Carnahan ad: What is Congressman Blunt hiding?

The latest in a string of attacks on Roy Blunt's ethical problems was posted on YouTube today by Robin Carnahan;'s campaign team:

Cynthia Davis: Students don't need to study evil to know it exists

Soon to be former Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O'Fallon, who plans to continue to fight her political battles as chairman of the St. Charles County Republican Central Committee, has declared a new one against the filth and smut in Missouri colleges and universities.

Her latest newsletter is printed below:

If you have a child in school, it is more important than ever to scrutinize what they are being taught. Even if they are in college, you may be disappointed to find out what our tax dollars are supporting. My daughter signed up for a required English Literature Class at the St. Charles County Community College. Here is what she was presented to on her first day of school:
A Note about Class Content:


Much of the class material is adult in nature. We will discuss texts and view films that contain sexual situations, partial nudity, drug use, adult language and mature themes. If you feel uncomfortable with this sort of content, then this is not the class for you.

Is there not enough quality wholesome English Literature that we must study the negative perversions of life? What happened to the idea of studying literature that would help students aspire to integrity, honor and greatness? When I called the college to discuss this with the staff, I was told that just because I found morally decadent content to be a problem, others might differ, so it was okay. When the teacher uses the phrase, “adult language”, she doesn’t really mean adult language because adults are not expected to use profanity. She meant language that would be considered inappropriate for adults to use in a professional setting. The intellectually honest verbiage would be to call it what it is---vulgarity!

We should all be concerned when our tax dollars are used to promote ideas that harm the development of our next generation. The future of our civilization depends on our ability to pass on morality, decency and civility. When public paid classrooms sponsor materials that lower the standards, we have just significantly diminished the future for everybody. Students don’t need to study evil to know it exists, because there is plenty of it all around. If there is a choice between studying literature that promotes goodness, nobility, kindness and charity or literature that showcases women being raped, murders and filthy language, why wouldn’t the administration opt for that which builds up the moral fiber of the students? The sex and violence is all over our media, but we are at a point now where we have to search to find material that is sincerely helpful, promotes good character and positive virtues and builds up our communities. The mayors, governors and legislative bodies all across America are searching for financial resources to make up for the vandalism, crime control, babies born without their parents being married and other social ills that are being promoted in the classrooms across our country. Why is the educational establishment –the intelligentsia of our country- unable to connect the dots of what is causing societal degradation?

I encourage all students, parents and grandparents to do what you can to speak out against the misuse of our educational tax dollars. The principle of supply and demand ought to have an effect on which administrators choose what they want to offer. With more involvement, we can make a difference in the choices available to our children.

Farm Bureau endorses Emerson in Eighth District

 Missouri Farm Bureau has endorsed incumbent Jo Ann Emerson, R-MO, in the Eighth Congressional District. From the news release:

Recognizing her long and distinguished record as a champion for Missouri’s farmers, ranchers, and their families, the Missouri Farm Bureau’s Eighth Congressional District FARM-PAC today endorsed Jo Ann Emerson as the best candidate to represent southern Missouri in the U.S. House of Representatives.


“We feel Jo Ann Emerson is the best candidate to represent rural agriculture in Washington and we are thrilled to offer her our overwhelming endorsement,” said Jinks Wynn, Chairman of the Missouri Farm Bureau’s Eighth Congressional District FARM-PAC.

“Agriculture is at the heart our economy here in southern Missouri,” said Emerson, who today launches her annual farm tour. “Our farmers and ranchers provide the safest, most affordable food in the world and their concerns remain foremost in my mind as I go to work on their behalf every day. I am truly honored to have their support.”

A staunch opponent of the misguided and ineffective cap-and-trade policies that threaten to impose thousands of dollars in new costs on the energy our farmers use to fuel their tractors, combines, and transport goods to market, Emerson continues to lead the effort to reign in an out-of-control Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). With cap-and-trade proposals stalled in the Congress, the EPA is embarking on an effort to usurp the will of elected representatives in Congress, instead working to enforce these disastrous policies by violating the spirit of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.

