Missouri State Rep. Cynthia Davis’ persona has elements of the mid-20th century comedian Gracie Allen, who developed a sweetly stupid comic schtick derived from an earlier vaudeville stereotype, the “Dumb Dora.” Unfortunately, as Davis’ newsletters often demonstrate, in a political context Dumb Dora’s skewed logic is not always funny — particularly when dealing with topics such as the massacre at Fort Hood.

At this early point all that we can actually verify about the perpetrator, Nidal Hasan, is that he was a disturbed man whose discontent seems to have been expressed through religious preoccupations. To Davis, however, that Hasan is a Muslim is the only important fact. She writes in her latest Newsletter:

Christianity is the foundation of tolerance.  … Jesus teaches us to love our enemies.  On the other hand radical Muslims, such as Hasan’s imam (Islamic cleric) teach it is honorable to kill non-Muslims…. While some Muslims may be unaware of what their faith teaches and others do not adhere to these parts of the Koran, we as a country should not ignore the obvious

ooooh! We loving and tolerant Christians just can’t trust those scary Muslims, no matter how reasonable they seem!

But wait a minute – earlier this year another disturbed man, his anger focused through the lens of fundamentalist Christian dogma, erupted in a violent act. Christian anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder shot Dr George Tiller who had just been acquitted of violating Kansas’ late-term abortion law. There can be little doubt that Roeder’s motivation was influenced by his religious beliefs.  

And what did Cynthia Davis, Christian anti-abortion champion, have to say about fundamentalist Christian terrorism in the person of Scott Roeder?:

With no knowledge of the person who shot George Tiller, I can only speculate he may have been mentally unbalanced.  With the exception of self defense, it is hard to imagine how anyone could shoot another human being in his right mind,…

.

Gracie Allen may have presented a Dumb Dora face to the public, but her stage character never allowed stupidity to lead her past the bounds of decency and fairness. One wishes that one could say the same for Cynthia Davis.  

Representative Denny Hoskins (r – noun, verb, CPA) at his June 19, 2009 townhall meeting in Knob Noster, Missouri. Uh, we were there, we covered three of his townhalls in the same day, and it was interesting. So what’s the big deal?

Representative Denny Hoskins (r) in the 121st Legislative District has not been having a good month when it comes to property taxes. This morning he talked with Marion Woods about it on his regular KOKO radio show.

The transcript:

[note: laughter and crosstalk in transcript came from the interviewer]

….Marion Woods: Our State Representative for the 121st District, Denny Hoskins. Hi, Den.

Representative Denny Hoskins: Hi, how are you Woody?

Woods: I’m pretty good.

Hoskins: Good, good.

Woods: It’s Monday, I got through the weekend. Although it’s kind of miserable out there today.

Hoskins: Yes, it is kind of…  

Woods: And it’s not going to change all week! [crosstalk]

Hoskins: …cruddy out there. Exactly, exactly.

Woods: We’ve got to talk about HOS Properties, LLC today.

Hoskins: Yes.

Woods: Now you probably knew I would ask you about that.

Hoskins: Right, right.

Woods: You probably prepared a…  

Hoskins: Well, I…  

Woods: To discuss it a little bit?

Hoskins: Yes, I’m, I’m definitely prepared to discuss Hos Properties, LLC and, and it’s something that I want to talk about.

Woods: Oh. Okay.

Hoskins: So, inform…So I can inform the listeners about what’s going on.

Woods: Ok.

Hoskins: Um, basically Hos Properties, LLC is, is a rental property company owned by my brother Brian, and myself. Uh, Brian has taken over managing the rental properties and paying the bills and whatnot ever since I started campaigning for election back in January two thousand eight. Um, unfortunately, we were late this year paying our property taxes.

Woods: Yeah.

Hoskins: And the House Democrat Campaign Committee, including Chris Moreno, sent out press releases to every media outlet, um, in Johnson County and I think across the state.

Woods: [laughter] Everybody got one, huh?

