My daughter-in-law’s father used to be a hard core union Democrat.  But five or six years ago, he changed jobs, and when he was no longer in a union, he let his Southern Baptist, Texas upbringing come to the fore.  Now he’s a Fox News, anti-gay marriage, anti-abortion hard core Republican.  He and I have had a few good natured arguments about politics.  In fact, he assured me, in the summer of 2005, that the Democrats would never win another election.  (I graciously didn’t remind him of that at Thanksgiving dinner last year.)

I thought of Jim when I saw these two headlines this morning:

Christian Conservatives Lose Focus, Clout in GOP

Republicans’ Deepening Slide in Congress Stirs Gloom–and Jokes

The article traces the signs of the fading influence of fundamentalism in the GOP, but it hazards few guesses as to the cause.  Here are some possibilities.

Duped by Bush’s appeal to them as one of themselves, social conservatives gave George the electoral edge to win and to shovel trainloads upon trainloads of cash to his super wealthy base.  Then the consequences of Republican malfeasance began to be noticed:  endless war in Iraq and almost fifty million Americans without health care head the list.  A noticeable portion of the evangelicals are disillusioned with how Republicans have misused their power. 

Meanwhile, the Grand Old Party has suffered at their hands as well.  Terry Schiavo was a watershed moment.  Social conservatives overplayed their hand so badly two and a half years ago, that they did long term damage to the Republicans.  While the nation looked on openmouthed at their extreme views, they soldiered on, damaging the far right Christian brand in the public mind.  And despite their commitment to their goals, they haven’t gotten what they wanted.  Many are disillusioned at not having achieved their goals of banning abortion and gay marriage nationwide.  They are splintered.

They are splintered and ripe for a change of direction.  The leaders of the old order have faded.  Falwell is dead.  And while most evangelicals managed not to notice that Pat Robertson was buddy buddy with the bloody dictator of Liberia, Charles Taylor, it was impossible to overlook the way Ralph Reed duped them.  Reed secretly took millions from casino interests in Louisiana with a promise to convince fundamentalists to fight legislation allowing new casinos there. When it came out who was paying Reed, that revelation was the death blow to the Christian Coalition.

The debacle of their years of influence reminds me of the witch hunts of Salem.  Those extreme, unreasoning years ran their course and people foreswore trying witches.  This era may well, also, have passed its glory days.  Now, the singleminded determination of evangelicals to own the government has been … perhaps not crushed … but bruised, badly bruised.  It’s left an opening for leaders like Rick Warren and Joel Osteen, who take little interest in political power and who are focusing instead on the issues Jesus would have noticed:  AIDS, poverty, and illiteracy.

I won’t know the era’s really over, though, until Jim abandons the Republicans.  And the Missouri legislature is once more in the hands of Democrats. 

“Astroturf” – otherwise known as fake grassroots – has become a big part of American political life. One is left to wonder when our traditional media will finally figure it out.

Campaigns & Elections magazine defines astroturf as a “grassroots program that involves the instant manufacturing of public support for a point of view in which either uninformed activists are recruited or means of deception are used to recruit them.” Journalist William Greider has coined his own term to describe corporate grassroots organizing. He calls it “democracy for hire.”

August 22, 2007 press release:

…a new organization named Freedom’s Watch announced it is launching a nationwide grassroots campaign aimed at ensuring Congress continues to fully fund the troops with the ultimate goal of victory in the War on Terror. Freedom’s Watch is spending approximately $15 million on radio and television ads as well as grassroots activities from now thru mid-September and has partnered with a host of veterans organizations in an effort to ensure terrorism is confronted all over the world….

Does anyone remember Richard Nixon’s almost messianic belief in the silent majority?

The same press release continued:

…Supporters of Freedom’s Watch include Former U.S. Ambassador Anthony Gioia, Former U.S. Ambassador Kevin Moley, Former U.S. Ambassador Mel Sembler and Former U.S. Ambassador Howard Leach; Dr. John Templeton, Edward Snider, Sheldon Adelson, Richard Fox, Ari Fleischer, Gary Erlbaum, and Matt Brooks….

Ah, a republican insider “billionaire boys” club.

The Center for Responsive Politics:

Friendship and fund-raising are likely what got Anthony Gioia the nomination as ambassador to Malta, a three-island nation off the tip of Sicily.

Gioia contributed $25,850 to Republican candidates and party committees during the 1999-2000 election cycle, including $3,000 to the Bush campaign. He also made a $5,000 contribution to the Bush-Cheney recount fund. His lone contribution to the Democrats was $1,000 to incumbent Rep. John J. LaFalce of New York. Gioia’s wife, Donna, contributed a total of $6,561 in 1999-2000, all to Republicans.

