A campaign mail piece from Dean Dohrman (r), the incumbent in the 51st Legislative District race:

Dean Dohrman’s (r) first 2014 campaign mailing.

So, apparently, Dean Dohrman (r) is running against Barrack Obama. Interestingly, he spends his time in Jefferson City voting against Sharia Law, voting against Agenda 21, and voting for nullification (which was settled 150 years ago). Nope, nothing about jobs in all of that.

Dean Dohrman (r) did vote to screw education (and the University of Central Missouri) in his district.

Dean Dohrman (r) did vote to allow the state to intrude on an individual’s medical decisions.

Let’s see. It’s paid for by the Missouri republican party (they’ve been getting a lot of cash recently from the HRCC), and there are endorsement logos from Missouri Right to Life, the NRA, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, and the Missouri Chamber – all functionally republican front organizations.

There’s irony everywhere. Consider this: Gary Grigsby, the Democratic Party candidate in the 51st Legislative District, is an independent businessman. And a former Marine. And a former school teacher. And he serves on the Warrensburg school board.

Oh, by the way, the photography on this particular mailer sucks.

Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C000953 10/09/2014 MO REPUBLICAN PARTY House Republican Campaign Committee, Inc. PO Box 1313 Jefferson City MO 65102 10/9/2014 $250,000.00

[emphasis added]

Still, the HRCC has plenty of cash remaining.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: they’ll always have all the money they’ll ever need (May 10, 2014)

Campaign Finance: What on earth for? (August 10, 2014)

Campaign Finance: the HRCC has a really, really, really good day (August 11, 2014)

Campaign Finance: there’s nothing new under the Sun (August 16, 2014)

Campaign Finance: from one pocket to the other (October 7, 2014)

Yesterday morning in Warrensburg on the campus of the University of Central Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill (D) discussed proposed legislation addressing campus sexual violence with a panel of administrators, professional staff, and law enforcement officers.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D) in Warrensburg on the campus of the University of Central Missouri – October 8, 2014.

After the panel event she spoke briefly with media representatives. There was a question referring to ISIS in the Middle East, military funding to address that, and Representative Vicky Hartzler (r):

[….]

Question (Warrensburg Daily Star Journal): ….Now, I want to switch gears and go over to ISIS for a minute.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D) Okay.

Question (Warrensburg Daily Star Journal): Because  [Representative] Vicky Hartzler [R] was in the area yesterday and she made some comments and, um, what about more money for the military? If there’s more money for the military would that come out of social programs? Is there any other location for it to come out of based on the way the budget’s put together?

Senator Claire McCaskill (D) Well, we could, we could close some of the corporate loopholes that are really protected by lobbyists in Washington. We’ve made many attempts and been blocked by the republicans in closing some of the corporate tax loopholes. I mean, I think we all want to lower corporate tax rates, but we want to quit letting certain people get goodies so they don’t have to pay any taxes. We just want to level the playing field. And if we leveled the playing field we could actually realize some additional revenue without taxes going up for the vast majority of people, just the few people that aren’t paying any right now, um, and, and get to a more fair tax system that could more fully support our military.

Question (Warrensburg Daily Star Journal): All right. So it’s not just a matter of we just have to take this present money that we have and move that to the military. There is the other option, which is ending inversions and plugging loopholes.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D) Exactly. And doing cor, doing tax reform in a way that protects the middle class, protects the working people of this country, but, um, you know, maybe trims the sails of some of these, um, corporations that have gotten special goodies in the tax code because of who they know in Washington.

Question (Warrensburg Daily Star Journal): All right. Thank you very much.

[….]

Previously:

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) in Warrensburg – October 8, 2014 (October 8, 2014)

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) at the University of Central Missouri – October 8, 2014 (October 8, 2014)

Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C000960 10/09/2014 MO DEMOCRATIC STATE COMMITTEE Claire McCaskill 1941 Spring House Dr St Louis MO 63122 United States Senate 10/9/2014 $50,000.00

[emphasis added]

That’s $440,000.00 since February, $150,000.00 in October (so far).

And:

C000960 10/09/2014 MO DEMOCRATIC STATE COMMITTEE Nixon for Missouri PO Box 143 Jefferson City MO 65102 10/9/2014 $25,000.00

C000960 10/09/2014 MO DEMOCRATIC STATE COMMITTEE UFCW Local 655 Elect Political Fund 300 Weidman Rd Ballwin MO 63011 10/9/2014 $20,000.00

[emphasis added]

Everyone is in.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: there is a difference (October 6, 2014)

Campaign Finance: even more (October 2, 2014)

Campaign Finance: All in the family (July 28, 2014)

Campaign Finance: join the party (February 19, 2014)

This morning in Warrensburg on the campus of the University of Central Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill (D) discussed proposed legislation addressing campus sexual violence with a panel of administrators, professional staff, and law enforcement officers.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D) in Warrensburg on the campus of the University of Central Missouri – October 8, 2014.

