Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C141179 09/26/2014 ASHCROFT FOR MISSOURI Vicky Hartzler for Congress PO Box 9265 Shawnee Mission KS 66201 9/26/2014 $5,001.00

[emphasis added]

Is John Ashcroft having so much difficulty raising money from grassroots supporters in the 24th Senate District that he needs to rely on a member of Congress from the other side of the state to add to his tally?

What’s with the extra $1.00? Was that so it would be reported immediately at the Missouri Ethics Commission [It would show up in the quarterly campaign finance report in three weeks anyway]?

Is this an indication that Vicky Hartzler is taking the November general election and her opponent, Nate Irvin (D), that lightly?

Shawnee Mission, Kansas?

Previously:

Campaign Finance: polling, polling, polling… (September 24, 2014)

Campaign Finance: all in on the legacy (September 23, 2014)

Campaign Finance: supporting the legacy in $10,000.00 increments (September 5, 2014)

Campaign Finance: legacies (August 27, 2014)

“He said legacies usually get asked to pledge automatically.” (August 7, 2014)

Campaign Finance: all that money in the 24th Senate District republican primary (August 3, 2014)

Campaign Finance: 24th Senate District – July quarterly campaign finance reports (July 18, 2014)

Campaign Finance: end of quarter confidence in the 24th Senate District (July 3, 2014)

Campaign Finance: 24th Senate District – April quarterly campaign finance reports (April 19, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Friends of the family?  (April 11, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Make room for daddy? (April 7, 2014)

Campaign Finance: trying to catch up in the 24th Senate District (March 31, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Schupp (D) and Lamping (r) in the 24th Senate District – 4th quarter 2013 (January 15, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Schupp (D) and Lamping (r) in the 24th Senate District – 3rd quarter 2013 (October 21, 2013)

Hoover: Kent is a legacy, Otter. His brother was a ’59, Fred Dorfman.

Flounder: He said legacies usually get asked to pledge automatically.

Otter: Oh, well, usually. Unless the pledge in question turns out to be a real closet-case.

Otter, Boon: Like Fred.

Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

CONTRIBUTION OF MORE THAN $5,000.00 RECEIVED BY ANY COMMITTEE FROM ANY

SINGLE DONOR – TO BE FILED WITHIN 48 HOURS OF RECEIVING THE CONTRIBUTION

MEC ID: C141179 [pdf]

ASHCROFT FOR MISSOURI 9/24/2014

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee

PO Box 754

Jefferson City, MO 65102 8/23/2014

$15,250.00

[emphasis added]

Well, probably.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: all in on the legacy (September 23, 2014)

Campaign Finance: supporting the legacy in $10,000.00 increments (September 5, 2014)

Campaign Finance: legacies (August 27, 2014)

“He said legacies usually get asked to pledge automatically.” (August 7, 2014)

Campaign Finance: all that money in the 24th Senate District republican primary (August 3, 2014)

Campaign Finance: 24th Senate District – July quarterly campaign finance reports (July 18, 2014)

Campaign Finance: end of quarter confidence in the 24th Senate District (July 3, 2014)

Campaign Finance: 24th Senate District – April quarterly campaign finance reports (April 19, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Friends of the family?  (April 11, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Make room for daddy? (April 7, 2014)

Campaign Finance: trying to catch up in the 24th Senate District (March 31, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Schupp (D) and Lamping (r) in the 24th Senate District – 4th quarter 2013 (January 15, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Schupp (D) and Lamping (r) in the 24th Senate District – 3rd quarter 2013 (October 21, 2013)

Hoover: Kent is a legacy, Otter. His brother was a ’59, Fred Dorfman.

Flounder: He said legacies usually get asked to pledge automatically.

Otter: Oh, well, usually. Unless the pledge in question turns out to be a real closet-case.

Otter, Boon: Like Fred.

