The Senate's rejection of speed cameras last night came as a surprise to just about everyone, including the legislators voting on it. On Tuesday, the chamber voted 26-19 for an amendment that would allow the cameras near schools. It is poor form, generally, to vote for an amendment like that if you don't intend to vote for the bill. But the next day, the chamber voted it down 24-23. What gives?

For one thing, this is a reminder that nothing's over in Annapolis until the confetti drops. Things that look sure to pass can die, and things that look dead can be resurrected. (In fact, the word from the Senate is this bill still isn't dead.)

Another thing is you can never quite figure out Mike Miller, who voted for the amendment and against the bill, as did one of his top lieutenants, Ulysses Currie. Miller is so experienced and so masterful at counting votes and managing the process in the Senate that people generally operate under the assumption that nothing happens there that he does not intend. I think that fact may be his greatest asset. Maybe this turn of events was actually a bit of random happenstance. But the Miller mystique will lead many to assume he has an angle that the rest of us are just too dense to see.