The most Alabama thing happened in the halls of the Statehouse this month.

A lesson in priorities.

A primer in process.

It explained how the hind end wags Alabama's political dogs, and why Alabama's children so often get the butt of the deal.

It started with a bill by Rep. Jim Patterson, a conservative Republican from Meridianville, that would require insurance companies - the same guys who pump millions into Viagra for old men - to pay for therapy for autistic children.

It's not some Bolshevik BS. It's required by 45 states and - if that's not enough - backed by Nick Saban himself. A half century's worth of research supports the notion that "applied behavioral analysis" teaches children with autism how to deal with the world, and more than pays for itself by helping those kids become employable, self-sufficient adults.

But none of that means squat in the statehouse. Where money and politics almost always trump children.

Billy Canary, head of the Business Council of Alabama - who somehow serves as both the mouthpiece and rump roast of the Big Mules - quoted scripture about children as he railed against the bill to help children.

"Children are a gift from God," the verse goes.

It's like Darth Vader himself giving a lecture about the dangers of the Dark Side.

But the lesson - the primer on process and priorities - came when debate tumbled into a hall and Patterson and Canary exchanged words with uncharacteristic honesty.

AL.com's Trisha Powell Crain was there to take it down. Thank goodness.

Canary began with what can only be described as the lobbyist equivalent of "do you know who I am."

Why, he asked, did Patterson dare file the bill without coming to him first?

Holy cow. Why not just make Patterson and every other legislator kiss his ring? We know Canary's a big dog. He -a lobbyist with a paid point of view -- used to have weekly meetings with House Speaker Mike Hubbard to set the Statehouse agenda. That was before Hubbard was convicted of corruption - including charges of soliciting things of value from people connected to the BCA.

But Patterson - bless his heart -- called Canary's BS. Lobbyists typically come to the people who are elected to office, and not the other way around, he said.

That's how it's supposed to work, anyway.

Patterson has no personal reason to help autistic children. It's not a family matter and he's not a bleeding heart. He's sure not a guy out to get the insurance companies. He was asked to sponsor the bill and he never thought he'd do it.

Prosecutor Matt Hart questions witness Bill Canary during Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard's trial on Friday, June 3, 2016, in Opelika, Ala. (Todd J. Van Emst/Opelika-Auburn News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

He studied and found it would help Alabama families. He came to believe -this is rare in the Legislature - it was the right thing to do.

Because autistic children have needs that are often misunderstood. They don't look different, so they are often blamed for bad behavior or resented for the cost of therapy (as if their lives aren't hard enough.) Some studies have shown parents of autistic children face stress like combat soldiers because they are not - without the kind of therapy this program would provide - equipped to help their children.

But Canary was having none of it.

He reached into his bill-killing buzzword generator and came out with a doozy. The bill, designed in good faith to help children, is just "healthcare tax," he said.

It was a label as deadly as poison, and it crawled all over Patterson.

"Don't insult me by calling it a tax," he said.

But it's too late for that. The insult already came. To Patterson, to children, to the process and the state.

It really is the Alabama way. But it doesn't have to be.

HB 284 by John Archibald on Scribd