Tradition.

“…The Department of Conservation would pay you $250.00 $500.00 to hunt deer with your car. What’s not to like?…”

A bill, pre-filed by Representative Wanda Brown (r):

FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 317 [pdf]

98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE BROWN (57).

0822H.01I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk

AN ACT

To amend chapter 252, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to reimbursement for automobile damage inflicted by deer.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Chapter 252, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 252.270, to read as follows:

252.270. The department of conservation shall reimburse any automobile owner in an amount up to five hundred dollars for damages sustained to the automobile due to hitting or being hit by a deer. The department of conservation shall establish rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable, and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly under chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2015, shall be invalid and void.

[emphasis in original]

It’ll probably be easy to get a sponsor in the Senate.

Outside a Hillary Clinton book signing on the Plaza in Kansas City, August 2003:

In 2003, on the Plaza – “Bill Married My Sister” and “Hillary Come Home!”

By 2016 it’ll be almost a quarter century of *CDS. It can’t be sustained that long, right? Either their heads will explode or we will finally achieve the Wingularity.

Come to think of it, that’s something to look forward to.

* Clinton Derangement Syndrome

Previously:

Offered without comment (April 16, 2013)

Yesterday, via Twitter:

John Hancock @johnrhancock

Anybody else out there wishing John Ashcroft was still the USAG? #boston. 7:35 PM – 15 Apr 13

Boston? John Ashcroft? Yes, we do remember, almost ten years ago:

Crowd of 1,200 boos Ashcroft

By Allison Brown

The Daily Free Press (Boston U.)

09/10/2003

(U-WIRE) BOSTON — With fists and middle fingers upraised, a booing, hissing and chanting crowd of about 1,200 people awaited United States Attorney General John Ashcroft when he arrived at Faneuil Hall Tuesday morning, decrying his support of what some protesters called government policies undermining civil rights.

Ashcroft was bombarded by cries of “Shame!” and the sound of the “Imperial Death March” from the movie “Star Wars” as he entered a meeting with law enforcement officials in Faneuil Hall. The meeting, which was closed to the general public, was billed as a briefing on the particulars of the USA PATRIOT Act, a federal anti-terrorism initiative, according to The Boston Globe….

OUTSIDE

Why can’t we cover up this boob?

BY CAMILLE DODERO

This past Tuesday morning, US Attorney General John Ashcroft popped into Boston’s Faneuil Hall to deliver a speech about a little piece of legislation called the USA Patriot Act. What Ashcroft – or ASHHOLE, ASSKKKROFT, PROTO FACIST, or THE MAN MORE EVIL THAN STEINBRENNER, as the placards anticipating his arrival preferred to call him – had to say about the USA Patriot Act was as foully predictable as flatulence after a bowl of baked beans. But the horde hanging outside couldn’t be sure of that until Ashcroft was safely whisked away around 10 a.m., en route to a similar engagement in New York City. Indeed, Ashcroft’s national “public relations” spree to promote his invasive law doesn’t include the public at all – and that flagrantly intentional oversight was simply more fuel for the ire raging outside the historic building.

“Let the people in!” the hundreds (final estimates hovered around 1000) standing on the cobblestones chanted. “Let the people in!” they continued, followed by “What’s the big secret?” and “Closed meetings for closed minds!” And they sang “Hey, John Ashcroft!” to the tune of “Frère Jacques”:

Hey, John Ashcroft! Hey, John Ashcroft!

Why are you, why are you

Spying on our country?

We don’t think it’s funny.

Shame on you. Shame on you!

[….]

Issue Date: September 12 – 18, 2003

Yeah, for sure, Boston just loved John Ashcroft (r).

Marching on the Plaza, Kansas City, March 20, 2003.

March 20, 2003

[We] left Warrensburg at 4:30 p.m. and made it to the J.C. Nichols fountain at 47th and Main in Kansas City by 5:30 p.m. The organizers had planned for some time to have a 6:00 p.m. protest on the Plaza if hostilities broke out. I had been ambivalent about attending given the ugly rhetoric which is now being directed at those who dissent by the purveyors of right wing talk radio, cable television, and “yellow journalism”.  We had to do something positive and affirming rather than sit at home watching the crap on television which passes for real journalism these days, so we were finally resolved to attend.  As we drove up to the fountain we saw that people were already on the picket line and the TV trucks and cameras were in abundance.  At its peak we had 400 to 500 people.

It was overcast, cold and windy – temperature in the 40s.  We took our place on the line. We had decided earlier to only bring our pacifist signs. “Peace on Earth”, “In the Name of God, Stop Killing, In the Name of God”, and my graphic peace sign – it’s getting tattered from so much use…

Somewhat subdued, we quietly spoke on the line.  My favorite new sign: “War is so 20th century”. The response from passing traffic was overwhelmingly positive – a lot of honking and peace signs.  One well pickled Republican matron rolled down her car window and asked, “Don’t you people know the war has already started?”  This kind of cluelessness shouldn’t surprise me anymore.  There were occasional pro-war shouts and one “bird”, though I was surprised that they were not as ugly and aggressive as they were last Sunday – I suppose they’re sated because they are getting their crappy little war.

