Post-session commentary by Jim Hendren: 16 words summarizes an awful 10 days.

Was it only eight in-session days (10 counting the weekend, which does count in computing the length of a legislative session)? It seemed like the Arkansas legislature spent 80 days demagoguing its way through the reconvened legislative session, with a clown chorus of citizen anti-vax witnesses cheerleading.

Give it up for Sen. Jim Hendren. He needed only 16 words to sum things up.

Odds that every bill passed last week in #arleg is unconstitutional or violates federal law?? %.

— Jim Hendren (@JimHendren1) October 7, 2021

Taxpayers paid in dollars for the extended meeting and will pay for years in other ways thanks to a rogue assembly. It was at least brought to heel on its final action thanks to the normally dominant business lobby’s work to defeat a breath-taking erosion of employer and personal rights. The bill passed the Senate and came within 10 votes of House passage.

Here’s that roll call on the 41-46 House vote to make refusal to get a vaccination a protected civil right. It’s not as brave as a “no” vote, but not voting (there were 12) has the same effect, as does a “present” (Bruce Cozart). There were some unlikely faces in the “saints” accounting of saints and sinners. I’ll save you the trouble of looking. No Democrat voted for the excrescence. 35 House Republicans declined to join the marauding  mob.