Hoskins: Yes, last, uh, Wednesday informing them, with, with copies of our HOS Properties, LLC property taxes.

Woods: Did you have any indication this was coming? That, that you were, there was going to be a big news story?

Hoskins: No, no, I had, I had no indication. You know we, um, all my individual income taxes are paid. All my personal property taxes are paid. My property taxes on my house are paid. This was a, like I said, a business, HOS Properties, LLC. That owed, we paid our 2008 property taxes late. We are responsible for those property taxes. Um, we just paid them late. And, I know that there’s are a lot of other Missourians out there that are struggling just like we are.

Woods: Yeah.

Hoskins: Um, when we have tenants that can’t pay their rent, uh, because of economic recession and downturn, uh, in turn it’s tough for us to pay our mortgage.

Woods: Yeah.

Hoskins: And our property taxes as well.

Woods: Now your brother takes care of this for you?

Hoskins: Brother takes care of…[crosstalk]  

Woods: For HOS Properties, LLC.

Hoskins: Yes.

Woods: Did you know that they hadn’t been paid?

Hoskins: Yes, I, I knew that they had not been paid. And, so, he um, he’d been saving money back, and we, I mean, we’ve had a plan for a while. He’d been saving money back. We can, not necessarily pay them in installments, but we can pay, it was a couple different properties, so we can pay each parcel off and that’s what we were working on trying to do.

Woods: Yeah, you can’t pay ’em in installments can you?

Hoskins: No, you cannot pay them in installments. When we talk about installments is, um, you know either setting money back, um, us setting money back in order to pay them all in full, or, like I said, you can pay off different parcels, and so we’ve got, um, I think five, five parcels, or five uh, rental, rental houses, rental buildings.

Woods: Yeah.

Hoskins: And so we could pay off each one. We didn’t have to pay all of ’em up at one time.

Woods: It’s a, there were separate bills then?

Hoskins: Exactly.

Woods: Okay. Okay.

Hoskins: Yes. They were separate bills. And so, you know, like I said, the previous tenants skipped town without paying, and so we’ve been struggling on collecting delinquent rent and getting those paid.

Woods: That’s always fun too, isn’t it?

Hoskins:: It, it is, uh. It’s very, it’s very frustrating and, and struggling and I know there’s a lot of other landlords out there, too, that go through the same thing. In fact, I’ve received, um, several phone calls from other landlords here in Johnson County, in Warrensburg, that have experienced the same thing and, and it’s frustrating for them, and to try to collect delinquent rent. Because, the, the Missouri laws are definitely written in favor of the tenants.

Woods: Really?

Hoskins: Yes, um.  

Woods: Maybe something for you to work on! [laughter]

Hoskins: It might, it might be something that, that we take a look at.

Woods: Yeah.

Hoskins: You know, we’ll see. You know this is a, um, like I said these are, you know, I just want to make it clear because sometimes the headlines don’t always reflect…[crosttalk]

Woods: Yeah.

Hoskins: …what, what’s actually going on. These were two thousand eight property taxes for HOS Properties, LLC, which is a company that my brother and I own, for, and we paid the taxes, we know that we’re, we’re responsible for the taxes. We weren’t trying to dodge not paying the taxes, they were just paid late.

Woods: And you’re going to have to pay late fees, too.

Hoskins: Yes, and we paid, we paid the late fees, all the late fees and the property taxes have been paid in full. So, like I said, my, we’ve had a plan. My brother’s been setting aside money and, uh, we’ve paid those off all last week. So.

Woods: So, it’s done.

Hoskins: It’s done.

Woods: Now, there’s still going to be questions aren’t there?

Hoskins: Right, there, there’s still going to be questions, and you know this is um, we’ve talked a little bit about it and it, it feels, we’re a year out, a little over, a little less than a year out from the next general election, as a state representative I serve a two year term.  

Woods: Yeah.

Hoskins: Um, I am the number one targeted race in the state of Missouri. So what that…  

Woods: Do you know why you are?

Hoskins: Well, based on the fact that um, um, I won by a hundred twenty-two votes last, last November.

