I want to seal the Feb. 7 meeting of the Alabama Senate’s State Governmental Affairs Committee in amber.
I want to mail copies of it to every house in the state. I want to paint it in bright colors and sell it next to prints of Van Tiffin and Chris Davis.
Because I have never seen anything that so embodied everything wrong with governance in Alabama.
It had legislation built on conspiracy theories, vengeance and silencing marginalized people. It had politicians treating the public as a nuisance. Best of all, it had the committee chair break a commitment without explanation or acknowledgment.
Most of the gathering focused on a bill sponsored by Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, that would make it a felony to help a person fill out an absentee ballot or accept money to do so.
Republican legislators introduced a similar bill last year. Advocates for people with disabilities said that it could make it very difficult for people who are blind to cast votes. Gudger’s bill, as filed, does appear to provide an exception for that.