These days, it seems like it really should be spelled "Misery."
The state house is controlled by Republican... well, thugs is too kind a word. So is idiots. Only something that would require my keyboard to be washed with strong soap is adequate. To top it off, we lost Jean Carnahan's seat in the senate to uberweasel, Jim Talent. And we're facing two impossibly awful candidates this fall.
Missouri is supposed to be a bellwhether of the nation's direction. Well, unless you want that direction to be straight down the toliet, get down here and help!
The Governor of Missouri, Bob Holden, is a Democrat. But Bob has taken such a serious beating in his battle with the Republican Idiotistas, that he's looking like an impossibility for reelection. Holden is facing State Auditor Claire McCaskill in the primaries, and even some Democrats are hoping he loses, as they view McCaskill as the more palatable choice. God knows, this is the year when Democrats only vote for the people they think are electable. (Personally, I consider Holden a hero for standing up to the toads in the Missouri House).
And what do either Holden or McCaskill face in the fall? Matt Blunt, the 33 year old son of everyone's favorite House Majority Whip, Roy Blunt. Matt has all of his father's famous witt and charm. Why, he's got his own "First Iraq, then France" button. He's viewed his position as Secretary of State as a bully pulpit to preach against the governor, and to parrot all the nonsense coming from the House. If he's elected, he will be an absolute rubber stamp to the most regressive, radical, ugly state congress in the nation. Missouri, already the only state in the country that provides zero funding to the arts, will fall into a pit so deep, we'll be the laughingstock of the nation.
Moving past the governor's race, we have the senate race. The candidates in this one have all been set, with State Treasurer Nancy Farmer taking on pulpit thumping, red-faced drunk, Kit Bond. You think Ashcroft is bad? Kit Bond is his sleazier brother. An absolute captive of special interests and the gun lobby, Bond would scrub all the ammendments away but the second. Bond's behavior has been increasingly erratic, and his personal reputation is mud, but Republicans don't seem to care. After all, only Democrats have to follow the rules.
If you don't feel like helping out in those races, please, please, please come down and help out in some races at the district level. The level of ignorance displayed (proudly) by the group now in charge is astounding. Just last week, Majority Floor Leader Jason Crowell "debated" with Democrats by making farting sounds into the microphone when they tried to speak. The Speaker of the House (the absolutely odious Catherine Hanaway) is co-sponsor of legislation that would not only make it illegal to teach evolution, but would outlaw teaching the periodic table. They're stupid, and they want our childen to be stupid, too. They are starving state agencies for funds while rewarding their friends. It's like the Bush agenda on steroids.
If you're lucky enough to have a state where there is some sense, and some pride, remaining, please think about volunteering for a stint in Missouri this summer. We're still a fifty-fifty state. We can be saved. Come preach the gospel of Democracy!
To find out what you can do, take a look at:
The Missouri Democratic Party
nancy Farmer for US Senate
Holden for Governor
A little piece of the Post-Dispatch on the march of ignorance...
A handful of Missouri legislators have signed on to a proposal that would change how teachers introduce students to information about the origin of life... New textbooks would have to label evolution as a theory that cannot be proved. A teacher, principal or superintendent could be fired for deliberately ignoring these requirements.
...
State Rep. Robert Wayne Cooper, R-Camdenton, said he introduced the bill at the request of a group from the St. Charles area called Missourians for Excellence in Science Education. Cooper said he seeks to improve science education by changing textbooks, by making sure fact and theory are not commingled and to allow discussion of intelligent design as a model for the origin of life.
The bill could have a huge impact on the teaching of science, said Tom Cradick, a biology teacher at Parkway North High who has taught for 28 years and was 2001 Missouri Outstanding Biology Teacher. Cradick noted that the provisions of the bill would apply to physics, chemistry, biology, health, physiology, genetics, astronomy, cosmology, geology, paleontology, anthropology, ecology, climatology or other science topics.