State Representative Cynthia Davis (r-let them eat McDonald’s) is still in office through early January until the new Missouri General Assembly is sworn in. Our good friends at Fired Up! caught her latest newsletter, pointing out her inimitable views on cosmology.

We note her (lack of) constitutional scholarship in the same newsletter:

…Missouri is Also Special

Our Missouri constitution has some parts that are better than our US Constitution.  For example, Missouri’s Bill of Rights states:

  1. “Missouri is a free and independent state…all proposed amendments…affecting the individual liberties of the people or which in any wise may impair the right of local self-government belonging to the people of this state, should be submitted to the conventions of the people.” (Section 4).

  2. “All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; that no human authority can control or interfere with the rights of conscience;” (Section 5).

  3. “No law shall be passed impairing the freedom of speech, no matter by what means communication; that every person shall be free to say, write or publish, or otherwise communicate whatever he will on any subject, being responsible for all abuses of that liberty;”  (Section 8)

  4. “…The court shall excuse any woman who requests exemption there-from before being sworn as a juror.”  Section 22 (b)

  5. “Private property shall not be taken for private use …except for private ways of necessity, and except for drains and ditches across the lands of others for agricultural and sanitary purposes…” (Section 28)

  6. “To be valid and recognized in this state, a marriage shall exist only between a man and a woman.  (Section 33)….

“…Our Missouri constitution has some parts that are better than our US Constitution…”

Uh, there’s a small matter of the supremacy clause in the United States Constitution:

Article VI

….This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any state to the Contrary notwithstanding….

[emphasis added]

“…and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any state to the Contrary notwithstanding…”

Cynthia Davis is an idiot.

The Bill of Rights?

While we’re at it, the Missouri Constitution, has an establishment clause in, count ’em, two places:

Missouri Constitution

Article I

BILL OF RIGHTS

Section 7

Public aid for religious purposes–preferences and discriminations on religious grounds.

Section 7. That no money shall ever be taken from the public treasury, directly or indirectly, in aid of any church, sect or denomination of religion, or in aid of any priest, preacher, minister or teacher thereof, as such; and that no preference shall be given to nor any discrimination made against any church, sect or creed of religion, or any form of religious faith or worship.

Article IX

EDUCATION

Section 8

Prohibition of public aid for religious purposes and institutions.

Section 8. Neither the general assembly, nor any county, city, town, township, school district or other municipal corporation, shall ever make an appropriation or pay from any public fund whatever, anything in aid of any religious creed, church or sectarian purpose, or to help to support or sustain any private or public school, academy, seminary, college, university, or other institution of learning controlled by any religious creed, church or sectarian denomination whatever; nor shall any grant or donation of personal property or real estate ever be made by the state, or any county, city, town, or other municipal corporation, for any religious creed, church, or sectarian purpose whatever.

The concept is so important that it’s in two places in the Missouri Constitution. Cynthia Davis (r) ignores that? How convenient.

 

It’s old media’s inside the beltway cocktail weenie circuit world and they don’t want any of us barbarians to live in it.

…[laughter] And finally, new rule, if you’re going to have a rally where hundreds of thousands of people show up, you might as well go ahead and make it about something. [applause] Now, with all due respect to my friends Jon and Stephen, it seems to me that if you truly wanted to come down on the side of restoring sanity and reason you’d side with the sane and the reasonable and [applause], and not try to pretend that the insanity is equally distributed in both parties. Keith Olbermann is right, when he says he’s not the equivalent of Glenn Beck. [applause] One reports facts, the other one is very close to playing with his poop. [laughter]

And the big mistake of modern media has been this notion of balance for balance’s sake, that the left is just as violent and cruel as the right, that unions are just as powerful as corporations, that reverse racism is just as damaging as racism. There’s a difference between a mad man, and a madman…

…Now, getting over two hundred thousand people to come to a liberal rally is a great achievement, and gave me hope. And what I really loved about it was that it was twice the size of the Glenn Beck crowd on the Mall in August. [applause] Although it weighed the same. [laughter]

But the message of the rally, as I heard it, was that if the media would just stop giving voice to the crazies on both sides then maybe we could restore sanity. It was all non-partisan and urged cooperation with the moderates on the other side. Forgetting that Obama tried that and found out there are no moderates on the other side. [applause]

When, when Jon announced his rally, he said that the national conversation is dominated by people on the right who believe Obama’s a socialist and people on the left who believe nine eleven was an inside job. But I can’t name any Democratic leaders who think nine eleven was an inside job. But Republican leaders who think Obama’s a socialist? All of them. McCain, Boehner, Cantor, Palin, all of them. It’s now official Republican dogma, like tax cuts pay for themselves and gay men just haven’t met the right woman. [laughter]

As, as another example of both sides using overheated rhetoric Jon cited the right equating Obama with Hitler, and the left calling Bush a war criminal. Except thinking Obama is like Hitler is utterly unfounded, but thinking Bush is a war criminal? That’s the opinion of General Anthony Taguba, who headed the Army’s investigation into Abu Ghraib. [applause]

Republicans, you see, Republicans keep staking out a position that is further and further right and then demand Democrats meet them in the middle which is now not the middle anymore. That’s the reason health care reform is so watered down – it’s Bob Dole’s old plan from nineteen ninety-four. Same thing with cap and trade – it was the first President Bush’s plan to deal with carbon emissions. Now the Republican plan for climate change is to claim it’s a hoax. But it’s not. I know that because I’ve lived in L.A. since eighty three and there’s been a change in the city. I can see it now. [laughter] Yeah. All of us who live out here have had that experience. Oh look, there’s a mountain there. [laughter] Governments led by liberal Democrats passed laws which changed the air I breathe for the better. Okay, I’m for them. And not for the party that is, as we speak, plotting to abolish the EPA. And I don’t need to pretend that both sides have a point here. And I don’t care what left or right commentators say about it. I only care what climate scientists say about it. [applause]

Two, two opposing sides don’t necessarily have two compelling arguments. Martin Luther King spoke on that Mall in the capitol and he didn’t say, “Remember folks, those Southern sheriffs with the fire hoses and the German shepherds, they have a point too.” [laughter] No, he said, “I have a dream, they have a nightmare.” This isn’t Team Edward and Team Jacob. [laughter]

Liberals, like the ones on that field, must stand up and be counted, and not pretend that we’re as mean or greedy or short sighted or just plain batshit as they are. And if that’s too polarizing for you and you still want to reach across the aisle and hold hands and sing with someone on the right try church….

