Friday, September 26, 2008

Missouri lobbyist rips into Barack Obama

Leave it to the Missouri Republican Party to have a lobbyist launch an attack against Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

The following news release was issued earlier today by the Missouri GOP:

Jefferson City_ In an unbelievably unpatriotic act, Senator Obama has asked Missouri law enforcement officials, taxpayer paid county sheriffs and prosecutors to threaten to censor the speech of Missouri citizens.

“It is troubling to see that Barack Obama would ask law enforcement to protect his own personal interests at the expense of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,” said Jared Craighead, executive director of Missouri Republican Party. “The actions of Senator Obama and these taxpayer paid law enforcement officials can only serve to intimidate citizens. This is obviously no surprise, and it just fits the mold of Barack Obama putting himself and his campaign in front of what is best for America and the rights of its citizens, moving from the Show-Me State to a Police State is not the change we need.”


In troubled times, we need a leader of decisive action capable of reaching across the aisle, not a partisan using political power for personal gain. Throughout his career in the Senate, John McCain has consistently shown himself to be a leader who puts principle and people above partisan interests and politics. Barack Obama has not.


Below is the text of a letter that was sent to several public officials that appear to have crossed the line by implying they would use their offices for political purposes.

Dear Ms. Joyce and Mr. McCulloch:

I write to you on behalf of our client the Missouri Republican Party regarding interview excerpts and statements being attributed to you by KMOV television in St. Louis, Missouri. KMOV reports that you and other law enforcement officials are part of an “Obama Truth Squad” and will “respond immediately to any ads and statements that might violate Missouri ethics laws.”

A video excerpt shows an individual identified as “Jennifer Joyce, St. Louis Circuit Attorney” stating: “We want to keep this campaign focused on issues. We don’t want people to get distracted, Missourians don’t want to be distracted by these divisive character attacks. So, we’re here to respond to any character attacks to set the record straight.”

Another video excerpt shows an individual identified as “Bob McCulloch, St. Louis Co. Prosecutor” stating: “Whether it is directly attributable to the campaign or to one of the soft money operations, if they’re not going to tell the truth, then somebody has got to step up and say wait a minute, that’s not true, this is the truth.”

The direct and overt intervention of law enforcement – expressly identified as such – in partisan campaign efforts on behalf of candidates for public office violates state and federal law. More importantly, the specter of law enforcement officials using their official authority to bolster one candidate’s message and intimidate or chill the political expression of other groups of society violates the most basic tenet of our constitutional compact – that government officials may not abridge citizens’ freedom of speech. The news report being aired on KMOV has and will continue to chill the First Amendment liberties of Missouri citizens. Does this mean that citizens, grass roots groups, bloggers, the media and the entire community of concerned Americans must first seek permission from your offices to avoid possible prosecution or complaint for freely expressing their political opinions?


This election should be decided by the people of our country free from intimidation by government officials. No citizen should fear that his or her government will prosecute him for speaking his mind or giving voice to his political opinions. Please immediately cease your participation in any effort to take this election out of the hands of our country’s citizens. Further, you should immediately contact KMOV and all other Missouri media outlets and state that you are immediately ceasing the use of your office in the service of any political group and disavowing any future efforts to do so.


Sincerely,

Harvey M. Tettlebaum



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Harvey Tettlebaum, it should be noted, is a registered lobbyist for the Missouri Health Care Association and the Republican State Committee.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm sure it was important for you, Randy, to tag the story that the letter writer is a Republican.

However, isn't this about the issue of public officials using their powers to carry water for a political candidate, not who wrote this particular letter.

I think someone should protest so good for the letter writer. You're such a political fanatic, why didn't you write a protest against this very unethical process?

Thanks for giving Republicans credit for pointing out this very unsavory situation.