Tag Archives: censorship

Meanwhile, in Jefferson City

09 Sunday Sep 2018

Posted by in Resist

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What is it with parades in Jefferson City? Yesterday, a Labor Day parade (think about that for a second).

The evil red t-shirt:

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America – the red t-shirt [2018 file photo].

We received the following account via e-mail:

Members of Jefferson City Moms Demand Action went to the Jefferson City Labor Day parade Saturday, September 8th in our red t-shirts to split up and march with the various candidates for public office who have earned our Gun Sense Candidate of Distinction designation.

I was told by a parade organizer that we were not welcome to wear our t-shirts in the parade. I thought maybe he had misunderstood our presence and thought we were planning to march as a contingent without a permit. I went over and over the distinction with him to no avail; he wasn’t budging. The police were consulted and threatened us with a citation if we wore our shirts without turning them inside out or covering them with a jacket.

We complied because we didn’t want to cause a scene which would reflect poorly on our candidates or our organization.

It is surely unconstitutional for anyone to have to give up their freedom of speech to participate in a parade supported by city funding for police presence and logistics.

As a private citizen (not a Moms Demand official), I have demanded a public apology from the mayor, city council, and chief of police; and a public reprimand of the parade organizers and police department be printed in the newspaper on the editorial page post haste and repeated in the subsequent Sunday edition. I have also submitted my complaint to ACLU Missouri.

Sue Gibson
Jefferson City

Somebody has some explaining to do.

Labor Day, huh? What ever happened to solidarity?

And, well, newspapers never do anything they don’t want to do.

Previously:

On understanding what it is to be patriotic (July4, 2018)

The Post-Dispatch censors Kinder’s stream of twitter consciousness

15 Friday Oct 2010

Posted by in Uncategorized

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If you think that the Post-Dispatch is still a significant source for local and state information, take a look at this posting from FiredUP Missouri. In short, it seems that the editors at the Post-Dispatch trimmed an article by Tony Messenger about the poor relations between Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder and Governor Nixon, deleting references to some very extreme and inflammatory statements that Kinder has sent out on twitter. Read the FiredUp post for the details. To say the least, the account does not inspire confidence in the Post-Dispatch.

The bowdlerized Post-Dispatch article that appeared in the print edition (as opposed to the original online article that was also cut significantly) did leave in a tidbit that struck me as revelatory. Kinder opposed a transfer of $9 million dollars from a first-time home buyer tax credit program that Nixon wanted to use to help pay for work at the the Bellefontaine Habilitation Center in St. Louis. The tax credits were not being used and the transfer had been approved by the legislature. After Nixon broached the issue with Kinder, Kinder did an about face and the Housing Commission Board on which he serves voted to okay the transfer, but not without Kinder petulantly declaring:

Had Gov. Nixon merely explained the request and shown up in person to ask for $9 million, it would have passed the first time it came before the commission.

A little arrogant maybe? Does Kinder think he’s Don Corleone holding court for supplicants?

Why did Kinder, or the Board, for that matter, require a special, personal visit from the governor to explain the situation. I may not understand how things work in Jefferson City, but in my past work life, I distinctly remember firing off emails to my Director or even requesting meetings when I had concerns abut her proposals. Maybe I’m naive, but I’m willing to bet that Kinder could have managed to do something like that if he were interested in getting things done rather than grandstanding.