In fact, Emerson is currently cosponsoring legislation to reverse a decision made earlier this year by the Obama Administration’s EPA which threatens to impose thousands of dollars in new equipment costs on our dairy farmers by classifying spilled milk the same as do they do the BP Oil Spill – subject to control of the Oil Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure Program. Because milk contains a small percentage of animal fat, a non-petroleum oil, bureaucrats at the EPA believe it appropriate to force dairy farmers to install costly new storage tanks and develop costly emergency spill plans. All of this comes at a time when our nation’s economy remains stagnant and unemployment near record levels.

Emerson also continues to be a leader in the effort to open fair and expanded markets around the globe, an effort essential to increasing the sale of U.S. agricultural products worldwide. As Congress begins consideration of a new Farm Bill, Emerson is also working to ensure the bill provides solid and stable programs for the agricultural industry which is often full of risk and uncertainty. Ultimately, Emerson believes we must ensure farms and ranches in southern Missouri are not only successful, but in a position to be safely passed on to the next generation of producers.
“The success of our agriculture industry in the face of real challenge is a credit to the hard work and ingenuity of our farmers and ranchers in the Eighth District,” said Emerson. “We are working everyday to help our friends from more urban areas understand that policies in Washington have a real impact on the food we are producing right here in southern Missouri.”

FARM-PAC representatives from nearly all of the 28 counties in the Eighth Congressional District interviewed both Emerson and her Democratic opponent before overwhelmingly endorsing Emerson.

Hartzler notes that while Skelton is praising soldiers, he opposed surge

I doubt seriously that Republican Fourth Congressional District candidate Vicky Hartzler is going to get much traction criticizing incumbent Democrat Ike Skelton on defense issues, but that is exactly what takes place in the following news release issued Wednesday:

As 4th Congressional District Republican candidate Vicky Hartzler applauds the achievement of the American troop surge that has produced success in Iraq, Congressman Ike Skelton is conveniently omitting the fact that he opposed the surge every step of the way.


"Today I commend and applaud our men and women in uniform for their bravery, skill, and achievement in Iraq" said Hartzler following President Obama's Oval Office speech. "And, unlike Ike Skelton, I never doubted that our men and women could succeed and would succeed. Along with a grateful nation, I thank them and their families for their sacrifice and dedication to freedom."

In January, 2007, Skelton denounced the Bush planned troop surge as too little, too late. In fact, the Richmond Times Dispatch reported that during a closed door meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Skelton asserted the war in Iraq was no longer winnable militarily. In February, Skelton introduced and secured passage of an anti-surge resolution. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll099.xml During floor debate on his resolution, Skelton argued the surge would "embroil our troops even more deeply in a sectarian conflict that everyone agrees we cannot solve."

Colonel Dick Hobbs, USMC (Retired), who served as Commander of the Marines at Fort Leonard Wood from 1999-2002, does not see Skelton as a friend of the military.

"Where was he when we needed his support for this surge plan in 2007?" asked Hobbs. "He was probably in the same place we find him today - supporting the Nancy Pelosi agenda 95 percent of the time. It is time for this career politician to step down and a true representative of our values to take the seat. Vicky Hartzler will not only support our military, she will focus on the key issues of this nation: Jobs, defeating this crazy cap-and-tax legislation that Ike supports, and turning around this socialized approach to medical care."

In his Oval Office speech, President Obama told Americans it is time to "turn the page" on Iraq. Congressman Skelton, who calls himself "the Soldiers' Congressman," turned the page and, at the same time, turned his back on our troops three-and-a-half years ago.

"The American soldier proved Congressman Skelton wrong,” said Hartzler. “And our world is better off because of it today."

