Author: Brian Legate
Missouri Photo ID Rules Blocked by Court
We’ve got some fantastic news to share with you!
We received notice that Judge Callahan of the Cole County Circuit Court has blocked key parts of Missouri’s photo ID rules. Please find the full decision attached and view this article for more information.
The Judge’s ruling includes:
1. A prohibition on requiring voters who present valid, non-photo forms of identification from signing an intimidating and confusing affidavit under penalty of perjury,
2. A prohibition on any state advertisements that suggest that a photo ID is required to vote or that voters will be asked for a photo ID at the polls, and
3. A requirement that future advertisements from the Secretary of State explicitly mention that non-photo forms of identification are acceptable to vote.
This ruling will be appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley. But, you can bet we’ll be ready for them! And if we win, then our voting rights landscape will be restored to what it was pre-HB 1631/pre-Amendment 6, which is awesome!
This significant ruling is a consequence of the work of the many, many volunteers – including so many of you all – who participated in efforts to educate voters, monitor implementation of these rules, and speak out against voter suppression. This is also a consequence of the plaintiffs and witnesses who bravely testified about their experiences, despite having been disenfranchised and intimidated by the photo ID rules.
In short, the People took on those who sought to disenfranchise voters, and The People prevailed! The work continues, but this is a moment to celebrate, for sure!
Cheers,
Trish and Jake, on behalf of WE CAN’s Voting Rights team
Events of Interest…
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| Bread for the World Sunday |
A moment when we can come together to pray for those who struggle with hunger—and rededicate ourselves to advocate for legislation that will help achieve the international goal of ending hunger by 2030
Sunday, October 21 (or any Sunday in October))
COMING SOON!
NOV 8, POVERTY, PEOPLE AND PUBLIC POLICY—
How to lobby your legislator
Scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 8th at St. Clare of Assisi Church (15642 Clayton Road. Ellisville), The event presents an opportunity to learn how public policy affects all in our region, and what you can do to ensure the needs of all people are considered by law makers. Featured speakers will be Ms. Tamara Kenny (Director of Advocacy and Community Engagement at Catholic Charities) and Father Christopher Martin (Pastor, St. Clare of Assisi). The meeting is scheduled from 6:30-8:30 with pizza and soft drinks provided. Please RSVP to Ms. Sally Kellogg (314-256-5901 or skellogg@ccstl.org so that we have an estimate of attendees which will help with plans for food and drink).
Housing Empowers 2018 Annual Conference
The theme of this 117th annual conference is the impact of affordable housing
Saturday, November 17 | Time TBD – Columbia, Missouri
SLATE – If You’ve Been Enjoying All the Donald Trump Subtweets at John McCain’s Funeral, You’ll Love This Anti-Trump Film the U.S. Government Produced in 1943
SLATE – Brow Beat
By
It’s been a big day for former government officials speaking out against Donald Trump: Ex-presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush both used their eulogies for John McCain as an opportunity to draw an implicit contrast between the late senator and our current president, while McCain’s daughter Meghan, although not a former government official herself, explicitly invoked Trump’s loathsome campaign slogan. By doing so, they joined a grand tradition of former government officials speaking out against the depravity of Donald Trump, from Jimmy Carter, who called him “a disaster” to Abraham Lincoln, who aptly described him as a “highwayman” in his legendary Never-Trump Cooper Union Speech. But perhaps no current or former employees of the United States government have been as vociferously opposed to Donald Trump’s presidency as the staff of the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1943, when they released their blistering anti-Trump film, “Don’t Be a Sucker.” A clip from the film went around Twitter in the immediate aftermath of the “Unite the Right” disaster, but here’s the full video, which spares Trump nothing:
It’s a sad day when people who have given their lives to public service, like the filmmakers behind “Don’t Be a Sucker,” feel the need to speak out against a sitting president. It’s even sadder when Felix Bressart, the Lubitsch stock player who plays the professor in “Don’t Be a Sucker” feels the need to look into the camera with gentle disapproval. There’s no shortage of sick burns aimed at Trump here, from the reference to his “oldest and most persistent enemy, the truth,” to the prediction that his “pure-blooded supermen [will be] defeated by the mongrel armies he despise[s].” But for all the swipes, the film ends on a positive note, speaking to the ideals we continually fall short of, but should continually aim at:
You have a right to be what you are and say what you think, because here we have personal freedom. We have liberty. And these are not just fancy words: this is a practical and priceless way of living. But we must work at it. We must guard everyone’s liberty, or we can lose our own. If we allow any minority to lose its freedom by persecution or by prejudice, we are threatening our own freedom. And this is not simply an idea, this is good, hard, common sense. You see, here in America, it is not a question of whether we tolerate minorities. America is minorities.
