Since our state legislators’ reaction to news is to pass measures of support on the very least effectual issues, I propose all Tennessee bloggers, letter writers and columnists add some standard disclaimers at the bottom of their work. How about:

*The appropriate response to this information is not time and expense creating a measure of support. Please take actions that will actually improve the quality of life for people instead.

It just needs a symbol to use as a replacement for the entire sentence since our legislators just skim the news instead of researching it. For example, the only thing they needed to do in this particular case was to help a family gain citizenship. I think our legislators should have to pay for one of the teachers who fell under the budget axe this year to supervise the legislators’ behavior. If a teacher can keep middle school students focused on their work, they can certainly handle a bunch of elected officials who have been reduced to adolescent behavior. “Mr. Representative, You stop fidgeting and pay attention to the project that the rest of the group is discussing. Ms. Representative, don’t make me call your constituents.”