Tech Trends

History shall remember 2007 as the year of the filibuster. To date, I’ve logged over 60 hours of filibuster viewing. When it comes to the Missouri legislature - listening to IP feeds from the Senate’s website.
The filibuster is the least impressive tool of hijacking the legislative process. It’s when politicians do what they do best, “talk without stopping.” The most discussed was the US Senate’s filibuster over the war in Iraq which many view as a sideshow to keep congressional failure on Immigration out of public discussion.

Earlier in the year, Missouri Senator Matt Bartle began the filibuster trend in Missouri playing “Mr. Bad Example”. Bartle ran his mouth for nearly 12 hours because he didn’t like a University of Missouri gubernatorial appointee’s view on stem cell research.

Watching and listening to so many filibusters this year, I found Bartle’s hijacking of the floor one of the more interesting. You can tell the man spends a lot of time in church as he described farming weights and measurements in the vernacular of a “Hardshell Southern Baptist Preacher.”

Fellow Missouri Republican Senators have described Bartle as a man of conviction. Though we appreciate this (a man who holds strong beliefs), we can hardly view Bartle’s behavior as beneficial to the causes he holds so strongly. Hardly a team player, hardly compromising and hardly a man who got much done.
When it came to gambling, Bartle joined forces with Democrats to create a stalemate - in direct opposition to Branson area anti-gambling forces.

When it came to protecting champions of democracy through a shield law, Bartle promised to do everything in his power to stop it. Method of choice - Filibuster. After all, since he’s a member of a union with special rights, he didn’t believe anyone else should have special rights. After all, he already has his.

We watched as Branson native Jolie Justus commended him for his willingness to stand up for what he believed in. We watched her district suffer a multi-million dollar loss when she tried the same tactics when it came to Mohela.

The Senator’s actions in 2007 show partisanship at its worst, vindictiveness, counter productive behavior and behavior worthy of the title, “Mr. Bad Example.”