It’s the most powerful indictment of the president and his stooges since the actual Stooges spoke out against him. At press time, inquiries to the White House about how they would respond to this unprecedented attack from the staff of the U.S. Army Signal Corps circa 1943 went unanswered, as did requests about other anti-Trump films The Great Dictator, Inglourious Basterds, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and, of course, They Saved Hitler’s Brain
Local Social Justice Events
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CTD Endorses CLEAN MISSOURI Amendment
Chesterfield Township Democrats congratulated and endorsed ten club members last night at its August 14 membership meeting. Those ten members all won their primaries on August 7th. They are: LaDonna Applebaum, 71st, Paula Brown, 70th, Kevin Fitzgerald, 89th, Mike LaBozetta, 99th, Bill Otto, 65th, Helena Webb, 100th, and Genevieve Steidtmann, 101st. All are seeking seats in the Missouri House of Representatives.
John Kiehne, SD 26, seeking the senate seat representing large swaths of western St. Louis County including Chesterfield and Wildwood and Cort VanOstran, seeking the US House seat from district 2.
Candidates presented their individual campaign strategies for the next three months to the fifty plus members attending the CTD meeting. Please check their campaign websites and Facebook pages for specific needs and direction for supporting your candidate.
Last night’s main topic was the Clean Missouri Amendment. Maggie Lallor, Regional Director for the Clean Missouri Campaign highlighted the themes to the constitutional amendment which seeks to limit the influence of lobbyists in Jefferson City, make more transparent the financial donations to candidates, and force redistricting by an independent, non-partisan agency among other items. You can find out more about Clean Missouri at cleanmissouri.org. In a voice vote, CTD membership gave a full-throated endorsement to Clean Missouri. Vote YES on Amendment 1!
On a related theme, Mary K. Brown, former Chesterfield City Councilperson for eight years and Wendy Geckler, former Planning Commission member for the City of Chesterfield for twelve years and both members of CTD, spoke to membership about the emergence of “dark money” and unethical campaign tactics by city councilpersons currently on the Chesterfield City Council. During last April’s election, one candidate received the financial support from outside the city and region beyond the scope of the candidate’s own campaign treasury. When several CTD members approached the city council to ask councilpersons and the mayor to declare against “dark money” by way of personal and committee resolution, the motion was tabled, and the matter killed. Chesterfield city council refuses to disclaim the influence of Dark Money their campaigns. Click here for more detail.
Please be sure to put the next meeting of the Chesterfield Township Democrats on your calendar. It will feature updates on these issues and more, including a workshop for supporting candidates which will be led by Stacy Newman, former Missouri House Representative from district 87.
Steidtmann School Supply Drive a “Thunderous” Success
Promptly at 5 p.m., the scheduled start of Genevieve Steidtmann’s School Supply Drive celebration a clap of thunder introduced a 45 minute rain shower. But the rain did not dampen the spirits of the women, men and children attending in support of Genevieve Steidtmann for MO House 101. The 101st includes much of Chesterfield and Wildwood. The school supply drive netted nearly $1,200 dollars worth of school supplies.
