Fear and #Ferguson

Soooo it is the day after Black Friday, coming close to closing out a week joyously that we might all well just want to forget as we continue our hope that things “just get back to normal”.  We seem to hope that everyone just returns to their place, away from our place and stops complaining and protesting.  Al Sharpton can fly out to Philly where some poor rookie cop made a gruesome mistake and take the tourist protesters with him and we can get back to good old fashion St. Louis segregation (economic and racial) and be safe by empowering an underpaid group of primarily white males (whose lives are at risk every day) to profile and “broken windows” police the rest of us to peace and safety and bliss.

http://www.thenation.com/article/177842/its-time-end-broken-windows-policing

We are so afraid of the questions that have been raised…. again.  Forget about Michael Brown (with my apologies to the Brown family for their loss) and forget Officer Wilson (who whether he knows it or not will be haunted for the rest of his life).  Michael Brown is inevitable in our society.  Over and over again Michael Brown will continue to be gunned down.  Not every day.  Not every week, but certainly every month, year after year and the fact is that we as a society have decided we don't give a shit.  Let our underpaid police worry about it and take of it.  If they make a mistake we can crucify the poor cop and feel better about ourselves  and if they don’t make a mistake then killing people to keep us safe is just their job.

It is 2014 and the “wrong side of the tracks”, or highway still prevails in St. Louis and every adult who pays attention knows where the borderlines are.  We stay on our side of the tracks and the poor and the non assimilated stay on their side. If they kill each other or occasionally one of our policeman kills one of them… it is what Richard Nixon would have called “acceptable losses”.  We pay our police better on our side.  Our kids occasionally take their parents high powered automatic weapons and go on a killing spree. Then and only then our police need to shoot them down but otherwise God and only God can protect the officer that kills one of our fair and precious children.

We self identify as the most Christian nation on earth.  “In God We Trust” emblazoned on our money (think, just for a second how wrong that referencing God on our money should be for a Christian), the Ten Commandments chiseled into our courthouses, but we have totally rationalized the existence of an underclass that lives mired in cycles of poverty, violence and lack of education.  How can this be?  And don’t, PLEASE DON’T, for all that is Sacred quote Matthew 26:11 “The poor will always be with you.” as some kind of justification.  READ YOUR SCRIPTURE IN CONTEXT!  Christ was admonishing the law observes that since they had a brief opportunity to spend some time with their God incarnate, that perhaps they should take an opportunity to do so.

So we are afraid.  We say we are afraid of violence.  We say we are afraid of lawlessness.  We say we are afraid of REVOLUTION!  So we buy guns, we board up windows and we call out the National Guard.  We berate our politicians and leaders for not keeping us safe.  We cancel parades.  We don’t go “downtown” because it might not be safe.  

HOW MANY LIVES HAVE BEEN LOST IN THE FERGUSON RIOTS!?  

I am not perfect about it and I could be wrong but I do read the paper every day and I think a strong case can be made that the number is zero.  I pray for the business owners and people of ferguson who have lost property and might lose their businesses.  It is a tragedy, but no lives have been lost despite all the burning and looting and protesting.  But we, in Clayton are afraid.  There is also no reason that our police should be subjected to bricks, bottles and batteries being thrown and fired at them and I pray for their safety as well because they are our mercenaries in an undeclared war against whomever threatens our status quo.

I think if we would pause and be honest with ourselves we are afraid of the questions raised by the situation.  

Why are we comfortable with an underclass?

Why is it OK when they kill each other as long as they don't do it on our streets?

Why are their deaths only memorialized in the Law and Order section of the Post Dispatch?

Why hasn’t the privileged Christian Community lent their time and attention to their brothers and sisters?

Could the government do things differently to assist the suffering?

Why can’t we change the situation?

Why is it so hard?

Why can’t they just be like us?

Why do we want them to “be like us”?

Why do we need so many guns in so many hands?

What am I supposed to do as a Christian?

Are the government programs making it worse?

Why can’t the black community raise up leaders that are not self promoting?

Why can’t the white community raise up leaders that are not self promoting?

As a Christian, as a human, what am I supposed to do?

