Blowin' in the wind
Go to and you'll see a picture of the Montgomeryshire AM cradling a lamb, another of him out with his sheepdogs in the beautiful Powys countryside.
There's a quotation from his hero, Bob Dylan: "...All I can do is be me. Whoever that is..."
His colleagues across the board and political divide would probably tell you that is a gentle giant, a man who comes from a different sort of background to many who've made it into the Assembly chamber - a former teacher and farmer - a man with strongly-held beliefs about sustainablility who's cultivated deep roots in Mid Wales.
The paramedic who went to give him assistance after a drunken night out in Cardiff in January says he found an aggressive, physically violent man who punched him in the chest, swore at the ambulance crew and had to be baby-sat by hospital security. He told this morning's Radio Wales that the crew plan to press charges against Mr Bates.
Party leader Kirsty Williams has already said that "abuse towards NHS staff is not acceptable". Mr Bates will know this. He sat on the .
Now the party boss learns the paramedic at the scene says the abuse came courtesy of a fist, not just a bit of lip.
Mick Bates has already said he's planning to stand down at the Assembly election in 2011. The question now must be whether he makes it that far, or whether - at a time when politicians are trusted and respected so little - there are just too many questions and dare I say it hypocrisy blowin' in the wind this morning.
Problem for the Liberal Democrats is that the last thing they must want now is a by-election in Montgomeryshire, a seat where Lib Dem Lembit Opik MP will fight on his hands come the General Election. So much for party morale on the ground.
What does the boss go then? Down the line of taking away the whip from Mr Bates, taking away his committee chairmanship and hoping the whole thing goes away?
UPDATE:
The Liberal Democrats have released this statement:
"Following a conversation between Kirsty Williams and Mick Bates they have agreed that he will be relieved of his front bench duties and his Chair of the Sustainability Committee whilst this matter is being investigated. We have informed the University Health Board and Ambulance Service that both Mick and the Party will fully co-operate with any investigations''
I'm Betsan Powys, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on .
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