Just when I thought I’d seen it all, I find out I haven’t. On an issue that should not even register at the national level, the bad got the better of the good, and things turned ugly.
The point of this narrative is to highlight what can happen when Republicans think the tea party is not watching, but first some background.
Missouri did well November last. Robin Carnahan (D), Missouri’s Secretary of State that aided ACORN in raiding state coffers, lost to Roy Blunt (R) in the Senate race, despite the fact that she received a state record for votes in 2008 (1,743,819 in 2008 to 768,241 in 2010). Republicans knocked off the incumbent in the only state office up for election, auditor. Vicky Hartzler (R) knocked off US Rep. Ike Skelton (D) (of “Stick it up your @$$!” fame) in Missouri’s 4th District, a seat he held since 1976. Ed Martin (R) came within 1% of unseating US Rep. Russ Carnahan (D) (the least capable Carnahan) in a D+7 heavy union district, and in spite of the fact that he was a known tea partier before he was a candidate. Not to mention Republican gains in the state assembly that left the Senate veto-proof and the House nearly veto-proof.
All should be well in Missouri, except it ain’t.
The issue is local control of the police department in St. Louis, where a vestige of the Civil War left the state in control of the St. Louis and Kansas City police through boards composed of city residents and the respective mayors. Where one might think this would be an easy issue for the tea party and conservatives, one would be horribly wrong. Strange coalitions have formed in Missouri. Some members of the St. Louis Tea Party Coalition find themselves siding with the St. Louis Police Officers Association and Governor Jay Nixon (D) against Lt. Governor Peter Kinder (R), House Speaker Steven Tilley (R) and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay (D).
To make a long story short, the tea party position revolves around whether granting Mayor Slay total control of the police would be an action of responsible governance. St. Louis politics resemble Chicago politics, though on a smaller scale, and it appears many are concerned the dysfunctional nature of St. Louis government will infect the police in a city plagued by crime. Those who support local control believe the police will be more accountable to the public through the mayor. Obviously, the issue of local control is more complicated than the brief synopsis I have provided, but I do not have space to spell it all out.
Now that we have a basic understanding of the issue and the parties involved we can get down to the dirt.
The Missouri House voted to pass HB 71 on local control for St. Louis on Tuesday. Prior to the vote, Speaker Tilley reportedly made this statement on the House floor:
I think we’ve seen race-baiting at a level that I haven’t seen since I’ve been here.
Joined by state Rep. Jamilah Nasheed (D-St. Louis), sponsor of HB 71, it appears Speaker Tilley, co-sponsor of HB 71, used the forum of the House floor to attack one St. Louis Tea Party blogger, Reboot Congress, over video he posted (which sums up the local control issue fairly well) highlighting Rep. Nasheed’s associations with the New Black Panther Party. Keep in mind that none of these associations have been denied by Rep. Nasheed (and for those that have forgotten about the New Black Panther Party, click here). And you should watch the Reboot Congress video because it points out that Speaker Tilley appointed Rep. Nasheed to the committee where HB 71 originated. One has to wonder whether Speaker Tilley took lessons from Rep. Nasheed on how to play the race card in exchange for that appointment.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch picked up the story, and fireworks ensued. It seems the Post-Dispatch connected the dots for Speaker Tilley. The fact that a state House Speaker, on the floor of the House, would accuse a tea party blogger of race-baiting becomes even more disturbing when that House Speaker leads a state legislature that benefited from the tea party wave that put so many Republicans in office. It gets worse than that when one finds out that House Speaker plans to run for Lt. Governor in Missouri. Why a Republican running for statewide office in a state with a large tea party presence thinks it is a good idea to team up with a Democrat who associates with the New Black Panther Party, and then to attack a tea party blogger (On the House floor!) for questioning this judgment, is beyond me.
Knowing the willingness of the St. Louis Tea Party Coalition to take on any challenge (have you heard of Dana Loesch, Bill Hennessy or Gateway Pundit!) and to defend their own, I am astounded Republicans would want to pick this fight. I do not think Speaker Tilley is a bad person, but he better get his act together quick. He is either clueless or receiving bad advice from his people.
The moral of the story is that if this can happen in Missouri it can happen anywhere. Many Republicans won the opportunity to represent constituents under the cover of the tea party, and those constituents should be ever vigilant in making sure those Republicans adhere to their promises.
“Don’t Tread On Me” means nothing if you ignore the person stepping on you.
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