by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Anytime there is a mention of the Missouri Legislature in the news, it is certain to be an account of some outrage against humanity. My state's legislators, for the most part, go to Jefferson City to serve themselves - and also to make sure that guns remain unregulated and that women's health decisions are made in accordance with the dictates of men - as God intended.
Here are three local examples, all state representatives, or former representatives, in Missouri's 8th congressional district, and all representative of the good old boys who pull themselves up to the lowest branches of state government in the hope of making a few bucks and appearing to be somewhat important to the folks back home.
A few years ago my own representative, a Republican named Shawn Rhoads, made local news when he was identified as being the legislator in the Missouri House of Representatives who ranked eighth in total gifts accepted from lobbyists. It did not come as a surprise to this humble typist when Rhoads resigned his seat in the legislature last year to go to work for an organization that lobbies the state government.
Then just two months ago I wrote about Missouri State Representative Andrew McDaniel, a former county deputy from the Missouri Bootheel, and a Republican, of course. McDaniel introduced two gun bills, both shamefully bearing his name and both so egregiously bad that they stand little chance of being passed into law - even in Missouri. One of those bills, the McDaniel Second Amendment Act, would require all Missouri residents over the age of twenty-one to own a handgun, with early purchasers getting a partial rebate on the price from the state government. The other bill, the McDaniel Militia Act, would make owning an AR-15 mandatory for state residents between the ages of 18 and 35.
(Politicians put their names on things for a reason, so sadly Missouri can probably expect to hear more from Andrew McDaniel whether it wants to or not.)
Now this week our state legislature has pivoted from guns to vaginas and passed one of the most restrictive abortion bills in the country - and another legislator from southeastern Missouri has managed to get his own fifteen minutes of national fame. Rep. Barry Hovis, of Jackson, a Republican, and a former police lieutenant in Cape Girardeau, Missouri (the hometown of radio bloviator Rush Limbaugh), was debating the bill on the floor of the House when he referred back to his thirty-year career with the police. Hovis said that a lot of the rapes that he dealt with during his career in law enforcement were "date rapes" and "consensual rapes."
Hovis' shocking statement reminded many of another Missouri politician, Todd Akin, a Republican who lost a race for the United States Senate after talking about "legitimate" rape, and also his own belief that rape seldom caused pregnancy.
Rep. Hovis a first-year legislator who would undoubtedly like to serve all of the five two-year-terms that our state constitution allows, has already apologized for his outrageous remark - something that some see as an insight into rural police thinking on the subject of rape.
All of the state representatives mentioned above have three these things in common - besides being male: they are former police officers, they are Republican, and they represent - or have represented - rural areas steeped in gun culture and male privilege.
And sadly they are all fairly representative of southern Missouri.
Citizen Journalist
Anytime there is a mention of the Missouri Legislature in the news, it is certain to be an account of some outrage against humanity. My state's legislators, for the most part, go to Jefferson City to serve themselves - and also to make sure that guns remain unregulated and that women's health decisions are made in accordance with the dictates of men - as God intended.
Here are three local examples, all state representatives, or former representatives, in Missouri's 8th congressional district, and all representative of the good old boys who pull themselves up to the lowest branches of state government in the hope of making a few bucks and appearing to be somewhat important to the folks back home.
A few years ago my own representative, a Republican named Shawn Rhoads, made local news when he was identified as being the legislator in the Missouri House of Representatives who ranked eighth in total gifts accepted from lobbyists. It did not come as a surprise to this humble typist when Rhoads resigned his seat in the legislature last year to go to work for an organization that lobbies the state government.
Then just two months ago I wrote about Missouri State Representative Andrew McDaniel, a former county deputy from the Missouri Bootheel, and a Republican, of course. McDaniel introduced two gun bills, both shamefully bearing his name and both so egregiously bad that they stand little chance of being passed into law - even in Missouri. One of those bills, the McDaniel Second Amendment Act, would require all Missouri residents over the age of twenty-one to own a handgun, with early purchasers getting a partial rebate on the price from the state government. The other bill, the McDaniel Militia Act, would make owning an AR-15 mandatory for state residents between the ages of 18 and 35.
(Politicians put their names on things for a reason, so sadly Missouri can probably expect to hear more from Andrew McDaniel whether it wants to or not.)
Now this week our state legislature has pivoted from guns to vaginas and passed one of the most restrictive abortion bills in the country - and another legislator from southeastern Missouri has managed to get his own fifteen minutes of national fame. Rep. Barry Hovis, of Jackson, a Republican, and a former police lieutenant in Cape Girardeau, Missouri (the hometown of radio bloviator Rush Limbaugh), was debating the bill on the floor of the House when he referred back to his thirty-year career with the police. Hovis said that a lot of the rapes that he dealt with during his career in law enforcement were "date rapes" and "consensual rapes."
Hovis' shocking statement reminded many of another Missouri politician, Todd Akin, a Republican who lost a race for the United States Senate after talking about "legitimate" rape, and also his own belief that rape seldom caused pregnancy.
Rep. Hovis a first-year legislator who would undoubtedly like to serve all of the five two-year-terms that our state constitution allows, has already apologized for his outrageous remark - something that some see as an insight into rural police thinking on the subject of rape.
All of the state representatives mentioned above have three these things in common - besides being male: they are former police officers, they are Republican, and they represent - or have represented - rural areas steeped in gun culture and male privilege.
And sadly they are all fairly representative of southern Missouri.
1 comment:
Is creating a culture where women are once again relegated to being barefoot and pregnant making America great again? I think not.
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