Gioia is reported to be a prominent GOP fund-raiser who hosted a reception for former President George Bush at his Buffalo home. The event raised $500,000 for George W. Bush’s presidential campaign, reports The Buffalo News. During the presidential campaign, Gioia was a member of Bush’s national finance committee.

He is the head of Gioia Management, whose employees (including Gioia) and their families contributed a total of $33,411 to candidates and party committees in ’99-’00, all but $1,000 of which went to the GOP.

Ambassador Kevin Edward Moley

Ambassador Moley was nominated by President Bush to serve as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva on September 14, 2001 and was confirmed for this position by the United States Senate on September 26, 2001.

Beginning in 1998, Ambassador Moley was a private investor and served on the Board of Directors of five publicly held companies and three privately held companies. He previously served as a consultant to Kinetra LLC, the successor company to Integrated Medical Systems Inc., which Ambassador Moley served as President and CEO. Ambassador Moley was also Senior Vice President of PCS Health Systems, Inc….

….Ambassador Moley was the Senior Advisor to Secretary Dick Cheney for the Bush-Cheney 2000 Presidential Campaign….

Mel Sembler, Chairman of the Board of The Sembler Company, served as United States Ambassador to Italy from 2001 to 2005 and as U.S. Ambassador to Australia and Nauru from 1989 to 1993.

The Center for Responsive Politics:

President Bush stuck with tradition in his nomination for ambassador to France, naming a very wealthy — and extremely generous — contributor to serve in Paris, considered one of the most prestigious foreign posts.

Howard Leach, a successful investor involved in numerous business interests, has a net worth reported to be in the billions. He is the CEO of Leach Capital Corp. and president of Foley Timber and Land Co., which is based in Florida.

He is also a big-time Republican donor. Leach contributed $225,559 to GOP candidates and party committees in the 1999-2000 election cycle, including $190,300 in soft money. His wife, Gretchen, gave $63,800 to Republican candidates and party committees — $32,800 of which in soft money.

Leach was one of the Bush campaign’s “Pioneers,” who raised at least $100,000 for the campaign. He contributed $100,000 to the Bush-Cheney Inaugural Committee and $5,000 to the Bush-Cheney recount fund, a contribution matched by his wife.

All told, Howard and Gretchen Leach gave $289,359 to GOP candidates and party committees in 1999-2000, $10,000 to the Bush-Cheney recount fund, and $100,000 to the Bush-Cheney inaugural committee.

*Figures represent contributions from the individual and his/her immediate family in 1999-2000. Total includes donations made to Republican candidates and party committees, as well as the Bush-Cheney recount fund, transition foundation, and inauguration committee.

From Mother Jones:

Dr. John M. Templeton Jr.

Son of famed financial whiz Sir John Templeton, the younger John chose to pursue medicine instead of a full-time career in finance. After receiving his degree from Harvard Medical School, he spent two years in the U.S. Navy. Templeton went on to work at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 1977 as a pediatric surgeon and trauma program director….

….In 1995, Templeton retired from his medical practice to serve as full-time president of the John Templeton Foundation. The foundation, established by his father in 1987, seeks to explore the relationship between scientific and religious knowledge, typically through academic grants and awards. It sponsors the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, an award given to a “living individual for outstanding originality for advancing the world’s understanding of God and spirituality.”

There’s a few more. What do you bet they ain’t writing ten dollar checks?

The New York Times, September 30, 2007:

…Next month, Freedom’s Watch will sponsor a private forum of 20 experts on radical Islam that is expected to make the case that Iran poses a direct threat to the security of the United States, according to several benefactors of the group…

….One benefactor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the group was hoping to raise as much as $200 million by November 2008. Raising big money “will be easy,” the benefactor said, adding that several of the founders each wrote a check for $1 million. Mr. Blakeman would not confirm or deny whether any donor gave $1 million, or more, to the organization….

November 2008? Isn’t there an election around there somewhere?

Tristero writing at Digby points out:

….Notice the colloquial, ungrammatical “A bunch of us activists.” You’d think he was some kind of stringy-haired student with a denim jacket full of “Peace Now” buttons. In fact, as the Times puts it, he’s “a shopping center magnate based in St. Petersburg, Fla., who served as the ambassador to Italy and Australia.”

This far removed from the fake erudition of an old-style conservative like William F. Buckley….But don’t kid yourself: The use of “us activists” is quite deliberate, setting up the equally grammatically crude putdown “it just got to be obnoxious.” Sembler may actually talk like a stoner in real life – who knows or cares? – but clearly he’s doing so on purpose here. Remember: this is coming from an ambassador, not some Motley Crue fan slurping on a bong….

