At the International Military Tribunal for the Far East ("Tokyo War Crimes Trial") the United States prosecuted individuals as war criminals for waterboarding civilian detainees and military prisoners of war. The ACLU released documents pertaining to torture of detainees obtained from the government today as a result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. Openeness and transparency in...

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To fully appreciate Bert Atkins' candidacy, first you have to know the backstory: In late April, Democratic Representative Bruce Darrough (HD75 in North St. Louis County) unexpectedly withdrew from the primary race for his district. The other person who had filed in the primary was Representative Juanita Head Walton's brother, Charles. Uh-oh. Head's brother-in-law, Elbert Walton, uses his Unity...

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Joe Volpe (D) is challenging incumbent Will Kraus (r) in the 48th Legislative District. We've previously covered this race: Joe Volpe (D) in the 48th Legislative District 48th Legislative District - first quarter campaign finance reports Joe Volpe (D) filed his second quarter 2008 campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 13th: Detailed Summary of Committee...

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Chris Ruggles (D) is challenging incumbent Brian Yates (r) in the 56th Legislative District. We've written about this race before: Chris Ruggles (D) in the 56th Legislative District Chris Ruggles (D) filed his second quarter 2008 campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 15th: Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report Committe[e]: CITIZENS FOR CHRIS...

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I recently spoke with Dr. Vernon Harlan who is running in the Democratic primary for the House seat in the 71st district. For Harlan, who is running against Roger Wilson (same name, but not the Democratic party poobah), and Donald Calloway (whom I interviewed last March), the primary will be the main event, since whoever wins the primary in this overwhelmingly Democratic district will face no...

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Democrats in the city of St. Louis and in the fifth senatorial district in particular are fighting each other. Rodney Hubbard and Robin Wright-Jones are duking it out for the senatorial nomination, which is to say, for the whole ball of wax in the fifth, because no Republican has filed. (Why would one bother in the city?) Robin is progressive right down the line. Rodney is ... not. I'll skip all...

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The Johnson County Democratic Club and the Johnson County Democratic Central Committee acquired a store front campaign headquarters location in downtown Warrensburg at 128 N. Holden at the beginning of the month. In the ensuing days volunteers have descended on the location to clean, decorate, and staff headquarters for its various functions. It is a high traffic location and quite visible to the...

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On Monday, I asked members of Congress in Missouri and those running for the position if they would comment on the recent dustup between Barack Obama and John McCain over Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's support for Obama's withdrawal plan. The first two responses are in. Byron DeLear was not surprisingly first to comment, doing so (bonus points!) in a long comment here on the blog. Money...

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There are a lot of candidates running in the 121st Legislative District. Three Democrats and two republicans to be exact. We've previously written about the race: 121st Legislative District - first quarter campaign finance reports 121st Legislative District: 3 Democrats and 1 republican in the race Three Democratic candidates in the 121st Jim Jackson (D) filed his second quarter 2008 campaign...

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Beth Grubb (D) is challenging incumbent Mike McGhee (r) in this race. We've previously written about the 122nd Legislative District and Mike McGhee's right wingnut view of the world: 122nd Legislative District - first quarter campaign finance reports Beth Grubb in the 122nd - 4th quarter campaign finance reports trickle in HB 1315: retarded nonsense Declaring Religious Freedom - Again! Beth...

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Luke Scavuzzo (D), the incumbent, will face Jim Danner (r), a replacement candidate, who was put forward as a candidate after the original republican candidate was disqualified for failure to file a financial disclosure statement. We've previously written about the race in the 124th Legislative District: Luke Scavuzzo (D) in the 124th Legislative District Luke Scavuzzo filed his second...

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Fired Up Missouri! has a must-read post on Peter Kinder's use of a sham committee called Better Leadership for Missouri to raise money in excess of the contribution limits for his campaign. To be clear, BLM wasn't used as a conduit to bring money back into his main campaign committee; Kinder was using BLM to raise and spend as a de facto second campaign committee for the infrastructure of...

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We've written about Kristi Kenney (D) and her opponents in the open seat race in the 120th Legislative District: 120th Legislative District - first quarter campaign finance reports Kristi Kenney (D) in the 120th - 4th quarter campaign finance report Kristi Kenney filed her second quarter 2008 campaign finance report with the Missouri Ethics Commission on July 15th:   Detailed Summary of...

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Earlier this week, Iraq's prime minister announced that he agreed in principle with Barack Obama's plan to withdraw all US combat troops from Iraq in 16 months. McCain thinks US troops should remain for a hundred years or more. Now that we know where the two prospective leaders of our country stand, and where the leader of the country we currently occupy stands, I'm curious about you stand on...

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The Daily Kos party at Maggie Mae's on Sixth Street - Photo by The Awful Truth Meeting Mary Mapes over margaritas at the HuffPo/GQ Party. Watching Jon Tasini dance in a conga line behind a washboard player at a zydeco concert in the Daily Kos party. Marveling at Darcy Burner's proposals on how the netroots can become even more influential without even raising money. Getting a chuckle out of...

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The Lee's Summit Symphony Orchestra performed a two hour concert this evening for an audience numbering approximately five thousand at the annual "Booms and Blooms" celebration held at Powell Gardens (25 miles southeast of Kansas City).  

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Glen Greenwald hits another one out of the park: ...So much of this comes from the constant fetishizing of the President as the Supreme Leader, "our" Commander-in-Chief, rather than -- as the Constitution explicitly states -- "commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States." In the...

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It's an odd feeling to be cheering Sarah Steelman for doing the right thing. (Though I still have a wary eye out for an ulterior motive in her announcement that she has changed her mind about the ethanol mandate in Missouri.) She now opposes it. Missouri requires that 10 percent of all gasoline be ethanol, and Steelman chose "a busy Springfield street side for her announcement that 'within 100...

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Today's special July 4th open thread features literature from Jay Nixon. Click the pics to find larger (and smaller) sizes. What is on your mind?

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Some random thoughts and links on what it's all about - this noble experiment that is American Democracy: On this day... from Blue Girl, Red State We celebrate this day in a variety of ways. John Adams: The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary...

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