Long, Eckersley accuse each other of dodging debates

It's all gamesmanship that really does not amount to anything, but Seventh District Congressional candidates Billy Long and Scott Eckersley are accusing each other of dodging debates.

My guess is we will hear information about debates, if you can really call them that, being scheduled before too long.

Hopefully, we will have at least three chances to see and compare the candidates' performances.

But right now, it's all posturing.

Carnahan: Blunt should apologize to families of 9-11 victims

Secretary of State Robin Carnahan issued the following statement today concerning her U. S. Senate race opponent Roy Blunt's use of 9-11 photos to score points on the Ground Zero mosque controversy:

“Congressman Blunt’s desperate attempt to avoid talking about his role in the $700 billion bailout by exploiting victims and families of the 9-11 tragedies is the very worst kind of Washington politics,” said Robin Carnahan. “Congressman Blunt should immediately own up to what he did, take responsibility for it, and apologize to the families of the 9-11 victims, whose tragedy he exploited for his own personal political benefit."

Democratic Party Chairman: Blunt should apologize

The fallout continues from Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt's attempt to cash in on the ongoing Ground Zero mosque controversy. The following statement was issued by Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Craig Hosmer:

"Congressman Roy Blunt will say and do anything to get elected, and this time he got caught crossing way over the line of decency.  For Congressman Blunt to exploit the victims of 9-11, by using a smoldering photo of Ground Zero, in order to distract from his record of bailouts, waste and corruption is the very worst of Washington politics as usual.  His ad is offensive to all Americans, and Congressman Blunt should immediately apologize for his shameful behavior."

Desecrating the memory of Barbara McNeely

From time to time, I open a scrapbook and look over a short poem, written in faded blue ink on a sheet of notebook paper that has seen better days.

The words don’t rhyme and they will never rank with those of Emily Dickinson or Elizabeth Barrett Browning, but they mean the world to me:

Remember the Days

when we were young and free

to roam and play like goofy kids

Those words, which began the poem, weren’t the words of a seasoned poet, but the thoughts of a 16-year-old girl.

Only four years later, that worn piece of paper was all I had left of the girl who wrote the poem.

The darkest day in my life, and in the lives of all who knew her, was September 6, 1977, the day a young man brutally stabbed Barbara McNeely to death in the parking lot at Northpark Mall.

Though we didn’t get along at first, Barbara and I became good friends in high school and when we attended Missouri Southern State College. When I made my first fledgling efforts to write a novel while I was at East Newton High School, it was Barbara who did my typing for me and offered me a steady stream of encouragement.

And suddenly all of that was gone. My friend and support system was gone forever and she was only 20 years old.

The man who killed her, William R. McMurray, said he stabbed Barbara multiple times because he thought she was his mother. When his trial was held, the Joplin Globe contained one account after another of how the deeply religious folks at Cecil Todd’s Revival Fire ministry thought that McMurray had undergone a conversion, had been saved, and was deserving of forgiveness. Not once did any of these people, so quick to proclaim how the Lord could make a difference even in the life of someone who had done something so horrible, offer one word of sympathy or support to Barbara’s family.

Finally, a jury found William R. McMurray not guilty by means of insanity. He was committed to a state mental hospital and a few years later, after the fact, the McNeely family and the man others who loved Barbara, learned that McMurray had been freed and was walking the streets.

Our attorney general at the time, the later imprisoned Bill Webster, not only backed the Missouri Department of Health on its actions, but just like those decent folks at Revival Fires, never offered a word of apology to Barbara’s loved ones.

And since that time, William R. McMurray has been with his wife and kids, living the kind of life that he made sure Barbara McNeely would never have.

That’s bad enough, but I received a disturbing e-mail a few days ago from a reporter in Crawfordsville, Ind., McMurray’s hometown.

Apparently, 33 years after the murder, William McMurray is ready to cash in on his notoriety, offering another of the endless stream of books authored by those who have done terrible things, gone through a redemption process, and have emerged to lead successful lives.

In this book, the reporter told me, McMurray plans to write about the horrible abuse he suffered as a child, what it lead him to do, and how he “turned his life around.”

For this man, who deprived the world forever of the sunshine that was Barbara McNeely, to make money off the tragedy, is a desecration to her memory.

So many times I have been amazed at those who manage to gloss over the most horrific acts with homilies about the healing power of forgiveness.

Well forgive me, but I am not buying it. Don’t tell me about the redemptive powers and inspiration that McMurray’s books may offer to those who have been abused as children.

I will continue to find my inspiration in that short poem and in the memory of the wonderful young woman who wrote it.

Stockton School Board to revisit book banning

The Stockton School Board will revisit its banning of the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sept. 8, as noted in the accompanying KY3 video. My take on the issue can be found in the April 25 Turner Report:

Blunt employing throw everything at Robin and hope something sticks strategy

I am having a hard time understanding the campaign strategy of Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt. In the accompanying video, Blunt apparently wants us to be deeply offended because Robin Carnahan said she wasn't going to tell the people of New York what to do about the construction of  a mosque in the Ground Zero area and she didn't want New Yorkers to tell us what to do in Missouri.

The Blunt philosophy seems to be that government needs to stop interfering in our lives unless government interference can help Roy Blunt, his friends, or his campaign.

Over the past few days, the Blunt team has bombarded YouTube with a series of ads supposedly depicting Robin Carnahan as saying and doing shameful things. A whole ad posted yesterday centered around Robin speaking to a Utah group and describing Missouri as a "weird, swing state."

Note to Roy Blunt- Missouri IS a weird swing state and we ought to be proud of it.

This campaign strategy to keep on throwing one lame accusation after another at Robin Carnahan and hoping something sticks is an insult to Missouri voters.

Accused Carthage killer's attorneys may use alleged accomplice's suicide to aid defense

Court documents filed Monday indicate lawyers for Darren Winans, 23, Jasper, plan to use the suicide of Winans' alleged accomplice, Matthew Laurin, to bolster their defense.

Public defender Charles Moreland filed a motion to compel production of "Jasper County jail incident reports, surveillance video, suicide notes, photocopied incoming and outgoing mail, psychological and counseling records and autopsy report pertaining to the death of co-defendant Matthew Laurin."

A hearing on the motion has been scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 23, in Jasper County Circuit Court.

Laurin killed himself in the Jasper County Jail shortly after he pleaded guilty to the October 2009 murders of Bob and Ellen Sheldon, owners of the Old Cabin Shop in Carthage. Though Jasper County prosecutors have said they never intended to call Laurin as a witness against Winans, he was the third person who could have offered testimony linking Winans to the crime who has died, as noted in the July 28 Turner Report.

City of Neosho answers Jan Blase's lawsuit

Neosho city officials filed their response in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri today to former City Manager Jan Blase's wrongful dismissal lawsuit and there were no surprises to be found.

The response denied Blase's allegations, admitted that he worked for the city at one time, and said he could not sue the city or its officials because of the doctrine of sovereign immunity.

Ethics complaint against Jasper County Circuit Clerk dismissed

The Missouri Ethics Commission dismissed a complaint against Jasper County Circuit Clerk Linda Williams Tuesday.

The complaint had alleged Mrs. Williams was violating state law by campaigning during work hours. The Commission ruled that while workers in Mrs. Williams' office could not legally campaign when they are on the taxpayers' dime, the rule does not apply to elected officials:

Emerson: We need jobs, not bigger government

In her new ad, incumbent Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., says the U. S. needs "Jobs, not bigger government."