Truman Days 2008 - Day 2

Oh, but it is good to be a Democrat! Oh, my, yes. Last night was the banquet, and the evening started off with a wine-and-cheese reception hosted by Mike Sanders, who was our host and master of ceremonies for the weekends festivities, and he is well suited for it. He is charming and witty and thinks on his feet. He gives a good speech and engages the public and one of these days we are going to share him with the state, cause he is that good. We owe our out-state brethren the opportunity to be represented by this guy.

We heard speeches by State Auditor Susan Montee, Senator Claire McCaskill, Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Jay Nixon, Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, and Jesse Jackson Jr.

Every speaker was excellent and I heard some words I wanted to hear from Claire. As you know if you read me, I have been mad as hell at her since August, and every bit of my anger is over telecom immunity. In the view of this civil libertarian and long-standing card-carrying member of the ACLU, that is a betrayal I can not reconcile.

In her speech she acknowledged that the Democratic party is messy and prone to squabbling amongst ourselves, and that there are times we don't like one another. What I read between the lines of her speech was "I know I am polling at 30% disapproval among Missouri Democrats and I've pissed a lot of you off. "

Yes, she certainly has. But the thing is, I will let her out of the box if she starts acting like Harry Truman, who defined the oeuvre of the hell-raisin' Missouri Democrat when he occupied that seat. If she stops acting like a blue-dog and tells Jay Rockefeller to go fuck himself, her constituents are overwhelmingly against telecom immunity, and he should accompany her on a trip back home and meet some of us if he thinks that she won't pay a terrible price for taking his position, that would go a long, long way. Other than that one issue, she has been just fine. Here's hoping I didn't hear her speech through a rose-colored filter, hearing what I wanted to hear.

My congressman, Emanuel Cleaver II.


Claire and Kay Barnes. I will likely start spending more time in the northern tier so I can vote in the Sixth in November. EC is safe. He has no primary challenger and we don't have any republicans in the 5th. We are still a Democratic town, but they tell me the "machine" was busted up decades ago - however, I have seen no evidence of this.


DNC Member and KC Councilwoman Melba Curls, engaged in conversation with Kay Barnes.


Kay and Mike Sanders catch up at the reception before the banquet.


Claire McCaskill and "Ruckette" Mary O'Halloran - who is as much fun in person as she is when she is on the verge of jumping out of her chair and throttling Woody Kozad his chair on the set.


Claire, EC and Kay. I want this picture to be the norm once Kay is elected. That will flip Missouri back to blue, you know. Right now our congressional delegation is as evenly split as it can possibly be using whole numbers. Right now, our Senate delegation is one of each and the house is five/four with the advantage to the republicans. That will reverse in less than 180 days, when Kay is elected! (That Act Blue link is going to stay there for the duration of the campaign - Graves has a lot of out-of-state and PAC money. Every penny counts.)

Overall, the weekend was a success, and a blast and I am already looking forward to next year! I will attend this function every year for the rest of my life, because I am a true, Truman Democrat, and I have the good fortune to have generations of history and a sense of place that is rooted in the soil of the northern tier counties of this state.

We are going forward and we are going to win in November. We are going to take back the Governor's mansion, and we are going to take back at least one chamber of the statehouse. We are going to elect Kay Barnes and we are going to retain the Secretary of State's office, we are going to pick up the State Treasures office, and we have a deep bench for the Attorney Generals race (Jeff Harris, Margaret Donnelly, and Chris Koster) and meanwhile, I am a political junkie and I can't even tell you who is running in the republican primary for that office. (There will be an AG candidates debate Thursday at UMKC and I will be there to cover it.)

Finally, I can't close this post without thanking Senators Koster and Victor Callahan. They used parliamentary procedure and ran out the clock on the session, and in so doing, they strangled Rosemary's Baby - the proof-of-citizenship-to-vote amendment to the state Constitution - in it's crib.

A lot of Democrats have given Koster a hard time since he switched parties last year, and I started cringing soon after - don't we want the Missouri republicans with some common sense and decency to have that "come to Harry" moment? I sure as hell do!

Chris gets full marks from me for his clever application of the rules on Thursday and Friday. I won't have any problem marking my ballot for him when his name appears. I told him last night when we were talking before the banquet that the way I understood it, he was the last person to realize he was a Democrat, and he laughed and said he has heard that and it's quite possibly true.
Let's get busy, Missouri, and start growing the grassroots (this is where DFA comes in...) and let's elect Democrats all the way down the ticket in November.

Lest anyone misunderstand...

Let's discuss Mayor (congress is only national) Cleaver's remarks in a Canadian public radio interview, before some ridiculous, hyperventilating chucklehead paints the most decent human being in Congress with the racist brush that has been slopping paint and making a hell of a mess these past weeks.

Mr. Cleaver is a Hillary supporter and superdelegate, and in the interview he reveals just how shaky the support for Senator Clinton is among black superdelegates.

"If I had to make a prediction right now, I'd say Barack Obama is going to be the next president. I will be stunned if he's not the next president of the United States."

But Cleaver, who gave his word to Ms. Clinton is not backing off his support. If he did, he said "[T]here would be African-Americans cheering. But I would have difficulty shaving in the morning, unless I could shave without looking in the mirror."

What is going to fill the air with faux-outrage is what he said about Obama's oratory skills.

"He is articulate - in the black tradition, he would probably be mediocre, but in White America...For White Americans, it's like, this guy can speak," he said.

