The continuation of our retrospective.

A sign of things to come:

Crossing the state in August:

Chris Koster (D) in Columbia, Missouri – August 5, 2016 (August 6, 2016)

Chris Koster (D) – video by Jerry Schmidt – 8/5/2016 (August 6, 2016)

Chris Koster (D) in Columbia, Missouri – media questions – August 5, 2016 (August 6, 2016)

Speaking, meeting, and greeting in August:

Jason Kander (D) – Warrensburg – August 14, 2016 (August 14, 2016)

Ah yes, the Missouri State Fair Governor’s Ham Breakfast:

Trumpoids at the Missouri State Fair Governor’s Ham Breakfast (August 18, 2016)

Missouri State Fair Governor’s Ham Breakfast – August 18, 2016 (August 19, 2016)

Cognitive Dissonance (August 19, 2016)

Hillary Clinton spoke at the National Baptist Convention in Kansas City on September 8, 2016:

Hillary Clinton (D) at the National Baptist Convention in Kansas City – September 8, 2016 (September 8, 2016)

Media narrative? What media narrative? (September 10, 2016)

Statewide candidates made their way across the state, sometimes with a trailing opposition campaign tracker.

Campaign Tracker: apparently a tie is now optional working attire (September 10, 2016)

Teresa Hensley (D) with Lafayette County Democrats in Odessa, Missouri – September 10, 2016 (September 12, 2016)

Campaign Tracker: Where’s Waldo? (September 12, 2016)

Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign opened its campaign office in Kansas City:

Hillary Clinton Campaign Headquarters Open In Kansas City – September 25, 2016 (September 25, 2016)

Emanuel Cleaver speaks at the Hillary Clinton Campaign Headquarters Opening In Kansas City – September 25, 2016 (September 26, 2016)

October is a time for statewide candidates to crisscross the state:

Jason Kander (D) in Warrensburg – October 7, 2016 – press availability (October 7, 2016)

Fall parades are part of the Missouri political landscape:

Everybody loves a parade (October 22, 2016)

What true believers spend their time on when your campaign doesn’t have a field operation and it doesn’t believe in GOTV (October 22, 2016)

A Democratic Party get out the vote rally in Kansas City on the Saturday before the election:

Judy Baker (D) – GOTV kickoff rally in Kansas City – October 29, 2016 (October 30, 2016)

Jason Kander (D) – GOTV kickoff rally in Kansas City – October 29, 2016 (October 30, 2016)

Chris Koster (D) – GOTV kickoff rally in Kansas City – October 29, 2016 (October 30, 2016)

Russ Carnahan (D) – GOTV kickoff rally in Kansas City – October 29, 2016 (October 30, 2016)

Mayor Sly James (D) – GOTV kickoff rally in Kansas City – October 29, 2016 (October 30, 2016)

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D) – GOTV kickoff rally in Kansas City – October 29, 2016 (October 30, 2016)

Speakers on a university campus the week before the election:

The antidote to free speech is more free speech (November 2, 2016)

Two days after the election around 200 students held an ant-Trump rally on the campus of the University of Central Missouri. There were a few incidents perpetrated by individuals in opposition to the students.

A short early morning conversation (November 10, 2016)

Donald Trump (r) – expect this for the next four years (November 10, 2016)

These kids are all right (November 11, 2016)

Arrest announced in Warrensburg protest assault (November 14, 2016)

An anti-Trump protest in Kansas City on the Saturday after the election:

Anti-Trump rally in Kansas City today. (November 12, 2016)

Anti-Trump rally in downtown Kansas City – November 12, 2016 (November 12, 2016)

Anti-Trump rally in downtown Kansas City – November 12, 2016 – part 2 (November 13, 2016)

Anti Trump Rally Kansas City MO 11/12/16 Photos by Jerry Schmidt (November 13, 2016)

Anti-Trump rally in downtown Kansas City – November 12, 2016 – part 3 (November 13, 2016)

Anti-Trump rally in downtown Kansas City – November 12, 2016 – part 4 – Love Trumps Hate

Anti-Trump rally in downtown Kansas City – November 12, 2016 – part 5 (November 14, 2016)

Presidential Electors met at the capitol in Jefferson City. People showed up to let them know what they thought about Donald Trump:

Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Electors (December 16, 2016)

Have a Great Day! (December 19, 2016)

Previously:

Our top ten traffic posts for 2016 (December 29, 2016)

The political year in pictures – 2016 – part 1 (December 30, 2016)

Senator Claire McCaskill’s (D) Missouri constituents are getting mail from a right wingnut committee:

It’s the usual right wingnut drivel in support of Donald Trump (r).

