If You're Voting in the Missouri Republican Primary in Johnson or Cass Counties

Vote for Karl Timmerman.

I realize that the endorsement of a Jackson County liberal may not hold much water for a Republican voting in Johnson or Cass County, but I really encourage you to check out his page and talk to lawyers who have known him. In 2007, Karl was selected by the Missouri Lawyers Weekly as the Lawyer of the Year, and has the respect of his peers.

I've known Karl for years, both in person and through his weekly "Friday Night Ramblings" that he sends out to lawyers throughout the state. I frequently disagree with him, and we have had some intense exchanges, but he is honest, respectful, and completely bound to his principles.

I don't expect a lot of Republicans in the 17th Circuit to vote for Karl Timmerman because I say so. But I do expect that a lot of them will like what they see if they read his page or talk to him. He's a good man, and would be a fine judge.

Take Evasive Action!

Via the best blogger in Kansas City, Blue Girl, Red State, comes the sad tale of a woman who was fatally shot by the second shot fired by her husband trying to punch holes through a wall so he could install satellite TV.

Folks, if you see bullets flying from your house, take evasive action. Don't get close enough to where the bullets are flying through the wall that you can be killed by a .22 handgun. Especially if you're married to the sort of guy who uses a .22 handgun as a handy substitute for the proper drill bit.

I can see how the first bullet flying might take you by surprise, but the second one?

Awesome Beer and Food, and Blogging Awkwardness

Last night, to console ourselves for the end of our daughter's spring break trip home, we attended a Brewmaster's Dinner at 75th Street Brewery. Here's what was on the menu:

Pre-App
Smoked Trout in Phyllo Cups

Appetizer
Savory Chevre Crostinis
Roasted mushrooms and shallots atop griddled boxty, finished with melted goat cheese

Paired w/75th Street Brewery's Fountain City Irish Red

Soup
Scotch Broth
Traditional Irish lamb soup served with rye bread bowl

Paired w/75th Street Brewery's Belgian Double

Salad
Roasted Roots and Greens
Glazed baby carrots, parsnips, onions, sweet potatoes and leeks tossed with Mustard Greens and a Rosemary-Honey Vinaigrette

Paired w/75th Street Brewery's Saxy Golden Ale

Entrée
Braised Oxtail
Slow-roasted, red-wine-braised oxtail served with rutabaga-tripe oatcakes and apple mash

Paired w/75th Street Brewery's Muddy Mo Dry Irish Stout

Dessert
Lemon Posset
A chilled creamy lemon parfait

Paired w/Boulevard Brewing Company's Smokestack Series Saison

If you're thinking "Hey, that doesn't look like a proper meal for someone trying to do Weightwatchers . . .", yeah, you have a good point there, but it was worth the exercise and canned soup I'll be facing for the rest of the weak. The meal was fantastic, and featured brief explanations about the food and the beer. At $40/person, including tax and tip ($35 for Mug Club members), it was a bargain for that many courses paired with that many drinks. 75th Street will be doing these monthly, so get on their mailing list and check out the future menus.

As for the awkwardness, I happened to be seated next to an elected Johnson County Republican. When I introduced myself, he replied "I've heard of you somewhere . . .", and I could see him running through his mental rolodex. Fortunately, he didn't connect the dots, and we had a fine time enjoying food, beer, and apolitical discussion . . .

Koster Votes Republican Again

Chris Koster voted with his Republican friends to repeal limitations on campaign donations. Koster, who has spent his entire political career as a Republican working against Democrats until claiming to switch sides and running for the Attorney General position, has sought to have his cake and eat it, too. He claims to be a Democrat, but participated in Republican Rex Sinquefield's elaborate ruse to siphon money through dozens of sham PACs to Koster's campaign - a ruse which paid off when Koster refused to vote with Democrats on a recent school voucher committee decision.

Koster looked me in the eye and claimed to be sincere in his conversion to being a Democrat. This week, on two important issues, he refused to stand and deliver.

A leopard cannot change its spots.

Brock Olivo - Republican Candidate for Congress

Missouri Senate Republicans Are Junkies Needing the Fix

Honestly, I grudgingly admire the straightforward corruption of Senator Charlie Shields of St. Joseph. In pushing to repeal limitations on campaign donations, he doesn't spout some pseudo-"good government" crap, or act as though he is behaving in the public interest. Instead, he embraces the corruption at the soul of the Missouri Republican party, the one thing that unites the Bond "country club" Republicans and the Bartle "Bible belt" Republicans. It's all about the love of lucre, and the lengths those Republicans will go to get it.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Charlie Shields of St. Joseph, said contribution limits had done little to reduce the flow of money into political campaigns.

