LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s Speaker of the Legislature is condemning a newspaper column by a state senator that likened his colleagues to monkeys.

Sen. Galen Hadley of Kearney said the article in the Plattsmouth Journal shows “complete disrespect” for the officially nonpartisan, one-house Legislature. His comments Thursday drew a rare standing ovation from most senators in the chamber.

The article by Sen. Bill Kintner of Papillion argued that senators are like monkeys who attack each other when one tries to disrupt the status quo.

Hadley says he’s tired of senators taking potshots at the Legislature. He says those who don’t think lawmakers are doing a good job should quit.

Kintner, a blunt-spoken conservative, has faced criticism before for railing against “homosexual bills” in the Legislature and joking that women don’t understand themselves.