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Alabama senators slug it out in legislature

A Republican senator slugging a Democratic senator gave the Alabama Legislature a national black eye, much like what happened eight years ago when the southern state's lieutenant governor urinated in a jug, discreetly, at the front of the Senate chamber.

Both incidents occurred during battles between Democrats and Republicans over Senate operating rules. And both became popular fodder for TV comics.

"It's something everyone is talking about and some people are laughing about. It's a black eye," said Glen Browder, a political science professor and former member of the Alabama Legislature and US House.

"It feeds into the stereotype of the rural South," said Merle Black, an expert in Southern politics at Emery University in Atlanta.

Browder and Black agree about something else: Alabama's one blow wasn't nearly as bad as some fights in foreign governments, including the large brawl last month in Taiwan's legislature.

"These are just two guys. It didn't get any more involved," Black said.

On Thursday -- the last day of the Alabama Legislature's session -- Senator Charles Bishop, a Republican, and Senator Lowell Barron, a Democrat, were having an emotional exchange when Bishop hit Barron in the side of the head, knocking him over a desk. Senate security and other senators pulled Bishop away.

The ensuing national attention was a repeat of 1999, when then-lieutenant governor Steve Windom urinated in a jug that was hidden from view behind his desk. A Republican, Windom had remained at his post at the front of the Senate chamber because he feared Democrats would strip him of power as the presiding officer if he left to visit the restroom.

House Speaker Seth Hammett said the Senate slug tarnishes an international reputation that Alabama has struggled to build by recruiting international companies.
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