Kabuki.

The Boise chapter of Drinking Liberally meets on the third Wednesday every month. We usually drink moderately, as that more accurately reflects our politics. But it's a good way to meet people and find out more about the community we live in.

This month we had a special guest: Brian Cronin, who is our representative in the Idaho House of Representatives.
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He was very well-informed and well-spoken. Not at all the usual 

stereotypical politician.

He used to be a public school teacher (union thug), so he is especially concerned about how the Republican majority is gutting the public school system and coincidentally providing lucrative opportunities for their friends in the business of supplying for-profit educational systems.

As a Dem in a legislature that is 80% Repub, he has little actual power, but he did have some good stories. The most interesting was a conversation he had with one of the Republican legislators who had been elected on the Tea Party platform last year. Apparently, this new crop of loons has been vying to outdo each other by introducing the most extreme bills possible. Brian challenged the guy to explain how the bill he'd introduced could possibly be considered constitutional. The rep looked at him oddly and said, "You do understand that this is theater, don't you?"

That's show biz: they get points from the tea partiers for bravely introducing bills that even if they were to pass (unlikely even in this state), would most likely be struck down by the courts. Then they get more points by howling that liberal activist judges are overriding the will of the people.

Win-win kabuki.

P.