CAPITOL LETTERS

1) I'm not sure I'm ever going to understand the Senate voting process. And I'm not sure anyone else does either -- I've asked two other reporters, and both sheepishly acknowledged they have no idea what the heck they're doing. First of all, listening to the clerk feels kind of like being at a livestock auction. SOLD! She runs though that list of names so fast, how does she even know who’s voting for what? And they don’t have one of those wonderful lit up boards like the House, so how can you tell how they’re voting? Some senators make a motion with their hand, or give some kind of signal. But a lot of them just sit there. And sometimes the clerk doesn’t even get through the whole list of names! If someone can fill me in, please do.

2) My favorite moment is always the one where the House messenger comes over and knocks on the door with some kind of an update. You can almost feel the superiority complex in the Senate. SIGH. Do we REALLY have to listen to them again? Last week, Sen. Whitmire actually cut one of the messengers off.

3) I don’t know how the senators sit still in those chairs. And I don't know because I've tried it myself. At first, I was astonished when I learned that I, a reporter, got to sit in the senators' chairs during floor committee meetings. But the floor is on more of a slant than it looks like. Every chair I sat in, I rolled downhill. And started to get sucked under the desk. And felt like a little kid in a high chair trying to boost myself back up. Every time I stood up, the chair rolled away without me.

4) The TYC board system makes me question the boards of any other agency in the state. Granted, this whole abuse scandal is an unusual circumstance. Everyone understands how many shortcomings there were -- how this was a failure on so many levels. But in a scandal this intense, there’s no reason to make excuses. And even in their very last meeting, the agency's board members continued to pat themselves on the back and remind each other "and the media" that they'd been considering similar reforms for the last couple of years. The fact is, considering isn't the same as enacting.
Also, when they approved the rehabilitation plan for the agency on Friday, none of them asked a single serious question about the plan, or seemed like they'd even read it at length. I know they were outgoing, but they could've made one final effort to seem conscientious or clued-in. In the words of Jennifer Anison on former husband Brad Pitt: "There seems to be a sensitivity chip missing."

5) Another strange prioritization gap at TYC: As I was strolling the halls of the agency on Friday before the board resigned, I was struck by the advertisements pasted on all the walls. It wasn't for the new TYC hotline to report abuse. It wasn't even about morale at TYC. On almost every wall was an advertisement of an attractive woman reminding her fellow employees to WEAR THEIR BADGES at all times. If that's the kind of red tape the agency's worried about, it's no wonder it's where it is today.