Guns, body-slams, and flamethrowers, oh my!

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     September 19, 2023 Hello, this is associate editor Jacob Rosenberg, with a brief cameo as newsletter writer, instead of editor. Over the weekend, I saw a story that caught my interest. In Missouri, two state senators got some flamethrowers and [lit up empty boxes]( that represented the policies of their opponents. At first, there was some confusion. A bit of misinformation spread that the politicians were engaged in literal book burning. Nope. State Senator Bill Eigel, who is running for governor of Missouri, explained they were only burning "leftist policies." (Eigel did add that, of course, if "you bring those woke pornographic books to Missouri schools to try to brainwash our kids...I’ll burn those too.") With such an act, Eigel enters a tradition of politicians who, as part of their campaign, have used a deadly weapon against the policy agenda of their opponent. For a blog today, I listed the [examples]( I could find. It expands on another such list, now a decade old, from my colleague Tim Murphy noting politicians "[blowing things up](." As we get closer to the campaign season for 2024, this sort of silliness will abound. It makes political fights seem ridiculous and detached from reality. But we know that our government institutions do not function or traffic in such triviality. I was reminded of that this morning while reading a [fantastic piece]( from Kristin Jones on how social workers are dealing with the moral hazard of working for child protection service agencies. Jones' piece takes us inside truth-telling sessions in which workers discuss how their jobs, ostensibly to help children, have meant they often aid the state in separating families. It follows great work we've published in the past asking if we need to [abolish child protective services](. This [piece]( from Molly Schwartz, published in 2020, on the battle against a “family destruction system" in New York City is still incredible. —Jacob Rosenberg Advertisement [Book Unbottled: The Fight against Plastic Water and for Water Justice]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [A Brief History of Politicians Shooting, Flamethrowing, and Generally Using Deadly Weapons in Campaign Ads]( Including a gator. BY JACOB ROSENBERG SPONSORED CONTENT FROM ANIMAL OUTLOOK   The landscape of farming is changing Take AIM at the injustices of animal agriculture. When you join Animal Outlook's Animal Impact Makers (AIM) with a monthly donation, you become part of a support system that exposes the cruelty of farms and slaughterhouses, holds corporations accountable, and builds a culture that rejects commodifying animals. Let's end Big Ag. [Support Cruelty Investigations.]( [Trending] [Climate protesters arrested en masse at Federal Reserve Bank]( BY DHARNA NOOR   [FEMA aims to help underserved communities prep for climate havoc]( BY JAKE BITTLE   [J.D. Vance really wants you to believe he supports striking auto workers]( BY NOAH LANARD   [Trump schools Evangelicals on how to talk about abortion]( BY STEPHANIE MENCIMER Advertisement [Book Unbottled: The Fight against Plastic Water and for Water Justice]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [Child Protective Service Workers Share Their “Secret Truths That Haunt”]( A movement to change the child welfare system asks caseworkers to speak up. BY KRISTIN JONES [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755