Messenger Column Condemns Republicans For Trans Crackdown Distraction

For what it's worth . . . We don't think our GOP friends are completely out of line for their concern over experimental surgery and unproven treatments . . . Reasonable people want to protect youngsters from pseudo-scientific fads that are driven by ideology more than peer-reviewed research. 

However . . . 

Let's not pretend that there isn't a political advantage to picking a fight with youngsters and a statistically small subset of the population. 

Here's a passage that makes an important point that, nevertheless, shouldn't dissuade those who are truly hoping to protect youngsters . . . 

This is the state of Republicans “standing up for kids” in Missouri: our K-12 schools and our colleges are among the lowest funded in the nation — but Smith, Rowden and others are still seeking to slash corporate taxes.

Missouri kids live in poverty at a higher rate than the national average. Missouri’s rate of children in foster care is among the highest in the nation. And, of course, children are dying in the streets because of gun violence, yet Missouri Republicans want to add more guns to the equation.

It’s easier to fight made-up straw men — CRT, DEI, ESG, or the scourge of anybody who is different — than it is to solve Missouri’s very real problems.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Messenger: Nothing says 'standing up for Missouri kids' like erasing them

State Sen. Caleb Rowden wrote something the other day that falls under the category of "interesting, if true." Rowden, a Republican, is the president pro tem of the Missouri Senate. Here is what he posted to Twitter after Senate Republicans passed a bill that seeks to end gender-affirming care for transgender children in Missouri.