Franklin County Democrats

Pathetic

In St. Charles, an exurb of St. Louis and one of the state’s largest GOP counties, Paul supporters sought to elect their own chairman and adopt their own rules when proceedings opened – both of which are part of standard caucus rules and procedure. But as they argued with the caucus chair, Paul supporters held video cameras – against caucus rules, according to a GOP official who was there – and things became contentious.

“It turned into a little food fight within the caucus, between the caucus chairman trying to control the caucus and certain elements, I guess with Ron Paul, trying to be heard,” said Tom Kipers, a former chairman of the St. Charles GOP, who attended the caucus at Francis Howell North High School.

An off-duty police officer, hired as security, eventually fielded a trespassing complaint against the Paul supporters and notified on-duty police in the area municipality of St. Peters, who, along with police from other jurisdictions, arrested two Paul supporters and ended the caucuses early. A joint-jurisdictional police helicopter arrived on the scene. Kipers said about 10 officers arrived in total.

So ten cops and a police helicopter had to be dispatched to an event where Republicans were simply trying to nominate their presidential candidate. How much did that cost taxpayers I wonder? The radicalized movement conservatives of today’s Republican Party can’t even muster enough civility towards one another to get through even this most basic election process, let alone compromise with members of the Democratic Party on complex lawmaking procedures. Why do so many rural Missourians continue to believe Republicans can run the government more effectively when they can’t even get through their own caucuses without it turning into mayhem? I don’t get it.

These are the GOP knuckleheads who want to replace Claire McCaskill this fall. More out-of-touch, 1 percenters who can’t even tell you what the Federal minimum wage is …

Notice how they all fall back to the GOP’s default position on “government control of the marketplace,” while avoiding the question and hoping to God radio host Charlie Brennan doesn’t further expose their out-of-touchery. Even former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman guessed wrong and she’s a numbers gal.

So none of them know anything about the minimum wage but they’re against it anyway. Face, meet palm.

It’s easy to forget all that has been accomplished in the last three years. It’s even easier to forget the volatile context in which it was achieved. The Obama campaign’s short titled, The Road We’ve Traveled, helps us to remember. It puts things into perspective in an emotional, yet fact-based way, without being sappy or disingenuous.

There will be people on the left who will complain the president could have done more. I’m not so sure after watching this retrospective. He did a lot. As far people on the ideological right who have convinced themselves that Obama is a Muslim, socialist, Manchurian candidate from Kenya out to establish a “Green World Order”, you should probably avoid this video. It will just make you sad. For the rest of the rational world, it’s worth seventeen minutes of your time.

According to Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley “It’s not the ‘Hall of Universally Loved Missourians. It’s the Hall of Famous Missourians. “ That’s the standard he is using to move forward with plans to honor the blowhard Rush Limbaugh in a public space in Jefferson City, despite overwhelming public opposition. Inductees simply need to be a) from Missouri, and b) famous.

That being the case, I nominate Franklin County’s own Bertha Gifford …

In 1928, Gifford — known in her community for her cooking skills and caring for sick neighbors and relatives — was arrested at Eureka, Missouri^[6] and charged with the murders of three people. Following the exhumation and post mortem exams of Edward Brinley and Elmer and Lloyd Schamel whose bodies were found to contain large amounts of arsenic, Gifford was put on trial in Union, Missouri.  Following the three-day trial, she was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to the Missouri State Hospital #4 (a mental institution)^[7] where she remained until her death in 1951.

Although counts vary, most historians and family members agree that Gifford actually killed at least 17 people over a period of 21 years. Most of her victims were children.

Bertha Gifford is considered to be the first known female serial killer in America. Poisoning children was said to be her specialty. She’s from Missouri. She’s famous. She’s not universally loved. Check, check and check.

Rally Against Rush and for Women’s Health
Missouri State Capitol
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
10:00am until 2:30pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/127125700748836/

The Obama team has unveiled the trailer for the president’s reelection campaign film produced by award-winning filmmaker, Davis Guggenheim (Waiting for Superman, Inconvenient Truth). Narrated by Tom Hanks. It’s a retrospective of Obama’s first term, the challenges he was faced with when he took office, the solutions he implemented, and the fruits of his policies. It’s slated for release March 15.

Additionally, The Washington Weekly lists Obama’s top 50 accomplishments since taking office. Right-wing heads exploding in 3,2,1 … Enjoy.

It’s not just happening in Missouri. It’s happening in all other Republican-controlled State Legislatures across the nation — and it’s scary as hell. Out-of-state, moneyed special interests with a for-profit motive are drafting model legislation that, if enacted, will further enrich their respective industries at taxpayer expense. The draft legislation is funneled to state lawmakers through the corporate-run American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Lawmakers then copy that text, in many cases word for word, put their names on it, and then pretend the ideas are originating from them. But don’t be fooled. They’re not.

We are seeing this exact process unfolding before our very eyes in Missouri’s Capitol right now. But it’s happening everywhere. Here, Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) explains how the process is playing out in his state.

