Sigh.

For a couple of days last week, it was great to know that Missouri could garner national attention for something other than being a complete embarrassment, but I suppose we all knew that at some point in time, the crazy would return. This time around, Missouri is on the front page of the Huffington Post for Sarah Steelman supporters - including her son! - who applauded the remark by a tea party activist who called for the killing of "Claire Bear."

Sen. Claire McCaskill appeared on the Colbert Report last night to discuss the "SpookyPAC" money that is flooding onto the Missouri airewaves in an effort to defeat her.

Compare this statement from John Brunner: "There is no place for this type of rhetoric in politics, and I stand against the unconscionable comment that was made regarding Senator McCaskill."

to this jaw-dropping move from Sarah Steelman: "Steelman came to Boston's defense, blaming the 'liberal media' that, she says, employs a double-standard when it comes to covering political rhetoric that contain a hint of violence."

Birther Tim Jones (R-Eureka), future Speker of the Missouri House, wants to you think that all Muslims are terrorists:

After all, we should paint all Muslims with the same brush, since they all clearly believe in bombing others, right?  Just like we should blame all Catholics for the bloody wars they engaged in during the Crusades, right?  Don't all Catholics, like Jones, condone the mass killings that took place in the name of their religion?

An update on the ever-evolving Rush Bust story.  The latest evolution is that Speaker Tilley "has no idea" whether or not the Rush Bust is in the capitol.

First, the sculptor blogged that he was bringing both the Dred Scott and Rush Limbaugh busts.

Then he edited his blog to say he was only bringing the Dred Scott bust, that not before the capitol started buzzing with news that the Rush bust was en route.

In answer to an inquiry by the Post Dispatch, Speaker Tilley's office claimed that only the the Dred Scott bust was on its way to the Capitol today.

Now, finally, Speaker Tilley himself has chimed in on the fracas saying that he "has no idea" whether the sculptor brought both busts.

The takeaway from this hullabaloo?  Even being one of the most powerful men in the legislature, Speaker Tilley has no clue what's going on in his own House.  Par for the course, I guess.

Today, in a party line vote, Missouri's junior senator, Roy Blunt, sided with fellow republicans to double student loan interest rates effective July 1.  Of course, Blunt and other republicans claim that they are opposed to the rate hike, but they want to pay for it in a different way than proposed by Senate Democrats which would tax the earnings of private corporations - large, multinational corporations (like Exxon and their billion dollar profits, GE and their billion dollar profits) some of whom haven't paid a dime in taxes in years.

You might ask yourself, "How do republicans want to pay for this program and keep student loan interest rates from doubling?"

Well, instead of asking large, private corporations to pay their fair share, republicans want to eliminate the funding for a preventive health care program.  You read that right.  Republicans think that asking corporations to pay their fair share is too much to ask, but eliminating funding for preventive health care programs is totally ok.

Clearly, Blunt and his ilk are bought and sold by the US Chamber of Commerce and the American Bankers Association and have no interest in actually voting in the interests of their actual constituents.

Shame.

UPDATE: Post Dispatch reporter Elizabeth Crisp is reporting that Speaker Tilley's office is saying only the Dred Scott bust is on its way to the Capitol.

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Because the legislature clearly isn't as dysfunctional as it could possibly be, word on the street is that the bust of blowhard-in-chief, Rush Limbaugh, is en route to Jefferson City for installation in the Capitol.

Congrats to Sen. Jean Carnahan for topping the St. Louis bestseller list for the week ending April 29, as compiled by the St. Louis Independent Booksellers Alliance and based on sales at Left Bank Books, Main Street Books, Pudd'nhead Books, Subterranean Books and Sue's News.  

The Riverfront Times has all the details -- check it out here.  (And you can order your copy here!)

Holy wow, this is a lot of crazy in one place: Herman Cain, Alan Keyes, Rev. CL Bryant, Dr.Gina Loudon, Mark Block, Alfonzo Rachel, Dee Rock, William Temple, K.Carl Smith, Dave Roland, Stacy Swimp, Darin Chappell, Michelle Moore, Joseph Farah – CEO of WND, Selena Owens and Stacy E. Washington, spokesperson for Dave Spence.