The U.S. Justice Department has filed a brief against the state of Missouri’s stupid “Second Amendment Preservation” law. The brief says the law “poses a clear and substantial threat to public safety” and has “seriously impaired the federal government’s ability to combat violent crime in Missouri.”
I wrote awhile back about the state of Missouri’s Second Amendment Preservation Act that went into effect in June. Very basically, the act is an attempt to nullify federal gun control laws. Missouri has close to the weakest gun control laws in the nation. See When Missouri repealed a key gun law, few protested. The result: More deaths than ever, in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 8, 2021.
The brief was filed in regard to a suit brought by St. Louis city and county against the law last June, which I wrote about at the time — St. Louis Sues Missouri Over New Gun Law. According to the Kansas City Star, “A Cole County court this year upheld the law, a decision being appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court.”
The Kansas City Star also reports today,
“After an Independence police officer was killed in a shootout in September, Missouri state law enforcement initially refused routine federal assistance in tracing the murder weapon. The same month, a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper released a federal fugitive after a traffic stop.”
I’ll pause for a moment’s reflection. I’m still looking for details about the released federal fugitive.
“The incidents are described in a blistering court brief filed Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Justice outlining the consequences of the Second Amendment Preservation Act, a new state law that prohibits Missouri police officers from helping enforce certain federal gun laws. The document paints a stark portrait of how SAPA, also known as House Bill 85, has disrupted cooperation between federal, state and local law enforcement.”
This is insane. The DOJ has been sending letters to the governor and making lots of other noise about how blatantly unconstitutional the Missouri law is. A brief is a baby step beyond “noise,” I believe. Andrew Jackson would have sent troops by now. But the Missouri Supreme Court is famous for nonsensical rulings, so I have little hope the court will overturn the law.
Earlier this year, St. Louis Mayor Tish Jones was giving a news conference on gun violence prevention when gunshots could be heard in the distance. This is life in St. Louis, folks. It’s a shooting gallery.
In other news — Trump suddenly is taking credit for creating the vaccines and telling people to get vaccinated. Most are assuming this is a signal he’s planning to run again in 2024. The vaccines are the only positive thing his administration managed to do, that I can think of. This might give the MAGA-heads whiplash. Denial of covid and the vaccines is so much part of their tribal culture I’m not sure they can let it go, even on Trump’s say-so.
Former police officer Kim Potter has been convicted of first degree manslaughter for fatally shooting Black motorist Daunte Wright.
Notable trials of 2021…
Convicted: Kim Porter / Derrick Chauvin / Arbery killers
Not Convicted: Kyle Rittenhouse
It is NOT coincidence that the convictions had the State Attorney General Offices prosecuting the cases AND the Rittenhouse trial prosecuted half-heartedly by the County Prosecutor.
There's a shipload of "nulleefikationin' goin' on" in some states THAT'S GOT TO STOP NOW!!!!
JAAAAAAYZOOS!
I sound like some mid-19th Century Union-loving puntwit on the eve of Ft. Sumter.
Thomas Frank was right, after all. The lessons of Kansas are not lost on Missouri. The hot button, emotional issues (god, guns, abortion, immigrants, mooselimbs, liberals, AOC, Pelosi, urban vs. rural.) Trump (pun intended) the issues that can be in their own best interests (build back better. child tax credit, and all the other issues in the now defunct BBB).
Progress sounds alien and fearsome, and the fear and hate is the fuel the right wing throws on the fire.
Dave Berry was also right. His proposed slogan for returning tourists in Florida was "Come back to Florida. We weren't shooting at YOU." A similar sign can be placed outside Bronson.
Once upon a time Kansas and Missouri were politically competent enough to give us Truman and Eisenhower. Those days are gone. Both of them lived through the Great Depression, an era when many problems needed solved. It was also an era when the flaws of capitalism were apparent and neither political party could put capitalism on a pedestal. Both factors it seems helped both states to elect quality politicians.
At some point things changed, though. The voters in both states now elect a high percentage of incompetent clowns. The political machines in both states are flawed and broken. They continue to produce defective political product. Much of the time the electorate has only a ballot full of bad choices. When someone of character and talent does run, they are typically defeated. I can only speculate on what made the change happen but it sure has.
The only chance for a solution is with the young people at a grass-roots level. In the meantime, both states will produce way too many politicians who's only merit is as a bad example. Don't look here for national political talent. Our political machines are defective and broken.
I'm wondering if there will be a decline in GOP turnout. Though I have not seen a full list or percent, several of the J6 defendants did not vote in 2020. Recently I had a discussion with a lady who runs a podcast and she's convinced "it doesn't matter" what citizens do. (Unless they succeed in the violent overthrow of the government)
Trump and the GOP have undermined confidence in the vote and used that to justify voter purges and suppression BUT the underlying fact is that non-white voters will outnumber white voters. The oppressed will have the power to be the oppressors. No matter what white voters do, free and fair elections are a recipe for the loss of political power. Voter suppression might hold back the tide for a few election cycles but at some point, the only way to hold power is to nullify any election that white conservatives do not win.
A lot of conservatives (opinion) eagerly embrace the idea of taking political power by force. ("When do we get to use the guns?") Screw elections – let's declare victory and shoot anyone who challenges our supremacy. If that's your mindset, why vote? You WANT the day of the revolution and that won't be the day you win the popular vote – the day of the revolution will be the day you lose and you take office anyway!
Yeah, these folks are not deep thinkers – they are purely reactionary. Most of them will opt to vote AND take up arms if/when they lose. But to go back to my earlier point, a disproportionate number of J6 people never bothered to vote but they chose to join a violent insurrection. On speculation, is that a growing trend, a declining trend or not significant. Little data, I admit.
Frankly, I welcome the idea of provoking the day of the insurrection sooner rather than later. I'd love to see anonymous dark money fund advertising on conservative venues promoting the idea of boycotting elections because they do not matter. Voting is futile – load your guns instead!
Why? Tactics! They are not ready for the war they want. The federal law enforcement machine under Biden is vastly preferable to the federal machine unter Trump or DeSantis or any number of competent fascists. Fight the tight on your turf and on your terms. If a small number of Republicans, three to five percent, were convinced to not show up to vote, the result might be dramatic and the war provoked before they can win. A few hundred dead fascists and a few thousand in prison with long sentences might end the nonsense.