Attending in support of Genevieve’s campaign were sitting representatives Deb Lavender of the 90th, and, all the way from Springfield, MO Crystal Quade. Quade represents the 132 district in that Southwest Missouri City, most notably around the city core and Missouri State and Drury Universities. Yes, there are Democrats in Greene County. Boris Abadzhyan, a candidate in the 71st facing a primary challenge joined the women giving all those in attendance a glimpse of what the Missouri House might look like come January, 2019.
Steidtmann was non-plussed about the rain. “Right now, I am running a campaign here; I have to let someone else handle the weather.” Steidtmann said that the drive isn’t over and she encouraged constituents to purchase schools supples for their respective school districts.
In light of the growing wave of endorsements and support she’s received, her positions on healthcare, education, jobs and civil rights the
CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP DEMOCRATS CLUB
ENDORSES WITHOUT RESERVATION
GENEVIEVE STEIDTMANN
for the Missouri House of Representatives serving District 101.
Click on the image above to visit the Steidtmann for Missouri website
Genevieve will be at the Chesterfield Township Democrats August 14 and September 11th meetings seeking your support. Be sure to attend, meet Genevieve and other candidates and prepare yourself to get out the vote in November.
Advocate Against Dark Money in Chesterfield Municipal Elections
Wendy Geckler, a long time member and leader of the Chesterfield Planning Commission identified the infiltration of dark money in the campaign for a Ward 4 council person last spring. She has brought this up before the City Council and procedure stipulated that the issue be presented and debated at a meeting on Monday, July 23 at City Hall before going to the Council.
The meeting is the Finance and Administration meeting and will commence at 5:30 p.m.. Though we will not be aloud to speak, the matter of moving the topic to the agenda for a City Council meeting will be addressed. A show of interested citizens will help that cause.
Several Chesterfield Township Democrats have committed to attend the meeting. It is a matter of number not representation this time. Please, if you can, attend the meeting.
Thanks for considering,
Mark Kumming
Co-Chair, Chesterfield Township Democrats
“Hello Democrats!” Candidate Forum a Resounding Success
Tuesday evening’s membership meeting of the Chesterfield Township Democrats opened with a rousing greeting from lead facilitator Mark Kumming, Co-Chair, as he greeted more than 100 people in attendance at the Candidate Forum for aspirants to the Democratic Nomination for Congressional District 2 to oppose the incumbent Republican and Trump puppet Ann Wagner.
The meeting was co-sponsored by West County Democrats with Glenn Koenen, Co-Chair, in attendance. Glenn is a noted authority on both national, state and local legislative activities and has the honor of contending with Rep. Wagner in 2012.
The heart of this meeting was the Candidate Forum featuring, in alphabetical order, Bill Haas, Robert Hazel, John Messmer, Mark Osmack and Cort VanOstran all facing each other in the August 7th primary. The format was a panel fielding questions composed by audience members and read by meeting facilitator Kumming and CTD Co Chair Mike Kean.
The questions and answers covered the candidate’s positions on everything from medical marijuana, education, and earned benefits to tax reform, campaign finance, healthcare and gun violence. Each candidate opened and closed with a two minute campaign appeal. In all, the Forum lasted an hour and half.
Candidates received vigorous applause and cheers for specific issues or when a notable Republican foible received mention, which were many. At both the outset of the meeting and afterwards candidates networked by supporters. One attendee commented: It was fun to be able to applaud and cheer our candidates.”
Also in the audience were members of the United Auto Workers (UAW.) Attending too were candidates vying for state positions and who were featured at the Candidate Forum held by CTD in May. Included in this group were Genevieve Stiedtmann in the 101st, Chuck Triplett contending in the 98th, Boris Abadzhyan (71st) and Don Klein (70th) who are facing primary challenges. John Kiehne for State Senate 26 was also present.
Kumming closed the meeting with an appeal for membership to join one of several committees forming — The Programs Committee and Community Outreach Committee. Both, Co-Chair Kumming said, were essential to CTD club sustainability. He also invited all to attend CTD’s next membership meeting slated for July 10 at the Daniel Boone Branch of the SLCL and that will feature strategies for voter registration and for getting out the Democratic vote.