Woods: Very short, very small margin then.

Hoskins: Right. And we’ve had, you know, Republican and Democrat representatives here represent us in the 121st District.

Woods: Yeah.

Hoskins: We’ve had, you know, Senator Pearce represented us. We’ve had, uh, former State Representative Deleta Williams. We’ve had, uh, Rep – who was a Democrat. We’ve had Republican Gene Lange represent us. So…[crossstalk]

Woods: Yeah.

Hoskins: It’s a district that’s swung back and forth. And, um, this is just the, the Chris Mor
…, I know I’ve had a lot of people that said, well who, who’s Chris Moreno. I got an email from Chris Moreno. Um, Chris Moreno…[crosstalk]  

Woods: I have no idea myself.

Hoskins: Yes, you don’t? Um, Chris Moreno, he is, he was the lobbyist for the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, um, last year, under Governor Nixon’s administration. He left that position to become, um, the Chairman of the House Democrat Campaign Committee. He’s also one that I’ve talked about before about Representative Scott Largent, myself, uh, offering the amendments to save Meals on Wheels and get rid of the government lobbyist. Well he’s one of the positions that we, um, amended to cut [laughter] in, in order to put that money toward Meals on Wheels.

Woods: Yeah.

Hoskins: He’s also, and we’ve talked about this, on the, on the radio show before too, um, with my colleagues Representative Molendorp and Representative Zerr, about the, uh, when they were offered jobs, and job security, in order to place a vote, um, Repre…, er, you know, Chris Moreno, as well as Dustin Allison from the Governor’s office were the two people that, that were there offering them, um, perks and things in, in order for the vote. So that’s, that’s who Chris Moreno is. Um.  

Woods: So his job right now is to get your job?

Hoskins: Well, his, his, yes. His job is, his job is to make sure that uh, um, there’s a candidate here, um, to try and take my job. So, um, you know, like I said, this is, it’s a targeted race, there’s going to be a, uh, lot name-calling toward me and we’ve already had, there’s people down at the courthouse, um, from the House Democrat Campaign Committee, or, or firms that they’ve hired that are pull, pulling my personal and business records. Um, someone, I um, I can’t prove anything, but I think someone was actually going through my trash…[laughter]…before.

Woods: Really?

Hoskins: Yes, yes. I’ve had fake constituents, uh, email me and, and when I’ve tried to call ’em back, there, there’s no, the phone number they list is, is not there.

Woods: Nonexistent?

Hoskins: Nonexistent. I, look them up on the registered voter hotline, and there’s, they’re not a registered voter at least within my district.

Woods: Yeah.

Hoskins: So, so they’re, they’re being put up to something, um, by, by other people. I’ve had, um, someone call my office, and, um, ask, you know, or had, had someone ask one of my supporters well, you know it’s really hard to get a hold of Representative Hoskins, you know, how much, how much would it take to meet with Representative Hoskins? Well, my answer is, it’s free. It’s free. [laughter] It’s free to meet with Representative Hoskins. I don’t, I don’t charge anything. [crosstalk, background laughter] And then, you know I’ve talked about it, at my town halls, too, I had a, um, when we had the three town halls, one at Holden, one at Warrensburg, and one at Knob Noster. I had a gentleman, a liberal blogger, um, Michael Bersin…

Woods: Um, hm.

Hoskins: Um, come and tape record and take pictures at not just Holden, not just Holden and Warrensburg but Holden, Warrensburg, and Knob Noster. So, like said, it, it’s a targeted race. There’s going to be a lot of information and everything out there but, what I encour…what I encourage people to do is, if they want the truth, if they want the facts, you know, don’t, uh, listen to, and, front page editorial on the local newspaper, you know, give me a call. My door’s always open. I’ll be, you know, email me, you know, it’s, uh, a lot different living your life in a fish bowl.

Woods: It is, it is different isn’t it?

Hoskins: Right. And that, and that’s the way I describe it, but you know I’ve got thick skin and like I said, my door’s always open.