A release from Senator McCaskill’s office:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OCTOBER 8, 2014

TODAY: ‘Claire on Campus’ Tour Brings McCaskill to University of Central Missouri

& Avila University for Discussions on Combating Sexual Violence

Senator to hear directly from students, educators, law enforcement in tour across state,

will rally support for her bipartisan legislation to empower students, strengthen accountability

WARRENSBURG/KANSAS CITY – As part of her “Claire on Campus” tour across the state, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill will visit the University of Central Missouri and Avila University on Wednesday to talk directly with students, educators, and law enforcement on ways to combat sexual violence on campus-and get feedback on her bipartisan legislation to protect and empower students, and strengthen accountability and transparency for institutions.

[….]

McCaskill will not discuss any specific case or investigation during her tour-but instead, will seek support and feedback from the state’s higher education community on her bipartisan bill, and on how best to combat sexual violence.

In July, McCaskill and a bipartisan group of Senators introduced the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, to take aim at sexual assaults on college and university campuses by protecting and empowering students, and strengthening accountability and transparency for institutions-including establishing stiff penalties for non-compliance with the legislation’s new standards for training, data and best practices. Earlier this year, McCaskill announced the results of her unprecedented nationwide survey of how sexual assaults are handled on college campuses, which demonstrated a disturbing failure by many institutions to comply with the law and with best practices in how they handle sexual violence against students. McCaskill also held a series of Senate roundtable discussions, which convened stakeholders from across the country to focus on the Clery Act and the Campus SaVE Act, Title IX, and the Criminal Justice System & the Administrative Process.

[….]

In addition to the panel, Senator McCaskill listened to comments from individuals in the audience.

Previously: Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) in Warrensburg – October 8, 2014 (October 8, 2014)

Senator Claire McCaskill (D) met for coffee early this morning in downtown Warrensburg with Johnson County Democrats (and anyone else who showed up). She spoke at length about the 2014 election, the Missouri General Assembly, Medicaid expansion, the Affordable Care Act, and also took questions.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D) in Warrensburg – October 8, 2014.

[….]

Senator Claire McCaskill (D): ….I have watched, from afar, Jefferson City. And, you know, um, I’ve spent some time in Jefferson City. And it isn’t as if I don’t understand what this state is. I think you all know I get Missouri….I get that there are a lot of conservative people in this state. But if you step back from it and you look and you see that I have been elected and reelected statewide four times. [Governor] Jay Nixon has been elected and reelected state, in statewide office one, two, three, four, five, six times. [Secretary of State] Jason Kander was elected, [State Treasurer] Clint Zweifel was elected, [Attorney General] Chris Koster was elected. All of these are Democrats that are winning statewide. Now how do you reconcile that with the Missouri legislature, because the Missouri legislature is way, way, way to the right? It’s so far to the right you can hardly see it on the horizon. And the reason that’s happened is because of two things. One, they controlled redistricting, but, more importantly is because they have recruited candidates, funded candidates, and helped candidates run and win and….we behaved, well, you know, that Jeff City, it just is hopeless. You know, they’re in charge and there’s nothing we can do. Well, they cast votes that are completely out of step with most Missourians. I guarantee you they’re out of step with the people that would be in Gary [Grigsby]’s district [51st Legislative District]. Um, I could go through a list. I mean, how many Missourians want them to be spending time on Sharia law? Um, how many Missourians really think Agenda 21 is a problem? How many Missourians think it’s a good idea to tell the local sheriff and the local police department that if they’re gonna work on an interdisciplinary task force with Federal officers they could go to jail if they arrest somebody in that effort that has a gun that’s prohibited by the Federal government. They wanted to put local law enforcement in jail for cooperating in a Federal investigation that could involve guns. I mean, this is crazy time….

[….]

…You know what people of this state want from their state legislature? They want good roads and bridges, they want good public education, and they want to make sure that their money is being spent wisely. They don’t want rape victims to have to wait three days to terminate a pregnancy that their rapist caused. They don’t want that. Vast majority of Missourians do not want that….

[….]

Question: …You must fight, the Democrats must fight no matter what happens in November, it [the Affordable Care Act – “Obamacare”] must not be repealed.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D): Well, it won’t be repealed as long as, uh, Barrack Obama is President of the United States. Um, and I do, I will tell you that I think our, I’m traveling next week on behalf of my colleagues, I do think that, um, we are in pretty good shape. It’s gonna be close across the country. Um, but I will be surprised if we don’t hold on….

[….]

….The election that will determine the future of health care reform in this country, as to whether or not we continue down the path, will be, um, electing Hillary Clinton in, in twenty-sixteen. I will be back here and this place will be full, wall to wall, with people, I hope, working, um, on behalf of Hillary Clinton in twenty-sixteen.

Question: I think the one, the one issue that the state Republicans are the most opposite of their constituents is on Medicaid expansion. Because, a lot of my Republican friends, that is the one thing that they are really the most distressed about, is that we haven’t expanded Medicaid in the state and we didn’t accept the Federal money, because they have family members who should be Medicaid eligible and are not. And I see that’s just the most vulnerable issue for these, for, you know, at least our state representatives is that they didn’t support that.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D): There are, we have three hundred thousand Missourians, so you can speak to this when people that you, you talk to them, we have three hundred thousand Missourians who are working. You know, when people hear Medicaid I think they think of people that aren’t working. These are people that are working. They are working two and three jobs. They are making too little money to get on the [ACA] exchanges, but they make more money than they can do to get Medicaid. So, the, the weird thing is that, um, you know, we’ve got this gap. And that is all because they have turned down the Federal money that would, that would expand. [voice: “Our Federal money.”]  Our Federal money is going to other states for their health care. And it is really hurting rural Missouri, uh, because in many rural communities the number one employer is the hospital. And these hospitals are dying on the vine. I mean, they are desperate. And that’s the irony, is the reddest parts of the state are gonna suffer the most  ’cause that’s where a lot of the working poor are, people that are working two or three minimum wage jobs and don’t have insurance at work. And they can’t, they can’t get on the exchanges and they don’t qualify for Medicaid. Um, so it is really crazy. I mean, it would be, imagine if the Republicans said, you know, we’re not gonna take Federal Highway funding. They might cut it off some day so we better not take it. [laughter[ Let’s just not take Federal highway funding. We don’t want our money that we’ve paid, come back for our highways, because it’s the Federal government. And they might cut it off some day and then we’d be left holding the bag. And I’m like, well, I think you’re holding the bag now because, guess where all those people are going for health care? They’re going to hospitals who are treating them and then they’re passing on the bills to Missourians. It’s like a huge hidden tax increase. It’s craziness. And the only reason they won’t expand it is because they think it’s connected to Obamacare. So, it’s about the political messaging of Obamacare, it’s not about Missourians. It’s really unbelievable….

[….]

Senator Claire McCaskill (D) [center] with Gary Grigsby (D) [left], the Democratic Party candidate in the 51st Legislative District,

at an early morning coffee in downtown Warrensburg – October 8, 2014.

This morning, in west central Missouri.

The Ferguson incident: A young unarmed black man, Michael Brown, was shot several times by a white police officer, Darren Wilson. Several witnesses have publicly stated that Brown  had his hands up and was facing Wilson who continued to shoot him. There was an explosive reaction to this event on the part of black residents of the city, leading to a military-style police overreaction. Most of this is now accepted as true.

In the aftermath, there’s been some official effort to understand and explain why one shooting among so many shooting deaths generated such a reaction. There’s also been plenty of backlash towards those efforts to understand and deal with the anger among Ferguson residents in any way other than denial and suppression. The instinctive reaction of many in the area seems to be to “support” the police no matter what they do, as long as they’re doing it to “those people.” Consider the following when you hear anyone telling you that the Ferguson events are exceptional and folks mostly get along in St. Louis:

— An online fundraiser to cover “expenses” for the police shooter. Among the comments left by donors:

“Ofc. Wilson did his duty. Michael Brown was just a common street thug.”

“Waste of good ammo. It’s my privilege to buy you a replacement box.”

“Black people can be their own enemy and I am not white…He was shot 6 times cause the giant wouldn’t stop or die. Evil people don’t die quick”

“All self-respecting whites have a moral responsibility to support our growing number of martyrs to the failed experiment called diversity.”

“I am so sick of the blacks using every excuse in the book to loot and riot.”

“I support officer Wilson and he did a great job removing an unnecessary thing from the public!”

The fundraiser was shut down when it seemed that there might be legal, tax-related issues about how the money could be used – but not until it had raised $400,000 dollars from sympathizers for the shooter. Did you know you could shoot an unarmed boy and collect a big reward for doing it?

— Until the U.S. Justice Department stepped in, some law enforcement officers working to contain the protests in Ferguson thought it was helpful to express their opinion of the shooting by obscuring their name badges and wearing “I am Darren Wilson” bracelets.

— Residents of Wildwood and other West County locations made it their priority  to organize a food and water drive for the policemen who were moving all their heavy military surplus equipment into Ferguson to put down the protests. According to a police spokesperson, this effort to express appreciation for police efforts to shut down the turmoil as forcibly as possible rendered the police “ecstatic.”

— St. Louis Cardinals fans really showed their colors when they responded to peaceful protesters at Monday night’s game:

At one point, an older white man starts yelling at the protesters, shouting, “That’s right! If they’d be working, we wouldn’t have this problem!” Then, the Cardinals fans begin chanting “Let’s go Cardinals!” which morphs into “Let’s go Darren!” referring to Darren Wilson, the police officer who fatally shot Brown.

Later on in the video, a woman shouts, “We’re the ones who gave all y’all the freedoms that you have!” which is a tidy way of identifying with slavers and Abraham Lincoln at the same time, covered in a thick layer of modern racism.

— There have also been more refined expressions of distaste for activists’ efforts to keep the issues surrounding Michael Brown’s death alive. SMP’s Michael Bersin wrote about the events at the St. Louis symphony Saturday night when a group of symphony goers inserted a “Requium for Mike Brown” before the beginning of the second act of the Brahms Requiem. According to Bersin, “they pulled this off perfectly,” and the audience was mostly sympathetic. No doubt. However, nothing is perfect and in this morning’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch “Letters” section, genteel disapprobation of what the letter writer evidently deemed an unseemly disruption reared its head:

Is Powell Hall a proper venue for a protest? I assume the protesters bought tickets for this opportunity to have their voices heard. What comes next? Can we expect such events to happen at the art museum? At Circus Flora? At a school graduation? The experience saddened me profoundly. Just like the Ferguson situation, I was left tensely unresolved.

Imagine. A man was murdered, his shooter is very unlikely to be punished, and this individual is horrified that he/she had to sit “rigidly for what felt like an eternity” during the brief protest. If he/she was left “tensely unresolved,” as opposed to as blandly indifferent as his letter implies he wishes to be, then it’s high time that the protest has invaded this refuge for well-off St. Louisians.

You want to know what is behind the events in Ferguson, read the list above and think about what it implies about the St. Louis zeitgeist. While folks do mostly get along, I suppose, it’s also true that things are not always just what they seem to be at the surface. The water can get mighty dirty when we start fishing in the depths.

* Last sentence of last paragraph and last sentence of 4th paragraph edited for clarity and style.  

Yesterday, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C000953 10/06/2014 MO REPUBLICAN PARTY HRCC, Inc. PO Box 1313 Jefferson City MO 65102 10/6/2014 $300,000.00

[emphasis added]

The HRCC must have more than enough for robocalls.

Uh, yep:

C091068: House Republican Campaign Committee, Inc

Po Box 1313 Committee Type: Political Action

Jefferson City Mo 65102-1313

[….] Established Date: 02/27/2009

  [….]

Information Reported On: 2014 – 30 Day After Primary Election-8/5/2014

Beginning Money on Hand $401,560.24

Monetary Receipts + $1,028,882.00

Monetary Expenditures – $141,378.28

Contributions Made – $0.00

Other Disbursements – $0.00

Subtotal     $887,503.72

Ending Money On Hand   $1,289,063.96

[emphasis added]

Previously:

Campaign Finance: they’ll always have all the money they’ll ever need (May 10, 2014)

Campaign Finance: What on earth for? (August 10, 2014)

Campaign Finance: the HRCC has a really, really, really good day (August 11, 2014)

Campaign Finance: there’s nothing new under the Sun (August 16, 2014)

The office of Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster (D) issued the following press release today:

October 6, 2014

Attorney General Koster’s statement on his decision not to appeal in Barrier v. Vasterling

Jefferson City, Mo. – Attorney General Chris Koster today released the following statement:

“The circuit court’s judgment in Barrier v. Vasterling held that Missouri must recognize marriages lawfully entered into in other states. We will not appeal that judgment. Our national government is founded upon principles of federalism – a system that empowers Missouri to set policy for itself, but also obligates us to honor contracts entered into in other states.

A consequence of this morning’s ruling by the United States Supreme Court is that gay marriage will soon be legal in as many as 30 states. At a time when Missouri is competing to attract the nation’s premier businesses and most talented employees, we should not demand that certain individuals surrender their marriage licenses in order to live and work among us.

Missouri’s future will be one of inclusion, not exclusion.”

“…Our national government is founded upon principles of federalism – a system that empowers Missouri to set policy for itself, but also obligates us to honor contracts entered into in other states…”

Someone needs to inform the republican controlled General Assembly about that little technicality.

“…Missouri’s future will be one of inclusion, not exclusion.”

But, but, Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) already had a sad over this.