Right Way Initiative?

At the Federal Election Commission [pdf]:

CURRENT COMMITTEE INFORMATION
C90015801
Name: RIGHT WAY INITIATIVE INC.
Address: PO BOX 27, ALEXANDRIA, VA 22313
Treasurer Name:
Type: I – INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE – PERSON OR GROUP NOT A COMMITTEE
Designation: U – UNAUTHORIZED
Party:

It’s the same address as the mailing.

They sent a letter in response to a request for additional information from the Federal Election Commission on August of 2016:

August 2, 2016

Jessica Grainger
Campaign Finance Analyst
Reports Analysis Division
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20463

Identification Number: C90015801

Reference: APRIL QUARTERLY REPORT (01/01/2016 – 03/31/2016), FILED 4/15/2016

Dear Ms. Grainger:

This response pertains to the Reports Analysis Division’s (“RAD”) Request for Additional Information (“RFAI”) dated June 28, 2016, concerning Right Way Initiative, Inc.’s April quarterly report filed on April 15, 2016.

The RFAI asserts that itemization is required for “each contributor who made a donation in excess of $200 used to fund the independent expenditure(s).” The cited regulation, however, requires the reporting of “[t]he identification of each person who made a contribution in excess of $200 to the person filing such report, which contribution was made for the purpose of furthering the reported independent expenditure.” 11 CFR section 109.10(e)(1)(vi). No contributions or donations accepted by Right Way Initiative, Inc. were solicited or received for the purpose of furthering the reported independent expenditures. Accordingly, no contributions or donations were required to be reported under the regulations cited in the RFAI.

With respect to 11 CFR section 114.10(f), that regulation applies only to “qualified nonprofit corporations.” Right Way Initiative, Inc. is not a “qualified nonprofit corporation.” Thus, the regulation is, by its own terms, inapplicable to Right Way Initiative, Inc.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions concerning this matter.

Sincerely,

Daniel Flynn
President

“….No contributions or donations accepted by Right Way Initiative, Inc. were solicited or received for the purpose of furthering the reported independent expenditures. Accordingly, no contributions or donations were required to be reported under the regulations cited….”

Alrighty then. We’re not going to find out who contributed money.

Right Way Initiative spent a chunk of change in support of or against some republican politicians in Ohio, including opposing the one who eventually won the special election for John Boehner’s vacated seat in Congress.

From the Federal Election Commission – reported on April 15, 2016:

SCHEDULE 5-E
ITEMIZED INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES
FILING FEC-1063185

Committee: RIGHT WAY INITIATIVE INC.
To Address Expenditure Description Date of Public Distribution/Dissemination Support/Opposed Amount Extended Calendar YTD Per Election for Office Sought
ADVANTAGE INC 2300 CLARENDON BLVD SUITE 303 ARLINGTON, Virginia 22201 PHONE CALLS 03/11/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 6926.00 640363.50
ADVANTAGE INC 2300 CLARENDON BLVD SUITE 303 ARLINGTON, Virginia 22201 PHONE CALLS 03/12/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 9561.36 649924.86
ADVANTAGE INC 2300 CLARENDON BLVD SUITE 303 ARLINGTON, Virginia 22201 PHONE CALLS 03/12/2016 In OPPOSITION to WARREN DAVIDSON 6374.24 656299.10
ADVANTAGE INC 2300 CLARENDON BLVD SUITE 303 ARLINGTON, Virginia 22201 PHONE CALLS 03/13/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 9658.56 665957.66
ADVANTAGE INC 2300 CLARENDON BLVD SUITE 303 ARLINGTON, Virginia 22201 PHONE CALLS 03/13/2016 In OPPOSITION to WARREN DAVIDSON 6439.04 672396.70
ADVANTAGE INC 2300 CLARENDON BLVD SUITE 303 ARLINGTON, Virginia 22201 PHONE CALLS 03/15/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 21594.40 703491.10
AXIOM STRATEGIES 1251 NW BRIARCLIFF PARKWAY SUITE 85 KANSAS CITY, Missouri 64116 PRINTING / POSTAGE 02/26/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 17544.00 245910.00
AXIOM STRATEGIES 1251 NW BRIARCLIFF PARKWAY SUITE 85 KANSAS CITY, Missouri 64116 PRINTING / POSTAGE
02/29/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 17544.00 263454.00
AXIOM STRATEGIES 1251 NW BRIARCLIFF PARKWAY SUITE 85 KANSAS CITY, Missouri 64116 MECIA PRODUCTION / MEDIA PLACEMENT 02/29/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 14375.00 277829.00
AXIOM STRATEGIES 1251 NW BRIARCLIFF PARKWAY SUITE 85 KANSAS CITY, Missouri 64116 PRINTING / POSTAGE 03/02/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 17544.00 295373.00
AXIOM STRATEGIES 1251 NW BRIARCLIFF PARKWAY SUITE 85 KANSAS CITY, Missouri 64116 PRINTING / POSTAGE 03/04/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 17544.00 312917.00
AXIOM STRATEGIES 1251 NW BRIARCLIFF PARKWAY SUITE 85 KANSAS CITY, Missouri 64116 MEDIA PLACEMENT 03/06/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 10937.50 323854.50
AXIOM STRATEGIES 1251 NW BRIARCLIFF PARKWAY SUITE 85 KANSAS CITY, Missouri 64116 PRINTING / POSTAGE 03/08/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 38689.00 362543.50
AXIOM STRATEGIES 1251 NW BRIARCLIFF PARKWAY SUITE 85 KANSAS CITY, Missouri 64116 PRINTING / POSTAGE 03/09/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 50010.00 412553.50
AXIOM STRATEGIES 1251 NW BRIARCLIFF PARKWAY SUITE 85 KANSAS CITY, Missouri 64116 MEDIA PLACEMENT 03/13/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 9500.00 681896.70
DEL CIELO MEDIA LLC 1427 LESLIE AVENUE SUITE 102 ALEXANDRIA, Virginia 22301 MEDIA PLACEMENT 02/24/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 215866.00 215866.00
DEL CIELO MEDIA LLC 1427 LESLIE AVENUE SUITE 102 ALEXANDRIA, Virginia 22301 MEDIA PLACEMENT 03/11/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 220339.00 632892.50
FOUR CARD LLC 3788 RICHMOND AVENUE #1274 HOUSTON, Texas 77046 MEDIA PRODUCTION 02/24/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 12500.00 228366.00
FOUR CARD LLC 3788 RICHMOND AVENUE #1274 HOUSTON, Texas 77046 MEDIA PRODUCTION 03/11/2016 In SUPPORT of TIMOTHY DERICKSON 545.00 633437.50
Total of Itemized Independent Expenditures = 703491.12

[emphasis added]

Axiom Strategies. Heh.

$703,491.12. That’s a lot of money in support of the guy who lost the republican primary. And we have no idea where the money came from.

We’ll need to wait until January 15th to see what they spent in mail against Claire.

It’s been another very interesting year for us.

2016 was an election year. That’s good for us. It helped us feed the content beast. The outcome of those elections were bad for everyone – in America and Missouri.

Over the course of the last year we covered a number of government and political events in Missouri (and elsewhere), in the process taking thousands of photographs. Most of them didn’t make it into the blog. Some of the things we saw and heard made us smile, made us think, made us gasp, made us hope, and made us despair.

We thought we’d provide a retrospective of some of the pictures and stories we consider to be memorable.

The Missouri General Assembly went into regular session in January.

Missouri General Assembly: opening of the 2016 legislative session (January 6, 2016)

Senator Jill Schupp (D): January 6, 2016 (January 7, 2016)

Rep. Stacey Newman (D): January 6, 2016 (January 7, 2016)

Missouri House and Senate Democratic Caucus Press Conference – January 6, 2016 (January 8, 2016)

Missouri Opening Session 2016 photos by Jerry Schmidt (January 12, 2016)

Candidates for state and local offices raised money to run.

Jessica Podhola (D) in the 11th Senate District – January 21, 2016 (January 21, 2016)

Jessica Podhola (D) – January 21, 2016 (January 22, 2016)

A, yes, the presidential primaries and caucuses.

Hillary Clinton Campaign Headquarters Open In Kansas City – February 17, 2016 (February 18, 2016)

Bernie Sanders Campaign Headquarters Open In Kansas City – February 20, 2016 (February 20, 2016)

Bernie Sanders (D) in Lawrence, Kansas – March 3, 2016 (March 4, 2016)

Bill Clinton in Springfield, Missouri – March 11, 2016 (March 12, 2016)

Things to do in Kansas City on a Saturday night (March 13, 2016)

Keep Calm and Carry On – part 2 (March 16, 2016)

Impatient (March 19, 2016)

After the presidential primary in March statewide and local candidates made their way to county fundraising dinners across the state.

Johnson County Democratic Committee Kirkpatrick Dinner in Warrensburg – April 2, 2016 (April 3, 2016)

21st Senate District: ElGene Ver Dught (D) at the Kirkpatrick Dinner in Warrensburg – April 2, 2016 (April 3, 2016)

The long road in the Missouri Democratic Party delegate selection process continued in April at county mass meetings, then at congressional district conventions.

If you’re planning on a revolution it actually helps if you show up (April 7, 2016)

Just because I think you’re an idiot doesn’t mean I don’t like your candidate (April 9, 2016)

The 4th Congressional District Democratic Party Convention – Warsaw, Missouri – April 28, 2016 (April 29, 2016)

The end of the legislative session in Jefferson City in May was filled the triumphal wreckage which is the agenda of the right wingnut super majority.

HA 4 to HCS SS SCS SB 663: open season (May 12, 2016)

Missouri House – May 12, 2016 (May 12, 2016)

The end of the legislative session – May 13, 2016 (May 13, 2016)

CCS HCS SB 656: hypocrisy (May 14, 2016)

Governor Jay Nixon came to Warrensburg to sign a higher education bill. We asked him a few questions about vetoing “stand your ground” and voter ID.

Gov. Jay Nixon (D): on SB 656 (“stand your ground”) and HJR 53/HB 1631 (voter ID) (June 16, 2016)

The Missouri Democratic Party state convention held in Sedalia on June 18th was interesting, to say the least.

Your $27.00 won’t get you into heaven anymore (June 19, 2016)

Running for at-large delegate to the DNC (June 19, 2016)

At the Democratic Party state convention (June 20, 2019)

Previously:

Our top ten traffic posts for 2016 (December 29, 2016)

Progressives woke up on November 9th to a world gone sour. Sure, we grieved for awhile but we almost immediately began thinking about how to resist the worst of what the Trump cabal promised to bring about. The good news is that there’s plenty that we can do. Specifically, Trump’s propensity for obvious lies offers all of us what will – sadly – likely be an ongoing opportunity.

We can inform ourselves and when media fails to sufficiently point out Big Orange’s mendacity, we can call them on it with whatever tools we may have, for example, send admonitory emails or make phone calls to the editor of our local papers, submit letters to the editor for publication, or use Twitter or Facebook to point out examples of lax reporting.

Greg Sargent points out examples of one type of the media failure I am referencing. He examined the headlines that greeted Trump’s effort to take credit for bringing Sprint jobs to the US – a move by Sprint that was announced in April of 2015 and that did not necessarily have anything to do with Trump (who also seems to have at times inflated the number of jobs from 5000 to 8000). With a few exceptions, most of the headlines obligingly repeated Trump’s claim although the body the articles may have suggested reasons to doubt its veracity .

Sargent suggests that in cases like this bit of unsupported braggadocio, “if the headline does not convey the fact that Trump’s claim is in question or open to doubt, based on the known facts, then it is insufficiently informative” or even “misleading” because many people simply “scan headlines without digging deeper into the stories and the factual details.” He suggests that care in constructing headlines is important because:

..  it’s obvious that Trump has adopted a strategy of actively trying to game such headlines in his favor. Trump’s claims about Carrier jobs staying in Indiana turned out to be significantly less rosy upon closer inspection. And remember when Trump falsely claimed credit for keeping a Ford plant here that was going to stay anyway? It really doesn’t take much to convey it in a headline when Trump’s claim is in doubt

Headlines are not the only place where media may mislead due to an overly casual approach to reporting. Recently, in a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article on newly proposed right-to-work-for-less legislation in Missouri, the reporter glibly stated that the legislation would make it unlawful to force workers to join unions, a blatantly misleading statement. Workers are not now required to join a union, although, if they enjoy the benefits of a union contract – from which they cannot by law be excluded – they must pay at least a portion of the dues paid by union members. Folks who receive benefits paid for by the actual union members are nothing more than free-loaders if they don’t pay their share of the cost.

Examples of such misrepresentation are rife and promise to be especially common as media struggles to deal with the serial-liar and champion deflector who will soon be President of the US. In fact, the failure to deal with his lies and the false narratives emanating from political propaganda outlets like Fox News and Breitbart.com may have significantly contributed to the fact we are now facing a walking, talking disaster like our new President-elect.

It becomes our obligation to point out problems in reporting and presentation of news when we notice them and to demand that journalists do better. Responding to the lies of the Trump mafia by refusing to let our media either inadvertently or intentionally perpetuate them is one of our first tasks. So, let’s get busy – if we are to be effective, there has to be lots of voices calling out Trump and other rightwing liars along with their media enablers.

*1st sentence of last paragraph slightly rewritten for clarity.