Sorry, these are my questions.  I pray that you have your own set and I pray it is not a set of questions about why “those people” are causing so much trouble.  As a Christian I beg you to remember that those people are God’s children and we are called upon not to turn our backs.  I am an old man (in my head I am perhaps an old Jewish man but that is neither here nor there but I am old enough to remember not only when Dan Fogelberg was alive but I remember when he was relevant.

“You better change, before the sun goes down.

You better leave, before you are, the last in town.

You better raise your fortresses, or tear them down,

tear them down.”

What a difference it makes when a community steps up. On South Grand they actually had property damage. They had protesters. They got out of hand and broke windows...a LOT of windows. They didn't board up in the face of loss that never happened, but when it happened they came out and made something beautiful. Something... thoughtful.  

I am not asking for anything other than we not accept a return to the status quo,  Think and pray about what God is calling you to do in response to the pain and suffering that he is showing to us.  Talk with people about it and stop being afraid of violence and looting and burning and property damage and start being afraid of why we cannot seem to work together and pray together to find answers.

PEACE!

Strange Days... Mommy Make The Bad Things Go Away... and perhaps they should not.

file:Soooo…I often wonder why bad things won't just “go away”.   it has been a confusing week.  I woke up last Monday morning up in Michigan to news of “Ferguson” Missouri.  “A town near St. Louis” according to the New York Times and the BBC.  Evidently a young man had been killed on the street.  Evidently the young man was black and and the shooter was policeman who is white.  Michael Brown was the name of the now deceased.  The conditions of his shooting are at best suspicious and exhibiting of poor judgment by the officer and at worst look like an angry, brutal execution.

I was driving home on Tuesday and kind of thought this would all be “over” before I ever returned.  It is about a 9 hour drive home.  I have satellite radio and I realized that this was not going to “go away”.

Pictures of Michael Brown lying on the pavement...videos of michael Brown, lying on the pavement in what looked like a rain puddle but it hadn't rained.  Etched.  People giving accounts of a confrontation, a struggle, a shot, an attempt to flee, more shots, an attempt to surrender… more shots.  Etched.  And now it won’t go away.

Idiots on TV and radio.  Everyone personalizing the story to fit their narrative… at first.  Discrediting police accounts.  Discrediting bystander accounts.  Whatever you want to believe it was all there for you to spin out of the “facts”.

Police brutality

Black thugs

White flight

Profiling

Lawlessness

Execution

He had it coming

Racism

Entitlement

Resentment

Social Justice

Looters

Rioters

First Amendment

Stand Your Ground

“There is more to the story”

...whatever.  A man is dead.  Evidently killed by a cop who although alive, his life is forever changed by his actions and by the consequences.  Part of the community would take the law into its own hands and crucify him, or worse.  On the other end of the spectrum are the “innocent until proven guilty” crowd.  If there is any trip or trope more played out and more a picture of guilt and cluelessness than “innocent until proven guilty” I do not know what it is.  Yes… in the courtroom you have a presumption of innocence.  In the world… not so much.  In fact, not at all.  In a 24 hour media circus you are guilty until proven otherwise.

What is amazing is how clueless political leadership has been.  Of course it is not a party until the ass clowns like Al Sharpton arrive.  On the other hand when Dick Gregory shows up, reasonable people should pay attention.  But the local grandees failed pretty miserably.  The City of Ferguson, failed.  They couldn’t handle it.  They called the County and the county arrived with swat teams and riot gear...all dressed in the Hunger Games finery to point guns at unarmed citizens for the national press.  Mc Cullough stumbled and the black politicos piled on with Charlie Dooley relishing this and showing himself for the petty asshole he is by piling on and kicking Mc Cullough and the cops for their mistake.  Nixon waded in with calls to the President and the Missouri Highway Patrol and a charm offensive by Captain Ron Johnson.  That was smart.

One career has been made and that is City Alderman Antonio French.  

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/08/14/who-is-antonio-french-the-alderman-providing-updates-from-ferguson/

Pay attention!  He combined the ear, the apparent heart and articulated in a way that crossed all boundaries.  The same cannot be said Maria Chapelle Nadal.  She has grandstanded, and played to her base.  Very safe.  Very sad and even more important very dangerous.  She seems whiny.  French seems in touch and in tune.  Ferguson is in her district.  French is a City Alderman and he went out and stood on the line and Tweeted the whole experience and… a star is born.

