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The
“Politically Incorrect” Report
I love our United States Constitution.
Everyone should take the time to understand what it is for and why
it is so important. One of my favorite sections guarantees our
freedom of speech, especially political speech.
On the subject of free political speech, several of my
readers have asked me about a report on the “Modern Militia Movement,”
issued Feb. 20, 2009 under the name of Gov. Nixon. The report was
written by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) under the
oversight of the Missouri Highway Patrol. The purpose of the report
was to inform our law enforcement officers about people who are prone to
illegal acts and uncivil behavior. 
This report received national attention because it
was supposed to be pure information based upon good research disseminated
by our government about the modern militia movement, but the report
characterized dangerous militia participants
as:
Pro-life “Anti-abortionists
have been known to take up arms in support of their
beliefs,”*
Members of the Constitution
Party,
Christians “Religious
ideology popular in extreme right-wing circles,”*
Supporters of Ron Paul in his
Republican bid for president,
People who display a yellow
flag that reads, “Don’t Tread On Me,” and
States rights advocates,
“They argue that the government has gotten away from the intent of the
Constitution and is thus not valid.”*
Commonly recognized
terrorist groups were not even mentioned in the report. In fact, most
groups listed in this report are more likely to be good citizens - and
even legislators! MIAC must think it is dangerous for people to know
the Constitution. How offensive would it be if we listed all the
people on the left of the political spectrum as being potentially
dangerous? The report had the same effect as saying that people on
the right who practice free political speech are dangerous.
Shortly after this report was leaked, I started
getting e-mail from all over the country and this became a topic on many
talk shows across the nation.
When I first saw the e-mail messages, I asked my assistant to research if this was
a hoax, because I could hardly believe that our own state would issue such
a document on state letterhead with the signature and approval of our
governor. Shortly after she verified its authenticity, I learned
that a lawsuit was filed by both the American Civil Liberties Union and
Missourians United for Life. The latter organization issued a press
release, which you can read by clicking on this link: Press
release.
How could such a document be produced with
taxpayer dollars and go on to make such highly political statements?
The governor and the Department of Public Safety
stood by the report for several weeks. As the word got out, people
became very active, and within a short time an apology letter went out to
Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr, who were specifically mentioned as
having supporters about whom we should be concerned. On Friday, the
governor decided to retract the report.
There is a small amount of satisfaction from the
retraction, but it should make all of us aware that the government must be
the servant of the people, not the other way around.
While the apology letter tried to sound contrite,
it really said things like, “portion of that report may be easily
construed by readers as offensive to supporters of certain political
candidates…,” “Some regrettable information was included in the
report…,” and “That is an undesired and unwarranted outcome.”
To read more about this, click on the
following:
Matt Blunt
Comments
Governor
Nixon Comments
Missouri Scraps MIAC
Report
The Constitution is our guiding light. It is
good to have a list of rules with which we commonly agree to govern
ourselves. I never thought I would see the day when a law
enforcement agency would draft a report profiling as dangerous those who
comprise the heart and soul of our nation. We need people who
believe in the document that is the foundation of our country. Many
of our state legislators hold similar beliefs as those about whom we are
being warned.
Do not let this cause you to be afraid of your
government, but let it serve as a warning that the price of freedom is
eternal vigilance. Let it also serve as a warning to our law
enforcement community that they are hired to protect us from those who are
not law abiding, not from those who practice free political speech.
It is our very Constitution that allows us to discourse freely in a way
that does not lead to violence.
*Quotation marks indicate a direct quote from the
document. To read the complete report, click here: MIAC
Report.
Your
thoughts are important to me, so please let me know what you think.
You can send me your opinion by clicking
here:
Cynthia Davis
Visitors
of the Week
Lindenwood
University President, James Evans (far left), visited the Capitol last
week. Located in St. Charles, Lindenwood offers a four-year liberal
arts education, rooted in a belief in an ordered, purposeful universe, the
dignity of work, the worth and integrity of the individual, the
obligations and privileges of citizenship, and the primacy of
truth.
Cynthia
in the News
Below
is a newspaper article that ran recently about motorcycle legislation
which I sponsored.
Motorcyclists could run some red lights under
Missouri
bill
Columbia Tribune
Friday, March 13, 2009
BY Michael Bushnell
JEFFERSON
CITY — With no opposition, the
Missouri Senate gave approval this week to a measure that would allow
motorcyclists to run red lights if they spend an "unreasonable" amount of
time waiting for the signal to change.
Proponents say many motorcycles are not large
enough to activate the sensors connected to left-turn arrows, which can
create long backups for cars. Both Sen. William Stouffer,
R-Napton, and Rep. Cynthia Davis,
R-O'Fallon, introduced similar
legislation, but the Senate Transportation Committee, which Stouffer leads, passed his
bill by consent last month. The House of Representatives held a
hearing on Davis' bill, but it didn't get out of
committee before the General Assembly left Thursday for its spring
recess.
Stouffer's bill would provide an "affirmative
defense" if a motorcyclist is pulled over by a police officer for running
a red light after waiting for a green signal that does not appear because
the bike is not large enough to be read by the light's sensors. Even
small cars have enough metal to trip a sensor, Stouffer said, adding
that some motorcycles and bicycles are not big enough to be
read.
Davis said
she fully supports Stouffer's bill and called the legislation a "safety
matter," adding that motorcycles stuck at red lights disrupt the flow of
traffic behind them.
"Red
lights are supposed to promote safety," she said. "But
by our very laws, we have created a dangerous situation where cars
could back up forever if the motorcycle in front can't trip the
switch."
Supporters of the measure said it would neither
cause nor excuse accidents because it does not cover cases in which
an accident is caused or a police officer determines the motorcyclist made
an unsafe entry into the intersection. Rep. Gary
Dusenberg, R-Blue Springs, said police
officers wouldn't pull motorcyclists over for running red lights and
motorcyclists wouldn't abuse the law. 
"Every law is abused or ignored to some extent,
but motorcyclists are very safety-conscious," he said. "I was a state
trooper for 27 years, and I can tell you that police officers will use
common sense and sound judgment when it comes to ticketing motorcyclists
who enter the intersection on a red light."
At a
hearing on Davis' bill last week, O'Fallon
motorcyclist Tony Shepard said
it was unreasonable to think motorcyclists would willingly put themselves
at risk when entering an intersection against a red light. He said
the average rider has patience and would only enter an intersection when
it is completely clear and safe to do so.
"Crashing sucks, and none of us like to crash,"
Shepard said. "We're not trying to put ourselves in harm's way, nor do we
think that this law would encourage that."
Although the bill had no opposition in the Senate,
passing out of committee and on the floor by consent, some representatives
said they have reservations with the bill. Rep. Jeff Roorda,
D-Arnold, said Stouffer's legislation
would create a double standard not seen in other traffic
laws.
"There is no other law on the book where people
can violate traffic laws because certain devices don't work," Roorda
said. "There are problems here for certain that will need to be addressed
if this bill is to get all the way through."
Roorda also said he was worried that the word
"unreasonable" is ripe for abuse because it is a subjective term. However, both Davis and
Stouffer said the Missouri State Highway Patrol asked them not to include
guidelines specifying when it would be permissible to run a red
light.
Davis said
vagueness in the bill should not be a concern, as it would be clear to a
police officer stopping a motorcyclist on suspicion of running a red light
whether he or she waited for multiple traffic light cycles. She said the
legislation was common sense, adding that it addresses a situation
that mostly occurs late at night when roads are nearly
empty.
"You
won't be able to say you waited an 'unreasonable' amount of time if you
just pulled up and then ran the light," she said. "If it's, theoretically,
4 a.m. and you're sitting there for hours waiting for a turn signal that
won't ever come, does it really cause a problem if you go through the
light because of the physical disadvantages of the
motorcycle?"
A Little
Bit of Humor
 A
state trooper pulled a car over and told the man driving that he was going
50 mph in a 40 mph zone.
"I was only going 40!" the driver
protested.
"Not according to my radar," the
trooper
said.
"Yes, I was!" the man shouted back.
"No, you weren't!" the
trooper said.
With that, the man's wife leaned toward the window
and said, "Officer, I should warn you not to argue with my husband when
he's been drinking."
This Capitol Report is a weekly
column by Representative Cynthia
Davis, from the 19th
District, covering events in the Missouri Legislature and district-wide
issues.
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