Is that sort of like cutting brush at a fake ranch?

Digby catches the media – The Outsiders:

Outsiders Aim to Frame Political Debate

By JIM KUHNHENN
The Associated Press
Friday, September 28, 2007; 2:00 PM

WASHINGTON — They raise millions of dollars, conduct provocative ad campaigns, work with a vast network of like-minded allies and have the power to frame the presidential election going forward as much as the candidates themselves.

That used to define only the liberal MoveOn.org, an organization of 3.3 million members that has raised $25 million in the past 18 months and is helping spearhead an anti-war coalition.

Now, a group of conservatives and Republicans with close ties to the White House have formed their own enterprise, Freedom’s Watch, landing on the political scene with a $15 million ad campaign to defend President Bush’s Iraq war strategy….

Hmmm. 3.3 million people raise $25 million. Grassroots. Hmmmm. A dozen or so wealthy insiders which our useless media labels as “outsiders” contribute $15 million. Grassroots? One of these things is not like the other. A four year old could figure out the difference. No wonder right wingnuts hate educational children’s programming on public television.

Taylor Marsh had their number with the group’s August 2007 ad:

….Check out the number at the end of the ad….Go on, call it.

As I told my radio listeners earlier today, once you get through something amazing happens. The operator asks you a question. Yes, you’re expected to take part in a survey before she puts you through to Congress. But there’s a catch. The question asked goes something like this: Do you believe the Iraq war is important to the war on terror? They may have changed the question by now, because we’re on to them, but that’s what I was asked. If you say no, the operator immediately thanks you but doesn’t connect you to Congress. Instead, she asks if you have anything else to say and then basically gets rid of you. They’re only allowing people who agree with them through….

That sums it all up, eh?

I’m not saying you don’t do economic development – sometimes you should. But you shouldn’t take the money from Missouri’s medically indigent and transfer it to ticket scalpers.

-Chris Kelly,  in a speech announcing his candidacy for the 24th District of the Missouri House.

Photo courtesy of the Columbia Tribune’s Jason Rosenbaum

In the last few days three individuals have announced as Democratic candidates for the open seat in the 121st Legislative District.

The 121st includes the cities of Warrensburg, Holden, and Knob Noster in Johnson County. The University of Central Missouri and Whiteman Air Force Base (B-2 bomber) are also in the district.

Both Anthony Arton and Jeff Alvarado announced last Thursday at a meeting of the Johnson County Democratic Club in Warrensburg. Alvarado ran in 2006. Jim Jackson (who ran in 2002) announced today at the 4th Congressional District Federation of Democratic Women’s Club meeting in Warrensburg.

David Pearce (r-plastic smile) currently holds the seat. He has opted to run for the open 31st District Senate seat in 2008. In an open seat race in 2002 Pearce defeated Jim Jackson 4984 to 3301 – this was the most expensive race in the history of the district. In 2004 no Democratic party candidate filed. Pearce defeated a Libertarian candidate 10,212 to 1685. There aren’t that many Libertarians in Johnson County, but a significant number of Democratic voters weren’t going to cast their votes for Pearce. In 2006 Pearce defeated Jeff Alvarado 6405 to 2708 with a different Libertarian candidate getting 448 votes.

Anthony Arton, a University of Central Misouri student, is a former president of the College Republicans at Central, served as a legislative intern [pdf] for David Pearce, and is the student member [pdf] of Central’s Board of Governors. He grew up in Warrensburg. Arton switched from the republican party to the Democratic Party in August 2007.

Jeff Alvarado ran a small (and under financed) campaign in 2006 – at times he must have felt like he was tilting at windmills. Alvarado is retired from the Air Force. He lives in Warrensburg.

Jim Jackson is a former Mayor of Warrensburg. For close to 25 years he owned an operated an appliance store in downtown Warrensburg (the store was destroyed by a lightning caused fire a few years ago). He has been active on a variety of boards and in community issues.

In the interest of full disclosure: I participated extensively in Jim Jackson’s 2002 campaign.

Rumors abound about republican candidates. From “no one, yet” to notorious Johnson County Clerk Gilbert Powers.

Did you know that SICKO is back by popular demand playing in STL at the Plaza Frontenac. If you haven’s seen it, it is worth your time and money. 

Michael Moore was also a guest of Oprah on Friday along with Uwe Reinhardt and a representative of the insurance industry.  See link for Oprah’s show.  It is somewhat long, maybe ten minutes, but well worth it as new material is fielded. 