Yesterday, for the republican candidate in the 24th Senate District, via the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C141179 09/22/2014 ASHCROFT FOR MISSOURI Missouri Senate Campaign Committee PO Box 754 Jefferson City MO 65102 9/22/2014 $150,000.00

[emphasis added]

That didn’t come from elderly retirees’ cookie jar stashes.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: supporting the legacy in $10,000.00 increments (September 5, 2014)

Campaign Finance: legacies (August 27, 2014)

“He said legacies usually get asked to pledge automatically.” (August 7, 2014)

Campaign Finance: all that money in the 24th Senate District republican primary (August 3, 2014)

Campaign Finance: 24th Senate District – July quarterly campaign finance reports (July 18, 2014)

Campaign Finance: end of quarter confidence in the 24th Senate District (July 3, 2014)

Campaign Finance: 24th Senate District – April quarterly campaign finance reports (April 19, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Friends of the family?  (April 11, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Make room for daddy? (April 7, 2014)

Campaign Finance: trying to catch up in the 24th Senate District (March 31, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Schupp (D) and Lamping (r) in the 24th Senate District – 4th quarter 2013 (January 15, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Schupp (D) and Lamping (r) in the 24th Senate District – 3rd quarter 2013 (October 21, 2013)

Hoover: Kent is a legacy, Otter. His brother was a ’59, Fred Dorfman.

Flounder: He said legacies usually get asked to pledge automatically.

Otter: Oh, well, usually. Unless the pledge in question turns out to be a real closet-case.

Otter, Boon: Like Fred.

Yesterday, for the republican candidate in the 24th Senate District, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C141179 09/04/2014 ASHCROFT FOR MISSOURI Stanley Herzog 600 S Riverside Road St Joseph MO 64507 Herzog Cos. Inc. CEO 9/3/2014 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

Money is never a problem.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: legacies (August 27, 2014)

“He said legacies usually get asked to pledge automatically.” (August 7, 2014)

Campaign Finance: all that money in the 24th Senate District republican primary (August 3, 2014)

Campaign Finance: 24th Senate District – July quarterly campaign finance reports (July 18, 2014)

Campaign Finance: end of quarter confidence in the 24th Senate District (July 3, 2014)

Campaign Finance: 24th Senate District – April quarterly campaign finance reports (April 19, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Friends of the family?  (April 11, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Make room for daddy? (April 7, 2014)

Campaign Finance: trying to catch up in the 24th Senate District (March 31, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Schupp (D) and Lamping (r) in the 24th Senate District – 4th quarter 2013 (January 15, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Schupp (D) and Lamping (r) in the 24th Senate District – 3rd quarter 2013 (October 21, 2013)

Hoover: Kent is a legacy, Otter. His brother was a ’59, Fred Dorfman.

Flounder: He said legacies usually get asked to pledge automatically.

Otter: Oh, well, usually. Unless the pledge in question turns out to be a real closet-case.

Otter, Boon: Like Fred.

Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission, for the legacy republican candidate in the 24th Senate District:

C141179 08/27/2014 ASHCROFT FOR MISSOURI August Busch III 1 Mid Rivers Mall Drive St Peters MO 63376 None Retired 8/27/2014 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

Heh. Sticking together.

Previously:

“He said legacies usually get asked to pledge automatically.” (August 7, 2014)

Campaign Finance: all that money in the 24th Senate District republican primary (August 3, 2014)

Campaign Finance: 24th Senate District – July quarterly campaign finance reports (July 18, 2014)

Campaign Finance: end of quarter confidence in the 24th Senate District (July 3, 2014)

Campaign Finance: 24th Senate District – April quarterly campaign finance reports (April 19, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Friends of the family?  (April 11, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Make room for daddy? (April 7, 2014)

Campaign Finance: trying to catch up in the 24th Senate District (March 31, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Schupp (D) and Lamping (r) in the 24th Senate District – 4th quarter 2013 (January 15, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Schupp (D) and Lamping (r) in the 24th Senate District – 3rd quarter 2013 (October 21, 2013)

Hoover: Kent is a legacy, Otter. His brother was a ’59, Fred Dorfman.

Flounder: He said legacies usually get asked to pledge automatically.

Otter: Oh, well, usually. Unless the pledge in question turns out to be a real closet-case.

Otter, Boon: Like Fred.

