While a student can be forgiven for mistaking politics for chaos ("He went to the Capitol and came away unimpressed," Letter of the Day, March 26), the professional journalists at the Star Tribune should have known that this view of the Legislature was misleading.
People "all talking at once" just doesn't happen. The hearings and sessions usually follow parliamentary procedure quite well. Some of the sessions will have several side conversations going while a speaker has the floor, but when dozens of bills are being prepared for debate, it's not surprising that others are strategizing.
We shouldn't be offended that legislators are having a snack during a hearing. It's not unusual for a legislator to be a member on one committee at the same time another committee is hearing a bill they sponsored.
As retired citizens, my wife and I often attend hearings, and it's not unusual to walk into the Capitol at 8 in the morning and not leave the last hearing until 9 at night.
Senators and representatives should be forgiven for refueling in flight. We might often disagree with the outcome of the process, but if it occasionally appears that they're trying to progress rapidly in all directions at once, it's because they're trying to represent all of us in the great state of Minnesota.
BOB TAMMEN, SOUDAN, MINN.