At best this demonstrates how lazy, complacent and unimaginative GOP lawmakers have become. They can no longer be bothered to think critically about the needs of their state and do the hard work of drafting original legislation that serves all people. It’s easier to just copy and paste ALEC model legislation and take the campaign contributions that come with it. At worst it’s more evidence that we are moving towards unchecked plutocracy in which laws are created by corporations, for corporations.

So far, Sleep Number, The Sleep Train, Quicken Loans, Legal Zoom, Citrix, Carbonite, ProFlowers, AOL, Bonobos, Sears, and Allstate Insurance have pulled their ads from Rush Limbaugh’s radio program over his most recent offensive remarks. Several other advertisers are considering following their lead. Good for them. They are doing the right thing.

Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley, on the other hand, is standing firm on his decision to put a bust of Limbaugh on display at our State Capitol at taxpayer expense, ironically calling critics “intolerant” and saying …

It’s not the ‘Hall of Universally Loved Missourians. It’s the Hall of Famous Missourians.

Except Limbaugh is not a “famous Missourian.” He’s an infamous Missourian. If Tilley can’t tell the difference between a respected historical figure whose life’s work made a major contribution toward the betterment of American society and a living right-wing propagandist who sows the seeds of derision, hatred, and negativity, he is unqualified to be speaker.

Tell Speaker Tilley Rush Limbaugh deserves no place of honor in Missouri’s Capitol.

Even before Rush Limbaugh’s offensive remarks last week in which he called a female law student who was advocating for contraception coverage a “slut,” honoring this stain of a man with a statue at our State Capitol was a bad idea. But that’s exactly what House Speaker Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, intends to do.

If Tilley gets his way a bust of the blowhard Limbaugh will be displayed in the People’s House alongside real Missouri heroes, such as Harry Truman, Walt Disney, Scott Joplin and many more.

Progressive Missouri is calling on Speaker Tilley to reverse course and save Rush’s space for Missourians who truly deserve the honor. Please write Speaker Tilley and your representatives now, and ask your friends and colleagues to do the same. Tell him No. Freakin’. Way.

Rush Limbaugh deserves no place of honor in the Missouri Capitol.

A bipartisan group from the Labadie Environmental Organization (LEO) took a trip up to the state capitol this week to lobby our local representatives to support a resolution that would require the groundwater around the Ameren Coal plant to be tested and monitored more effectively. This should be a no-brainer for any state representative or senator who actually gives a damn about the well being of his or her constituents. But evidently, concerned citizens now have to plead with our elected public officials to do what should just be common sense.

During the meeting witnesses say Sen. Nieves attempted to change the subject from what’s really important to his apparent obsession over me and this blog — repeatedly referring to me as a “whack job.” (This from a guy who beat down a staffer of his political opponent after the 2010 Republican primary).

Why Nieves thinks ranting about me has anything to do with whether or not he can support a common sense resolution that would protect the health of his constituents in Franklin County is beyond me. I am not a LEO member. I don’t serve on its board. I have no authority with that group. I’m just a casual supporter of its cause.

I suspect this was a kind of filibuster by Nieves so he wouldn’t have to discuss the issue at hand, but it also sounds like a veiled attempt to get the organization to pressure me into going easy on him in hopes he might support the resolution if I do. One member of LEO’s board, an apparent Nieves supporter, went so far as to tell me I should, “back off.”

The thing is, if Nieves’ support for protecting the environment in Franklin County is so flimsy that it is contingent on silencing a local blogger then he’s probably never going to vote for it anyway. If he proves me wrong, I’ll happily give him credit where credit is due. If he doesn’t, I’ll blog about that too. And if he does more stupid shit in the future, I will continue to be merciless. That’s never going to change, no matter how he votes on LEO’s resolution or who tells me to “back off.”

Call me crazy.

… is good for the gander:

In response to the recent vote by the Missouri House against requiring insurance coverage for contraceptives, state Rep. Stacey Newman has filed a bill to bar vasectomies “unless needed to avert serious injury or death.”

Newman, D-Richmond Heights, said Thursday she doesn’t expect the state House’s GOP leadership to treat her bill seriously, even though she has eight co-sponsors – all women.

But Newman added that she introduced the bill to make a point.

“I was one of the ‘Silenced Seven,’ seven progressive Democratic women, who stood at the microphones for over three hours last Wednesday and were not allowed to speak on a topic unique to females,” said Newman, who chairs the House Progressive Caucus.

“If we are going to seriously restrict access to birth control used by over 98 percent of Missouri women and widely used since 1960, then it’s only fair we legislate men’s access as well.”

Government restrictions on contraception takes on an entirely different vibe when it involves a man’s scrotum, doesn’t it? I can almost see the male-dominated GOP leadership in Jeff City squirming in their collective seats as they pretend Newman’s bill doesn’t make them all look like a bunch a Bible-thumping, misogynistic, jack asses — which is entirely her point. Good on Newman. More of this please.