Dana Loesch Speaks about New Media at #CPAC

Co-founder of the St. Louis Tea Party Dana Loesch speaks at CPAC

Dana Loesch joined a panel at the 2011 CPAC conference to expound on the role of new media in journalism. Earlier in the day, CNN announced that Loesch would be joining them as a political contributor.

Related articles

• CPAC Thursday Morning- Faces in the Crowd (gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com)

My latest coverage of Dana Loesch.

Soup Line at Claire McCaskill's Office

JD sent in some pictures he took at today's Soup Line protest in front of Claire McCaskill's office in St. Louis. In the picture above, Bill Hennessy is carrying the colors for the group. The Gateway Pundit, Jim Hoft, was the point person on this protest. Over at his blog, you can see a picture of him ladling soup for the protesters. The message of today's protest was that Senator Claire McCaskill's efforts to discourage the DNC from choosing St. Louis to host their 2012 convention has cost the city both jobs and tax revenue. Patch Adams and Michelle Moore provided video coverage of today's festivities. Patch's video coverage is on his blog P/Oed Patriot. As always, Michelle covered the event live on both Twitter and UStream.

Related articles

• McCaskill's convention lobbying (politico.com)
• Claire McCaskill: I wanted the Democratic convention in St. Louis (stltoday.com)

Sarah Steelman meets the St. Louis Tea Party

Sarah Steelman, the only candidate that has announced her plans to run for US Senate on the GOP ticket, was in St. Louis Thursday evening to meet with St. Louis Tea Party leaders. She took questions and listened to our concerns. I'm optimistic that our meeting tonight will inform her decisions as she crafts the policy platform for her 2012 race against Claire McCaskill (D-MO).

St Louis Tea Party Headquarters Grand Opening

Photos by JD Wilson and Jen Ennenbach

The St. Louis Tea Party held a grand opening party at their new office in south St. Louis city. Attendance wasn't as high as we had this past Sunday under the Arch, but Dana Loesch and Bill Hennessy, the organizations co-leaders, were there to greet people as was St. Louis ubber-blogger, Jim Hoft, the Gateway Pundit.

Mr Purgason Goes to Jeff City

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: Lost Causes

A seen similar to the one above unfolded in Jefferson City Wednesday morning.

Governor Jay Nixon (D-MO) called the legislature back for a special session. The focus of the session was a tax incentive bill that would only benefit Ford. State Senator Chuck Purgason (R-MO) opposed the bill. He argued that we should provide tax incentives for small businesses rather than Ford.

Purgason refused to pass the bill out of his committee effectively shutting down the special session. Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields (R-MO) removed Purgason and placed himself on the committee to move the bill to the floor.

Purgason filibustered the bill once the floor debate started. He asked supporters to email him and promised to read their emails on the Senate floor. Which he did, for 21 hours. According to Purgason's campaign website, 21 hours is the longest filibuster in at least fifteen years.

I was listening live this morning via the Internet feed (linked on MO Senate home page) when Purgason ended his filibuster. Then I saw Tony Messenger's tweet:

It's over. Sen @ChuckPurgason just tossed down his microphone, walked out of chamber, and ended filibuster.

There were at least two motivations for Purgason's filibuster. First, he's in an uphill battle for the Republican nomination for US Senate. The second reason is captured in this sentence from someone on Purgason's campaign:

The main problem is a misunderstanding of the role of government and the co-opting of state power for private profit -- mercantilism.

The filibuster was covered well on twitter. Afterwards, Ross Carter observed:

I noticed some funny hashtags for @ChuckPurgason's 20+ hour filibuster: #purgabuster #purgatory #chuckapocalypse #purgasonafterdark

Purgason returned to the campaign trail after the filibuster with multiple radio appearances.

Missile Defense Test

DVIDS reports on the successful June 29th test of the THAAD anti-missile system:

The Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Army soldiers of the 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade from Fort Bliss, Texas, successfully conducted an intercept test for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense element of the nation's Ballistic Missile Defense System today.

Russ Carnahan's Door is Always Open

This past Saturday, Russ Carnahan (D-MO) spoke briefly at the St Louis County Library on Weber Rd before leaving through the back door in the middle of the meeting. He took no questions and offered only pablum and platitudes to his constituents.

There are alternatives to Carnahan. Ed Martin is the GOP favorite and Edward Crim is one of Carnahan's Democrat primary challengers. The Missouri primary election is August 3rd.

Update: Welcome Red Staters and thanks to Brian for link!

