported Israel and condemned Hamas, but Palestians and Jewish peace groups argued the language was too one sided.

When Foster’s resolution passed on a 32-2 vote, Boulder resident Dan Winters stood up in the gallery and held a sign that read, “Shame on senators for a hate resolution.” He then began yelling, asking about the Palestians’ rights and America’s role in arming groups in the Middle East.

What? Yes, we do have an opinion about what’s going on in the Middle East right now. The thing is, as important as that all may be and as passionately as we may feel about the situation over there, this blog is, at least in some kind of loosely-enforced, unevenly observed way, about Colorado politics. We prefer to focus on things we can control, are relevant to our news-heavy day here in Colorado, or that we at least have sufficient knowledge of to credibly be, if you will, resolved.

Heck, if you think about it, the only reason we have the slightest opening to ask innocent questions like “how many civilians died in Gaza last month again?” or “isn’t white phosphorus not recommended for use on children?” here on Colorado Pols is because they just spent half the day in the state senate one-upping each other’s ignorant posturing on the subject.

And like it or not, Sen. Newell is correct – this is NOT what STATE legislators were elected to do. Can we now get back to stuff that, you know, involves Colorado? Like that huge budget problem, perhaps?

Democrats need to be particularly careful with this kind of non-binding nonsense, because it is exactly the kind of thing that caused Republicans to lose control of the legislature in 2004. Colorado voters elect their legislators to deal with Colorado issues. It’s not complicated. Once you’ve fixed Colorado’s problems, then go ahead and resolution the hell out of the place. But until then…

Helpfully submitted for the next extrajurisidictional itch, Senators.