U.S. Senate

Gun Docket: Proposal to Revamp Firearms Prosecution in St. Louis Advances in Senate

It has been a particularly heated week for gun debates. In Missouri, a Republican outcry about gun owner privacy in Missouri sparked a major policy change and a high-profile resignation. Nationally, the U.S. Senate failed to pass a background check proposal, angering even some longtime NRA members. ... More >>

"Stan Span" Plan Nearly Law: Musial Bridge Tribute Gets Unanimous Support in U.S. Senate

U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, and Roy Blunt, a Republican, don't usually agree on much of anything -- but they can come together for Stan the Man. And thus the rare press release yesterday quoting both Missouri senators, who are championing the unanimous passage this week in the U.S. ... More >>

Violence Against Women Act: Why Is Senator Roy Blunt Still Opposing? LGBT Protections?

One of the more heated battles in D.C. this year so far centers around the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, a measure that provides protection for victims of domestic violence. Congress failed to extend it last year, but it's now under consideration at the House -- after it passed ... More >>

RIP Betty Anne McCaskill, Missouri Politician and Advocate for Women

Betty Anne McCaskill, who is now most famous as one of the chief campaigners for her daughter Claire but who had a long career of her own in Missouri politics, died yesterday at home in St. Louis after a long illness. She was 84. Claire McCaskill, who had last week suspended her campaign for re-ele ... More >>

Someone Still Loves You, Todd Akin

You'd think that after "legitimate rape" and "unladylike" (and the fact that the two terms have become so infamous, we don't even have to explain them), plus the new thing about how companies should be "free" to pay women less than men for equal work (watch for "freedom" to join the Akin buzzword li ... More >>

Guns Blazin' n' Insults Flyin', GOP Candidates Wrap Up "Victory Tour" in STL County

We didn't find Abby Wambach amid the stacks of GOP yard signs, but 300 or so STL-area Republicans were on hand to celebrate their slate and revel in partisan glory... however premature.

Primary Results: Akin to Face McCaskill, Clay Trounces Carnahan, Jones Wins City Treasurer

Yesterday's Missouri primary resulted in a few surprises. The biggest, perhaps, was Congressman Lacy Clay's stunning victory over Congressman Russ Carnahan for Missouri's First Congressional District that includes all of St. Louis and much of the county. Clay garnered 63.2 percent of the vote to Car ... More >>

Ask a Mexican: Donde esta donkey show?

Village Voice Media asks for your support of Senate Bill 596

ClaireMcCaskill.com Officially Worth $4,000

How much would you pay for this web domain?​From the Department of Why the Hell Didn't We Think of That?: The Post-Dispatch reports that a Columbia-based web designer named Brennan Hobart noticed that Senator Claire McCaskill's website was called claireonline.com. Hobart suspected that the do ... More >>

Fox News, Robin Carnahan Settle Lawsuit

An excerpt from the advertisement in question.​Three months after the election and nearly five months after it was filed, Fox News and its anchor Chris Wallace have settled a suit against former U.S. Senate contender Robin Carnahan. The network filed the lawsuit in response to a Carnahan' campaign ... More >>

Ed Martin Announces Candidacy for U.S. Senate

Well, Ed Martin didn't tease us for very long. A week after making a non-announcement announcement about his bid for U.S. Senate, Ed Martin today made it official. He's in.

Attention Missouri Marijuana Smokers: Your Candidate Has Arrived

Behold: The campaign commercial for Libertarian candidate Jonathan Dine for U.S. Senate. Given his past prison sentence for marijuana possession (not to mention charges of stealing and identity theft) it's no wonder Dine wants the government off your back -- and his.H/T: Plog

Politicians Want to Text Us, Ruin Last Spam-Free Area of Our Over-Mediated Lives

flickr.com/photos/kiwanja​Show us a campaign e-mail, and we'll show you spam. Call us on our landline, and -- oops, we don't have one. But send us a text, and Sweet Bejeezus we will drop the choking child we're trying to resuscitate and text you right back. JK! (It's true.)  Politicians hav ... More >>

Slate Debunks the Fox News Lawsuit Against Robin Carnahan

To be blunt, Fox is full of it.​From being represented by a law firm with ties to Republican Roy Blunt to using copyright law for the purpose of political censorship, earlier today Slate published a thorough take-down of Fox News and their "bogus" lawsuit against Robin Carnahan, Missouri's Democra ... More >>

Post-Dispatch Changes Coverage at City Hall; David Hunn Takes over for Jake Wagman

Wagman is now politically independent, so to speak.​Dagburnit! We thought we'd beat the Post-Dispatch to their own story -- but they just posted a quick item in front of us.Earlier today Daily RFT received an internal email for the paper outlying changes in the newsroom. Most noticeable among thos ... More >>

Ass Clowns of the Week: Pervert Priest James Grady and Emmitt "Hoggy" Gordon

​A priest who allegedly solicited sex with a 16-year-old and pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography? Or...A gang-banger who fired a bullet that traveled three blocks and struck a two-year-old boy in the face as the child sat on his grandfather's lap?Hmm...tough call. So tough a call tha ... More >>

Who is Ass Clown of the Week? March 26 - April 2

A full moon always brings out the Ass Clowns.​Did you notice it was a full moon earlier this week? How else to explain the bumper crop of Ass Clowns making headlines over the past seven days? You know the rules, vote for the newsmaker whose actions or admissions this week you find to be the most d ... More >>

Video: KKK Leader and U.S. Senate Hopeful from Mo. Talks "Inferior Races"

Heard about Missouri's U.S. Senate hopeful Glenn Miller? The Springfield man is a former leader of the North Carolina Ku Klux Klan and has been airing bizarre radio advertisements throughout the state denouncing the white man for being cowardly and blaming Jews for all the country's problems. (Liste ... More >>

Ass Clown of the Week: Radical Right-Wing Edition!

Which ass gets the hat?​Perhaps it was the presence in the Show-Me State this week of that good-fer-nothin', socialist Barack Obama, or maybe it was just that their haldol injections were wearing off. Whatever the case, Missouri's right-wing extremists were tripping over themselves this week for r ... More >>

Claire "The Joker" McCaskill

Hours before the U.S. Senate vote on health care late last night, Heath Ledger-esque posters of Senator Claire McCaskill went up on telephone poles and lampposts across the metro region. Blogger GatewayPundit is curating sight'ems. www.gatewaypundit.firstthings.com​Similar caricatures of President ... More >>

Rep. Wilson's Outburst Is Nothing Compared to How They Used to Express Disagreement in Congress

​RFT managing editor Ellis Conklin offers his two cents on the latest political ramblings in Washington D.C.Goodness, have you ever seen so much hand-wringing and over-the-top condemnation over Representative Joe Wilson's unfortunate discharge Wednesday evening when he derisively hooted, "You ... More >>

The Morning Brew: Wednesday, 8.5

The U.S. Senate votes to increase the food-stamp rolls. (AP)You know who disapproved of President Obama's "beer summit"? The Women's Christian Temperance Union. For reals.Starbucks tries to make an impersonal coffee experience even more efficient. (Wall Street Journal)

Elephant Down: Republicans are Leaving Their Party in Droves, Especially in the Midwest

flickr.com/photos/amanda kay riley It is hardly breaking news to note that Republicans here and across the country have been shedding their party like a chrysalis for quite some time now. But what is extraordinary is the sheer volume of the desertion. A new Gallup Poll shows that the precipiti ... More >>

The Morning Brew: Wednesday, 3.4

A bipartisan effort in the U.S. Senate to strengthen the FDA's food-safety powers. (San Francisco Chronicle)A record number of British pubs closed last year, with much blame being assigned to a beer tax. (Guardian)The hottest cut of meat right now? Would you believe the cube steak? (New York Times)

Headline of the Day: "Lawmakers Cheat and Drink"

Ousted Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has been criticized by anyone with a pulse over the past two months (compared to the previous six years, when the jabs were mainly given by Illinois residents.) And in defending himself since his December 9 arrest, the politician has often veered into the ... More >>

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan To Run for U.S. Senate

Robin CarnahanMissouri's Secretary of State Robin Carnahan announced her intent this morning to replace Republican Christopher "Kit" Bond as a U.S. Senator for Missouri. Last month Bond told Missouri legislators that he would not seek re-election for a fifth term in 2010. Carnahan, a Democrat, broke ... More >>

The Top 20 Stlog Posts of 2008

The top 20 blog posts here on the Stlog, chosen by a few of us here at the RFT. Highlights include radio broadcaster Kevin Slaten blowing his top at our managing editor, a photo essay of President-elect Barack Obama, a curious e-mail from the American Apparel and a live blog of that debate that h ... More >>

How Much is a U.S. Senate Seat Worth? You Decide! (Updated)

From the "That Didn't Take Long" department of political humor, an eBay listing for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-Elect Obama and allegedly shopped around by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Bidding started at 99 cents and, as of this writing, has reached $51. Bidders, note: Free shi ... More >>

Debate Fever

Get excited about the politics of yore

Capsule Reviews

Dennis Brown and Deanna Jent suss out local theater

Uncommon Knowledge

The Rep knows how to celebrate an anniversary.

When Was the Last Time You Saw God?

Week of December 3, 2003

No Thanks, We're Brits

Week of October 23, 2002

United We Slam

GOP attacks Carnahan in the name of togetherness

Empty Promises

Missouri has been pouring millions into prisons that aren't being used. But stay tuned: If politicians have their way, there will be plenty of inmates to go around.

The Top 10 Reasons to Reject John Ashcroft

It's not that he's pious. He's simply unfit to serve.

Justice for John Ashcroft?

He deserves a taste of his own medicine in confirmation hearings

The Two Faces of John Ashcroft

Meet Missouri's master of deceit

Will the Real John Ashcroft Please Stand Up?

Missouri's junior senator says he is a pro-consumer health-care reformist. But the insurance companies, HMOs and big business, which give him millions, think he's on their side.

This Ain't No Party

Ross Perot launched the Reform Party as the voice of the American people. Eight years later, it's a shrill, staticky free-for-all, and the moderates can't get heard.

PAPAL BULL NOT ENOUGH

Senate candidate and Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan may have commuted a death sentence, but St. Louis-area Catholics won't be letting him off the hook on the abortion issue

POPE-ASHCROFT HOLY WAR

Fresh from alienating black voters over the Ronnie White fiasco, will Sen. John Ashcroft take on Catholics in his drive to defeat Senate rival Gov. Mel Carnahan?

Guns and Poses

Frenzied politicians do the Littleton shuffle

The Pro-Life Movement Strikes Again

The Reinvention of John Ashcroft

The Last Picture Show

News of the Weird

Justice for All