Woods: Now where can they find you, Denny?

Hoskins: They can find me, um, either at Denny dot Hoskins at house dot mo dot g-o-v, um, my, we have a new 866 or 800 number. I don’t have that number on me, well, maybe I do.

Woods: Maybe you do, in the phone?

Hoskins: Yes, yeah, let me look it up here.

Woods: What about, uh,  if they want to come in and meet you face to face?

Hoskins: If they want to come in and meet me face to face, you know, we, I’ve got my new office, uh, Taylor, Hoskins, Shaw CPAs at 201 North Holden that they come in and set an appointment. I’d be glad to meet ’em, with them here in the district. Or, um, most of the time I’m here in the district or where we can meet you know, for coffee somewhere as well.

Woods: Yeah.

Hoskins: Anything like that. Um, you know, or they can always call my Jeff City office and, my legislative assistant Rose Marie can schedule an appointment there too.

Woods: Okay, did you find your eight hundred number there?

Hoskins: Yes, it is, 866-331-4073. Again that’s 1-866-331-4073. Um, what we’re, you know, what I’m excited about, I’m excited about getting back to work this next legislative session. Um, Representative Burlison, uh, from Springfield and I have got some potential legislation that could I think, uh, be very environmental friendly and that we’re excited about and working on together. One, one of, one of the other things I’m going to do is, I had another colleague of mine tell me about, uh, an idea they had, it’s called a, you know I’ve had four town halls in the past year.  

Woods: Yeah.

Hoskins: What they called was an idea raiser. And so we’re working on trying to get a time and a place for an idea raiser here in Johnson County. And what an idea raiser is, um, constituents are invited to come, we meet, and we talk about their ideas. Their ideas to help make Johnson County and the 121st District and Missouri a better place to live and work. And, I’ll be there to listen to their ideas. They’ll have a chance to write those ideas down and talk to me about, um, any potential legislation they think that could, could, um, help make that better. So, I’m excited about that and like I said, I’m excited about getting back to Jeff City. Pre-filing starts December 1st.

Woods: Which is not far off, is it?

Hoskins: It’s not far off.

Woods: A couple weeks.

Hoskins: Right, a couple weeks. And we’ll talk, here in the next week or two, we’ll talk about different, um, um, legislation that, that we’re working on pre-filing. But, if any, like I said, if anyone has any questions, you know, feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email because, um, you’re, you’re going to get, I’m going to shoot you the record straight.

Woods: [laughter] Yeah.

Hoskins: I guess I should say.

Woods: But it, I think everyone needs to be alert, this is a contested race coming up. You’ve got another year and then, there’s another election.

Hoskins: Yes, yes, it’s uh, you know, like I said, it’s been interesting. You know with, there’s another local, uh, news media source that printed a, uh, on their online website, Digitalburg.com.

Woods: Um hmm.

Hoskins: They printed, um, the other announced candidate, um, her press release announcing her election bid, or bid for my, my job, my state representative job. Um, I sent them copies of my press release twice. Called them, left two messages, never, never heard anything. It was never printed. You know all the other local media outlets, uh, including the radio station and warrensburgradio.com picked that up. When I was finally able to make contact, uh, with the, with the gentleman, he said that, uh, the incumbent, me announcing my run for reelection twelve months was, ahead of time was not news, but, uh, the only other announced candidate announcing her re-election bid, for sixteen months out, that was big news. And, I said, well it was kind of interesting and, and frustrating that, uh, her husband works in, in that department at the University, the Department of Communications. And, u
h, he said her husband working three doors down from me has nothing to do with us printing her press release and not yours. So.

Woods: Yeah.

Hoskins: So, like I said, it’s, it’s a targeted race. Um, I look forward to this next session. I look forward to campaigning and you know, become, staying your state representative.

Woods: Thank you, Denny.

Hoskins: Thanks a lot Woody.

Woods: You bet. Denny Hoskins, your state representative of the 121st District….

Okay. He’s talking about not paying his property taxes for eleven months and then paying them after the media covers that fact. And somehow:

“…And then, you know I’ve talked about it, at my town halls, too, I had a, um, when we had the three town halls, one at Holden, one at Warrensburg, and one at Knob Noster. I had a gentleman, a liberal blogger, um, Michael Bersin [….] Um, come and tape record and take pictures at not just Holden, not just Holden and Warrensburg but Holden, Warrensburg, and Knob Noster….”

Yes, covering a state representative’s townhall in a blog that covers politics and government in Missouri is somehow connected to not paying your property taxes for almost a year. Am I missing a connection here?

The list of other meanies that seem to be responsible for all this misfortune doesn’t just include me.

If Representative Hoskins had actually paid his property taxes when they were due (like the reported 92% of other taxpayers in Johnson County who paid up) all those people who pointed that fact out wouldn’t be meanies?

That’s just rich.

Oh, and by the way, it’s the Democratic Party.

Kit Bond wasted no time before joining the Republican attack dogs frothing about the decision to bring Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four of the 9/11 cospirators to New York to stand trial.  Spouting what seems to be the agreed upon Republican rhetorical figure, he characterized the decision as prioritizing “political correctness over protecting the citizens of this country.” (Compare John Boehner’s similar statement that the decision “puts the interests of liberal special interest groups before the safety and security of the American people.”)

In regard to this line of attack, Glenn Greenwald gets it absolutely, spot-on right:

As always, the Right’s tough-guy leaders wallow in a combination of pitiful fear and cynical manipulation of the fear of their followers.  Indeed, it’s hard to find any group of people on the globe who exude this sort of weakness and fear more than the American Right.

Bond’s fearfulness is so extreme that it leads him to an implied repudiation of constitutional values:

…it an insult to the memories of those who were brutally murdered on September 11th that the perpetrators of these cowardly acts of terrorism will sit in a courtroom blocks away from Ground Zero and reap the full benefits and protections of the U.S. Constitution.

Strange sentiments indeed from a man who claims to value the principles embodied in the Constitution. When push comes to shove, Bond, clearly thinks that we can’t trust our form of government or our system of jurisprudence. Or maybe he just thinks that it’s in bad taste to insist that justice be served when you don’t like the folks it’s being served upon – that might be why he thinks that real justice, rather than unproven allegation and torture, would “insult” the memories of those who died on 9/11.

Perhaps Bond could take a lesson from the 9/11 victims’ family members who speak out about the promised trials in the ACLU video below:

Judging by a letter from Roy Blunt published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch today (fifth letter down), this erstwhile BushCo cheerleader is working overtime to present himself as the latest David  to take  on the bumbling Goliath of (Democratic-controlled) big government. The slingshot he  hopes will lay the giant low is the shortage of H1N1 vaccine:

When did the Obama administration know the government was going to fail to have the shots ready, and why didn’t it level with the public? When did the slowness of vaccine culture come to knowledge? The federal government, after all, has been preparing for a pandemic flu season for years and has known about this threat for six months.

This newfound fervor is bemusing to say the least since, as the Missouri Democratic party has observed,  Blunt “was against preparedness before he was for it.” He voted against a supplemental appropriations bill that would have allocated $7.65 billion to bulk up H1N1 vaccine production. Maybe at that time he was more interested in his credentials as a charter member of the Party of No than in public health issues.  

Equally confounding is Blunt’s effort to load the issue of H1N1 preparedness with a slew of emotionally resonant but factually weak claims:

Terrorists will be vaccinated before you!

Blunt claims that he is  “outraged” by plans to vaccinate Prisoners at Guantanamo. Sadly, his bluster reflects either serious ignorance or willful disregard of good public health policy.  Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, responded to what he called the charges of the  “ever mind-numbingly off-base Rep. Roy Blunt” by observing that:

… even if you don’t give two hoots for those stuck in limbo at Guantanamo or locked up in prisons and jails all over the nation, these prisoners pose a huge threat to you.  Prisons are prime breeding grounds for disease, including swine flu. The prisoners infect the guards who bring the virus home to their pregnant wives and kids. From there, it moves out into the neighborhood, the school, the airport and beyond.

Wealthy Wall Street Bankers will be vaccinated before you!

Blunt, who has heretofore been among the staunchest defenders of Wall Street perks, now sputters that:

Expectant mothers in Missouri were being delayed until the eighth and ninth months of term while efforts were made to prioritize Wall Street bankers and brokers.

Unfortunately for the credibility of Mr. Blunt’s newfound populism, distributing vaccine to Wall Street Firms is part of a long-standing practice of sending shipments of vaccines to employers since it is considered to be an efficient method of distribution – as those who regularly get their flu shots at work know full well. The Post Dispatch reports:

The big banks took their turns in line like other businesses; Goldman has received only 200 of the 5,400 doses it has asked for. Citi has received 1,200, more than half of what it requested. They’ll have to follow federal rules for inoculating at-risk patients first.

The Obama administration is covering up its failure to protect you!

There may indeed be room to criticize the government for failing to adequately monitor the private manufacturers upon whom we rely for our supplies of vaccine, but it is difficult to claim that clear and verifiable explanations of the reasons for the delay constitute a coverup for negligence as Blunt claims:

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius didn’t have on hand the Post-Dispatch’s alibi for the administration – the vaccine culture doesn’t grow as fast as expected – when she testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Oct. 21. I take it this tale was developed only after events have exposed the nation’s woeful lack of preparedness.

According to a news report, Sebelius told the committee members that:

Reasons for the delays are twofold, …  First, antigen production was yielding lower results than had initially been anticipated, … . Secondly, new production lines were established by the five vaccine manufacturers … . That’s the good news. The bad news is, there were glitches in some of those production lines

This explanation doesn’t seem to be at odds with technical explanations for the delays in producing the vaccine. As early as July, NPR cited problems with incubation in a story about impediments to securing sufficient amounts of the vaccine in a timely fashion. It has been common knowledge for some time. One is forced to conclude that Blunt is either conceptually challenged, or he was napping when Sebelius visited his committee.

All roads lead to “Obamacare”

Blunt can’t resist the opportunity to use the H1N1 shortage to lash out at Democratic health care reform legislation:

You better believe I’m outraged by this incompetence … . Try government-run health care, see what happens. The federal government can’t handle flu shots

It is obvious to anyone who doesn’t have a partisan horse in the race, that it is premature to talk about “incompetence.” It is particularly unfair coming from Blunt who was happily complicit in the orgy of incompetence of that characterized the period of Republican ascendancy under Bush.

Nevertheless, it is true that one might make the case that the government was negligent in its monitoring of drug companies. Additionally, Arthur Caplan argues that not enough has been done to deal with widespread public fear of vaccines – nor to compell compliance on the part of health care workers who, remarkably, often refuse to be inoculated. Indeed, getting people to take the vaccine may end up to be a greater problem than the delays in productions.

However, far from demonstrating the failure of government’s role in health care, Kathleen Reardon, a Professor at the USC Marshall School, makes the case that the problems involved in securing sufficient quantities of H1N1 vaccine in a timely fashion actually indicate the need for a strong public option in health care reform legislation:

If anything, the lateness of the H1N1 vaccine, actually the very existence of H1N1, tells us that we need a public option. … the more we allow pharmaceuticals and insurance companies to dictate when, how and to whom needed medication will be dispersed at reasonable costs, the more people without sufficient monetary means will suffer. By contrast, the more pharmaceuticals have to worry about whether our government might make a deal with someone else and that they aren’t running the whole show, the better off we’ll be.

There’s a battle brewing over chicken poop. Jim Turner explained to the board of the Sierra Club in St. Louis the tensions that are building over this … would you call poop an issue?

It seems that our state, with its lax regulations about how much can be applied to the land as manure, is drawing chicken manure from Arkansas into southern Missouri. Disposing of that waste can be a problem for CAFO operators. Missouri chicken CAFO owners resent the influx because currently they’re able to sell their chicken manure. But if Arkansas CAFOs glut the Missouri market with free poop, well, that’s a problem.

That would make for some strange bedfellows if environmentalists and chicken CAFO owners united to effect more stringent regulations. However, their idea of “more stringent” is a fur piece from our notion of it. It’d be more like a limp handshake than sharing a bed. The CAFO operators would be willing to go for requiring manure haulers to register. That’s it. Because they’re not concerned about how the runoff from too much of it can pollute local waterways and water tables.

And the farmers who use their product on the land are opposed to letting state regulators measure the nutrients in their soil, because who knows where that could lead? Next thing they know, the state will be getting ideas about measuring the amount of phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium in the soil from commercial fertilizers. Farmers don’t want to hear about the dead zone they’re creating in the Gulf of Mexico from excessive use of chemicals.

The state does have regulations about how much municipal sludge can be applied to land, but there are no such rules about agricultural waste. More’s the pity. And you can be sure that the Farm Bureau, working hand in hand with CAFO owners, will work to do the wrong thing.

Now, speechifying in law making is not a field where you write your own material. Typically the writers are actual employees or peers. But when a biotech company lobbyist is ghostwriting your speeches, that’s a bit different.

The New York Times reports that Blaine Luetkemeyer is one of a bipartisan group of around 42 unoriginal, uninspired, and impressionable House members to use the lobbyist-provided material in their house speeches in the Health Care Debate.

In separate statements using language suggested by the lobbyists, Representatives Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri and Joe Wilson of South Carolina, both Republicans, said: “One of the reasons I have long supported the U.S. biotechnology industry is that it is a homegrown success story that has been an engine of job creation in this country. Unfortunately, many of the largest companies that would seek to enter the biosimilar market have made their money by outsourcing their research to foreign countries like India.”

They’re not kidding, Luetkemeyer and Wilson used bio-similar language. Wilson made his speech first, and presumably Blaine had no other option. With America sprinting towards socialism, Blaine can’t disregard a paragraph. The major conclusion one can reach from this? Blaine Luetkemeyer and Ron Burgundy might have more in common than we ever suspected.

Unfortunately for voters wanting as much information on the originality of and influences on their Representative, the 42 members haven’t been revealed. Because investigative journalism and newspapers don’t dine together often enough.

The Democratic Committee Members in HD57 met today to nominate a candidate for the February 2nd special election to replace T. D. El-Amin. Jake Wagman reported on Twitter that the Democratic nominee is lawyer Hope Whitehead.

Quick investigation cannot determine the Presidential results in HD57. Other than to say that Obama won it by at least 90 percentage points.

Also, the 2009-2010 Missouri Manual shows that there’s 12 vacancies in the 14 Republican Committee spots in the district. Which means that Whitehead will likely win without opposition unless someone gets so motivated that they qualify as an Independent.

Concise summary: Hope Whitehead will win easily in February.

Some of the St. Louis activists most dedicated on the health care reform issue gathered on a curbside near Lacy Clay’s office Friday to thank him for his support of the bill. Oh, and there was one person who wasn’t there to thank him. Right wing blogger Sharp Elbows (at right), was there, taking photos and video. At one point, all by his lonesome, he started chanting a refrain that branded us as commies: “Everything for everybody, nothing for ourselves. Everything for everybody, nothing for ourselves.”

Our chanting, which until then had been anemic, took on new vibrancy, and Sharp Elbows kept his refrain going, along with occasionally yelling “commies” or “socialists”. One woman told him he had balls, and he replied, “Yes ma’am, two of ’em.” Melanie Shouse shouted her thanks to him and his for ruining the Republican Party.

What can I say? We should invite one tea partier to every progressive rally: gets the blood pumping and raises the needle on the ire tachometer.

But once the speakers started, our tea partier quieted down. Melanie, after explaining–with a smile–that she was wearing an eye patch because pirates can be useful in fending off interloping Republicans, reamed out obstructionist Republican Congressmen on the health care issue.