  [ http://www.alternet…. ]

Reviews of my earlier posting lambasting the Missouri Corps of Engineers got mixed reviews.  Among the negatives was this reaction from a reader at Daily Kos:

A full tow  of river barges can carry two trainloads of grain. A train can carry 400 truckloads of grain. So for each of those barge tows you want to get rid of, you propose to replace them with 800 more trucks on our overcrowded and deteriorating highways. It’s stupidity like that that gives us environmentalists a bad name- please research the consequences of your bird brained ideas before you dump them on us.

SlyDi

Ouch!  A reply is called for.

Let me reiterate that the Corps’ own 1998 fifty million dollar study of their plan to build more locks and dams concluded that doing so was not cost effective.  The Corps ignored its own study and lied about the conclusions, until its chief economist, Donald Sweeney, called the top brass on their lies.

I’m not an economist for the Corps, so my explanation of why building those locks and dams wasn’t cost effective won’t be fiscally precise.  But neither will it be “bird brained”. (Considering that I wrote about Least Terns, I wonder if you intended the pun, SlyDi.)

Barge traffic has substantially decreased over the decades in favor or using trains and trucks.  And for good reason.  While the idea of cheap transportation (let the currents do the work instead of fossil fuels) appeals to us in this age of global warming, the reality is that such transportation isn’t cheap.  Congress is giving the Corps four billion dollars for lock-and-dam construction.  Should we assume that such construction–aside from the issue of being cost ineffective–won’t depend on the use of fossil fuels to run the heavy equipment?

Furthermore, not all the bells and whistles of the lock-and-dam system on the Mississippi can disguise the problem with barge transportation:  it is slow and undependable because of the weather.  Droughts can make the river too low for barge traffic.  And even in good years, the traffic will be halted several months because of winter weather. 

Of course, I’m not crazy about the idea of the fuel it would take to ship barge-delivered products by train and by truck.  But I will say that at least the heavier highway traffic could be alleviated if the government were to mandate that the trucking industry use the roads at night.

Another reason I disapprove of using barges is that the product they carry the most is corn.  If ever there was a product that ought to go extinct, it’s corn.  Much of that corn is being shipped to New Orleans so that it can be shipped abroad.  To feed the world’s hungry?  Hardly.  Many countries that could effectively feed themselves find their farmers undercut because we subsidize our farming industry.

And we subsidize–of all possible crops!–corn.  Corn requires more atrazine than other grains, as well as more of other herbicides and more fertilizer.  And the longer we grow it, the more of these poisons are required each year.  There is a large dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico around New Orleans, thanks in large part to runoff from such products.

What isn’t being shipped abroad is being used for ethanol–don’t get me started on the stupidity of that industry–and for high fructose corn syrup–here’s to your ill health.

I confess that I digress.  The subject here was barges, not corn.  So?  It’s still worth saying.  And anyone who disagrees with me deserves a corn cob up ….

But I’ll get back on topic.

Congress mandated that the Corps of Engineers was to protect Least Terns, Pallid Sturgeons, and Piping Plovers.  Once, my husband saw a Least Tern nest destroyed because the Corps flooded Ellis Bay to let a–as in one–barge through.  Congress might as well have said, “Protect terns, sturgeons, and plovers … when the barge industry finds it convenient.”

So, SlyDi, I stand by my hostility toward the Corps of Engineers–that model of efficiency that helped New Orleans to its death. 

They should all be employed by Weber Concrete, because pouring cement is what they’re all about.  I don’t expect to see the day that any of the brass at that agency give a rat’s patootie about any bird or fish. 

There are just two days left in this cycle.

During the past several months, I have been working very hard running for State Representative in District 94, Kirkwood Missouri .  Since July I have met with many people, attended many events, walked in the Kirkwood Green Tree Parade and have talked with many voters.  You already know this: People are ready for a change!  I am working hard to beat conservative Republican Rick Stream in November 2008!

My campaign is gaining momentum everyday!  But to get to Jefferson City , I need your help this weekend.

You can make a huge difference in my candidacy by contributing today – helping me bolster my campaign coffers before the September 30 fundraising filing deadline. With a strong showing in my fundraising report, I can prove to voters that I am the strongest Democrat to take back this seat against the GOP.  I will need all the resources possible to fight back against targeted attacks designed to defeat me.

I have received great democratic support from Valery Starr, Committeewoman of Bonhomme Township, Karl Unsworth, Committeeman of Bonhomme Township, and Kathy Schweitzer, former Candidate for St. Louis County Council, Third District.  Please join those who support me and donate today.  Your contribution of $25, $50, $100, will help us take back Kirkwood !

Donate online today at www.lavenderforstaterep.com or mail your contribution to:

Deb Lavender for State Rep.

P.O. Box 220571

Kirkwood, MO 63122 

Thank you for your support!

Deb