We've all known them. You know, the friends, classmates or co-workers who stood ready to accept the praise but, when something went wrong, were the first to blame anyone but themselves.
Journalists in Arkansas can take a bit of blame in the recent flare-up over the litigation against Gov. Sarah Sanders' LEARNS Act, in which plaintiffs assert a longstanding practice of the Legislature violates the Arkansas Constitution. It's there, plain as day, in the Constitution, yet apparently no reporter we know of ever broke the story on the adoption an illegal procedure by lawmakers. It's a story that got away.
The Constitution plainly says lawmakers who pass a bill must, if they intend for it to go into immediate effect, vote separately on an emergency clause. At some point in its long history, the Legislature began short-handing the process, combining the votes for passage with the votes employing the emergency clause.
Now, in a lawsuit, plaintiffs challenged the immediate implementation of Sanders' premier legislative priority. The legislative practice gave the plaintiffs a path of delay, but not necessarily one that will kill the legislation altogether. The appointed judge delayed its immediate effect, but will decide later on legality of the law itself.
Sanders has lashed out at the judge in unnecessarily divisive language (where'd she learn that?), calling him a "far-left judge" who wants to "throw it out and silence parents, allow CRT and indoctrination, slash teacher pay, and trap kids in failing schools."
It's a statement better written by an internet troll, not the governor of a state, because the judge hasn't decided anything on the merits of the legislation and hasn't said anything remotely close to anything Sanders suggests. As Donald Trump's press secretary, she railed against journalists she accused of fabricating such twists of fact and logic. But all's fair in love, war and politics, right?
To the extent LEARNS has been delayed, it's state's lawmakers who have provided the procedural error that now haunts Sanders' prized political possession. The state now argues that tradition trumps (a good word now practically ruined) constitutionality.
We tend to think constitutions should mean something in a democracy. But we understand where Sanders might have gotten the idea they only matter when it's convenient.