The question of when and if the government should engage in state sponsored killing is one of the great issues that has been debated throughout the ages. So, I was looking forward to a thoughtful and well-reasoned debate on the issue when the Connecticut State Senate took up a bill to repeal the death penalty in Connecticut.

One of the first senators to speak was Senator John Kissel, a Republican from Enfield. He rambled on and on making numerous inane and incoherent arguments against repealing the death penalty. He described five criteria that must be considered before the death penalty can be imposed. It cannot be imposed on children under eighteen, or the mentally incompetent. Based on his inability to put together a rational argument, some suggested that perhaps his willingness to allow the death penalty to continue in Connecticut is that his own lack of mental competence would excuse him should he ever be convicted of a capital offense.

Later, Sen. Toni Boucher, a Republican from Wilton took to the floor. She asked Sen. Andrew McDonald, co-chair of the Judiciary Committee numerous details about the current laws concerning the death penalty in Connecticut were. People online wondered why she had not done her homework and was asking so many rudimentary questions. The comments became more pointed when she asked Sen. McDonald to recite the five criteria that must be considered before the death penalty can be imposed.

Since Sen. Kissel had just testified what they were, it seemed clear that Sen. Boucher was not paying any attention, although many online quipped about how that was somewhat excusable given Sen. Kissel’s long winded incoherence.

As the debate proceeded I spoke from time to time with my wife who was over at the House listening to a long, protracted, and apparently even more inane debate about fishing licenses. It seemed as if the Republicans had abandoned all capability of rational thought.

It wasn’t until the next day that I found a more reasonable explanation. The Party of No has become the Party of Peevishness.

Ken Dixon of the Connecticut Post wrote an article, House Republicans stall to make a point. It seems as if the point is that no one takes the thirty-seven Republicans in the House seriously. If the Republicans look at their own strategy, they can see why fewer and fewer people take them seriously.

Over on MyLeftNutmeg, ctblogger goes into details about the Temper tantrum "GOP style": The Senator McKinney edition. It becomes clear that Senate President Pro Tempore Donald Williams understands how to deal with peevish children. He let the stalling tactics of the Republicans continue for eleven hours, and when they were willing to play nicely, he let them have some of the toys that had started their tantrum.

Gov. Rell is not doing much better herself. Her statement that she would veto the repeal of the death penalty bill was nothing except an admission that she is unwilling to listen to the concerns of her constituents, and people that have called her office have been told essentially that.

The Republican Party does not have to be the Party of Peevishness. It has the opportunity to bring meaningful debate to our state and our country. It is unfortunate that they are not choosing this option and are instead choosing to become more and more irrelevant. It is time for members of the Republican Party to stand up and seek some real leadership in their party.

In March, I chaperoned my daughter’s class up to the capitol. Rep. Themis Klarides, the Republican Representative from our district did a very good job of talking with the children about how bills become law. She didn’t mention the obstructionism that peevish leadership can sometimes wreck upon the process. However, since she did such a good job with the children from our district, it would seem that she might be able to do a good job with the children in the leadership of her party.

It is sad that the Republicans wasted an opportunity for intelligent discourse on the important issues of the day. Hopefully, they will snap out of it before they become even more irrelevant.