Sowers accepts debate invitations

Eighth District Democratic Congressional candidate Tommy Sowers has accepted several debate invitations, as outlined in a news release issued Wednesday:

“The Tommy Sowers for Congress team is looking forward to the October debates between the four candidates for the 8th District Congressional seat. We have accepted four of six offered thus far: Cape Girardeau on 10/11, Poplar Bluff on 10/13, Rolla on 10/17 and Park Hills on 10/18.


“In addition, VFW Post 5443 in Kennett has invited us to a fifth debate on October 25th. We thank the VFW for their gracious invitation and enthusiastically accept. We believe the debate should be centered on veteran and military issues, which are critical to all of us as citizens of a nation at war and residents of a district with over 70,000 veterans. Given other debates' focus on the economy and agriculture, also important issues for this district, we feel a defense-related debate is appropriate.

“We've also received an invitation to debate by the administration at Missouri State University in West Plains and we look forward to working out the logistical details for that event with the other campaigns. We applaud the commitment to furthering the political discourse by these institutions around the District and expect a spirited discussion.”

The Fuse Joplin: BIlly Long avoids Social Security question

PoliticMo, the website started by local college student Eli Yokley, who also does The Fuse Joplin, has posted an interview with Seventh District Congressional candidate Billy Long in which Long answers numerous questions about youth involvement in politics, but then abruptly cuts the conversation short when a question about Social Security is asked.

Crooks, pervert benefit from Blunt connection to lobbyists

For the past several days, I have  been amazed at the attempts by Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt and the Missouri Republican Party to use references to lobbyists to drag down Blunt's opponent for U. S. Senate, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.

I have noted that Blunt is the last person who should even want the word lobbyist mentioned during this election. Over the past several years, I have written numerous times about some less than savory connections between Blunt and lobbyists.

One has been Blunt's leadership PAC, Rely on Your Beliefs. If your beliefs are soaking in money from lobbyists, by way of direct contribution and through bundled donations funneled from special interests through lobbyists, then Blunt is certainly relying on them.

Some of that money, as I first noted in the September 30, 2006, Turner Report, has found its way to some people whose value systems are a far cry from most of us in southwest Missouri:

It's a tale of four Congressmen whose ethics have been called into question. One allegedly assaulted a woman, was sued by her, and eventually settled out of court.


Another sent suggestive e-mails to teenage boys who were working as House pages. A third is being pressured to resign after he admitted taking bribes, while the fourth has already resigned and has been indicted for money laundering.

The common denominator- All four have received hefty contributions from Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt's Rely on Your Beliefs PAC.

Federal Election Commission (FEC) documents show the PAC contributed $10,000 this year alone to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, $5,000 on Feb. 15 and another $5,000 on March 29.

Florida Congressman Mark Foley, who resigned earlier this week, missed by only one dollar receiving $5,000 from the Blunt PAC this year, the FEC documents indicate. Foley received $3,958 on April 28 and another $1,041 on the same day. The PAC contributed $2,000 to Foley in 2003 and made in-kind contributions of airline travel for the Congressman on two occasions in 2000, adding up to $3,976.

Two embattled Ohio Republicans also benefited from the Blunt PAC's generosity. Robert Ney received $5,000 on March 29 and has picked up $14,000 since 1999, the FEC documents indicate, while Donald Sherwood has collected $10,000 from the PAC, including a $5,000 contribution as recently as Sept. 29, 2005.

To the names of those four Congressman, you can add a $5,000 contribution on Feb. 9, 2006, to the re-election campaign of Montana Sen. Conrad Burns, who is in a tight battle thanks to revelations of his connections with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Mark Foley

Mark Foley resigned from Congress earlier this week after ABC News confirmed he had written inappropriate e-mails to male Congressional pages. This passage was included in a Newsweek article posted less than a half hour ago:

"Foley's sexual leanings were also well known, or at least suspected, by a particularly vulnerable group on Capitol Hill. Every year Congress hires about 100 pages, who can be seen in their distinctive blue uniforms scurrying through the halls, running errands for lawmakers. The pages have been embroiled in earlier sex scandals. In 1983, a pair of congressmen admitted to sexual relations with underage pages (one with a girl, one with a boy). After that, the pages were housed in a dormitory and fairly closely chaperoned. A former female page, who asked not to be identified to protect her privacy, told NEWSWEEK that she and other pages had regularly seen Foley stop and talk to pages on the House floor and in the cloakroom, lingering with them and asking them to describe their experiences in Congress. 'We just gradually figured out he was flirting with the guys,' said the page. 'It made a lot of the guys uneasy. He was kind of creepy.' "

Donald Sherwood

Donald Sherwood's problems were outlined in a recent article in the New Republic:

"In 1999, at a Young Republicans event, he met Cynthia Ore, a Peruvian-American grocery-store heiress and aspiring Hill intern in her early twenties. She was attracted to his salt-of-the-earth charm. "Guys in D.C. try to be so suave," she later recalled in a newspaper interview. 'They drive Bentleys and Ferraris. Don has a truck.'

"But, by September 15, 2004, Sherwood's country charm had worn thin. That was the day Ore called the police from the bathroom of his apartment in Hill House, claiming he had tried to throttle her. When the police arrived, Sherwood protested that he'd merely been giving Ore a vigorous backrub. The police, for their part, determined that Ore did not seem to be "of sound mind." A year later, after their report was made public, Ore sued Sherwood for $5.5 million, but the matter was dispatched with a settlement."

Whether Sherwood was really choking or massaging may never be known. But the episode, while no Chappaquiddick, was pretty sordid for the Tenth. "Nobody has any morals anymore," one constituent lamented in the local paper. And yet, Sherwood vowed to run again.
Robert Ney

Bob Ney, under investigation over the past several months for his connection to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, pleaded guilty Sept. 15 to conspiracy and lying to Congress. He admitted to providing services to lobbyists in exchange for gifts and money:

Indeed, Ney's downfall began in South Florida, where he had used his congressional influence to sway the sale of SunCruz Casinos to Abramoff and his New York partner Adam Kidan.

The SunCruz case against Abramoff and Kidan gave Justice Department officials the leverage to pressure the lobbyist to turn on other colleagues, congressional aides and politicians early this year.

The charges against Ney are based primarily on his behind-the-scenes work for Abramoff's Indian tribal clients and for a foreign businessman who gave him tens of thousands of dollars in casino chips and cash. But the charges also include the lawmaker's unusual tactics to help the lobbyist purchase the Dania Beach-based SunCruz gambling fleet.

Tom DeLay

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay resigned after being indicted for illegally using corporate funds in Texas political campaigns. DeLay was also connected with Jack Abramoff and one DeLay aide, Tony Rudy, has already pleaded guilty to conspiring to corrupt public officials.

Blunt for Senate posts another "lobbyist" ad

I've said it before and I'll say it again- What in the world are Roy Blunt's campaign managers doing emphasizing lobbyists in their ad. No amount of slick sales spiels are going to turn the word "lobbyist" into a plus for the Seventh District Congressman:

Jones: Koster, take a stand against federal health care program

In his latest YouTube video, Rep. Tim Jones, R-Eureka, calls on Attorney General Chris Koster to join other attorneys general in challenging the federal health care plan:

Cardinals return to KMOX

The failed experiment of moving the St. Louis Cardinals to KTRS will end at the conclusion of the 2010 season and the Cardinals will once again be on KMOX.

As someone who grew up enjoying listening to Jack Buck, Harry Caray, Mike Shannon, and others doing Redbird games over the years, this is the first bit of positive Cardinal news in the past several days.

According to the station's news release, Shannon and John Rooney, the best team in the booth since Shannon teamed with Jack Buck and Joe Buck, will continue to do the Cardinals games and nearly all of the affilatestations (hopefully including the stations in Joplin, Monett, and Springfield,) will return next season.