Incidents distract from major issues

While the feud between Gov. Mark Gordon and Secretary Chuck Gray simmers at a low boil – allegedly, there was a threat to “take (it) outside” at a recent meeting – a state legislator is considering a bill far more entertaining and deserving of our attention.

Indeed, it’s a serious issue and one that abounds in the Cowboy State: drunk equestrians.

State Rep. Julie Jarvis, R-Casper, plans to introduce legislation clarifying that the state DUI statutes refer to vehicles – not horses or those other domesticated beasts of burden.

Contrary to what some of our staff believes, some of us – namely, our editor – have owned horses that love the taste of beer. It is therefore, admittedly, a bit fun to be deliberately obtuse and ponder how well a horse could pass the Wyoming Highway Patrol’s field sobreity test.

Of course, fun as it is, this is lighter fare. Both the ongoing verbal sparring between our electeds, which may or may not someday spill over into old-timey fisticuffs, and our too-cute-by-half musings on drunk equestrians grab headlines. But they also make us wonder – because, really?

Have two of our top state officials really reached an impasse in which they cannot discuss matters civilly? Is the resentment such that issues that matter to voters can no longer be discussed and debated with maturity?

And, in the brief legislative budget session that we have this year, are we really going to spend time on a bill that is, frankly, however amusing, rather unnecessary?

There are a number of more pressing issues for our legislators to consider in the short window they have available to them this year — from resolutions on property taxes to potential new voter ID laws to restrictions on library materials to a proposed referendum on abortion.

Silver may long for his tequila the way sweet Traveller wanted his brown ale, but we long for a government that prioritizes kitchen table issues to the benefit of us all.