The state Constitution vests the ultimate power in the people. The state's motto is that the people rule.

That loftiness of principle sounds stirring but matters only if the people get their stuff together. And the people have other things going on and are tired. They can't do politics all the time the way conniving politicians do.

I'm not criticizing the people. I'm lamenting their plight.

The ruling Republican establishment of Arkansas has the people snookered. That means, in pool, blocked by the opponent's ball from having a shot toward scoring any point.

This Republican establishment doesn't want the people making laws directly through the petition process. It doesn't like it when the people raise their minimum wage or prescribe themselves medical marijuana. It must want the people to have less money and more pain.

So, it has built a maze for the people, trusting they aren't sufficiently informed, organized, or financed to get through it. Courts have declared some elements of the maze unreasonably difficult. But the obstacle course was sufficient just last week to stymie the people, who, unless they can win a quick court challenge, won't get the opportunity to vote on whether to restrict the........

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