Jason does nothing.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”- Unknown We are fortunate enough to live in a region that offers security and safety due to our community-mindedness, and the “looking out for your neighbors” principles engraved into the fabric of Ozarkian culture. However, sometimes an iniquitous event happens, and it shakes us to our core. Often it leaves us with more questions than answers and it puts our conventions to the test. So, when we see things in the news like Agape boarding school, Master’s Ranch, or LightHouse Christian Academy, we are not only surprised by it but often don’t understand how things like this happen in an area like ours. The answer is such heinous acts of depravity happen when our legislators refuse to hold anyone accountable for their actions. Our US Rep. Jason Smith is no exception to this rule. Like many of our state legislators- He too has remained silent on the abuse going on at least in two boarding “Schools” that are in our Congressional District 8. It’s been an “open secret” about the nefarious acts of cruelty at these types of places for the past 20 years and was able to remain open due to a lack of any kind of state oversight or regulations. To make it worse, Jason has had the ability to put an end to these institutions since 2005. When he was first elected to the Missouri House of Representatives. In fact, he sat on 3 different congressional committees in his short stint in the state house to introduce legislation against these places and make them safer for children. But did he? Nope! Instead, he remained silent while the victim count continued to rise. And now as a US Rep. he has the power to write legislation to prevent these things and to call on our state government like Eric Schmitt, the Attorney General, or Mike Parson, our Governor but has he? He absolutely has not in the 9 years he’s been in his congressional seat. And the schools are still operating despite the many calls to shutting them down and being investigated by the feds. So, it’s time to start holding our lawmakers accountable including Mr. Smith. It’s time to stop watching this kind of evil run amuck and look the other way. It’s time we get someone like Randi McCallian that will protect our most vulnerable and “at risk” members of society, and will take accountability seriously. J. Stewart Willow Springs