Gina Loudon's Radio Show Begins This Afternoon

Dr. Gina Loudon's drive time radio show on Truth Talk 630AM begins this afternoon at 4PM. Here's more from the press announcement:

Crawford Broadcasting Company announces the launch of a new Conservative Christian Talk Station hitting the airwaves on June 28, 2010. The Nationally acclaimed and most listenened to Christian Talk Radio Host in all of Michigan, Bob Dutko will head up the new talent at Truth Talk 630. Bob's show is M-F, 12-4 pm.

Dr. Gina Loudon will join Truth Talk as their new PM Drive host, M-F, 4-6. Her show will focus on politics, faith in action, life design, travel and effective Christian living. This will also be the new home of her always provocative "Political A-List". Bob and Gina join other greats to come in the all new line up for Truth Talk’s launch happening on June 28. The station has the largest daytime signal of any station in St. Louis, covering half of Missouri, half of Illinois, with the tips on Kentucky and Indiana (see Coverage Map).

If you're outside the listening area or would like to follow the show more closely, there's a Dr. Gina Show facebook page and a Twitter feed for The Dr. Gina Show. Congratulations, Gina!

Pictures from Freedom Fights

I Heard the People Say sponsored a candidate forum in St Charles this afternoon. Freedom Fights saw politicians from across the state (though mainly those based in the St Louis area) take to a boxing ring for a political forum. Booths for candidates and causes lined the perimeter.

Cross Coverage:

• Roy Blunt No-Show at Candidates Forum from Bob McCarty
• The Black Sphere refereed the event
• A Traditional Life Lived streamed the event and has complete video coverage
• Spike StL and The Greyfalcon were there

Chuck Purgason Interview: Full Video Coverage

I interviewed Chuck Purgason (R-MO) last Friday. We talked about his race for the US Senate in Missouri and what his campaign is doing to beat Roy Blunt (R-MO)--the favored candidate in the primary. The winner of the GOP primary will likely face Robin Carnahan (D-MO) in November. Purgason and I also talked about his experience and policies for small business, TARP and banking, bringing jobs back to the US and Missouri, education, healthcare, term limits, and regulatory reform. You can learn more about Chuck Purgason at his campaign website: www.purgasonforsenate.com.

• 01 Chuck Purgason Introduction
• 02 Chuck Purgason on his first political race
• 03 Chuck Purgason on his race for US Senate
• 04 Chuck Purgason talks about his Primary Opponents
• 06 Chuck Purgason needs Volunteers
• 07 Chuck Purgason talks Small Business
• 08 Chuck Purgason on Jobs and Taxes
• 09 Chuck Purgason on Banking and Business
• 10 Chuck Purgason on TARP
• 11 Chuck Purgason talks about his marriage
• 12 Chuck Purgason on Lobbyists
• 13 Chuck Purgason on Smaller Government
• 14 Chuck Purgason on Education
• 15 Chuck Purgason on state budget deficits
• 16 Chuck Purgason on healthcare
• 17 Chuck Purgason on term limits
• 18 Chuck Purgason on regulatory reform

Previously:

• Chuck Purgason needs volunteers
• Chuck Purgason

Chuck Purgason Needs Volunteers

I've uploaded several segments from my interview with Chuck Purgason (R-MO) on Friday. Purgason is running against Roy Blunt (R-MO) in the Republican primary for the US Senate seat that is will be vacant after Kit Bond's (R-MO) retirement. Once all of the video from my interview is posted, I'll put all the segments in a YouTube playlist. Above, I've posted Purgason's response to my question about what he's doing to build his campaign for the August 3rd primary. You can find more of my interview at my YouTube channel.

Previously:

• Chuck Purgason

Chuck Purgason

I interviewed Chuck Purgason (R-MO) this afternoon at the Gateway Arch. Purgason is running for the US Senate seat that will be vacated by Kit Bond (R-MO). His main opponent in the primary is Roy Blunt (R-MO). Blunt's state-wide name recognition and leadership role in the House of Representatives (he's the Republican whip) make him the presumptive GOP nominee and a formidable opponent. There are other candidates; however, Purgason is the only candidate with significant legislative experience; therefore, he's the one best able to challenge Blunt for the nomination.

Purgason has criticized Blunt's votes in support of TARP, No Child Left Behind, and other expansions of the Federal government. State's rights (10th Amendment issues) are very important to him as is a balanced budget. Purgason said that if the Show Me State sends him to Washington, DC, he will not vote for a budget unless it is balanced.

I will be uploading video from my interview late this weekend.

Mullah Omar Captured

Big Government is reporting that Mullah Omar has been captured:

Through key intelligence sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan, I have just learned that reclusive Taliban leader and top Osama bin Laden ally, Mullah Omar has been taken into custody....

We have known since the end of March and we had it confirmed ten days ago by the Pakistanis. So why didn’t the State Department and the CIA know?