Rather, he said, they had encouraged politicians and their fundraisers to devise ever more creative ways to circumvent the limits and obscure the identities of those seeking to gain influence.

“We’ve become so good at this that Missouri politicians could give seminars to Colombian drug lords on how to launder money,” Shields said.

. . .

Shields argued that any rule that attempt to stem the flow of money into political campaigns would be fruitless. People attempting to funnel money to politicians will find a way around any rule.

It's not at all surprising that Shields had drugs on his mind as he was pushing this corrupt subversion of campaign limits the voters of Missouri approved by a 3:1 margin years ago. Go ahead and substitute the "heroin" in for "campaign contributions" in the arguments made by the Republicans and you'll see that our Republicans, Country Club and Bible Belt, are strung out junkies who will stop at nothing to get their next fix, defying the Missouri Supreme Court and the voters of Missouri for just one more fix.

My Most Frivolous Reason Ever to Oppose a Candidate?

A little less than two years ago, I wrote the following:

Meet Your Legislators - Brad Lager

I was driving back from a visit to St. Louis yesterday, when a gas-guzzling SUV blew my doors off. Blasting down the road at 85 or more, zooming up to within a couple feet of the rear bumper of a car with Iowa plates, the driver could not be bothered with the safety of himself or others.

Brad Lager, if you're going to drive like an arrogant prick, you shouldn't drive with your "R-04" plates.

Nothing I've read or heard about him since has altered my opinion that he's not the kind of person I want to have commuting to Jefferson City.

Go Republicans! Fight it Out!

BlogCCP has a great post today about a new Missouri gubernatorial poll. In a nutshell, Jay "Not My Favorite, But I'll Settle" Nixon stomps both Kenny "Matt Blunt's Equally Evil Twin" Hulshof and Sarah "No Nickname" Steelman, but Steelman comes 7 points closer than Hulshof.

Gotta like our chances in this race, especially if Hulshof gets the nomination.

Happy Ronald Reagan Day, Chris Koster

Today, February 6, is Ronald Reagan day in Missouri. Guess who co-sponsored the bill to designate a day to honor the man responsible for Iran/Contra scandal, in which we provided arms to Iran?

Chris Koster, who is now claiming to be a Democrat, who claims that he can represent Democratic principles, stood on the floor of the Missouri Senate and helped make Ronald Reagan Day a reality for Missourians.

There are two possibilities here. One is that Ronald Reagan truly represents ideals that Chris Koster holds dear, and his conversion to the Democratic Party is insincere. The other is that he was insincere in his eager embrace of a Republican icon, and merely trying to fool people into thinking about his party affiliation.

(A third possibility would be that he was sincere then and now, and has entirely changed his view of Ronald Reagan. That would entail a staggering amount of sincerity for someone who is not particularly recognized for that characteristic. If that's it, though, and Chris Koster wants to issue an explanation about why he was gung-ho for Ronald Reagan Day a couple short years ago, but he now rejects Ronald Reagan as a personal hero, I stand ready to publish his apology.)

Jacking with the Pollsters

I've received a bunch of calls lately from political pollsters, mostly from the Republican side. While it would be easy to explain to them that I will not be voting in the Republican primary on Tuesday, or to simply hang up, I would be missing out on a real opportunity to confuse the issues for the "experts" on the Republican side.

Somewhere, the Republican strategists are pondering why a strong Huckabee supporter is also strongly pro-gay marriage. Why is a portion of the "leaning Romney" electorate mostly concerned with Second Amendment rights? And McCain is apparently the choice of those who want immediate deportation of all undocumented immigrants.

Republican pollsters are welcome to call me anytime they want, and I promise to answer their questions.

Second Thoughts on Humor in the Senate?

A Missouri Republican Senator has introduced a bill to make the Jayhawk the official state game bird for Missouri.

Yeah, that made me smirk for just a moment.

And then it made me shake my head. Unfortunately, those of us who are not Missouri Republicans are cursed with these things called "second thoughts", and they take the humor out of many such things that seem okay on first impression. Here are just a few of those kinds of thoughts that apparently never flickered across Senator Clemens' mind.

- Humor about shooting rivals really isn't all that funny, particularly in light of the bloody history of the Missouri/Kansas border wars.

- You've just blown your party's opportunity to argue that anything whatsoever the opposition introduces is a waste of time and Senatorial resources.

