Dear Editor:
State Rep. Jay Barnes must have been one of those coddled children who got a lot of participation medals.
He fully expects kudos for the heralded ethics legislation that finally passed, though it is so weak and limp that it does not lift the Missouri Legislature out of the mud where they wallow around in the corrupting influence of lobbyists while neglecting the people.
"Participate" he did, though; as in prior years, he could be regularly heard interrupting and shouting over women legislators when bills that would regulate women's bodies were being debated.
Speaker Richardson has disappointed, too. Supposed to elevate the behavior of the legislators into the "ethical" realm, he both refuses to recognize women of the minority party waiting to speak and leaves his gavel laying on the podium as the other bullies derisively laugh at them during debate.
The Missouri Legislature is a shameful embarrassment, and an impediment to the citizenry, who long for fairness and dignity.