[emphasis added]

That’s why we’re here.

Somebody else gets it:

Pelosi’s Triumph

Democrats didn’t lose the battle of 2010. They won it.

By William Saletan

Posted Friday, Nov. 5, 2010, at 8:19 AM ET

….We’ve become so obsessed with who wins or loses in politics that we’ve forgotten what the winning and losing are about. Partisans fixate on punishing their enemies in the next campaign. Reporters, in the name of objectivity, refuse to judge anything but the Election Day score card. Politicians rationalize their self-preservation by imagining themselves as dynasty builders. They think this is the big picture.

They’re wrong. The big picture isn’t about winning or keeping power. It’s about using it….

[emphasis added]

Heh, we’ve said that before.

No, we’re not making this up. And we can’t really venture to call this an elaborate “April Fools” joke because it is coming from the poster child for the batshit crazy wingnut segment of the Missouri body politic.

With apologies to Atrios

HB 2468 Creates the Missouri Freedom to Own Lightbulbs Act

Sponsor: Davis, Cynthia L. (19) Proposed Effective Date: 08/28/2010

CoSponsor: LR Number: 5509L.01I

Last Action: 04/01/2010 – Introduced and Read First Time (H)

HB2468

Next Hearing: Hearing not scheduled

House Calendar HOUSE BILLS FOR SECOND READING

Yes, you read that correctly, the “the Missouri Freedom to Own Lightbulbs Act”. From Representative Cynthia Davis (r). Yes, that Representative Cynthia Davis.

The bill:

SECOND REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 2468

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS.

5509L.01I                                                                                                                                                  D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk

AN ACT

To amend chapter 21, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to the Missouri freedom to own lightbulbs act.

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

           Section A. Chapter 21, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 21.930, to read as follows:

           21.930. 1. This section shall be called and may be cited as the “Missouri Freedom to own Lightbulbs Act”.

           2. The general assembly declares that the authority for this section is the following:

           (1) Amendment X of the Constitution of the United States guarantees to the states and their people all powers not granted to the federal government elsewhere in the Constitution and reserves to the state and people of Missouri certain powers as they were understood at the time that Missouri was admitted to statehood. The guarantee of those powers is a matter of contract between the state and people of Missouri and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Missouri and the United States;

           (2) Amendment IX of the Constitution of the United States guarantees to the people rights not granted in the Constitution and reserves to the people of Missouri certain rights as they were understood at the time that Missouri was admitted to statehood. The guarantee of those rights is a matter of contract between the state and people of Missouri and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Missouri and the United States;

           (3) The regulation of intrastate commerce is vested in the states under Amendments IX and X of the Constitution of the United States, particularly if not expressly preempted by federal law. Congress has not expressly preempted state regulation of intrastate commerce pertaining to the manufacture on an intrastate basis of lightbulbs or lightbulb accessories;

           3. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms shall mean:

           (1) “Generic and insignificant parts”, includes but is not limited to springs, screws, nuts, and pins;

           (2) “Lightbulb accessories”, items that are used in conjunction with a lightbulb but are not essential to the basic function of a lightbulb;

           (3) “Manufactured”, creating a lightbulb.

           4. A lightbulb or lightbulb accessory that is manufactured commercially or privately in Missouri and that remains within the borders of Missouri is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration, under the authority of congress to regulate interstate commerce. It is declared by the legislature that those items have not traveled in interstate commerce. This section applies to a lightbulb or lightbulb accessory that is manufactured in Missouri from basic materials and that can be manufactured without the inclusion of any significant parts imported into this state. Generic and insignificant parts that have other manufacturing or consumer product applications are not lightbulbs or lightbulb accessories, and their importation into Missouri and incorporation into a lightbulb or lightbulb accessory manufactured in Missouri does not subject the lightbulb or lightbulb accessory to federal regulation. It is declared by the legislature that basic materials are not lightbulbs or lightbulb accessories and are not subject to congressional authority to regulate lightbulbs or lightbulb accessories under interstate commerce as if they were actually lightbulbs or lightbulb accessories. The authority of congress to regulate interstate commerce in basic materials does not include the authority to regulate lightbulbs or lightbulb accessories made in Missouri from those materials. Lightbulb accessories that are imported into Missouri from another state and that are subject to federal regulation as being in interstate commerce do not subject a lightbulb to federal regulation under interstate commerce because they are attached to or used in conjunction with a lightbulb in Missouri.

           5. A lightbulb manufactured or sold in Missouri under the provisions of this section shall have the words “Made in Missouri” clearly stamped.

As if maybe energy efficient bulbs which in aggregate use significantly cut energy consumption and diminish America’s dependence on foreign energy sources is some kind of affront to an originalist interpretation of Constitution? I don’t know, your guess is as good as mine.

Ah, the usual “tenther” drivel. Interestingly, there are no co-sponsors listed for this bill. It would appear that there are a few republican members of the House with some small shred of self respect left.