The now-infamous (somewhat) personal Zoom Q&A state senator Elena Parent (D) and one of her constituents - Lena Kotler - got a lot of attention because of but a few minutes of the dialogue.

Like most people, I heard it and focused just on that portion because of the mushy messaging Senator Parent exhibited with regards to the rights of the imprisoned who are trans. It's a party problem more than a "Parent problem," dating as far back as last summer. That's when Trump campaign attack ads tied former VP Kamala Harris to the existence of the right for trans prisoners to have gender reassignment surgeries using taxpayer dollars. Neither Harris nor did any Democrat(s) codify that right; it's a "Constitutional" thing, and that's the shortest, simplest response no one on the business end of the attack has embraced.

Nonetheless, there's WAY more to that "Elena Parent v trans mom" conversation, and the senator deserves it to be heard. Frankly, Kotler was completely out-of-line, over-the-top and belligerent to an unruly degree. Her tone, tenure and language to Parent was beyond reproach and warrants an apology, but who apologizes anymore, right?

I'm honestly stuneed Senator Parent stayed on the call as long as she did, and she's to be commended for that. Take a listen for yourself and tell me what you think.