Only "The Brotherhood" Can Save Us Now

"The Brotherhood" is a name coined by either the Senators themselves or as a perjorative term by liberal newspapermen to describe the majority of Senators in our state legislature. They first got together to block a smaller group- which had escaped any lables but I'll call them the "Old Guard"- of more liberal senators who controlled the General Improvement Fund (gif)money. Most of these were from South and East Arkansas. These men ladeled on the gif money for their own districts while giving the majority of senators relatively trifling amounts. As term limits weakened the hand of the Old Guard, and as the gif money accumulated as a tempting target, the revolution came at last. The Brotherhood insisted that GIF money be divided evenly among all districts- which if there has to be any pork at all seems only fair.

Since many of the Old Guard were doctrinaire liberals, the view of The Brotherhood making it to the papers is decidedly negative. The truth is that though their record is mixed, the ominously named "Brotherhood" has done some good things, and nothing really that terrible considering the business they are in. The real issue is that "The Brotherhood" is a combination of conservative democrats and conservative Republicans (these days members of both parties need at least one qualifier). The conservative Democrats have, for Senate operational purposes, made their own party with most of the Republicans. They shook loose from the control of the very liberal Democratic Old Guard. Is that a bad thing?

It is if you are Governor Mike Beebe. He's an Old Guard man himself. And with the help of some uber-liberals in the House, he is trying to push some uber-liberal stuff through. The so-called "Equal Rights Amendment" was stopped in the 1970s once people figured out it would destroy business with it's potential for lawsuits, and shift even more power over to federal judges. Homosexual activists are pinning their hopes on the measure to get Homosexual marriage and adoption in through the back door.

Expect to see "The Brotherhood" unfairly villified by the liberal press if they try to put the breaks on this mad rush to the left. The truth is, with Beebe, the press, and some of the most influential members of the House pushing the agenda, the lower chamber cannot be counted on to stop any bad bills. They will pass anything with a positive-sounding name on it because the more sensible members of the body are running scared. The Brotherhood is the only political force in this state right now that has the power to stop the crazy-left part of Beebe's agenda. Will they do it? For the sake of the Republic, I hope so.