- After your party has decimated MOHELA and damaged the ability of average Missourians to pursue education at Mizzou or elsewhere, it's ironic to see you rallying around Mizzou sports instead of Mizzou academics.

- Proposing that Missourians be able to hunt fictional birds reminds many of us that your party has a penchant for trying to stir up trouble based on chimeras, such as gay weddings and activist judges.

- Will Cheney be invited on the first hunt? Will Senator Clemens go hunting with him?

- I'm a Mizzou fan, but, let's face it, Saturday's basketball game against KU is not necessarily going to be a Mizzou win. When #71 is suiting up against #1, a humble and hopeful determination is a better tool than a loud mouth.

Senator Clemens, I appreciate your attempt at expressing pride in our state's flagship University, and I can understand why republicans would rather talk about other things than the 100,000 kids they deprived of health care, but I don't think humor is really your strength, either. Maybe you should have thought twice about your bill . . .

What Kind of People Want to Change the Missouri Plan?

Blog CCP has an incredible and horrifying post about Representative Jim Lembke, the lead opponent of the Missouri Plan. If anyone in Missouri was tempted to believe that the Republican attacks on the Missouri Plan were motivated by anything other than a rabid desire to inject partisan politics into the courthouse.

Representative Lembke has a Republican buddy whose son getting an ugly divorce in Laclede County, and he wants to bully the judge. He's tried to get the judge impeached. He's written to her, even though he has no more official role in the case than you or I do, demanding that she remove herself from his friend's case. He's gone so far beyond the bounds of acceptable behavior that even his Republican cohort from Laclede County has called Lembke out on it, raising questions about Lembke's ethics and pointing out that "I feel its not our responsibility to look over a judge's shoulder every two or three minutes and make a claim they're using their bench for oppression."

Let's be crystal clear about what Lembke is trying to do here. He's trying to use political influence to help a buddy in court. He wants to make sure that his political friend gets what he wants. He wants politically connected people to get special favors. He wants the Judicial Branch to run on backroom connections just the way the legislature does. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.

Ironically, Judge Hutson is not even covered by the Missouri Plan. Judge Hutson was elected by the voters, as a Democrat in a county that went for Bush by a 2:1 margin in 2004. She's clearly a great judge and a fine person - she even has a Republican representative backing her up.

Lembke wants the judiciary to work the way the legislature does - dominated by money, partisanship and political influence. Do you?

Wise Thoughts on Faith, Politics and Party

This is just a small section of a long post, but it gives a flavor of the whole:

We've reached the point where Republican voters can claim the philosophy of absolute greed.

"I make a great deal of money through my own hard work. I don't want to pay for someone else's child to eat breakfast at school anymore."

Get that? She makes not just enough money, but a "great deal of money." How dare anyone take it away for something so frivolous as feeding a poor child? And yet Republicans, through their actions in blurring the lines between church and state, have become the "party of faith." Because they say so. Because they are bold in their actions and snarling in their defense.

We need to be just as adamant. We need to not hide behind any abstraction or evasion. We need to be unafraid to address this voter and say "I am going to take some of your money, and give it to that poor kid, because it's more important -- both to the child and to society -- that he eat, rather than that you have an extra week in Cabo."

Note that we should not pretend that "a program will take your money." Or "the government will take your money." This is a democracy, and we are the government. I will take your money. I will. Some of that money you worked hard for and want to keep. I will give it to a kid who is hungry. If your concern is that poverty should be addressed by individuals, then there's a simple solution: feed him. If there are no poor children needing food, I won't have to take anything for them. If your position is that people would be more generous if only the government would stay out of it, then sorry. I'm not willing to put this child at risk to as part of your experiment. Besides, if that were true, then why were their more hungry kids before we started these programs to give them a little breakfast? If your position is that your being able to keep all your money is more important than a child being fed, then I simply think you're wrong. And sick. You want to keep that money? You better beat me at the polls.

There's much, much more there to read and think about.

Now That Koster is Issuing Refunds . . .

Koster has announced that he "intend(s) to begin the process of returning contributions from individuals in excess of current contribution limits." Note the layers of double-speak - he can't simply return the money, cutting checks and getting them out the door. Instead, he announces that he "intends" to "begin the process." I suspect that means that he's going to keep the money in his account for as long as he can possibly draw interest. I also suspect he's the sort of double-speaking slickster who is incapable of a straightforward sentence.

While he's at it, I hope he sees fit to return the dirty money he took from Republican Rex Sinquefield through sham PACs. But I won't hold my breath.

Conduct Unbecoming an Officer

This whole exchange creeps me out.

