Missouri Governor Accuses Obama of Conspiring to Violate Civil Rights

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Please copy, paste, and circulate this press release from the Governor of Missouri.

Note the Web domain of the press release, governor.mo.gov. This is not “someone’s blog,” a “rumor,” or a “smear.” It is the official Web site of Missouri’s state government. The Governor of Missouri says openly that Barack Obama conspired to misuse his state’s law enforcement resources to “threaten and intimidate his critics.”

We cannot overemphasize the gravity of Governor Blunt’s accusation. While we are not attorneys and cannot give legal advice, “Conspiracy against rights” is a felony under the U.S. Code, Title 18 (Crimes). At present, Governor Blunt’s allegation is exactly that, and Barack Obama, like everybody else, is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. On the other hand, the court of public opinion is entitled to render a verdict before Election Day, and the following accusation needs to be either disproven or confirmed to the public’s satisfaction. We therefore encourage our readers to circulate Governor Blunt’s press release, which appears below, as widely as possible.

Please copy, paste, and circulate the following press release from the Governor of Missouri.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Contact: Jessica Robinson, 573-751-0290

Gov. Blunt Statement on Obama Campaign’s Abusive Use of Missouri Law Enforcement

Gov. Blunt Statement on Obama Campaign’s Abusive Use of Missouri Law Enforcement

JEFFERSON CITY – Gov. Matt Blunt today issued the following statement on news reports that have exposed plans by U.S. Senator Barack Obama to use Missouri law enforcement to threaten and intimidate his critics.

“St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch, St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer, and Obama and the leader of his Missouri campaign Senator Claire McCaskill have attached the stench of police state tactics to the Obama-Biden campaign.

“What Senator Obama and his helpers are doing is scandalous beyond words, the party that claims to be the party of Thomas Jefferson is abusing the justice system and offices of public trust to silence political criticism with threats of prosecution and criminal punishment.

“This abuse of the law for intimidation insults the most sacred principles and ideals of Jefferson. I can think of nothing more offensive to Jefferson’s thinking than using the power of the state to deprive Americans of their civil rights. The only conceivable purpose of Messrs. McCulloch, Obama and the others is to frighten people away from expressing themselves, to chill free and open debate, to suppress support and donations to conservative organizations targeted by this anti-civil rights, to strangle criticism of Mr. Obama, to suppress ads about his support of higher taxes, and to choke out criticism on television, radio, the Internet, blogs, e-mail and daily conversation about the election.

“Barack Obama needs to grow up. Leftist blogs and others in the press constantly say false things about me and my family. Usually, we ignore false and scurrilous accusations because the purveyors have no credibility. When necessary, we refute them. Enlisting Missouri law enforcement to intimidate people and kill free debate is reminiscent of the Sedition Acts – not a free society.”

If this allegation is true, Barack Obama needs to do more than grow up. Governor Blunt said explicitly that “I can think of nothing more offensive to Jefferson’s thinking than using the power of the state to deprive Americans of their civil rights.” The U.S. Code (Title 18, Crimes) has a specific name for this.

Missouri Governor Accuses Obama of Conspiring to Violate Civil Rights : Stop The ACLU

Below the fold I’ve copied over the links I have accumulated on this topic. Some are redundant, all cover Obama’s Brownshirt tactics. Free speech will not survive Barack Obama

• Michelle Malkin » Fighting Obama’s Goon Squad

  Chicago-trained thug Barack Obama has recruited musclemen in Missouri to intimidate critics. It’s just the latest example of his bare-knuckle, speech-chilling bully tactics. Missouri-based Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit has an overview of how “St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch and St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, both Obama supporters, are threatening to bring criminal libel charges against anyone who levels what turns out to be false criticisms of their chosen candidate for President.” Glenn Reynolds has a thorough round-up.

  
  

• Michelle Malkin » Barack “The Silencer” Obama’s Gangland Assault on Free Speech

  Where are all the free speech absolutists when you need them? Over the past month, left-wing partisans and Democratic lawyers have waged a brass-knuckled intimidation campaign against GOP donors, TV and radio stations, and even an investigative journalist because they have all dared to question the radical cult of Barack Obama. A chill wind blows, but where the valiant protectors of political dissent are, nobody knows. On August 11, I called the American Civil Liberties Union national headquarters in New York for comment about the Chicago gangland tactics of one of these groups — a nonprofit called “Accountable America” that is spearheaded by a former operative of the Obama-endorsing MoveOn outfit. “Accountable America” is trolling campaign finance databases and targeting conservative donors with “warning” letters in a thuggish attempt to depress Republican fundraising. (You’ll be interested to know that the official registered agent of Accountable America is Laurence Gold, a high-powered attorney for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) who has testified before the Senate complaining about the use of campaign finance laws to stifle the speech of union workers — a pet cause of the ACLU.)

