Dear Editor,
The scandal going on among conservatives’ illegal effort to unseat Dottie Greer in the city of St. Charles is typical of it’s highly volatile brand of infighting among it’s politicians but it surprises the real world enough to make headlines. Yet, amazingly, Post Dispatch right-wing columnist John Sonderegger completely ignores this scandal that may wind up in arrests of some of his associates by the County Sheriff. Instead, he writes a column bragging about Conservative politicians and himself watching one of the most corrupted news services in the history of media distortion and corporate monopolization.
It boils down to corrupt politicians and a corrupt Conservative City council recall effort being ignored in favor of bragging about a corrupt news service. Yet, in spite of their own headline, the Post-Dispatch publishes this partisan columnist that is condoning it by ignoring it. The problem intensifies by the fact that this is the guy that attends all the council meetings in most of the St. Charles County municipalities and reports on their exploits which lends a highly suspect spin to what should be factual reporting. I realize the newspaper is trying to be balanced and wants to sell newspapers in a highly conservative county but Sonderegger is so biased, it’s embarrassing. The Post should keep his column separated so readers won’t think he’s reporting facts and replace him with a real reporter for St. Charles Council meetings.
Joe Morice
O’Fallon, MO
Phyllis and Tony,
I wanted to let both of you know that this week's edition of the First Capitol News was out of the ballpark. It was one of the best editions I have ever read. I really appreciate you two being right on the top of things when it comes to stuff going on in St. Charles.
Have an excellent President's Day.
Louis Launer
P.S.--I appreciate what is being posted in the daily blog.
Received by e-mail and we were able to determine the author...
Dear Tony,
We'd really like to sign our names to this letter but St. Charles is a small county and we're not independently wealthy. Also, we like these folks, but apparently politics doesn't bring out the very best in some or all of us. If you have any questions, we'll write back. Since we're not signing we don't know how you can use this except for a laugh, but please feel free to do whatever with it. We're leaving the baby at the doorstep with this note. Here it is:
Dear First Capitol News,
We enjoyed Alex Spencer’s Chuckie Awards! But he/she missed a couple of spots. Mind if we join the fun with the UpChuckie Awards?
FOR WORST MAYOR IN ST. CHARLES COUNTY AND ST. CHARLES CITY HISTORY:
The Honorable Patti York, for substituting sex appeal for nearly everything.
SHE WINS AGAIN!
Republican Rich Chrismer as St. Charles County Election Authority, for playing footsie with the Diebold rep and spending about $1.5 million to purchase Diebold optical scan voting machines from a company that in 2003 promised to deliver the 2004 election to G.W. Bush. Chrismer says that the county was required by law to purchase the machines to replace punch card voting. Hey, that’s Rich! For months before the purchase he dodged requests for a meeting from the Rev. Dr. Judy Conoyer and others concerned that election fraud would be so much easier due to the machines hackability. Hey, Rich, can you explain the 98% returns in some St. Charles County precincts in 2004?
These days, Chrismer is making personal appearances at city halls and senior centers to explain the voting machines, but NONE are being demonstrated at local high schools to computer-savvy students, even though, thanks to Congress, a U.S. Army recruiter is on hand to encourage the students to enlist.
AND THE WINNER IS: It’s a TIE! DEMOCRACY is the loser on all counts.
FOR WORST REPORTER IN ST. CHARLES COUNTY
Jason Lee of the St. Charles Journal, for reporting that propositions and elections funded by wealthy Republicans who back Mayor York are “grassroots” efforts.
Mark Schlinkmann of the Post-Dispatch, for never examining the petitions to recall Greer or fellow council-member Mark Brown to see if they looked liked they had been signed by one person many times over. Schlinkmann also didn’t bother to interview residents in either Greer’s or Brown’s wards to determine if residents really wanted a chance to recall their council reps.
John Sonderegger, “Charleytown” columnist for the Post-Dispatch, for incessant public relations on behalf of Republican politicos, and for never, ever explaining to readers what’s REALLY going on. Well, maybe once, but his track record's so bad we're just not sure.
Steve Pokin, Journal columnist and reporter, ditto.
AND the envelope, pleaseâ! The WINNER is John Sonderegger, for mentioning Rory Riddler in a nasty way and Kevin Kast and T.R. Hughes in a nice way 1,000 times in the past year.
FYI
U.S. Senator Jim Talent hasn’t voted for anything to benefit wildlife or wilderness in so long -- maybe ever --that his promotion of the National Heritage Corridor at the confluence of the rivers is amazing.
What could be his motivation? Refer to paragraph seven, final sentence of an editorial in the Post-Dispatch on 2/22/06, ??But a national heritage designation would make the land eligible for up to $1 million a year in federal funds over 10 years, to be spent on river projects and programs??
Go to the Ducks Unlimited website and compare the map of local duck clubs to the proposed National Heritage Corridor map. They match up nicely. The land would not be opened up to the public.
The biggest duck clubs are private country clubs that, because of their location and participation in federal and state programs, get tax funds and tax breaks. Their privacy, proximity and lavish, rustic appointments, and guest services like guns, kennels filled with hunting dogs, boats, hummers, etc. and stuff to shoot (ducks, geese, quail, doves, pheasants) that duck clubs are the perfect place to lobby in the time-honored tradition of good ole boys. Women may have gained entrance to the golf course, but they don’t have similar access to duck blinds.
Great Rivers Habitat Alliance is a 501(c)3 organization run by very wealthy (probably all) Republican duck club owners like Adolphus Busch. GRHA gets public monies, including grants, for wetland and related projects. Members have purchased quite a few candidates in St. Charles County in the last two or three elections, and now are involved in the recalls of at least two pesky St. Charles officials -- Democrats, most likely.
President George W. Bush is an avid duck hunter. The ONLY environmental benefit he’s ever approved has been for wetlands. Vice president Cheney likes to shoot lawyers and quail.
