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Josh Hawley is my MO Senator. I am always pleasantly surprised when he acts in a reasonable and bipartisan manner, because it is few and far between. His normal manner is extreme. Right now his stance is that whatever extreme policy or nomination President Trump wants, Hawley supports.

Kick Palestinians out of Gaza, monetize the tragedy, and build hotels and casinos? Hawley loves it.

Completely unqualified nominees that will dismantle our government? Hawley votes for them.

I love bipartisanship. I only belong to bipartisan organizations. I believe it is the only path forward, and work for it in everything I do.

I know Sharon explained a little about Hawley, the coward that raised his fist in support of the insurrectionists on J6, then literally ran away from them when they stormed the Capitol. I’m just sharing more about him, because most of it is really bad, and people need to know as much as possible about him.

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Fellow MO here. Pleasantly surprised by Hawley’s cooperation on the items mentioned in the article. I wouldn’t have thought he was even capable. But to your point, his history and what he has or hasn’t done to the detriment of MO and the U.S. is appalling.

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He actually has done some common sense things in the past, so I knew he was capable. But exactly as you say, his overwhelming history is appalling and dangerous. I’ve called him the Destroyer of Democracy for a long time.

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He is a fascinating character to me as well. Enough so that I actually read his book last year just to try to understand his POV. It was extremely interesting to see how he correctly identifies problems with our society and where we are failing, but his beliefs about the source of those problems and the solutions is where he takes a hard right turn. His solutions are mostly extremely partisan and rooted in the belief that Christians are oppressed as a group. He really leans into his Christian nationalist beliefs a lot. But it was weird to read the book, finding myself agreeing with a lot of what he was saying then all of a sudden, his logic just takes a nose dive. I think Vivek Ramaswamy kind of falls into the same camp sans the Christian part.

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Thank you for your insight. That is interesting.

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Former Missourian here. When Hawley supports/sponsors a *progressive* bill, one has to ask, "why?" It certainly isn't because he suddenly came to his senses, and just wants to do the right thing. There's an angle. Either a close friend or family member has suffered the 'injustice' of the current law...or it's simply political (i.e. he stuck his finger in the air to see which way the wind was blowing.) Whatever the case--he is certainly not deserving of any accolades. Let's face it--there are many true centrist Republicans who would have been happy to co-sponsor this bill...and whose body of work would prove more credible than Josh Hawley.

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I think you just answered your “why” question. Look at all of us talking about him.

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He’s such a fascinating public figure to me. His solidarity with Jan 6/MAGA generally appalls me, but his populism often seems so right in line with progressive liberalism. He def seems like a prime example of the current shifting parties.

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And don’t forget his claim to be a Christian Nationalist.

7-8-24 “And some will say now that I am calling America a Christian nation. And so I am. And some will say I am advocating Christian nationalism. And so I do.”

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Ugh all is all I can say to that

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I say, “Vote him, and his fake populism, Out!”

And his unconstitutional Christian Nationalism, too.

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I read that Hawley's not a fan of spending US money in Gaza asking "what about America first?" Not sure where that came from exactly, but it gave me pause that he will actually listen when people express concern. I'm not saying his views are perfect (far from), but I am really surprised by the mention in this article. I'm also a MO constituent and a good amount of the time Hawley falls in line with Trump, but I think it will be important to praise him for the choices that are helpful and definitely let him know when his loyalty is betraying the people of our state and country.

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I’m gradually coming around to the offer of praise when warranted because the reality is we’re stuck with him until 2030/31🤦‍♀️

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Melissa, I tried to make an appointment with Hawley’s KC office today, but was told no appointments. So I tried my other US Senator. Because i couldn’t get through by phone to voice my opinions, I spent the morning in Eric Schmitt’s office talking to his staff with some League of Women Voter friends. The staffer was extremely helpful, so it was actually very positive.

Interestingly, he said the calls he’s been receiving are approx. 50-50.

Update of HJR54 hearing (reinstating MO’s abortion ban):

Over 70 testified in person.

Almost 2K submitted written testimony

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Yes, that all sounds fantastic. Unfortunately right now we have Donald Trump violating the constitution daily something he just swore on the Bible, not to do two weeks ago, Elon Musk and unelected person, deciding what’s wasteful spending willy-nilly on his own. Why are there no legal actions being taken. Maybe we could get Elon Musk to close some of the loopholes that he’s been taking advantage of for the last decade.

Where do we go from here? That’s what I wanna hear about. What are we doing to prevent the total restructure of our government we’ve lost control of the ship 🚢

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Psh! I'm beginning to think he didn't have his hand on the Bible during his swearing in because it would have burned him.

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This read gave me clarity and hope that behind the curtain of chaos, there are still people trying to do real bipartisan work. As someone mentioned, I was pleasantly surprised at some of the information shared here.

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This is encouraging. BUT we have seen bipartisan efforts before like last year’s immigration bill that Trump stopped even though he was not elected to anything. So often he only seems to want to “stick it to the Democrats” rather than accomplish anything positive for the American people. I hope we begin to see more of this and that our Congress on both sides stops some of the insanity of EO.

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It’s refreshing to see this. Now if only we could get bipartisanship on stoping Elon Musk.

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Thank you for this information! Honestly the title gave me a sense of dread, but as I read I started to feel more hopeful that bipartisanship isn't dead and there are paths forward in working together and finding common ground.

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I found this article encouraging. It warms my heart that there are good faith efforts on both sides of the aisle. I mean, capping credit card interest actually protects consumers. I hope we can see more of this good faith bipartisanship moving forward.

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I just read that Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) posted on Facebook that the U.S. Senate phone system has been overwhelmed with around 1,600 calls a minute, in contrast to the 40 calls a minute it usually receives. Wonder if all those calls will have any effect.

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Governerds (and Sharon)! Asking in good faith - have y’all only been seeing a few (like five) IG stories in a day? I’m sure Sharon is absolutely swamped and mean no judgement but I remember her saying stories weren’t showing up for some people before and wasn’t sure if it was that or just fewer posts to begin with (compared to when she posts like 50 in a day haha). Working in social media has got to be grueling and so mentally taxing. (And to Sharon - we’re so grateful for you!)

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I hardly ever see Sharon's posts anymore, though I always like/love them. Very disappointing.

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I always see Sharon’s posts/stories I believe. But I also don’t follow very many people, so it’s easy to keep up.

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Unfortunately all the Executive orders and Elon Musk’s unlawful actions are taking away the powers of Congress. You think they would all want to keep their powers and not give them to Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Republicans are united in watching Democracy unravel before their eyes and they seem to be fine with it.

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Very much this. As Gabe mentions in this article, it would feel incredibly demoralizing to come to the table with a good faith funding bill while Congress is actively watching Musk and Trump bulldoze through government.

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How is what Musk is doing not legal?

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There’s a reason his actions have been stopped by courts already, but then he jumps to the next agency to do as much damage as possible until a lawsuit gets thrown at him and he has to stop. It’s very dangerous how willingly republicans are in all of this.

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Great post. Thank you, Gabe.

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Thank you for a little dose of hope in these tumultuous times.

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Enjoyed this article Gabe! Thank you for pointing out that cooperation is fruitful in DC.

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Bipartisanship brings me so much joy and hope. How I hope all of Congress grows up and learns to act like functioning adults and learns to work together. Bipartisan bickering helps no one.

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Bret Baier on Fox News has an excellent segment called Common Ground were he interviews a Democrat and a Republican lawmakers who are working on something together. You can listen to it as a podcast, you don't have to watch Fox News. I just find it interesting to hear what's being worked on behind the scenes with Congress!

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Thanks for sharing- I will check out the podcast. I love hearing from both democrats and republicans solving issues.

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I found this greatly encouraging - bipartisanship is not dead, it’s evolving.

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