  
  

  • ACLU press officer Pamela Bradshaw e-mailed back:

    “Michelle, My apologies that I cannot be of more assistance, but we don’t have anyone available. Thanks, Pam.”

    My reply: “Pam — Does this mean you don’t have anyone available today, this week, or for the foreseeable future?”

    On August 20, after a week of silence, I forwarded the message again to the ACLU press office. No response.

    So, I won’t bother asking the ACLU’s opinion of the latest wave of speech-squelching moves by the Obama campaign:

• Michelle Malkin » More Obama gangland tactics: Signs banned at Virginia rally today

  NOT ALL COUNTRIES guarantee their citizens the right to virtually unbridled freedom of speech. The United States does. Would someone please tell the campaign of Sen. Barack Obama? And the dozing guardians of liberty at the University of Mary Washington? Mr. Obama, the Democratic nominee for president, is scheduled to speak at a rally at the university today. The public is invited to this forum, on property it, the public, owns. However, signs and banners will not be allowed, according to the organizers and compliant campus officials. Suddenly, UMW is a First Amendment-Free, or at least a First Amendment-Crippled, Zone, subject to the self-serving preferences of politicos. Why does an Obama rally–or a McCain rally or a Nader rally–justify taking a little off the top of Americans’ most fundamental rights? A UMW spokeswoman says that the Obama campaign required the sign-and-banner ban. That campaign tells us that the ban is for “security” reasons. But a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, responsible for protecting presidential candidates, says that the service has no objection to signs at rallies, provided that no “part of the sign could be used as a weapon”–e.g., a heavy metal pole or a sharpened stick. Finally, the McCain campaign tells us, “We encourage people to make signs at our events.”

  
  

• Obama’s Anti-Free Speech Gestapo Unleashed in Missouri « The Barton Bulletin

  September 26, 2008 – Barack Obama is now using local law enforcement officials to carry out his campaign of legal intimidation by assembling a group of high-ranking Missouri police officials and prosecutors – including St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCullough and City of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce – to identify and target anyone the campaign determines is producing “misleading” political advertisements. “This is an outrageous and shocking attempt by the Obama campaign to again employ Stalinist, police state tactics against those who dare to disagree with Barack Obama,” said Ed Martin, American Issues Projects president. “I am frankly stunned to see public officials like McCullough and Joyce abusing their official prosecutorial positions to serve as attack dogs for a national political campaign. I am quite certain Missourians elected these individuals to enforce the laws and arrest criminals, not to throw people in jail for daring to practicing free speech. “The Obama campaign continues to provide a chilling preview of what would happen to political freedom in an Obama administration.”

  
  

• Instapundit.com -

  MORE THUGGISHNESS: Obama threatening the licenses of TV stations that run NRA ads. Haven’t we had about enough of this? Related item here. They told me that if George W. Bush were re-elected there would be brazen efforts to suppress free speech on political grounds — and they were right! UPDATE: Still more on the ad-silencing effort here. ANOTHER UPDATE: “I fear that under the Obama administration, the lawyers sending these letters will be government employees.” Plus, from Jacob Sullum at Reason, Why Obama is Vulnerable On the Second Amendment. MORE: Prosecutors and sheriffs threatening to prosecute Obama critics? Check out this TV news report from St. Louis, too, which makes clear that the Obama campaign is behind this. Thugs on parade. Will the U.S. Department of Justice investigate? Or are they compromised? STILL MORE: This is the ad that’s got the Obama campaign so upset. You can make up your own mind, but it doesn’t seem especially unusual for a political ad, though it’s certainly likely to hurt Obama in the bitter-clinger demographic. Of course, more people will see it now because of this controversly. And here, at Politico, is the NRA response. (Bumped).

