And we knew him back when…

Eli Yokley (right) [May 2012 file photo].

After five years in Missouri, Eli Yokley to cover politics for Roll Call in Washington, D.C.

…Later this month, I’m headed off to Washington D.C. On June 29, I will join Roll Call as a political writer covering U.S. House and Senate campaigns.

When I clock-in at Roll Call, I’ll hit a pause button on the PoliticMo website, but will still always keep my ear to the Missouri-ground for you from Washington. In the coming weeks, I also plan to begin a new column in my hometown paper, the Joplin Globe, updating people back home on the state of affairs in the nation’s capital…

Best wishes. Don’t take any of them inside the beltway cocktail weenie circuit conventional wisdom wooden nickles.

Speaker Tim Jones (r) [file photo].

Today the outgoing (due to term limits) Speaker of the Missouri House, Tim Jones (r), took to Twitter with a retweet:

Tim W. Jones retweeted

UnhyphenatedAmerica @UnhyphenAmerica

“The black elite are more dangerous than the The Klu Klux Klan, to Black Americans.” ~ Arthur BigBully Savage…. [….]

He received a media response:

Eli Yokley ‏@eyokley

My other question, @SpeakerTimJones, is what do you mean by this tweet? That’s quite an assertion. #Ferguson 12:15 PM – 24 Nov 2014

And that’s just part of a longer exchange.

A few other reactions about Speaker Tim Jones’ (r) Twitter feed today:

Tony Messenger @tonymess

A city is on edge, and #MO’s Speaker of the House is trolling editorial writers about black-on-black crime. Think about that. #Ferguson 11:35 AM – 24 Nov 2014

Eli Yokley ‏@eyokley

I’m candidly more interested in what @SpeakerTimJones means that Black ldrs have been “more dangerous” than the KKK [….] 12:24 PM – 24 Nov 2014

SharkFu ‏@SharkFu

Re: that last tweet. That’s the Speaker of the Missouri House. [*]sets down iPhone…backs away slowly[*] 2:37 PM – 24 Nov 2014

SharkFu ‏@SharkFu

Sorry, my mind is still blown by that. I had to check it twice, y’all!! Just when you think you’ve seen it all… 3:03 PM – 24 Nov 2014

Didn’t catch this earlier:

PoliticMo to re-launch after brief hiatus

May 28, 2013

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – After a three month hiatus, PoliticMo is set to re-launch, editor-in-chief Eli Yokley announced on Tuesday….

….The announcement came as Yokley announced the decision to leave his full-time role as managing editor of The Missouri Times….

What’s up with that?

And there’s this, via the Cape County Tea Party (no, I’m not providing a link):

…The 8th Congressional District Republican Committee will be hosting a CAMPAIGN UNIVERSITY in September. It is being sponsored by HRCC, MSCC, and MRP.

Guest presenters include:

   Steve Tilley

   Shane Schoeller

   Robert Knodell

   Jeff Rowe

   Carl Bearden

   Jaret Jensen

   Josh Haynes

[….]

This University will have classes that include:

   Fundraising

   Vendor Relations

   Grassroots Organization

   Media Contact and Relations

   Social Media

There will also be a forum at the end of the presentations for question and answer about campaigning, issues and experience. On this panel will be:

   Auditor Tom Schweich

   Congressman Jason Smith

   Speaker Tim Jones

   Former Speaker Catherine Hanaway

Lunch will be provided by the Missouri Times. Admission at the door will be $25. Early admission, prior to September 1, will be $15.

[….]

[emphasis added]

Dayam. If we had to provide lunch it’d consist of a soda cracker and tap water. And we wouldn’t be too sure about the soda cracker part. Not that we believe anyone would want us to sponsor a partisan event. Heh.

A few of the people on the list of presenters are quite, how shall we put it, uh, connected.

Well, this is interesting:

December 28, 2012

Journalist makes Missouri Scout end-of-year list

Yokley to cover state Legislature for The Joplin Globe

….Yokley said he does not think of himself so much as a blogger, but as a journalist.

In a recent interview, Yokley said: “Whenever I think ‘blogger,’ I think of partisan guys who sit in their basements and yell about things from the left or right. That’s not what I do….”

Oh, really? Don’t they teach you in J-school about avoiding that lazy default to tired cliches thing? Just asking.

In the good old days, before they taught him the secret handshake and the “all opposing views are equal” catechism.

It gets better:

Taunia Adams

Yesterday at 4:04pm ·

   What sets some people apart from others? A floor or two.

   

The Turner Report: New Joplin Globe state house correspondent: I’m not a blogger; I’m a journalist

   rturner229.blogspot.com

   

Tammy Fortysevenpercent Booth My hopes were never high for young Mr. Yokely. He was too easily smitten and eager to be liked by the people who are supposed to fear journalists to the extent that they behave themselves. Instead, he’s who Tim Jones would have hired if he was the one doing the Globe’s candidate search — a kid with stars in his eyes who will toe the mark and walk the party line.

Yesterday at 4:24pm

Eli Yokley You spelled my name wrong.

Anyway. Stay tuned.

Yesterday at 4:30pm

Taunia Adams Pretty big dis to all the bloggers out there.

Yesterday at 4:32pm

Tammy Fortysevenpercent Booth Sorry about that — I was going to edit and correct, but now there is no need. As for staying tuned…I will.

Yesterday at 4:32pm

Eli Yokley I have never taken on the title ‘blogger’ because I never considered the work I do blogging. I took on the title of journalist because I believe I’ve spent the last nearly three years doing real shoe-leather journalism that I felt was lacking in Missouri. With The Fuse Joplin and PoliticMo, I took on journalism as a public service, and with the opportunity The Joplin Globe has given me, I hope to continue in that same spirt

Yesterday at 4:33pm

Taunia Adams Cool. Why’d you take down the bloggers around you?

Yesterday at 4:34pm

Tammy Fortysevenpercent Booth Just remember why blogs evolved beyond the AOL chatroom stage…The traditional media has failed us miserably. That is why we all started doing the blogging thang — in my case eight years ago.

Yesterday at 4:35pm

Tammy Fortysevenpercent Booth And yes, I am offended at the sniffy “**I’m** not a blogger.” You sure as hell were, whether you want to own it or not.

Yesterday at 4:36pm

Shelley Powers Blogger is short for weblogger, which was derived, a long time ago, from the description for the software that allows people to easily publish online. Basically the same software that now powers every major online publication today.

Saying you’re not a blogger is like saying you’re not a typewriter or printing press.

Yesterday at 5:25pm

Dude, you don’t engage in a battle of wits with someone who was blogging when you still had Star Wars sheets on your bed.

Don’t forget to wave to us from the House press gallery. Oh, wait…