His Twitter feed is worthy of following:

https://twitter.com/AntonioFrench

He is not going  to “Go Away”.  And I think that might be a good thing.  For the black community and for the white community, for the city and for the region.  We will see if he has the character to match his courage.  He looks like a mayor and if he wants, Congressman.  Once again, we will see but the point is that he is emblematic of my own change of heart about this tragedy.

Tonight we have a curfew. I do not know whether that is a bad thing or a good thing. The status quo was not acceptable because as far as bad they things...."They mostly come out at night...mostly".

White people and black people are marching together.  Everyone knows there is something badly wrong in a society that has resulted in every black man being a suspect every time he leaves his home.  Now we are having discussions that might be more nuanced.  Might be more reasonable.  Might be more interesting than the bullshit that has led us here with everyone clinging to their stereotypes and comfortable narratives.

The really hard line  conservatives and mouthpieces like Glenn beck have demonized the term “social justice”.  This is a classic Orwellian crime.  I do not think the Jesuits invented social justice but the idea that Christians have an obligation to work for justice for our fellow men, no matter what their class is a noble concept and I hope that this conversation continues.  I hear Glenn Beck quoting my personal hero Bonhoeffer the day…. confused, frightened and elated me.  I wanted to laugh, cry and puke but…  at least it is thoughtful.

Sometimes bad things.  Heartbreaking things.  Criminal things.  Sometimes they are not going to Go Away!  Sometimes God works through evil occurrence and sometimes when things do not Go Away… maybe they shouldn't and maybe we will be better for it. I think that is a prayer.

Final Aches and Pains (Or Akins and Palins)

OK...sooo... this is the last time I will bloviate on the Akin thing.  I promise.  I have listened to all the talking heads on FOX, MSNBC, local Fox and CNN.  I have read the Post (St. Louis Post Dispatch), The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.  The local folks on 97.1 FOX Radio have really stayed loyal to Congressman Akin and they are to be complimented for their constancy.  I have talked to people liberal and conservative (I have friends who are both... creepy).  A few final observations:

1.  This was no liberal media "gotcha" experience.  He was interviewed on local FOX.  Jaco asked normal questions.  Jaco did not jump on it or even follow up.
2.  It is Republicans who want the guy to back out so stop talking about the Democrats and the Liberals.  They all want him.
3.  He is not ready for prime time.  He was not prepared for a question that had to come, even on FOX.
4.  America is nuanced on abortion.
5.  This man is not in the main stream of his party.
6.  The Republicans are correct, we should be talking about the economy.
7.  The Democrats are correct in pointing out that the Republicans running will put radical social conservatives in office and in control. That has to be discussed as well.

Here is what will happen.  Akin will withdraw before the real deadline.  he will be replaced at the last minute by someone who will not have to answer a lot of hard questions, will not be Todd Akin and will offer the Republicans a chance to win the Senate.  It absolutely will happen that way.  Nothing else can happen.  Also, people will look beyond abortion and start listening to Akin about repealing the 17th Amendment and allowing State legislatures to pick Senators.  They will listen to him on school lunches.  He is not electable.  He is a good man, and a true believer and he is the best example of Missouri Taliban.  He will enforce his understanding of God's will on us and do his best to put in place a conservative Christian Theocracy.

They will get rid of him but it will NOT be the Liberals making it happen.  the Liberals want this fight. I am done with this one.  End of September we have a new Republican running for Senate in Missouri.

Todd Aching

Sooooo.... the Show Me State.  We have become reliably red.  Formerly a swing state we now cannot be prouder of our conservative values and it is reflected in our politicians.  Our State House is cornered and controlled by rural conservatives who do not trust government, city people, democrats or really anything.  Public education.  Bad.  Public programs for the poor.  Bad.  Public lunch at school.  Bad.  Government programs for poor.  Bad.  Government support of farms... well, bad in theory.  There is nothing government can do to help.  Free enterprise is the answer to everything if government would just...get out of the way.

We elect people who are “right” on the issues of small government.  Right on the issues of “the Constitution”.  Right on the issues of the democrats being “wrong”.  Right about the man in the White House being “the wrong guy at the wrong time”.  By electing these people who are “right’ and who cannot even talk to people on the other side of the aisle because of their “wrongness” and cannot even here the word compromise because it it sacrifices their values we are forced to embrace and elect wholly dogmatic people who are extreme on alot of issues.  We forget that just because their “purity” allows them to see our way on key issues that these same flawed people bring their zeal to every issue, whether we agree with them on those are not, and they bring that zeal to these same issues and it leads to totally unacceptable results.

