'Tis the season folks - a new legislature, a new bill enters the fray. Often new bills are introduced by legislators at the request of a single constituent, there is no popular call for the bill in the legislature or in the public at large. Why they should introduce such an obviously unpopular bill I don't know, but gauge its logic and public interest, it won't go far if anywhere.

In Washington state we have been dealing with assigning an age for under-age hunting without an adult present - 14, 16 and 18 are all in play. A legislator has introduced a companion bill to require anyone recreating in a hunting area in season to wear blaze orange, which has hiking and other recreational groups up in arms. That kind of bill has similar issues that make it unlikely to pass, and immpossible to enforce if it does. Golly, do you wonder which bill is getting the hottest debate, and most legislative attention? Think what you will, that's smart politics.

We have just passed through 8 years during which our congress and executive branch leaders saw fit to suspend and deny important constitutional protections, allegedly for our mutual safety. Whether you agree with that or not, it was accomplished without too much hullabaloo and has had a critical impact on everyone's lives, yet still it was tolerated by most folks.