And that is what some hyperventilating jackass is going to jump on. Some idiot (not from the MO 05) is going to say that Cleaver said that because Obama is half-white, so I am going to preemptively call bullshit.

The reason I say the towering jackass sure to level that accusation won't hail from the Fifth is because in these parts, we know EC, and we have heard him speak. He can say that because he is from that "black tradition" he is speaking of.

As proof I offer this video of him speaking at an anti-war rally in Washington:



So shut up already before you even get started with any "racist" attacks and accusations about Cleaver. They will meet stiff resistance.

Mad as Hell in Midtown

Wow. My neighbors are pissed.

I live in the center of the city, and the public transit in this town - sucking as bad as it does - is pretty much set up to accommodate the people who live in my building. We walk two minutes to the east to catch a Max to Crown Center or the City Market or the Plaza or Waldo; two minutes to the west, I can catch a bus to the downtown library or Target.

Today I ran errands, and had lunch in Waldo.

Holy Cow! I have never in my life heard so many people talking in such an animated fashion about the politics of the day.

First thing I saw when I got to the Max stop was a blue Prius at the stoplight. In large, white letters on the windows on either side, and on the back window, it said IMPEACH. People on the bus were talking about the "criminal bastards."

As I walked past the coffee bar at the Plaza Library, I overheard "impeachment is all that's left."

Waiting at the bus stop after leaving the library, the other woman waiting for the bus struck up a conversation with me, and asked if I could believe what they were doing. On the bus, a whole 'nother group of people were talking about impeachment.

Then I got to Waldo, and as we walked in front of the recruiting station, on the sidewalk was written the names of last weeks casualties and the proclamation at the end "DEAD FOR LIES." Turning to face the door, and across the threshold it said in large letters "IMPEACH BUSH / CHENEY NOW!!!"

Yet Congressman Cleaver repeatedly emails that candy-assed, mealy-mouthed, non-answer "history will impeach this administration" form letter. That is not good enough; not by half. It's a cop-out, it's a cowards position, and it is fucking insulting. A hell of a lot of his constituents want impeachment of this administration in the House and Senate, not in the annals of History. Good God what a lame excuse for a position.

Impeachment is the Constitutionally proscribed remedy to the constitutional abrogation perpetrated by this administration. It is not just about these men. It is about the Rule of Law. We want impeachment because that the only way to take back the powers this criminal administration has claimed they are entitled to. It isn't just that I don't want this president to have those powers (and I do not) it is that I never want any American president, ever, to have those powers.

Listen up: You are in the safest Democratic seat in the state, and you know it. So do we. We also know that this is no time for acquiescing, whimpering, simpering Democrats who act like whipped pups around mean ol' Republicans. We want fighters. If you are not willing to fight, maybe we should find a primary challenger who will.

(Is Jamie Metzl still around? I voted for him in the primary in 2004, because I was afraid Cleaver would fold like a roadmap when the going got tough. I'm sad to say that it turns out my fears were justified. Al Brooks? You busy?)

I know Congressman Cleaver is a man of the cloth, and I know that he founded the Civility Caucus, and I know that civility has it's time and place - but this ain't it.

We'll play nice again after we restore the Republic. Right now, I have more pressing thoughts than whether someone gets their wittle feewings hurt.

I want a Congressman who takes the Oath to the Constitution seriously. I can not tolerate it when my Congressman is willing to abdicate his responsibility to the Constitution to "history."


For shame, Congressman. Truly, for shame.

I’m getting a little bit steamed at my Congressman

Every week, I call my Congressman and express my support for him to sign on to H.R. 333, and every week he sends me the same non-answer form-letter reply:

Thank you for contacting me regarding House Resolution 333, a bill calling for the impeachment of the Vice President. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

As you may know, H.Res. 333 is a resolution that calls for impeachment of the Vice President for high crimes and misdemeanors. The measure sets forth articles of impeachment charging that the Vice President has purposely: manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States about a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, and about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda, to justify the use of the U.S. Armed Forces against Iraq in a manner damaging to U.S. national security interests; has openly threatened aggression against Iran absent any real threat to the United States, and has done so with the U.S. proven capability to carry out such threats, thus undermining U.S. national security.

Article II Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution states, "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." The power to impeach the President rests with the House of Representatives. While I certainly have very clear and deep policy and philosophical differences with the Vice President and the Administration, I believe that the Congress must focus its efforts on addressing the challenges facing us abroad and here at home. In there remain eighteen months of this Administration, my colleagues and I will be working to address the Iraq War, the War on Terrorism, and issues such as the lack of affordable healthcare, an under-funded educational system and the rise in mortgage foreclosures, to name a few.

H.Res. 333 has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee for further consideration. History will impeach this Administration. It will be incumbent upon this new 110^th Congress to move forward in an effective manner so as to provide real solutions to the real problems confronting our nation. You can rest assured that I am closely monitoring the Executive Branch and will keep your concerns in mind as we learn more details about the Administration's activities that may have exceeded its statutory or Constitutional authority.

Again, thank you for sharing your views with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I may be of further assistance. Also, I encourage you to visit my website at http://www.house.gov/cleaver, where you can sign up for my electronic newsletter and receive updates on my latest activities as your Representative.

Sincerely

Emanuel Cleaver, II

Member of Congress

Congressman, I know perfectly well what H.R. 333 entails.

What I want is a damned ANSWER. Either stand up and sign on or EXPLAIN TO ME WHY YOU WILL NOT!!!

I chose you, I am watching, and I am not blindly partisan. So make with an answer already, and stop insulting me with the same freakin’ form letter, over and over and over.