As I predicted in the April 29 Turner Report, perennial candidate (and perennial loser) Martin Lindstedt's federal lawsuit against Missouri Governor Matt Blunt was dismissed today.
Judge Richard E. Dorr dismissed the case with prejudice, in an opinion filed in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, meaning that Lindstedt cannot refile it.
Dorr had asked Lindstedt to show cause why the case should not be dismissed, since it appeared from the Granby man's previous filings that they were designed to harass and embarrass Blunt.
Lindstedt not only didn't show cause, but he demonstrated the judge's point. "Plaintiff's response states that (he) 'filed this lawsuit on July 21, 2004, to be just before the primary election so that it would be picked up by the news and entertainment media, and thus make Defendant Blunt an object of ridicule and contempt for his lawless and corrupt behavior.' "
In addition, Lindstedt said he planned to "do everything in my power to embarrass and humiliate" Blunt. For some reason, that gave the judge the idea that Lindstedt was trying to embarrass and humiliate Blunt.
Lindstedt's lawsuit was filed after Blunt, in his former position as secretary of state, refused to allow Lindstedt to be called Martin "Mad Dog" Lindstedt on the ballot. Lindstedt was running for governor in the same election and with the same party, Republican, that Blunt was running in. Lindstedt also sued because Blunt would not allow a link to be placed from the secretary of state's website to Lindstedt's website, something he had allowed other candidates to do.
Blunt said he did not allow the link because of racist and hateful doctrine on Lindstedt's website. The same kind of material found its way into Lindstedt's lawsuit as he wrote that he was fighting on behalf of the "Dual-Seedline-Christian Identity fighting faith and of White Nationalism, far better to simply wage revolutionary civil warfare against the Zionist Occupation Government and its masses of herd animals in order to bring this mighty evil empire, this Babylon, to its knees and chop off its head by means of violence and terrorism."
Then Lindstedt railed on about Latino immigrants and Muslims and said "whites (are) becoming second-class citizens in their own country."
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I promise I am not going to harp on this forever, but this morning's Joplin Globe's sports section features about 15 column inches devoted to two Neosho High School wrestlers who have signed letters of intent to continue their wrestling careers at the collegiate level.
It has been nearly a week since 35 of the best high school students in southwest Missouri received four-year, full-ride scholarships to Missouri Southern State University and as far as I can tell, there has been no mention in The Globe of this.
The Globe may think it is meeting its academic quota when it runs its annual academic all-star team (while running football, baseball, boys basketball, girls basketball, volleyball, softball, and every other sport all-star team in the meantime), but even that annual ritual has been watered down over the years.
And if you check the Sunday Globe in which the academic team was unveiled, you will discover that the team photo was smaller than one that ran for an all-district sports team in the same issue.
How much of the Globe's readership area was affected by MSSU's Honors Signing? I haven't come up with a list of the actual students who signed the letters of intent last week, but MSSU's website ran a news release prior to the ceremony, saying that the following high schools would be represented at the signing:
Cassville, Carthage, Diamond, Galena, Glendale, Grove, Joplin, Lebanon, Lee's Summit, Liberal, Mansfield, Mount Vernon, Neosho, Nevada, Owasso, Ozark, Parkway West, Pea Ridge, Purdy, Santa Maria, Seneca, and Webb City.
Obviously, not all of those communities are in the Globe's circulation area, but many of them are and some of those schools had more than one student involved in the signing.
And despite the feel good news appearance of this story, there are some other news pegs the Globe (or any other news organization) could have used to add to the significance of the story.
It was not too long that these annual signing ceremonies featured as many as 60 students. Why are there so many fewer now? Does it have something to do with the cost of providing the scholarships?
And why are perfectly qualified area high school seniors being rejected for the full-ride scholarships while they are being given to students from Parkway West (a St. Louis school), Lee's Summit, and other out-of-the-area schools? Do these students have some local connection that the MSSU news release does not reveal?
I know of one area student who applied for the scholarship and has a sterling record during her high school years. She has always been a straight A student and a student leader in middle school and high school who was responsible for a drive that put more than 3,000 books into her school library. This supposedly fits in with the criteria the university has established for the program. So why is this young lady on the outside looking in, preparing to pay out a small fortune while students from outside the area are taking advantage of the program?
There may be simple answers to these questions. We won't know until some news organization actually takes the time to look for them.
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On the same topic, the Sunday Neosho Daily News featured yet another giant photo in its sports section of a student signing, featuring the student, parents, coaches, high school principal, and a cashier at a local grocery store who wanted to get in on the action (just kidding about the last one).
There is a misconception that no one will read stories or look at pictures that concern academics. It's mainly because no one has really tried emphasizing them before. (I did to some extent at Carthage and Lamar, but I will be the first to tell you, I could have and should have done better.) Part of it, obviously, is it is easier to cover ballgames than it is to cover what goes on inside the classroom, but believe me there are enough events that are related to academics that it can be done.
The Carthage Press has shown that in recent weeks with its annual feature spotlighting the top 10 seniors of the graduating class, plus page-one coverage, story and photos, of induction ceremonies for the National Honor Society and the National Junior Honor Society.
The Press, under Ron Graber's astute leadership, has also placed a strong emphasis on other important extracurricular activities besides sports, giving prominent coverage to band, chorus, drama, and such academic-related activities as Odyssey of the Mind.
It can be done, all someone has to do is show the way.