We saw that yesterday with Todd Akin.  he is a fine man.  A Christian man.  A family man.  other than being minorly corrupted by power my guess would be that his core values are admitable in almost every way.  Yet life has brought him to a place where he can believe that raped women excrete a certain chemical which prevents them from getting pregnant.  This allows his to be totally certain of his pro life in all circumstances, even in the cases of rape, because a legitimately raped woman could only become pregnant in extremely rare circumstances and if she did become pregnant, it probably was not rape anyway...right?  I understand how this happens because cognitive dissonance is not something this type of ideologue can countenance.  That there might even be a reasonable opposing view is not possible if you have the moral certainty of God in your back pocket.  That you might be wrong on what is so morally clear to you is inconcievable so you invent and/or embrace theories which justify your position rather than admit there is any possible nuance.

I admire Todd Akin and his values.  I would surmise that I hold a lot of similar values regarding life, faith, family and government but I would never kid myself that I “know” what is right for government.  I think I know what is best.  I would work for that but the idea that God was mandating my views of faith and Chrisitianity to be carried out in government seems...un Christian to me.  That type of faith leads to Taliban-like craziness and what we are seeing is that true believers, dogmatic, doctrinal people like Todd Akin lead us away from the very Constitutional values they want to espouse.  Away from a melting pot and towards a Christian theocracy based on their particular understanding of Christianity.  The Taliban is alive and well in our Country.  When we elect them pretending that they are “like us” or “share our values” while ignoring their words and their actions we move towards an intolerant, unforgiving and unintentionally, un-Christian country.

I don’t know what Todd will do tomorrow by 5:00 when he needs to make a decision to stay in the race but when you consider him, watch his whole interview.  He did not mis-speak.  he spoke from his heart and he revealed a lot and presented Missouri with a clear choice.  Sadly, I do not know whether we will remember and that we will make a right choice in November but Todd Akin is not the right choice for Senator.

The Race To The Bottom

About a month ago I wrote an attempted funny piece about putting up a border wall on our southern border. The southern border of Missouri, in order to keep Arkansans out and protect our culture, our property, OUR JOBS! What I did not really understand was that I was (once again) behind the times. I had not followed the times. I once again had not paid attention. Term limits have come to fruition and now we get to reap what we have sewn. The harvest. What the hell am I talking about? I am talking about consequences and the consequences we are suffering through... is the Missouri Legislature. The scum also rises to the top. I did not see this coming. It make a LOT of sense to let people go to government, and then come home. Citizen legislators are an admirable goal but now we have the worst of all worlds. People with no institutional memory and no legislative experience. They are in need of guidance and they are getting it, brilliantly by the former legislators who were: 1. Term limited out of office 2. Not talented enough or intelligent enough to go on to State wide office; 3. Greedy; 4. Able to gain an understanding of how to game the system.

 They also have to rely on crutches like the American Legislation Exchange Counsel (ALEC) who plants and educates you regarding their prepackaged, highly biased legislation. I want to be fair, these legislators do not have a lot of options. They do not have a system that provides any education and their seniors (who should be mentors are on their final terms and preoccupied with what they are going to do next. These guys are trying to feather their own nests. In this last election cycle that means that there are a huge Republican majority in the legislature and they can absolutely, positively get NOTHING done other than lowering the bar and making asses of themselves and making Missouri... the new Arkansas. I Googled “Missouri State Legislature 2012 Accomplishments” and came up with this link to the Missourian. This just lists their headlines regaring the Missouri Legislature and it is...shameful, meager and embarrassing.
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/packages/2012-missouri-legislature/

I am just saying that there is no there, there. Forget about the Emperor having no clothes, we don't have an Emperor. There is nothing getting done. In the Missouri House it is 105 Republicans to 58 Democrats and in the Senate it is 27 Republicans to 7 Democrats. In Jay Nixon they have a Democratic Governor who understands how the wind is blowing and other than making sure he does not sell out his trial lawyer campaign donation base he is open minded to doing the politically expedient thing but our idiots in the house ans senate cannot agree with one another on....anything. The Missouri House is desperate to race us to the bottom. We want to be Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi. We are REALLY embracing the SEC affiliations of our State football team by doing everything we can to damage unions, schools, higher education and any kind of social safety net. Right to work has worked so well for those States that why wouldn't we want to be there with them. When will States realize that competing with one another for jobs by giving tax breaks and creating labor hating laws just zooms us to the bottom exacerbating the difference between the super rich and everyone else. We do not need to spend money on education, we need to fix education and we can fix it by cutting expenses and firing people. Here are some of the things that they spent their time and your money on. Just some:

HB 68 -- MISUSE OF EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SERVICE This bill prohibits a political subdivision from imposing a fine or penalty on the owner of a pay telephone or on the owner of any property upon which a pay telephone is located for a callan emergency telephone service from the pay telephone. HB 182 -- COLON CANCER AWARENESS DAY This bill designates the first Friday in March of each year as “Dress in Blue for Colon Caawareness of colon cancer. HCS HB 197 -- CORD BLOOD BANKING SS HCS HB 213 -- LATE-TERM ABORTIONS HCS HB 220 -- REAL ESTATE LICENSEE LIABILITY Currently, a real estate licensee is immune from liability for statements made by certain expert professionals unless the expert was selected and engaged by the licensee. This bill specifies that the ordering of a report or an inspection alone will not constitute selecting or engaging a person. SS#2 SCS HCS HB 294, 123, 125, 113, 271 & 215 -- FIREARMS This bill changes the laws regarding firearms, ammunition, and concealed carry endorsements. In its main provisions, the bill: (1) Specifies that the county sheriff’s revolving fund may be used to pay for information and data exchange (Section 50.535, RSMo); (2) Prohibits the sales tax on any firearms or ammunition from being levied at a higher rate than for any sales tax or other excise tax charged on any sporting goods or equipment or any hunting equipment (Section 144.064); (3) Specifies that a nondriver’s license containing a concealed carry endorsement will expire three years from the date the certificate of qualification was issued. The fee for nondriver’s licenses issued for a period exceeding three years will be $6 or $3 for licenses issued for a period of three year(Sections 302.181 and 571.101); (4) Allows a person to possess, manufacture, transport, repair, or sell a machine gun, short barreled rifle or shotgun, or firearm silencer if he or she conforms with federal law. A person will not commit a crime if he or she possesses, manufactures, transports, repairs, or sells an explosive weapon; explosive, incendiary, or poisonous substance or material; a gas gun; a switchblade knife; certain explosive bullets; or knuckles if he or she conforms with federal law. A person who possesses, manufactures, transports, repairs, or sells an explosive weapon; explosive, incendiary, or poisonous substance or material; a gas gun; or a machine gun, short barreled rifle or shotgun, or firearm silencer in violation of federal law will be guilty of a class C felony. A person who possesses, manufactures, transports, repairs, or sells a switchblade knife, certain explosive bullets, or knuckle571.020); (9) Specifies that current provisions do not preclude a member of the General Assembly, a full-time or legislative employee of the General Assembly, or statewide elected officials and their employees who hold a valid concealed carry endorsement from carrying a concealed f(Section 571.107); Authorized the purchase of: (4) A “DON’T TREAD ON ME” plate to any person who applies. SS SCS HCS HB 470 & 429 -- NONRESIDENT ENTERTAINER AND PROFESSIONAL ATHLETIC TEAM INCOME TAX This bill exempts a not-for-profit entity that receives no benefit from a nonresident entertainer’s appearance other than the entertainer’s performance from the withholding requirement of the nonresident entertainer and professional athletic team income tax. HB 749 -- CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION This bill designates April as “Child Abuse Prevention Month” to be observed with activities that increase awareness of the issue and the prevention methods available to reduce child abuse incidents. The bill also designates the “blue risymbol for child abuse prevention. AND BRIDGE DESIGNATIONS This bill renames the Heroes Way Interstate Interchange Designation Program as the Heroes Way Interchange Designation Program and expands the program to include state-numbered highway interchanges. The bill also designates the following memorial highways and bridges: (1) The portion of State Highway 8 in St. Francois County from the intersection of State Route M east to the intersection of Main Street in the City of Leadwood as the “Ferlin Huskey Highway”; HJR 2 -- RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN PUBLIC PLACES Upon voter approval, this proposed constitutional amendment guarantees a citizen’s right to pray and worship in all private and public areas including schools as long as the activities are voluntary and subject to the same rules and regulations that apply to all other types of speech. A citizen’s right to choose any religion or no religion at all is reaffirmed by prohibiting the state or any of its political subdivisions from establishing an official state religion and from coercing any person to participate in any prayer or other religious activity. The resolution also reaffirms the right of employees and elected officials of the State of Missouri to pray on government premises and public property and ensures the General Assembly and the governing bodies of political subdivisions the right to have ministers, clergy persons, and other individuals offer prayers or invocations at meetings or sessions of the General Assembly or governing bodies. Students are allowed to express their religious beliefs in assignments free from discrimination and cannot be compelled to participate in assignments or presentations that violate their beliefs. Public schools receiving state funds are required to display the text of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States in a conspicuous and legible manner. The resolution does not expand the religious rights of prisoners beyond those guaranteed by federal laws.


Everyone can pray everywhere, except prisoners....and Muslims! You can find all their brilliance from 2011 and that of the Missouri Senate here:

 http://house.mo.gov/pr/tafpsummaries2011.pdf

One thing for sure is 2012 will be shorter and even dumber. So really, what do we do? I would like to blame it on the Republicans but if the Democrats were the super majority they would be cocking it up too. Selling themselves off for votes and campaign dollars and personal riches. Sadly, I now have more confidence in the Federal Government (which is unbelievable) than I do in this particularly contemptible group. The Governor is doing a nice sensible job in a horrible situation but these people... these people have to go. We have a nice State. They have made us into a joke. Not even a funny joke. Just a sick, sad joke as we become norther Arkansas. Here is the latest example. Makes you proud to be from the “Pay Me” State. http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-missouri-legislature-s-revolving-door-begins-its-annual-spin/article_1c1113f3-5833-5cc7-bac4-b18835940a87.html

BORDER FENCE NOW!

Sooooo.... I know I am generally perceived as a loony, lefty, liberal (that is what we call alliteration) and while these things might be true it is time for me to take a good, hard stand in favor of finally building a fence or wall on our southern border. I am in favor of something 20 feet tall, with razor wire on top and trenches or moats filled with snakes and/or alligators, and/or sharks in relatively deep water. It should have guards with live ammunition and instructions to shoot to kill. Helicopters should also patrol the area with snipers and we should have the most sensitive electronic surveillance cameras. Land mines should also be included. BIG ONES! If there is a possibility of reintroducing quicksand it should at least be researched. Consider making it a no mans land.

Why should we do this? Why am I so much in favor of such a large, violent edifice on what has always been a peaceful border? There are a lot of reasons and most of them are pretty well documented.
1. They are taking our jobs. It is clear that they work for lower wages and whether it is due to their lack of education inbreeding or lack of opportunity they are dragging their dirty worthless behinds north of the border and stealing jobs from our tax paying, God fearing, legal citizens.
2. They will not learn our language. They come up here with their strange language and strange customs and they corrupting our culture!
3. They are using our health care system and running up huge bills here. While I understand that their health care is inferior to ours that does not give them the right to a free ride.
4. They are sending their children to our schools. Using up our superior education system.
5. Two words....”ANCHOR BABIES”! Some of these stupid, sad foreign people from the south are moving up here and having babies who automatically become members of our State and make it harder for us to send them back.
6. One word...DRUGS! Our State never, ever had a crystal meth problem until the immigrants came north.
7. Inbreeding. We do not want these people intermarrying with our sons and daughters.

So it is time for harsh action. I know it will be expensive and unpopular with the soft hearted but this wall/moat/mine zone needs to run from Southwest City all the way to Cooter! Also it might be time to straighten the border out and get rid of the boot heel and run it straight across which will also give us most of Bull Shoals Lake. I know it seems like over reaction but Arkansans are not like us. They speak a different language. They have little or no education. They are dirty. They are sickly. They manufacture bad drugs. They bass fish more effectively than us and they have GOT TO BE STOPPED! I am sick of the arguments. I know it seems inhuman to keep them in such a dirty, stupid inhumane place but they will eventually take over our State and our language. Arkansas is 41st in the country while we are 31st here in Missouri. That was a real eye opener for me WTF Nebraska?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/11/state-education-rankings-_n_894528.html

I am concerned generally that our State Government is doing nothing. Despite our current Secretary of States BRILLIANT effort to pass an immigration law in 2007,
http://www.senate.mo.gov/07info/BTS_web/Bill.aspx?sessionType=r&BillID=6818
and our legislators continual efforts to address our States terrible immigration problem,

http://peoplesworld.org/missouri-republicans-press-slew-of-anti-immigrant-bills/

these efforts have been somewhat misguided in that they have been directed against Mexican American immigrants. I have read on 5 different pro legislation websites that BASED ON A 2005 CENSUS THERE ARE ESTIMATED TO BE BETWEEN 35,000 AND 65,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN OUR STATE! That is how huge the problem is! It is either 65,000. Now we have 6 million people in Missouri so this population is estimated at being between ½ % or as high as 1% of our total residents! But tthat is not what we are talking about, we are talking about those damn people from Arkansas! There are almost three million of these people hovering south of us and will migrate up here if we do not take action now!

If this works out we might be able to put one to the north as well. The Iowans have always seemed creepy to me.

Write you legislator. Take action now! Defend our borders from people who wear plastic hog heads. If we do not stop them now who knows what might happen.... we might end up in the Southeast Conference! Oh the humanity!

The Missouri Primary! Really?

Soooooo.... the Missouri Legislature appears to go out of it’s way to look stupid and more importantly to open up our State for continued ridicule and derision. What other State in an election year, when State budgets are way past tight and needing to be cut, holds a primary election to do....(wait for it).... NOTHING?

Here is what KC Star said: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/03/3409159/steve-kraske-missouri-primary.html

Apparently the STL Post Dispatch does not have the resources to report on something like this. There is also a fun little web site called http://wasted8milliondollars.com/ that has a little to say. I guess that it happened like this. Missouri’s genius, term limited, angry Republican controlled legislature determined that they wanted a bigger voice like South Carolina and Florida to pick a President and so moved our primary date up. YAY! They did this despite Republican and Democratic national Committee rules which say a State that holds primaries prior to March 1 loses half it’s delegates. A few are approved to do so, New Hampshire, Iowa etc... I don’t know if South Carolina is and I know Florida is not. Florida did this 4 years ago by the way and the parties of course restored their delegates at the conventions. Tough love. Evidently the Missouri legislators got spooked and decided not to have any gumption and challenge the stranglehold a few backward, non representative States have on the process and decided to have the Republicans pick their delegates by caucus on March 17 by which time the Republican nomination should be locked up by someone not named Newt.

The Republican legislature did try to fix this by sending a bill to Jay Nixon to move the primary date but the bill of course also had other elements to it like limiting Nixon’s ability to pick a successor if the Attorney General resigns. They also had a chance to over ride the veto but some legislators elected not to show up to vote that day. Brilliant! Geniuses! I assume that every time the legislature gets together that they convene a MENSA meeting. Where do we find these people? WHy can’t we do the simplest things correctly? In a time of austerity how many millions will be wasted on a meaningless primary, and how many back door deals will be cut in the upcoming caucuses? These guys cannot shoot straight.

So what to do? I believe that it is an obligation and privilege to vote even when the system is bungled so badly as to make the system meaningless. How do I cast a protest vote? Should I write in Howard the Duck? The Silver Surfer? Either would be excellent choices but I am too lazy to go to the hassle of writing someone in because I like the computer voting. So perhaps I pull the trigger and vote for another mythical character, Herman Cain! I am ready for his comeback. As the tea party slowly starts to hold their nose and accept the chameleon Romney as their best way to get the socialist, communist, social activist black man out of office I am more than ready for a Cain Comeback! But here is a place where you can review the Sample Ballot so you can be prepared to cast your meaningless vote:
http://stlelections.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=218-feb-2012-sample-ballot-democrat&catid=38-subpages
WHOA! Keith Drummond is on the Ballot! I believe I have changed my mind. Keith’s website (which tells you nothing) can be found at http://www.drummond2012.com/ . He is from Houston, seems angry and looks to be the right guy for the job. Where do I get my lawn sign?

Ooops...got this out a little late and at the last moment...Ron Paul got the vote! Who knew?