🧵Happy Columbus Day!

Columbus tested the sharpness of blades on Native people by cutting them in half, beheading them in contests and throwing others into vats of boiling soap. Often, infants were lifted from their mother’s breasts only to be dashed headfirst into large rocks In Cicao, everyone over 14 had to supply a thimble of gold dust every three months and were given copper necklaces as proof of their compliance. Those who did not fulfill their obligation had their hands cut off, which were tied around their necks while they bled to death.

🧵A man can present with an infection to an ER in any state and receive care.

A pregnant woman can present with an infection to an ER in 14 states with an abortion ban, and they will let her die.

This is a violation of the 14th amendment. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;

Republicans approve of the American farmer, but they are willing to help him go broke. They stand four-square for the American home--but not for housing. They are strong for labor--but they are stronger for restricting labor's rights. They favor minimum wage--the smaller the minimum wage the better. They endorse educational opportunity for all--but they won't spend money for teachers or for schools. They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine--for people who can afford them.

Republicans have run uncontested for years in rural districts across the country. We lost the plot when we ceded rural America thinking only the cities would need to carry democracy. Look to Missouri to see how that plan has worked.

That's why I work with Blue Missouri... We are a grassroots organization with over 800 members. We fund candidates running in even the most rural districts. We know the path back to sanity runs straight through previously uncontested seats and our members support the reddest districts. bluemissouri.org

Back in the 90s, before cell phones, and before the man or bear convo, I was heading home after a night class. I stopped for gas in Ft Smith, AR on the way back home to Ozark. A man at the gas station tried to talk to me while I pumped gas. I was not in the mood for chit chat... I smiled at him, but didn't respond. I wasn't rude, but I wasn't looking for a date. I went in to pay for my gas and he followed me. I told him I was married and he left the store. I paid for my gas and as I walked out, I saw him standing near my car. I got in and locked my door.

🧵The Franklin County, Arkansas detention center is holding two women without bond for trying to rescue a stray mama dog and several puppies from a house that was being demolished. The porch Collapsed during the demo breaking mama dog’s back. Two women were detained for criminal trespassing while recusing one dog. The remaining puppies under the porch were in danger and bystanders called 911 to stop the demo and rescue the puppies. Here is video of the incident.

I was recently invited to an event at an evangelical church. I attended it. While the soft Christian music was playing in the background, and group of women gathered together in fellowship, it started to feel comfortable and like home. I was on a little bit of a high when… standing next to a small gathering of women, I heard them speaking about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. My ears perked up and I was about to gush about the program, when one said she wouldn’t allow any of those books in her home. “Dolly is an immoral woman.” It was then

The Missouri GOP and their school privatization donors are scared of me. 🧵

A person sent me a $30 donation through ActBlue under a fake name. I received 7,800 small donations in that quarter. The MEC spent a year to investigate it to find out someone from Massachusetts sent it to me thinking it would be funny? Idk. When we were alerted to the donation we tried to refund it, but the MEC decided to investigate it because my former Representative wrote them to tell them to investigate. Thirty dollars. Yes, it was an oversight and we tried to correct it

I found out quickly when I ran for office that politics is a game to a lot in politics. It's not a game for me--it never was. I had several politicos write articles on me saying I couldn't win my race. Well, no shit? I live in a district that hasn't elected a Dem in 32 years, and has never elected a woman. These folks thought it was cute to point out that I was raising money for "no reason." Wtf.

The reason is because my community deserves representation. Because abortion and schools and roads and health care matter to us too. Because even though I'm

Declarations of Secession

South Carolina: "An increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery, has led to a disregard of their obligations, and the laws of the General Government have ceased to effect the objects of the Constitution" Georgia: "For the last ten years we have had numerous and serious causes of complaint against our non-slave-holding confederate States with reference to the subject of African slavery. They have endeavored to weaken our security, to disturb our domestic peace and tranquility..."

Did you know, a nominee for State House on the ballot increases the vote share for the top of the ticket by 1.5%?

In 2022, 40% of MO House seats had no Dem nominee on the ballot. 2.5 M Missourians didn’t have the option to vote for a Dem. We can't win if we don't compete. 1/6 You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. And for far too long, too many statehouse races have gone uncontested and unsupported. Democrats in these districts feel abandoned, ignored… forgotten. Meanwhile, GOP nominees get free passes.

It doesn’t have to be this way. 2/6

Republicans have controlled the Missouri legislature since 2002 and they've run this state into the ground. What’s their legacy after two decades in power?

