Johnnie Byrd´s Insult of House Members
House Speaker Johnnie Byrd is one of those politicians who seem pretty much determined to offend as many people as possible. Yes, we know the two major parties are about as lovey-dovey as the Hatfields and McCoys, but Byrd took the prevailing political rancor to a new level last spring when he called rank-and-file House members — more than two-thirds of whom are Byrd´s fellow Republicans — ¨sheep … looking for someone to tell them what to do.¨ The comments were made in a conference with the editorial board of The Tampa Tribune which, perhaps coincidentally, later failed to back the head sheep´s senate candidacy, calling him ¨the most detested legislative leader in recent memory¨ and ¨unfit to serve in the U.S. Senate.¨ GOP colleagues, while clearly irritated, were surprisingly noncombative, at least publicly. Most responded not merely civilly but, truth be told, somewhat sheepishly. Rep. Bill Galvano (R-Bradenton) called Byrd´s comment ¨a poor choice of words,¨ and Rep. Sandra Murman (R-Tampa) told the Tribune: ¨We all use analogies like that. I think of sheep as kind animals. They´re just out in the field working hard for the farm.¨ That´s not to say that all was forgotten and forgiven. When the state legislature ended its session in June, a flock of lobbyists mocked Byrd by donning sheep masks. Baaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2004.