Citizen Journalist Gets the Shot

These four frames are from a video of the April 10th, 2010, red shirt protest in Bangkok, Thailand. The protest turned violent. The government claimed that only teargas and rubber bullets were used; however, the video from my first post on the unrest in Bangkok leads me to believe that live ammunition was used. In the slideshow above I've highlighted in green the location of a rooftop sniper who was shooting down into the crowd. In the video you can also hear gunfire that correlates with this sequence. In the fourth frame, I've highlighted in red what I mistakenly thought was a bullet impact. After reviewing the clip, I'm certain that the flash in the red circle is from the strobe of a camera's red-eye reduction.

Here's the complete video. There are shots from the roof at 0:18 and 0:50.

At this point, all sides in Thailand seem to be working toward a peaceful settlement. That settlement is complicated by several factors:

1. The unidentified rooftop sniper(s) discussed above
2. Soldiers loyal to the red shirts having fired on fellow army officers
3. The possible involvement of red shirts (UDD) in the grenade attack earlier this week

My most up to date comments about this story are on Twitter.

Patriot Leadership Meeting

Americans for Prosperity sponsored a Patriot Leadership Meeting in Jefferson City, MO. About twenty-five people attended the meeting which focussed on grassroots organization and networking across Missouri. There were several conservative bloggers there, including (email me if I missed anyone!):

• Americans for Prosperity
• A Traditional Life Lived
• Andrea's Blog
• Breaking out of the American Box
• Franklin County Patriots
• I Heard the People Say

Congratulations to Erick Erickson and CNN

Erick Erickson of RedState has been tapped for a position at CNN:

Prominent conservative commentator and RedState.com editor Erick Erickson will join CNN as a political contributor, it was announced today by Sam Feist, CNN political director and vice president of Washington-based programming. Erickson will appear weeknights on John King, USA, which launches Monday, March 22, as well as provide perspective and commentary to other programs across the network.

I'm glad to see CNN expand their political coverage to include a contributor trusted by the right. Best wishes to them an Erickson!

Once More Into the Breach

The usual suspects all have coverage of the evening event. Pictures above from Keyboard Militia. Sharp's got pictures and video of the Patriots Protest. POedPatriot has several posts:

• 2,500 People Greet the President in Protest in Down Town St. Louis
• Pictures of the Tea Party Protest in St. Louis 3/10/10
• Liberal Attempts to Start Trouble at Tea Party

Dana was there. And the GatewayPundit reports that the opposition was driven off. I'm sure more video will be coming out today.

Silence Broken

Life got a little busy last Friday, so I haven't posted anything. Sorry about that...

Wednesday's the big day. President Obama will be in town. There's a morning rally hosted by Todd Akin (R-MO). The President will speak at St Charles High School. And Claire McCaskill will host the President at a fundraiser. The St Louis Tea Party will be covering these events. GatewayPundit will have a lot of coverage. Dana's now on air from 2-4 CST, so you can listen to her or check DanaRadio.

My live coverage will be limited to tweeting. I should have some photos from the morning rally posted by noon on TwitPic.

Gateway to Liberty

One of the things I've enjoyed watching over the past year is the forging of new leaders. In early February, Kelly Owens stepped up to lead a new non-partisan group committed to keeping an eye on St Louis city politics. That group, Gateway to Liberty, held its first meeting in early February. The video report above captures some of the highlights from that meeting.

If you are a city resident and would like to be more active in city politics, please attend the next meeting of Gateway to Liberty this coming Saturday (3/6/10) from 9:30AM to noon at the Kingshighway branch of the St Louis City Library. That's at the intersection of Kingshighway and Vandeventer.

St. Louis Tea Party under the Arch

The pictures above are from Leaning to Starboard he also has great video coverage of the Tea Party up on Vimeo. I was unable to attend Saturday's festivities. Here's some more coverage of yesterday's Tea Party:

• Keyboard Militia: Tea Parties: The Good, the Mad, and the Untrustworthy
• A Traditional Life Lived: Broadcasting LIVE 2nd Amendment Rally/St. Louis Tea Party Anniversary Rally
• Gateway Pundit: "1,500 Rally at St. Louis Tea Party Coalition Anniversary Protest"
• St. Louis Tea Party – First Anniversary at missourah.com: "photos from today’s first anniversary St. Louis Tea Party event"
• Sharp Elbows.Net: "St. Louis Tea Party 1 Year Anniversary Rally! Be There!"
• Leaning to Starboard: "St Louis Celebrates Tea Party Anniversary - With a Tea Party!"

Update: Here are some more pictures. These are from Kelly at Gateway2Liberty.



Update 2: Keyboard Militia sent along this slide show: