Voter ID law doesn't make it to floor. We won this round!

The Missouri Senate just adjourned and the Voter ID law never came to the floor. This round has been won and those who wrote their state senators, they heard you! It is imperative that we keep vigilant. Blunt may call a special session later this year and bring this issue back up. It is also important to remember that we must put Jay Nixon to the governor's office. Also if we can get a legislative house, that would be great as well :)

Supreme Court decision of Voter ID law. Will Republicans in Missouri try again?

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Indiana Voter ID law recently. It is considered one of the strictest voter suppression law in the country. In 2006, a similar law was passed in the State of Missouri, but the Missouri Supreme in decision of Weinschenk et al. v. State of Missouri stated that the law violated the equal protection clause of the Missouri Constitution.

Essentially requiring some people, mostly elderly and the poor, to pay for birth certificates in order to get those IDs would have put a burden to their right of free suffrage. Now over the last few days, I've seen some Missouri Republican politician laud the U.S. Supreme Court and has embolden some to bring up the possibility of resurrecting the 2006 law in the model of Indiana. It is probably a little late to bring it up during this legislative session and I don't know if this is an issue that would be required to hold a special session later on.

It is time for Democrats and progressives to be prepared for the Republican distortion machine. To start off, in 2004 Matt Blunt, then Sec. of State declared the election fraud free. It is ironic in just 2 years all of a sudden a voter ID law becomes a legislative priority.

Another Republican tactic is they will tell you that there is dead people voting here in Missouri or voting twice. According to the Dept. of Justice, there was no proof of "impostor" fraud in the state of Missouri, meaning someone voting under a name other then their own. The Republicans have brought up 2 incidents in Missouri to justify their voter suppression law. One is the ACORN voter registration fraud in St Louis. What had happened is that someone(s) falsified voter registration forms in order receive more money since they were paid for each registration. However, no one voted using those false registrations (impostor voting), which was again the justification for the 2006 law.

The other incident that Republicans are bringing up a KC Star report about a Blue Springs man that voted in both Missouri and in Kansas. My response is that like the ACORN controversy, the Voter ID law in 2006 was to prevent "impostor voting" and it would of not prevented someone from crossing state lines to vote again.

Be ready folks, the voter suppressors will make this Supreme Court decision their rallying cry

Preachers Behaving Badly?

With all the hand-wringing and calls for condemnation of Rev Wrights "race baiting" comments why hasn't the Republican party distanced themselves from their own "hate" preachers? Here are a few stupid made by Pat Robertson:

"I would warn Orlando that you're right in the way of some serious hurricanes, and I don't think I'd be waving those flags in God's face if I were you, This is not a message of hate -- this is a message of redemption. But a condition like this will bring about the destruction of your nation. It'll bring about terrorist bombs; it'll bring earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor." –Pat Robertson, on "gay days" at Disneyworld

"(T)he feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." –Pat Robertson

Can't Forget about Rev. Farwell:

"Well, I totally concur." –Pat Robertson to Jerry Falwell following the Sept. 11 attacks, after Falwell said, "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say: "You helped this happen."

When Pat Robertson endorsed Rudy Guliani, there was no looping of Robertson comments on Faux News, nor did the pundits care. This is nothing more than a distraction to make people not notice the mess that the Republicans made here in Missouri and across this nation.

Why the heck is State Senator John Griesheimer endorsing Brock Olivo

Sure, I read the news release stating that he has known Olivo for 15 years and he is a person he can trust. However what is bugging me is that the other Republican primary candidates have more legislative experience than Olivo, but the senator chooses a candidate that is a "recovering apathetic" who has never voted. This is not an election for Homecoming King. The MIZ-ZOU chants can go only so far. Maybe the powers to be feel they can control Olivo and set the agenda for him.

After the embarrassment of Olivo fumbling on answers to tough questions like "Why are you running". I can't believe that some Republicans are standing by him and they are trying to convince others that this is the person to represent the 9th Congressional district. Mr. Olivo needs to "carry the water" for his local constituents first and maybe vote one in a while. Maybe then he might have the experience to serve other than being a frequent attendee of a social studies class

Needing to Chill

It seems like the powers to be in the Democratic party are either needing to chill or have been told to chill. Senator Harkin is the latest in "chill" politics. A few days ago, James Carville called Governor Richardson a Judas, saying that he betrayed the Clintons. Unlike Judas, I don't think Richardson was a disciple of Hillary. It also looks like Hillary's funds are drying up, while Obama's continue to rise. To be sure, large sums of money in politics have been seen as negative, but the way it has been raised has been unprecedented. Not big money donors, but millions of small individual donations.

Bill Clinton's frustration is talking its toll on him. His red-faced presentation to CA superdelegates did not help Hillary. Chill out Bill, you risking your health and your wife's delicate political situation.

Democracy For Missouri's own Wayne Brekhus receives the William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence

Democracy For Missouri president Wayne Brekhus received the William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence on April 1st. This award is given out to 5 outstanding teachers each year at the University of Missouri. This honor also comes with a monetary reward of $10,000 and a visit from the university's top brass. Many of us from Democracy For Missouri knew that Dr. Brekhus was someone special, what took the university do long :)

Emily's List spurned by McCaskill?

In an AP article that was in the Columbia Tribune it stated that Senator Claire McCaskill as well as Senator Klobuchar from Minnesota had spurned Emily's List, an organization that supports pro-choice woman candidates. I have a problem with this type of reporting. There was no official statement from Emily's list that I could find criticizing these 2 woman for their support of Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton has been Emily List candidate for quite a while now and no one could foresee the way the primary has been shaking out. It looks like the AP wants this to be an issue where no issue had exist. This is nothing more than trying to create news so one can report it. It looks like every single action from a candidate lately is being reported on and editorialized.

The above mentioned senators are a triumph for Emily's list and they should be proud that these pro-choice woman sit in positions of great power. I hope they will not fall into the trap that the news starved media has set out for them