My wife collected signatures for the constitutional amendment banning eminent domain for private gain. WeCan people came up to my wife and asked to look thru her petitions. The told her that if they found no Missouri Civil Rights Initiative petitions they would leave her alone. She let them look thru her stuff, they found nothing and they didn’t harass her further.

I personally was harrassed by these thugs dressed in their gang colors. They screamed, yelled, threatened myself as well as people signing petitions.
I made the remark to one particularly large scarey man of the three that tailed me everywhere I went (I am a 5ft. 2 inch 58 year old woman), that if people like him were the ones that affirmative action programs benefit, then perhaps we should look into banning everything. These people weren’t educating anyone, they used scare tactics–threatening one elderly lady signing by telling her that the picture they snapped of her with their phone camera would be spread all over the internet as a racist. They were paid thugs, nothing more. But what would one expect from ACORN who’s own people have been indicted for voter registration fraud. Making up false voter registrations so they padded their pay checks. Yup, this is a wonderful society isnt’ it.

The real “thug(s)” are wealthy out-of-staters who try to change Missouri laws!!

By using legal, peaceful, and democratic means? Yeah, that’s thuggery alright.

If a conservative group physically and verbally intimidated petitioners, the PD would spend the next six months in high dugeon, But when so-called progressives use fascist bullying to get their way, the Post doesn’t bat an eye. Nuts to fascist thugs and the press that supports them.

#2,
I am one of those ‘thugs’ except I am a 26 year old man, who lives in St. Louis and volunteered my time to keep this off the ballot. As soon as I found one of these petitions and I started flyering, 8 people from Ward Connerly’s army showed up, 4 with cameras that they kept following me around with. I finally had to call the police because they would not get the camera’s out of my face.
So honestly, stories like you and I tell probably happened on both sides. That tends to happen in heated debates.
To make sure this doesn’t continue to happen in Missouri I think the MO legislature should actual act on one of the many proposals put forth to reform the process. My favorite would be to only allowing Missouri residents to petition to change Missouri’s constitution. Maybe that would keep the out of town money and out of town bullies at bay. It would certainly mean there wouldn’t be these petitioners on every street corner in every town.

The fact that ACORN spent so much time and energy defeating this proposal sends a strong message that it actually had a good chance of passing and thus had the merits to be on the ballot. Personally, I would sign any petition that had merit to give it its day at the ballot box. Signing the petition only says that you are for putting this on the ballot so that the entire state can decide on the issue and not that you are voting for the proposal. ACORN just set itself up for battle for another day by not allowing this on the ballot then campaigning for its defeat, because this issue will probably come back up sometime and sooner than if it was defeated at the ballot box instead on the street.

Hard to feel sympathy for our local community activists when they react so viruently to something as innocuous as a petition drive. Remember that the next time time they whine about the supposed lack of democracy.

LLS is the perfect racist example for why we need affirmative action. “gang colors”, really?

#8 - How so?

Mr. Connerly’s proposed ballot measure is a mirror image of the wording and promise of the 1964 Civil Rights Act which made it illegal to discriminate against, or grant preference to anyone on the basis of race, color, sex, ethnicity or national origin. Unfortunately, various courts, universities and municipalities ignored that promise and instituted systems of race-based systems of preverential treatment.

As a consequence after decades of race preferences in school admissions, hiring and contract awards, those people with their snouts in the “affirmative action” trough do not want to give up the freebies, and attempt to live by a color blind system operating on the basis of the equal treatment guaranteed in our Constitution.

From the context clues of LLS’ statements, these “thugs” could qualify for affirmative action meaning they must be of some minority. LLS assume that because these “thugs” are of a minority race and wearing certain colors that they must be gang members. And to #10… I’m for affirmative action and would never be able to qualify for those “freebies”. Get a clue if you think we live in a color blind society.

Funny how you can discern context from an incident you were not a witness to yet dismiss the first hand account of the person who was actually there.

I can think of other terms that accurately describe someone with either a rational or irrational fear of other people, but racist isn’t one of them. Do you even know what the word means?

You’re right. I only have LLS’ story to go by. Please share your other terms. I hope LLS can also explain her reasons for being against affirmative action.

#7,
How is standing next to people pushing a petition and explaining how you are opposed to such an initiative anything but democratic? It seems like this entire event has just engaged more people to actually think about their constitution and the democratic process, which seems great to me.

You first. Define racist. Here’s a hint - it does not describe someone opposed to affirmative action or other policies that favor one race over another.

is there some collective agreement that a level playing field exists therefore affirmative action is no longer necessary? there is simply way too much objective information showing that discrimination based on race is still a serious problem (access to quality education, death penalty rates, being denied a job or apartment cuz you’ve got one of those funny black sounding names, etc., etc.)

certainly affirmative action gets abused, like everything else humans do, but the continuing need for efforts to correct past and current discrimination is obvious to anyone who actually looks.

Responding to #11
Perhaps you’d be less likely to favor “affirmative action” if you had been denied a job, promotion, or universtiy admission simply because you did not fall into one or more “protected minority” classification.

As for the term “affirmative action,” one wonders why that benign euphemism is in use. Could it be that the more accurate description, race, sex, and ethnic preferences would not sit well?

By favoring the concept of so-called affirmative action, contributor #11 evidently favors negating the promise of not only the 1964 Civil Rights Act, but the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment as well. Unfortunately for that position, we are supposed to be a Nation of Laws, laws designed to hold us together.

To deny the promise of the above-mentioned legislation is to start down the road to anarchy.

I am SO glad to hear that racial discrimination has survived here in Missouri. I can imagine the combined orgasmic response of the PD’s “editorial board” when they didnt file their paperwork to do away with institutionalized racial discrimination.

The truth is that Missourians took to the streets to tell voters what the initiative was all about, and voters overwhelmingly said no to Connerly and the petitioners. These petitioners make money per signature, and Connerly raised and spent big money to try to change Missouri’s constitution, even though he doesn’t live here and won’t have to live with the results of his “initiative.” Connerly is a dangerous rich man from California, and most of his signature gatherers were hired thugs trying to get your signature with a pick up line. Missourians don’t like to be told what to do with our constitution, and we sure don’ t like outsiders lying to us, so of course they failed. Now they slink home and we celebrate the victory of Missouri voters’ common sense.

Earth to Amy: Missourians were denied the ability to vote on this issue. A petition drive is not an election. The majority of people who “took to the streets” were the goons from ACORN and their supporters. When Missourians actually get a chance to vote on this, and we will in the near future, I fully expect liberal heads like yours to explode. Bring paper towels.

We’re going communist! For the love of God, this was a petition. The fun new political word is voter educator. These blocker thugs knew nothing about the issue to educate anyone. Decline to Sign…read their handbills. That’s third world. Think before you Ink on the other hand is always a good idea. Read Bill Hannegans post. Sounds like gestapo rifleing through petitions and approving what you may or may not say. Wake up people. The only reason you don’t use your “voter educator” aka thugs to educate before the vote is because you fear your message won’t sell. Shame on you.
By the way, the new legislation will stop the process all together. Then Acorn/WeCan/Jobs for Justice will have to go find real work or resort back to voter fraud.