  
  

• Gateway Pundit: Missouri Sheriffs & Top Prosecutors Form Obama “Truth Squads” & Threaten Libel Charges Against Obama Critics

  More Hope and Change for Missouri… St. Louis and Missouri Democrat sheriffs and top prosecutors are planning to go after anyone who makes false statements against Obama during his campaign. This is so one sided I can’t even begin to describe how wrong this agenda is. It’s one thing if they want to keep the campaign fair for both sides, but they clearly only want to enforce the issue for the Obama Camp. KMOV has a video report on the Obama “Truth Squads”.

  
  

• Babalu Blog: Obama’s Brownshirts

  Obama’s Brownshirts When you cant win an election fair and square, you gotta resort to strong arm tactics: Obama threatens TV stations that run NRA ads. More here. Truth squads! Be afraid, folks. Be very afraid.

  
  

• Infidel Bloggers Alliance: Barack Obama Is A Thug – And He May Be Your Next President

  ORE THUGGISHNESS: Obama threatening the licenses of TV stations that run NRA ads. Haven’t we had about enough of this? Related item here. They told me that if George W. Bush were re-elected there would be brazen efforts to suppress free speech on political grounds — and they were right! UPDATE: Still more on the ad-silencing effort here. ANOTHER UPDATE: “I fear that under the Obama administration, the lawyers sending these letters will be government employees.” Plus, from Jacob Sullum at Reason, Why Obama is Vulnerable On the Second Amendment. MORE: Prosecutors and sheriffs threatening to prosecute Obama critics? Check out this TV news report from St. Louis, too, which makes clear that the Obama campaign is behind this. Thugs on parade. Will the U.S. Department of Justice investigate? Or are they compromised? STILL MORE: This is the ad that’s got the Obama campaign so upset. You can make up your own mind, but it doesn’t seem especially unusual for a political ad, though it’s certainly likely to hurt Obama in the bitter-clinger demographic. Of course, more people will see it now because of this controversly. And here, at Politico, is the NRA response. (Bumped). MORE STILL: Reader Carolyn Gockel writes: “Why Obama is Vulnerable On the First Amendment: The whole NRA flap is going beyond gun rights advocates…I’m not as pro-gun as you and I am furious.” Yeah, and the bit with state law enforcement officials threatening critics is even worse. I wonder if the ACLU will weigh in on this one? Seems like a good opportunity for them to show their nonpartisan nature.

  
  

• Ben Smith’s Blog: Obama seeks to take down NRA ad – Politico.com

  The Obama campaign has written radio stations in Pennsylvania and Ohio, pressing them to refuse to air an ad from the National Rifle Association. “This advertisement knowingly misleads your viewing audience about Senator Obama’s position on the Second Amendment,” says the letter from Obama general counsel Bob Bauer. “For the sake of both FCC licensing requirements and the public interest, your station should refuse to continue to air this advertisement.” The ad, “Hunter,” conflates Obama’s anti-gun stances of the 1990s with his current, more pro-gun, stand, and was chided for inaccuracy in The Washington Post, an item to which Bauer’s letter refers. NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam, who provided the letter, said it shows clear evidence that the ads are “hurting him,” and stood by their substance. He also provided a copy of the NRA’s own letter to the stations and memo disputing the Post story, after the jump. He also said the ad is running only in Pennsylvania at the moment.

  
  

• Prosecutors for Obama hunting for ‘lying ads’

  WND ELECTION 2008 Prosecutors for Obama hunting for ‘lying ads’ ‘Truth Squad’ using sheriffs, DAs to police bias against candidate Posted: September 26, 2008 6:41 pm Eastern © 2008 WorldNetDaily Missouri prosecutor Bob McCulloch A team of Obama-supporting prosecutors and sheriffs in Missouri is preparing to pursue legal challenges to any presidential campaign ads deemed to be false or misleading. KMOV-TV in St. Louis reports District Attorney Robert McCulloch, a past president of the National District Attorneys Association, said that whether the ads could be attributed to an opponent’s campaign itself, or another organization, “If they’re not going to tell the truth, somebody’s got to step up and say, ‘That’s not the truth. This is the truth.’” The effort appeared to be part of a move by the Obama campaign to block advertisements to which it objects. The campaign also sent “threatening” letters to several news agencies in Pennsylvania and Ohio demanding they stop airing ads exposing Obama’s gun stance, according to the National Rifle Association. (Story continues below) The NRA’s Political Victory Fund condemned the attempt at censorship. “Barack Obama and his campaign are terrified of the truth,” said Chris W. Cox, chairman of organization. “Sen. Obama’s statements and support for restricting access to firearms, raising taxes on guns and ammunition and voting against the use of firearms for self-defense in the home are a matter of public record. NRA-PVF will make sure that everyone knows of Obama’s abysmal record on guns and hunting.” The Obama campaign declined to respond to a WND request for comment. The NRA said Obama sent “cease and desist letters” to news outlets in the two states, “denouncing the ads and demanding their removal from the airwaves.” “Barack Obama would be the most anti-gun president in our nation’s history. That’s the truth,” said Cox. “NRA-PVF has the facts on our side. No amount of running from or lying about his record and then intimidating news outlets in the hope