We stood next to a veteran (there were many there tonight).  We were joined by an old friend and several colleagues.  After a while the organizers called us to the fountain.  Some folk singers sang a witty and satirical “12 days of war” song.  We had brought candles (and plastic cups as wind shields), so we lit them and stood listening to the music.  The singers had us all join in singing “Peace, Shalom, Salaam”.  There were several speakers.  In the most peaceful moment of the day for me, as we stood there with our candles, we were barely aware that a photographer from the Kansas City Star took our pictures (when he finished he asked for our names and where we were from, writing the information down).  After the announcements were finished, the host marched through the Plaza shopping district.

The marchers stayed on the sidewalk, chanting in a call and response “Tell me what democracy looks like. This is what democracy looks like” and “What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now!”  As we marched into the Plaza we passed the glassed in front of one of those upscale dining establishments.  Lo and behold, two older women were standing watching us and flashed us peace signs!  We looped back around and passed several clothing establishments.  Some people shopping in the stores or watching us from the doorways flashed peace signs.

After we made it back to the fountain we walked to our car for the hour long drive home.

Has anything changed?

Seven years ago today:

Presenter: Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz   May 31, 2003

Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz Interview with Michael Dwyer, Australian Broadcasting

….Q:  Just a couple of questions on Iraq.  I was just wondering as of today, where you consider the weapons of mass destruction to be and why the United Nations and weapons inspectors are still not being invited back into Iraq.

Wolfowitz:  Well on the second point, they’re certainly welcome to come back and in fact I believe we’ve made some arrangements already for the IAEA to come back to do some checking on sites that are known.  But bear in mind this regime had 12 years to develop very sophisticated methods of hiding things.  We have found those biological vans that the defector in Germany told us about.  They seem to be exactly what he said they would be.  And I would think that would pretty well corroborate the rest of his story which is they were for the production of biological weapons.

We said all along that we will never get to the bottom of the Iraqi WMD program simply by going and searching specific sites, that you’d have to be able to get people who know about the programs to talk to you.  And that’s why we gave the UN inspectors authorities they never had before to interview people.

It’s quite significant I think that Saddam never allowed any of his people to be interviewed without tape recorders present or monitors present, and we now have our hands on some small number of those people, and I think eventually with information that we get from people who know about the programs, we’ll get to the bottom of what was there and what happened to it….

Over five years later:

Bush: My biggest regret is false intelligence on Iraq WMDs

“…The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq,” Bush said. “A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein.”

But he declined to speculate on whether he would have gone to war if the intelligence had said Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction….

My biggest regret is that at the end of 2000 I had to ask myself the question, “Did I do enough?” And almost ten years later I continue to be painfully reminded of the answer.

The “Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service” logo on t-shirts issued to volunteers.

Yesterday I received an e-mail from the Obama presidential campaign:

…In your neighborhood and in thousands of communities across the country, Americans are answering President-elect Obama’s call to service.

Tomorrow, January 19th, our nation will come together in a shared spirit of community. And I wanted to make sure you know how to participate.

Monday is not only the eve of an inauguration that brings all of us so much hope, it’s also Martin Luther King Jr. Day — when we recognize the power of one man to bring about change by serving his country.

Help kick off an ongoing commitment to serve our communities by taking part in this extraordinary day of service….

I went to the web site and found an event in my locale. The marshaling area for the volunteers was on the university campus – this early in the morning on a day off from school.

Over fifty students showed up for the early morning orientation and subsequent assignment into volunteer groups to work all day at tasks for a number of local non-profit community groups.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service is an annual volunteer activity which has begun to take off:

…In 1994 Congress passed the King Holiday and Service Act, designating the King Holiday as a national day of volunteer service. Instead of a day off from work or school, Congress asked Americans of all backgrounds and ages to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy by turning community concerns into citizen action. The King Day of Service brings together people who might not ordinarily meet, breaks down barriers that have divided us in the past, leads to better understanding and ongoing relationships, and is an opportunity to recruit new volunteers for your ongoing work.

Participation in the King Day of Service has grown steadily over the past decade, with hundreds of thousands of Americans each year engaging in projects such as tutoring and mentoring children, painting schools and senior centers, delivering meals, building homes, and reflecting on Dr. King’s life and teachings. Many of the projects started on King Day continue to engage volunteers beyond the holiday and impact the community year-round.

Although the scope of the event grows every year, many people still are not aware of the service component of the holiday. By encouraging the participation of as many organizations as possible, we hope to make next year’s King Day of Service the biggest and best ever, engaging more people in service that honors Dr. King’s life and teachings…

Student volunteers signing in early in the morning.

