From the knee-jerk department of politics

Apparently it doesn't matter that oil drilling is already illegal in Florida's coastal waters.

And with an oil slick expanding throughout the Gulf of Mexico, this is not the moment when politicians develop an appetite to open up more Gulf waters to oil exploration.

None of which is stopping Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg, and Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, D-Sarasota from leading the charge calling for a special session to pass a joint resolution to place on the November ballot a measure to outlaw future drilling in Florida waters.

Kriseman, an attorney, already has a strong-anti-business record. He received the lowest scores among Gulf Coast legislators from business groups following last year's regular legislative session. Of the 160 legislators, Kriseman came in second to last on the Florida Chamber report card.

Yet Gov. Charlie Crist, running as an independent for the U.S. Senate after it appeared he could not win the Republican nomination, is planning a special session on the oil issue at a cost of $100,000 a day. That is not exactly chump change with another multi-billion dollar budget deficit staring the state in its collective face.

Further, special sessions are typically called only when there's a strong likelihood of passing legislation. There doesn't appear to be a any political consensus that another constitutional amendment is the way to go.

That leaves political opportunism as the driving force.

Coffee Talk suggests politicians not jump so cravenly on such opportunities, but holds out little hope given the wind-blown leadership in the governor's mansion.
As one legislator puts it about the knee-jerk reactions, “Planes crash, but you don't ban flying.”