If there's one activity all of our staff members all enjoy doing, it's people watching. At the mall, at a sporting event where the outcome is obvious, at a church - if we've got a comfortable seat and a spare moment, there's a built-in entertainment center in virtually every crowd.
One thing we've all noticed over the years is that if you watch a crowd long enough, there's usually at least one person who's trying too hard to get the attention of someone else.
Maybe it's a lovesick teenager, primped and primed far more than they should be for the main event happening in front of them. Maybe it's someone older trying too hard to pretend the years haven't truly touched them. And, of course, there's always at least one person who is trying too hard to impress everyone with their clothes and jewelry and accessories.
Sadly, this kind of desperate plea for attention also seems to be the driving force behind many politicians these days. From Mitt Romney's recent claims that he shops at Wal-Mart, to the actions of extremist governors like Scott Walker, to the spate of insane bills proposed by state level legislators like Nebraska's Mark Christensen.
In case you'd missed it, Senator Christensen has been pushing forward some legislative proposals recently which have been unusually crazy, even for him. These bills include LB 516, nominally designed to allow teachers to carry guns in school - which has been panned by everyone from the Huffington Post on the left to The Christian Science Monitor on the right. They also include LB322, a version of a South Dakota bill which would have been used by some on the far right to legalize harming or killing abortion providers.
Christensen's latest stinker of a bill is LB654, a bill better known as the "Birther" bill. "Birthers" represent a group of people who, for whatever reason - racism, ideological brainwashing, intellectual incompetence - can't accept the fact that our current President is not only a man of color, but was born legally in our 50th state. Christensen's bill would attempt to create standards unique to Nebraska for someone filing as a Presidential candidate. Those standards are not in the constitution and they're unnecessary.
We understand that maybe Sen. Christensen is feeling a bit pressured by some on the extreme fringes of his party. Maybe he's got his eye on a bigger political prize than state senator, and feels he needs to pad his legislative resume with some deep appeals to certain extremists with large campaign donation accounts.
Whatever his reasoning, we frankly think he's trying to hard to be something other than what his constituents thought he was.
Maybe he should simply go back to being the kind of legislator who is better known for sensationally effective legislation, instead of the kind who is known more for sensational headlines.