From the local volunteer organizers:

…Tiffany Bumpers, a UCM Americorps volunteer, is coordinating the “A Day On, Not a Day Off” day of service on Jan. 19, 2009. The goal of this day is to give the community something they can’t get off a shelf, carrying Dr. King’s message that “everybody can be great because everybody can serve.” Bumpers and her team of volunteers and group leaders hope to leave a lasting impact on the community…

…”The purpose of this day is to give back to the people of Warrensburg,” Bumpers said. “The day of service has been a success in many other cities such as Philadelphia and Washington D.C., and we want it to be a success here too…”

A volunteer team gets their bearings before leaving for their assignment.

September 8, 2003

Same planet, different world.

Our noon vigils on the Quad had been somewhat quiet of late. Not today. Maybe it was because of the sock puppet’s speech last night. His supporters seem to be getting uncomfortable.

I was standing alone at on the Quad. One person walking by in the distance with another individual shouted, “Get a job, schmuck.” I looked at him and called out, “How erudite.” He answered, “What?” I repeated, “How erudite.” After a second he replied, “Thank you.” and then continued on. His companion peeled off and approached me. When he noticed what she had done he turned, but hovered in the distance. Was he afraid to talk to me? She wasn’t. She asked me, “What’s this about.” I was holding my “The Constitution is not ‘optional'” sign.” I talked about Article VI in the Constitution [Why is it no one reads the Constitution anymore?], the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions, The U.S.A. Patriot Act. We conversed. She stated, “That’s a lot to think about.” I answered, “It doesn’t matter what your view is or what standard you hold someone in public office to, after all we’re all entitled to an opinion, but you must be consistent.”

A short while later another individual walked up and said, “I didn’t know liberals believed in that.” I replied, “That’s a rather broad statement, how do you know if I’m liberal.” “I’ve seen your other signs.” So I spoke about Article VI, treaties, the United Nations Charter, and stare decisis [a legal doctrine – “let the decision stand”] and Ex parte Milligan [a post civil war case which in essence asserts that “the Constitution applies to all people at all times”]. You can see their eyes glaze over. They don’t really know the Constitution and in this case he’s probably never read it. I even offered to read Article VI to him since I keep the entire text with me in my Palm Pilot.

“Well, liberals view the Constitution with more flexibility in interpretation.” I reiterated my “but, you must be consistent” argument. I then added, “In every 14th Amendment case but one Antonin Scalia has asked, ‘who has standing?’ Do you know the one case in which he didn’t? December 12, 2000, Bush v. Gore. Why didn’t he ask the question then? Bush didn’t have standing, only a voter in Florida would have been able to show standing. Scalia was being inconsistent.” “But what about the millions of voters in Florida?” “Then one of them should have filed suit.” They short circuit when you apply the consistency argument.

“Clinton and Gore did nothing. Al Gore wouldn’t have been able to handle September 11th.” I replied, “Look at what the Gore Commission report says about airline security. You can look it up. The airline industry and its republican friends in Congress blocked any action because the industry was saying, ‘It’ll cost too much.'”

We brought up the weapons of mass destruction.  Where are they? Ah, the weapons of mass destruction, that seems to irritate them a bit. I spoke in some detail about the impossibility of hiding the operating gas centrifuges engaged in manufacturing fissile material. The infrastructure is massive. I pointed out that I had bigger worries about the security of weapons grade material in the old Soviet Union, which by the way, the administration cut the security and acquisition budget for before September 11th. The administration wasn’t paying attention.

“Well, what about what happened on September 11th. Shouldn’t Iraq be held responsible? They supported the terrorists.” My colleague replied, “Where did you hear that?” “There are plenty of sources.” “Could you name one?” “They supported terrorism.” “Give me examples.” After some silence, “Just give me one example. We’re here every weekday at noon, just come back and give us an example.”

I asked, “Uh, how many of the September 11th terrorists were from Iraq?” “I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?” “You can look it up. How many were from Saudi Arabia?”

So, grasping at straws he says, “Why weren’t you out here when Bill Clinton used force without the UN?” A-ha. It always comes to Bill Clinton with them. He missed the point. They always miss the point.

My colleague pointed out that Clinton’s National Security Adviser told Condoleeza Rice that Al Qaeda was “the one thing you will spend the most time on.”

“When we elect moral leaders we can trust them to make the decisions. We don’t need to know everything. Why weren’t out here criticizing Clinton when he went and used force?” I didn’t bother pointing out that we didn’t elect the current administration in the 2000 election. My colleague replied, “In the Sudan? They had just bombed the Cole. And in Afghanistan they clearly made the connection with an attack on the United States.” “You weren’t out here criticizing Clinton…” He conveniently ignores my earliest point about the United Nations Charter. The use of Force is only allowable if a nation is attacked or if the UN says force is necessary.

They think we’ve been standing out there for months not knowing why we do so. That the brilliance of their am talk radio addled thought processes will overwhelm us and show us the error of our ways.

I’m invariably soft spoken when we have these exchanges. My colleague shows them no mercy. They walk into a buzz saw.

Its ten minutes to the hour. I have to teach. Our inquisitor can’t disengage from my colleague. They walk down the path and I hear, “Why weren’t you out here criticizing Clinton?”

Did I mention? He appeared to be carrying a Bible. God help us all.