One of the cornerstones of our country is that the military stays on the sidelines of politics. Bush has as little respect for this cornerstone as he does for the Constitution, and has never hesitated to use the military for a wrong-headed photo-op (Mission Accomplished?) or even a fabricated neo-con war. But all Presidents have used the troops as a patriotic photographic background, and the military has a proud history of accomplishing missions without questioning their wisdom.

It took Bush, though, to apply litmus tests to his senior command. He has rid our military leadership of those whose loyalty to the President can be questioned, and, as a result, we have a military command structure that resembles a rightwing blogger convention. The line between being a gung-ho soldier and a rabid rightwing partisan has been erased, and one of the first challenges for President Dodd or Clinton or Obama or Edwards will be to restore the dignity and political independence of the military. Col. Steven A. Boylan may be looking for a job - perhaps he can get a job as Drudge's security chief.

Republican Email Scandal

Matt Blunt's gang in Jefferson City has been caught destroying public records in the form of emails that, by law, should be stored, while, at the same time, seeking Democratic emails. In a classic example of republican contempt for common citizens, "Blunt referred questions about any e-mail preservation to his staff, which refused to comment on the matter." Go ahead and read that sentence again - it's worth remembering.

I remember when I did some legal work for a governmental agency years ago, and my boss (a Republican I continue to admire) advised me to "assume everything you write will show up on the front page of the paper." His point was that, if you're working on the government's dime, the public has an interest in what you're doing.

The current crop of Republicans is more arrogant and a good deal less clever than the old-timers. They had better hope that they are more tech-savvy than the investigators, though. Deleted emails are not always deleted . . .

(Hat tip to Blog CCP for this link. Blog CCP has been outstanding lately, and should be on politico's must-read list.)

Loyalty Pledges for Kansas Republicans??

(UPDATE: Invaluable commenter Travelingal smelled a rat, and tracked the source of this down to a kooky rightwing website that cannot fairly be said to represent the Johnson County Republican party. Sorry for spreading misinformation, and thank you, Travelingal, for the correction.)

Even I am shocked at this development. In an attempt to prevent further defections from the Republican Party as Johnson County lurches further and further to the unelectable right, Johnson County Republicans have drafted a loyalty pledge, in which they are asking Republicans to never, ever, no matter what, stray from the party line. Here's the text, which is posted on Blue Tide Rising:

GOP Unity Pledge

I, _______________, promise never to abandon my present Republican Party affiliation for the purpose of political gain. The Republican Party, both nationally and domestically, was founded on sound and principled ideals, that include but are not limited to, personal liberty, individual freedom, responsive and citizen-based Government, life-affirming values, economic growth, strong and cutting edge military, low taxes and a mutual respect for fellow Republicans. Because of that, I will, at no point in my political or personal future, find cause to transfer my Party loyalty to any other affiliated organization.

I will not, at any future moment, become a registered Democrat for the purpose of seeking any political office. Additionally, I will not change my Party affiliation to that of any peripheral political party, such as the Reform Party, the Green Party or the Libertarian Party. Such a move would be not only opportunistic, it would be an unjustified trampling of everything that I previously claimed to stand for.

I care far too deeply about the previously espoused Republican ideals as well as the thousands of hard-working Republican citizens all over the State of Kansas to ever consider changing my political Party affiliation. I look forward to a life of citizen-serving, Republican political involvement. I thank the Kansas Republican Party, including all of the registered Kansas Republicans, for their years of service, good will and friendship.

I solemnly pledge to always be a Republican, no matter what promises are made by external forces seeking only to undermine the Republican values I stand for. I can have reasonable disagreement with members of the Republican Party; however, at no point will ‘Party switching’ or quitting of the Party be tolerable.

Signed,

X __________________________________

There are dozens of ways to make fun of this, but I don't want to. If you are a Johnson County Republican, now is a time of crisis. You have three choices. Fight to regain your party. Leave the party and join the Democrats. Or pledge loyalty forever to a party that demands that you pledge loyalty.

Look at what they are trying to do to themselves. Now, think of what they would like to do to you, and your freedoms.

Anything further I could say would violate Godwin's Law.

Funny Thing About Republicans and Democrats

Out of all the noise you hear from Washington, have you heard any Democrats whining about the refusal of the Republicans to allow an "up or down vote" on Abu Gonzales?

Whining seems to be a Republican trait.

Free Market Republicans?

Does anybody remember when Republicans stood for smaller, less intrusive government? Does anybody remember when they were thought to be the defenders of small business and free market capitalism?

