The fireworks don't start until five minutes in, but you need to see the beginning to understand the end. Nevada Assemblywoman and Cliven Bundy pal Michele Fiore got a little hot under the collar when her wingnut legislation came under fire by Republican colleagues.
Here's the backstory:
The debate centered around Assembly Bill 408, which would have required the federal government to obtain permission to use any public land in the state. As Reuters reported, county commissions would be allowed to hand out permits for the land to be used for commercial purposes.
But Edwards observed on Tuesday that the state Legislative Council Bureau found Fiore’s proposal to be unconstitutional.
“I do have a lot of problems wondering why we’re setting up a separate fund for some purposes for the attorney general to do some kind of business that seems to violate the Supremacy Clause,” he said. “Which is kind of strange, since I know [Fiore] has great respect for the Constitution and our federal system.”
That needle hit a sensitive spot, causing Fiore to wander far, far off the reservation.
“You’re going to have somebody not saying nice things about you in his little blog,*” he said, “and those things will follow you, as you can expect.”
That was just a little too much for Our Michele, who asked the Speaker to please put an end to the circus that had suddenly broken out right in the middle of her carnival: “Mr. Speaker, can you stop this circus with the Assemblyman from District 19?” Then she spoke directly to Edwards: “Can you sit your ass down and be quiet?” So ladylike.
We were hoping for some good old-fashioned fisticuffs, like when pro-slavery Rep. Preston Brooks beat Sen. Charles Sumner with a cane for speaking a bit too unkindly about slavery. Instead, Speaker Hambrick declared the gentlewoman from District 4 “out of order,” which is putting it mildly, and called a one-minute recess. After that, a not especially chastened Fiore offered the Assembly one of the least sincere-sounding apologies we’ve seen, although she at least refrained from adding “I’m really sorry… not.”
That "little blog" line is awesome. We enjoy knowing we can get under her extremely thin skin here at C&L.
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