ForwardSTL News and Events for Monday, Feb. 20

Upcoming events from the ForwardSTL Calendar (go to the calendar for more details for each event):

6:15pm

St. Louis Capoeira Angola

7:00pm

Wrongful Convictions: Juan Melendez tells his story

7:00pm

Earthworms

8:00pm

Reality Now

8:30pm

2nd Annual Presidential Beard Party

8:30pm

Collateral Damage

Tuesday, February 21

8:00am

General Meeting at DUC 236

12:00pm

The Murdock Report

6:00pm

Training: Petitioning to Raise the Minimum Wage and Cap Payday Loan Interest Rates

7:00pm

CAMP Community Potluck

7:00pm

Visions of Common Ground: Land Use Evolution in Metropolitan St. Louis

8:00pm

General Meeting at DUC 236

Wednesday, February 22

12:00pm

Protest Roy Blunt's Attacks on Women

Thursday, February 23

5:30pm

Salute to Young Leaders

7:00pm

OUTgrads- February Happy Hour

7:00pm

The Great Northwest Documentary

Friday, February 24

8:00pm

(STL) Do For Self/Gya Art Gallery Presents "Mad Graphic

Click here for more calendar events...

News and Opinion (click through the link at ForwardSTL for the full stories)

Even More Blarney | Fired Up Missouri

Poll: Will Komen St. Louis Suffer From Recent National Controversy?

Televising court proceedings may not be all it’s cracked up to be | Gateway Journalism Review

Sen. Roy Blunt (r): trying to be too clever | Show Me Progress

Chouteau Mansion | St. Louis Patina

Akin says he supports I-70 tolls | Politicmo

U.S. House of Representatives Stall Bill that Would Eliminate Long-Term Transit Funding, Community Voices Heard Across the Nation | Next Stop STL

I answered your questions, now where’s my free cruise to the Bahamas? | Occasional Planet

CNN beating the drums for war against Iran |Dangerous Intersection

Government so Small it Fits in Your Bedroom | Fired Up Missouri

Anti-immigrant legislation in MO legislature | MIRA

New proposed State Senate map | MO PCRP

Editorial: GOP's add-ons to transportation bill provide a reality check | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Keeping us barefoot and pregnant | Occasional Planet

Santorum backer suggests ‘Aspirin between knees’ as birth control device (Video) | Ryan Witt, Examiner

Olbermann Destroy's Breitbart's Smears On The Occupy Movement (VIDEO) | St. Louis Activist Hub

Voting forum in St. Louis to follow new Selma march against 'voter suppression' | St. Louis Beacon

Global Economy Expanded More Slowly than Expected in 2011 | Sustainablog

Yes, Virginia, There’s a War on Women | Fired Up! Missouri

Lee Enterprises Uses Bankruptcy To Refinance | Gateway Journalism Review

Gathering opposition against making a deal with the Taliban | Vital Concerns

Utility Crews A Sign of Progress on Tucker Boulevard | Urban Review STL

Mobile Farmers Market Coming to Four Metro Locations | Next Stop STL

Please contact Eileen Evans if you'd like to receive real time notifications of events and news in the St. Louis region.

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Missing something? Please feel free to post in the comments.

Turner Report Catches KOMU Pushing Right-Wing Propaganda as Fact

Kudos to the Turner Report for calling out Columbia KOMU after KOMU pushed a story saying that Missouri ranked 47th on the American Legislative Exchange Council's ranking of the national schools. KOMU failed to do any basic research on what ALEC actually is, and instead just accepted the ranking as fact. However, ALEC is not some independent ranking agency, but rather an extremely partisan, agenda-driven organization that literally allows corporations to buy in and have legislation written and then passed off to state lawmakers. Here's the Nation's description of the group:

ALEC’s model legislation reflects long-term goals…making it harder to hold the economically and politically powerful to account. Corporate donors retain veto power over the language, which is developed by the secretive task forces. The task forces cover issues from education to health policy. ALEC’s priorities for the 2011 session included bills to privatize education, break unions, deregulate major industries, pass voter ID laws and more.

You can read more about ALEC's pernicious influence in Missouri at Progress Missouri.

This story reminds me of a recent incident where St. Louis Public Radio used a report from a restaurant front group to criticize the state's minimum wage. I don't know how long this trend has been going on, but it seems to me like the Right is getting better at pushing bad information to news outlets who uncritically report it as "fact" without bothering to research the groups.

Progress and Missouri, Together At Last

I'm very excited about a new organization that I think will change the face of politics in Missouri: Progress Missouri. They describe themselves as follows:

Progress Missouri is a multi-issue progressive advocacy organization that combines cutting edge online organizing and communications with rapid and hard-hitting earned media strategies. Year round, Progress Missouri will work to engage citizens from across the state around issues of immediate state or local concern.

The executive director of the group is Sean Soendker Nicholson, who did a fantastic job at Fired Up Missouri (named the best political blog in Missouri by the Riverfront Times). And they already are perfectly on message in my opinion, asking people to get involved by making sure that Republicans don't dismantle Medicare.

Since I've been here, Missouri politics has always seemed to lack a cohesive and organized progressive voice, held back by internal politics, powerful regressive forces, and a lack of a strategic plan. I think Sean has shown a great ability to be a uniter around the issues that matter to progressives. I hope you check out the group, sign up for their action alerts, and join them on facebook.