Our roads are crumbling, 30% of Missouri public schools are on a 4-day school week, and ten rural hospitals have closed. Our rich Missouri farmland has been sold off to foreign interests and big-money monoculture corporations that openly funnel manure into our rural waterways – with the Missouri GOP's blessing. *The GOP overturned local control of CAFOs in 2019.

Missouri State Rep Josh Hulbert is “scholarship coordinator” for the Herzog Foundation, whose mission is to “accelerate the development of Christ-centered K-12 education.” Rep Hurlbert also serves on the Education Committee and filed six “school choice” bills.

Weird.



President of the Herzog Foundation is Todd Graves, whose brother is Congressman Sam Graves.

Todd Graves, a donor to Missouri AG Andrew Bailey, is currently being paid with taxpayer funds to represent Bailey in a lawsuit.

You see folks trying to rub my nose in the fact that I lost my race. But here’s why running matters: the GOP had to dump 100k in a race they haven’t thought of in a decade. The nominee had to stay home and knock doors. He was forced to talk about issues—to meet constituents. When we stop walking away from rural areas, we force the GOP to compete. We force them to spend money. We don’t let them save their cash and start attacking blue parts of the state. 40% of state house seats went uncontested last year and I’m in a mission to fix that by funding

Missouri is 50th in pay for teachers and state workers. We are 49th in educational funding. Our hospitals are closing and some pregnant women drive 90 miles for obstetric care. 13k kids are in foster care.

The issue my congressman spends time on? Chocolate milk. And on the 8th day, God created ARs.

I read Heather Cox Richardson's post yesterday about the existential crisis of the Republican Party. She states, "Since the years of the Reagan administration, the Movement Conservatives who wanted to destroy the New Deal state recognized that the only way they could win over voters, to slash taxes for the wealthy and cut back popular social programs, was by whipping up social issues to convince voters that Black Americans, or people of color, or feminists, wanted a handout from the government, undermining America by ushering in “socialism.”

You know me...I get so angry I'll show up with a sign and bullhorn. Join me if you can on July 21 across from the Herzog Foundation to protest school privatization and Corey DeAngelis' appearance. DeAngelis is employed by Betsy DeVos and has traveled the country meeting with... wealthy donors who are looking to make a buck privatizing schools. We can keep doing what we are doing or we can stand up for our kids and our local schools. There is no "choice" in rural Missouri. There are only defunded schools. Make a sign and join me in Smithville on 7/21/23

This was one of the articles written during my race. The author slammed me for raising too much money and not doling it out to other candidates who had a better chance. It wasn’t fair and here’s the thing, donors sent money to me to try to win my own race. missouriindependent.com/2022/11/02/has… But, now I’m actually doing the thing I was slammed for not doing. I’m raising money for down ballot Democratic candidates and…crickets. No one is writing articles. No one is calling. No one cares, except for y’all. You know hard work isn’t sexy. It’s dressed in overalls.

🧵This is problematic and I’ll tell you why: only focusing on “flippable” seats has been a disaster in Missouri. 40% of House seats went uncontested because “that district is too red to flip.” Knee-jerk reactions to a supermajority make folks lose sight of rural districts…

https://twitter.com/brent_peabody/status/1668614195682615296

When we stopped competing everywhere, we gave Republicans a free pass to the State House. Once they are there, it’s even more difficult to get them out. The long term plan is to run everywhere. Fund candidates in every single race across the state. No more free passes.

There was a very proud Republican in the group of Democrats that I spoke to last night. I assume my talk was a little upsetting to him so he came to talk to me afterwards. I am accustomed to speaking to devout Republicans, so it went fine, but let me tell you something… A Republican in a very red district isn’t accustomed to folks talking back. When you ask them point blank about the propaganda they spout, they can’t go any further than a talking point. He was a nice man, but he was stuck on “culture war” crap. He said, there’s only

I'm driving 5.5 hours today to talk to a group in rural MO...I'm speaking on book bans, but more than that, I'm energizing rural Dems. I'm talking about the 40% of seats that went unopposed last year. I'm trying to fund candidates, and you can help. bluemissouri.org Most of our grassroots donors give $15-$20 per month. We have monthly member meetings to talk and uplift each other. We give 100% of your donation to down ballot candidates--these folks often struggle to raise enough for the basics. We have their back. bluemissouri.democracyengine.com/join_missouri