Creekstone Farms is a beef producer. Creekstone wants to test each of its cattle so that it can sell them in Asia. It wants to bear the cost of that testing, because it is confident it can sell its beef at enough of a premium to make it worthwhile. Creekstone trusts the free market to reward it for the risk and expense it will be undertaking.

Not so fast, says the Bush regime. The Bush regime says that if Creekstone is allowed to sell tested beef, everyone would choose to purchase tested beef rather than playing Rump Roast Roulette with untested beef That might mean other beef producers would feel pressured to test their beef, too.

Big beef gives big money to politicians - Bush himself has sucked in over a million dollars from the industry.

So now the Bush administration is tying up the courts trying to prevent Creekstone from satisfying consumer demand. The Bush Regime filed an appeal of an order allowing Creekstone to conduct the tests, thus preventing us from having the option of paying a premium and buying tested beef.

Again I ask, does anybody remember when Republicans stood for smaller, less intrusive government? Does anybody remember when they were thought to be the defenders of small business and free market capitalism?

How Do You Define Tyranny?

Two of the three Republican front-runners were asked a simple question - do you think the president should have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens with no review?

By any rational standard, this should be a simple one to answer, right up there with "Do you support the US Constitution?" and "What's your position on mom and apple pie?" The answer to this one is a clear and easy, "Hell, no - that's not the way our country is set up, and, as long as I can draw a breath, I'm not going to see us slide into an abyss of totalitarianism!" Other acceptable answers would be, "Are you out of your freaking mind?" or "Do I look like Stalin?".

But that's not the answer we're getting from the Republicans. Rudy Guiliani "said that he would want to use this authority infrequently." Infrequently?? Presumably, that means he would only use it when political enemies really, really deserved it.

Mitt Romney's answer was less clearly a rejection of our country's core principles. His merely showed the utter lack of a moral compass - "Romney said he would want to hear the pros and cons from smart lawyers before he made up his mind." Isn't that comforting - the fate of our democracy would be decided by a couple guys in suits, playing a verbal game of rock, paper, scissors?

There was a day when Republicans really did stand for something. Men like Jack Danforth, Bob Dole and Gerald Ford knew that the US Government was not to be trusted, and that power entrusted to it will inevitably be abused. Even with the fresh news of how the Bush administration has abused the Patriot Act to play politics with the US Attorney's office and to spy on Americans through the FBI, Giuliani and Romney think we ought to go ahead and trust them with the power to throw anyone in jail, without review.

Folks, you can't be any more wrong than that.

How to Appreciate Bush

One of the right-wing bloggers I visit fairly often is Stolen Thunder, because he works so hard to put a logical, reasonable face on his illogical, unreasonable love of Bush. He hit a new level the other day, though, when he sought to explain why Bush is "certainly one of the top ten presidents."

No, that is not the punchline.

To justify this extraordinary ranking of a sub-ordinary president, he had to define the rules of the game carefully. So, and I kid you not, he specified that popularity and accomplishment are not valid measures. He never really does define what in world should be considered.

But, I have to admit that he has a great point. If you ignore popularity and accomplishment, Bush takes his rightful place in the pantheon of giants like Chester Arthur and James Polk.

Indeed, if you are looking for lack of accomplishment and popularity, I think Bush may actually be the tops.

I Like Them Apples

Giving voice to the pro-war sentiment that you're either with us or you're against us, high-profile conservative Mark Smith today declared that veterans who oppose the war are "bad apples".

It's pretty obvious that for many of the war supporters, the only dependable soldier is a dead one.

Republican Hardball - Will of the People?

My Senator, Jolie Justus, has distinguished herself with energy and hard work during her first term in the Senatorial Chamber. I could not be more pleased that she is representing this district, and I'm proud that I supported her.

It seems that even Jolie's enthusiasm, determination and good ideas can run into the occasional brick wall of Republican hypocrisy, though. When she introduced a resolution disapproving of the President's escalation strategy in Iraq, she ruffled a few feathers, even though polls show that the vast majority of Americans reject the Bush administration's ill-thought-out plan.

Senator Vogel of Jefferson City, however, has seen fit not only to disagree with the electorate of Missouri, he is abusing his chairmanship of the Senate Ways and Means Committee to punish both Jolie Justus AND the poor people of Missouri. He has admitted that he is bottling up legislation which would help Missouri's working poor and homeless, as political revenge for Justus' introduction of the resolution against the Iraq war escalation.

It says something profound about Republican values that they would punish the poor and defend war. WWJD, indeed.