  
  

• Obama Continues to Subvert Free Speech | scoffery.com

  Is Obama fit for office? His constant attacks on the first amendment are troublesome. First, he tried to shut down a talk radio interview show in Chicago on two separate occasions. Now comes word that he wants law enforcement to target anyone running misleading ads against him. Of course he will not end his own mendacious commercials. This should trouble all people, but it will not. The left does not care if they prevent conservative views from being heard, that is why they consistently target conservatives during conventions or lectures. The entire idea of our election system is based on open and free speech. Neither candidate is a true supporter of the constitution. McCain had campaign finance that limited free speech. Obama supports thuggish tactics, most likely learned from his Chicago machine roots. What happens when either man becomes head of government? There are clear indications that Obama will be worse than Nixon or Wilson in using government employees in illegal ways. Something to ponder.

  
  

• Video On Demand | KMOV.com | St. Louis, MO

  
  

• MORE THUGGISHNESS: Obama threatening the licenses of TV stations that run NRA ads. « El Campeador’s Weblog

  Barack Obama’s campaign is trying to silence the National Rifle Association’s latest ad campaign using strong arm tactics by threatening them with possible legal action if they run the ads:

  
  

• Obama’s Anti-Intellectual Zombies Chicago Attack Radio Host : Stop The ACLU

  A few weeks ago we wrote about the undue and disingenuous attack led by Barack Obama’s Chicago HQ perpetrated against Chicago radio host Dr. Milt Rosenberg. Well, last week they did it again, raising their legions to attack the host and his radio station (WGN) and trying to have the unassuming radio host thrown off the air. And what was his “crime”? Rosenberg had the gall to actually interview two conservative writers who were investigating the life and history of the Obamessiah.

  
  

• View From a Height

  Now Obama’s presidential campaign is increasingly using the list to beat back media messages it does not like, calling on supporters to flood radio and television stations when those opposed to him run anti-Obama ads or appear on talk shows. It did so as recently as Monday night, when it orchestrated a massive stream of complaints on the phone lines of Tribune Co.-owned WGN-AM in Chicago when the radio station hosted author David Freddoso, who has written a controversial book about the Illinois Democrat. And as early as the same show’s interview with Stanley Kurtz. Did someone say something about “digital brownshirts?” In the best tradition of Saul Alinsky.

  
  

• Washington Times – EDITORIAL: The new ‘digital brownshirts’

  Where is Al Gore when you need him? Three years ago, the former vice president blasted “digital brownshirts” who “harass and hector any journalist who is critical of the president.” He meant the mortal threat to the Republic of bloggers and angry Republican e-mailers. But times change, and the digital legions are greater nowadays on Mr. Gore’s side. Thus we don’t hear much fretting at all about the Obama Action Wire, which, unlike the brownshirts of yore, is actually managed by Barack Obama’s campaign to muzzle critical media. Here’s how it works. A message goes out over Barack Obama’s Web site with the names, phone numbers and e-mails of editors and producers foolish enough to host Obama critics. With Mr. Obama’s extensive digital following, and his extensive fund-raising and contact lists, shutting up the Democratic nominee’s critics with a fraction of Mr. Obama’s millions of supporters is relatively simple. The digital legions plug phone lines, crash servers and intimidate the advertisers of these media outlets. This must be another instance of the “new” politics that Mr. Obama frequently talks about.

  
  

• Faultline USA: Obama’s Marxist Boot Camps

  
  

• Time Magazine Announces ‘National Service’ Lobbying Campaign | NewsBusters.org

  tags: hitlers-youth, obama, brownshirts

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