Man you spend a lot of money in a primary and the clubhouse restocks it for you just like that. Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C141179 08/07/2014 ASHCROFT FOR MISSOURI Missouri Senate Campaign Committee PO Box 754 Jefferson City MO 65102 8/6/2014 $150,000.00

C141179 08/07/2014 ASHCROFT FOR MISSOURI Dempsey for Missouri 3103 Buckskin Path St Charles MO 63301 8/6/2014 $25,000.00

C141179 08/07/2014 ASHCROFT FOR MISSOURI Claudia Kehoe 3589 Gettysburg Place Jefferson City MO 65109 None Homemaker 8/6/2014 $7,500.00

C141179 08/07/2014 ASHCROFT FOR MISSOURI Citizens to Elect Mike Kehoe PO Box 105527 Jefferson City MO 65110 8/6/2014 $7,500.00

[emphasis added]

The best legacy insider money can buy. Heh.

Meanwhile, on the other side:

Jill Schupp ‏@JillSchupp

Please join Schupp for Senate on Aug. 17th at The Pasta House for a breakfast fundraiser! Contact Emily@JillSchupp.com for more information. 3:53 PM – 7 Aug 2014

There’s a definite difference.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: all that money in the 24th Senate District republican primary (August 3, 2014)

Campaign Finance: 24th Senate District – July quarterly campaign finance reports (July 18, 2014)

Campaign Finance: end of quarter confidence in the 24th Senate District (July 3, 2014)

Campaign Finance: 24th Senate District – April quarterly campaign finance reports (April 19, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Friends of the family?  (April 11, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Make room for daddy? (April 7, 2014)

Campaign Finance: trying to catch up in the 24th Senate District (March 31, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Schupp (D) and Lamping (r) in the 24th Senate District – 4th quarter 2013 (January 15, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Schupp (D) and Lamping (r) in the 24th Senate District – 3rd quarter 2013 (October 21, 2013)

There’s a lot of money flowing in the 24th Senate District republican primary. It’s just that it’s not quite evenly distributed. Via the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C141179: Ashcroft For Missouri

12138 Mirror Lake Drive Committee Type: Candidate

St Louis Mo 63146 Party Affiliation: Republican

[….] Established Date: 04/04/2014

Information Reported On: 2014 – 8 Day Before Primary Election-8/5/2014

Beginning Money on Hand $208,249.05

Monetary Receipts + $6,739.00

Monetary Expenditures – $154,199.40

Contributions Made – $0.00

Other Disbursements – $4,769.17

Subtotal     ($152,229.57)

Ending Money On Hand   $56,019.48

[emphasis added]

And there’s still money coming in since the closing date for that report:

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C141179 ASHCROFT FOR MISSOURI [pdf]

Patrick Behan Sr 1644 N Geyer Road St Louis, MO 63131 7/28/2014 $1,000.00

[emphasis added]

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C141179 ASHCROFT FOR MISSOURI [pdf]

RockTenn PO Box 4098 Norcross, GA 30091 7/29/2014 $500.00

[emphasis added]

Georgia?

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C141179 ASHCROFT FOR MISSOURI [pdf]

Realtors PAC – Missouri PO Box 30635 Columbia, MO 65205 7/31/2014 $1,000.00

Andrew Blunt 702 Turnberry Drive Jefferson City, MO 65109 7/31/2014 $500.00

[emphasis added]

Heh.

Hoover: Kent is a legacy, Otter. His brother was a ’59, Fred Dorfman.

Flounder: He said legacies usually get asked to pledge automatically.

Otter: Oh, well, usually. Unless the pledge in question turns out to be a real closet-case.

Otter, Boon: Like Fred.

From one family to another.

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C141179 ASHCROFT FOR MISSOURI [pdf]

Kristi Allen 1024 Tidewater Place Court Town and Country, MO 63017 8/1/2014 $750.00

[emphasis added]

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C141179 ASHCROFT FOR MISSOURI [pdf]

Emerson’s Missouri Responsible Government Fund 8000 W Florissant Ave St Louis, MO 63136 8/1/2014 $2,500.00

[emphasis added]

There are other republicans in the primary, just not quite as well financed:

C141148: Spooner For Senate

Po Box 8430 Committee Type: Candidate

Olivette Mo 63132 Party Affiliation: Republican

[….] Established Date: 03/26/2014

Information Reported On: 2014 – 8 Day Before Primary Election-8/5/2014

Beginning Money on Hand $109,308.94

Monetary Receipts + $18,020.00

Monetary Expenditures – $31,074.69

Contributions Made – $0.00

Other Disbursements – $0.00

Subtotal     ($13,054.69)

Ending Money On Hand   $96,254.25

[emphasis added]

Odds are that’s been spent by now. And there’s been more coming in:

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C141148 SPOONER FOR SENATE [pdf]

United Bags Inc. 2508 North Broadway St Louis, MO 63102 7/29/2014 $1,000.00

[emphasis added]

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C141148 SPOONER FOR SENATE [pdf]

John and Margaret Cribbin 5488 Oleatha Ave St Louis, MO 63139 7/30/2014 $500.00

Melissa L Haupt One Lochinvar Dr St Louis, MO 63131 7/30/2014 $2,000.00

[emphasis added]

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C141148 SPOONER FOR SENATE [pdf]

John McCurdy 16 Ladue Ln Ladue, MO 63124 7/30/2014 $500.00

Ralph Scozzafava 4 Dromara Rd St Louis, MO 63124 7/30/2014 $500.00

[emphasis added]

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C141148 SPOONER FOR SENATE [pdf]

James Barton 14 Greenway Plz Unit 21 R Houston, TX 77046 7/31/2014 $1,000.00

[emphasis added]

Texas?

There is one more republican candidate:

C141383: Robb Hicks For Senate

11511 Craig Ct Ste 320 Committee Type: Candidate

St Louis Mo 63146-6207 Party Affiliation: Republican

[….] Established Date: 06/10/2014

Information Reported On: 2014 – 8 Day Before Primary Election-8/5/2014

Beginning Money on Hand $44,376.74

Monetary Receipts + $25,750.00

Monetary Expenditures – $32,510.72

Contributions Made – $0.00

Other Disbursements – $15,000.00

Subtotal     ($21,760.72)

Ending Money On Hand   $22,616.02

[emphasis added]

Not quite in the same campaign finance league. Though, he’s got a friend:

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C141383 ROBB HICKS FOR SENATE [pdf]

Robb Hicks 11511 Craig Ct., Ste 320 Creve Coeur, MO 63146 7/28/2014 $25,000.00

[emphasis added]

The Democratic Party candidate, Jill Schupp, is definitely no slouch when it comes to fundraising:

C131081: Schupp For Senate

418 North Mosley Road Committee Type: Candidate

Creve Coeur Mo 63141 Party Affiliation: Democrat

[….] Established Date: 06/03/2013

Information Reported On: 2014 – 8 Day Before Primary Election-8/5/2014

Beginning Money on Hand $459,287.61

Monetary Receipts + $36,225.00

Monetary Expenditures – $48,262.28

Contributions Made – $1,000.00

Other Disbursements – $0.00

Subtotal     ($13,037.28)

Ending Money On Hand   $446,250.33

[emphasis added]

And there’s been more coming in:

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C131081 SCHUPP FOR SENATE [pdf]

Hilda Jones PO Box 57 Williamsburg, MO 63388 7/25/2014 $300.00

Good Government For Missouri 7701 Forsyth Blvd Suite 925 St Louis, MO 63105 7/25/2014 $1,000.00

[emphasis added]

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C131081 SCHUPP FOR SENATE [pdf]

MAPAC PO Box 1785 Jefferson City, MO 65102 7/26/2014 $300.00

[emphasis added]

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C131081 SCHUPP FOR SENATE [pdf]

John Riffle 2009 Hunters Field Rd. St Louis, MO 63122 7/27/2014 $500.00

[emphasis added]

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C131081 SCHUPP FOR SENATE [pdf]

Shelter Insurance State PAC 1817 W. Broadway Columbia, MO 65218 7/28/2014 $750.00

[emphasis added]

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C131081 SCHUPP FOR SENATE [pdf]

Barry Aycock PO Box 456 Parma, MO 63870 7/29/2014 $5,001.00

Express Scripts, Inc. 1 Express Way St Louis, MO 63121 7/29/2014 $1,000.00

[emphasis added]

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C131081 SCHUPP FOR SENATE [pdf]

KCP&L Power PAC – Missouri 1100 Walnut Ste 3000 Kansas City, MO 64116 7/31/2014 $500.00

Missouri AFL-CIO COPE 227 Jefferson Street Jefferson City, MO 65101 7/31/2014 $600.00

[emphasis added]

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C131081 SCHUPP FOR SENATE [pdf]

Sheet Metal Workers Local 2 2902 Blue Ridge Blvd Kansas City, MO 64129 8/1/2014 $500.00

IBEW Local 124 301 East 103rd Street Terrace Kansas City, MO 64114 8/1/2014 $500.00

Justus for Missouri PO Box 411464 Kansas City, MO 64141 8/1/2014 $1,000.00

Labors Educational & Political Club 4501 Clever II Blvd Kansas City, MO 64130 8/1/2014 $500.00

Willliam Dirks LLC 1100 Main St. Ste 2600 Kansas City, MO 64105 8/1/2014 $500.00

Brightergy.LLC 1617 Main Street 3rd Floor Kansas City, MO 64108 8/1/2014 $500.00

David Johnson 104 Armour Rd North Kansas City, MO 64116 8/1/2014 $1,000.00

Missouri Full Employment Group, LLC PO Box 22492 Kansas City, MO 64113 8/1/2014 $500.00

Heavy Construction Laborers’ Local 663 7820 Prospect Ave Kansas City, MO 64132 8/1/2014 $1,000.00

Credit Union Political Action Committee 223 Madison St Jefferson City, MO 65101 8/1/2014 $750.00

Operative Plasterers’ & Cement Masons’ Local 51 301 S. Main St Independence, MO 64050 8/1/2014 $500.00

[emphasis added]

Uh, that was a really good twenty-four hours. Thaere’s quite a few working people in that mix.

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C131081 SCHUPP FOR SENATE [pdf]

Pam McClelland 2124 Winding Woods Dr Liberty, MO 64068 8/1/2014 $1,000.00

[emphasis added]

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C131081 SCHUPP FOR SENATE [pdf]

Anna Forder 4501 Lindell, 7B St Louis, MO 63108 8/1/2014 $1,000.00

[emphasis added]

MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION

24 HOUR NOTICE OF LATE CONTRIBUTIONS / LOANS RECEIVED

C131081 SCHUPP FOR SENATE [pdf]

Goralink-Muskin Properties 11078 Midland Blvd St Louis, MO 63114 8/2/2014 $500.00

Missouri Federation of Teachers 423 E High St Jefferson City, MO 65101 8/2/2014 $500.00

[emphasis added]

Come the general Election in November the republican candidate will have all the money they need and more.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: 24th Senate District – July quarterly campaign finance reports (July 18, 2014)

Campaign Finance: end of quarter confidence in the 24th Senate District (July 3, 2014)

Campaign Finance: 24th Senate District – April quarterly campaign finance reports (April 19, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Friends of the family?  (April 11, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Make room for daddy? (April 7, 2014)

Campaign Finance: trying to catch up in the 24th Senate District (March 31, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Schupp (D) and Lamping (r) in the 24th Senate District – 4th quarter 2013 (January 15, 2014)

Campaign Finance: Schupp (D) and Lamping (r) in the 24th Senate District – 3rd quarter 2013 (October 21, 2013)

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).

So Roy Blunt finally decided that the chorus condemning Todd Akin had reached sufficient decibel level that he could safly join in. Not all on his lonesome, however, but safely ensconced in a group of other of Missouri’s mainline GOP establishment, former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and former Senators Kit Bond, John Danforth and Jim Talent, who, jointly, want us to know that:

We do not believe it serves the national interest for Congressman Todd Akin to stay in this race. The issues at stake are too big, and this election is simply too important. The right decision is to step aside. …

Blunt, it seems, is also willing to let it be kown that, as a very influential Republican, he has spoken to Akin privately several times since he (Akin) managed to put the GOP’s anti-women policy proposals in the spotlight, “urging” him to, basically,  get the hell out of Dodge.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the GOP has been preparing its 2012 electoral platform. And guess what? Except for the pseudo-medical mumbo-jumbo that half of the GOP probably believes – at least when safely in private – there’s almost no light between what Akin was saying about abortion policy and what the rest of the GOP wants to enshrine in the document that is intended to encapsulate what they stand for:

CNN reported on Monday that the draft of the GOP’s official 2012 platform calls for a federal ban on abortion with no exception for rape and incest survivors — the same policy Akin was trying to defend when he asserted that victims of “legitimate rape” have a natural bodily mechanism that prevents them from getting pregnant.

Nor could there be when you stop to think about it. After all, the VP pick, Rep. Paul Ryan, very publicly joined Brother Todd to promote legislation that would have denied federal funding for abortions in the case of “forcible” rape – a somewhat more precise way to say what Todd meant when he was talking about “legitimate” rape. Ryan has also sponsored “personhood” legislation that would effectively give the full panoply of legal rights to a fertilized cell, while denying the rights of the woman involved in hosting it.

And even worse, the personhood part of this radical anti-abortion brew has been endorsed by Mitt Romney. Arguably, the “personhood” strategy is even more dangerous than the “forcible rape” ruse to limit abortions. Some critics hold that personhood legislation could be used to even ban contraceptives. Of course, all that was before Akin’s ineptitude turned up the heat, and Romney’s campaign decided that he’d better forget about his former pandering to the radical anti-abortion base and pretend to be “moderate” – at least for now.

The real question for Messrs. Blunt, Ashcroft, Talent, and Bond is to ask how they can unload on poor, dim Akin and still support the GOP platform this year. And then we will want to know if Roy and his pals will ask Romney and Ryan to once and for all, forcefully repudiate their past, embarrassing radicalism – or step down for the good of the party?

So I leave Missouri for a week and guess what happens when my back is, figuratively speaking, turned? The Speaker of the Missouri House, Steve Tilley, decides that Rush Limbaugh, who just made headlines for particularly vile behavior in regard to women, deserves to be enshrined in the State Capital’s Hall of  Famous Missourians along with such significant individuals as Dred Scott and Buck O’Neil. Which is to say, Speaker Tilley has decided to join Limbaugh and spit in the faces of Missouri’s women.  The irony is, of course, that Tilley, partisan GOPer though he may be,  has something of a reputation for inspiring a more civil tone in the House than has been the case in the recent past. Oh well …. score zero for civility and one for the triumphant GOP zeitgeist.

Tilley seems to think that celebrity, distasteful as Limbaugh’s may be, is sufficient justification for one of the state’s signal honors. By that standard, Missouri ought to put a bust of Ma Barker in the Statehouse – she was born in Springfield, after all,  and is still as much a byword as Limbaugh.

A defiant Tilley claims that to deny Limbaugh a place in the capital’s gallery of honored sons and daughters would be giving in to “intolerance,” because “many of the honorees … are “people who in their time said controversial things or took controversial actions.”  To think that Limbaugh can be compared to other “controversial” Missourians that Tilley cites, people like “Mark Twain, former Gov. Warren Hearnes and John Ashcroft,” is insane. Each of those men, whether or not you agree with the views they expressed, were individuals who devoted serious effort to thinking about either public good, as in the case of the two statesmen, or the nature of the human condition. How could a reasonable person claim that Limbaugh – a nasty-tempered bully who made a fortune exploiting the prejudices of a few of the more mean-spirited souls on the right – belongs in such a group. I mean, really, can you imagine comparing Mark Twain and Rush Limbaugh?

As for Dred Scott and Buck O’Neil, the two African-Americans who will be honored, it’s probably a good thing they are no longer with us. I imagine they suffered enough from the behavior of men like Limbaugh during their lives; it’s a shame that they are to be sullied by association with him in death. Limbaugh, after all, does not only consistently revile women, but is notorious for such racist remarks about African-Americans as:

They’re 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?

 

Just think about the chutzpah it takes to lump O’Neil into a group with the man who famously declared:

Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.

So I say to Speaker Tilley, as far as I’m concerned, this sort of nastiness, which is all Limbaugh has to offer, goes way beyond controversial, and I’m ashamed that anyone in my state thinks not only that it’s acceptable, but that it deserves to be honored.

Last sentence of 2nd paragraph moved to third paragraph to increase stylistic clarity.

(Cartoon source Wikimedia commons;by Ian D. Marsden of marsdencartoons.com. Licensed under under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.)