Does TKC have the right to slap any unfortunate soul who approaches his door?

If I know Darla Jaye, and I most certainly do . . . Then undoubtedly she's going to take hold of the most recent juicy bit of the Semler story like a dog with a bone (heh) and play up a pretty inconsequential detail for her crowd of mostly white, affluent, elderly, predominately male audience who are rarely interested in an opinion different from theirs - I read the Arbitron numbers and that's a fairly accurate depiction of her audience.

The Star reports that the national chairman of the NAACP Julian Bond recently confirmed the organization is reconsidering holding its 2010 convention and that he believes Mayor Funkhouser should accept Parks Board/Minutemen Member Frances Semler's resignation. While some may be surprised by the NAACP's move, it just might have something to do with the fact that the Minutemen are notorious for distributing hate literature, hosting recruitment for other hate groups at their meetings and rallies and the fact that generally the Minutemen and more virulent racist groups are basically cut from the same cloth.

But Darla may not mention all of that, in fact, in order to sell out her own Italian-American heritage and obfuscate the anti-Immigrant sentiment her forebearers faced, Darla will probably get stuck on the detail regarding a group of local Union and Church leaders paying a visit to the home of the Minuteman Member/Parks Board in order to hand deliver a letter asking her to step down. TKC was the first to break this story and the only media outlet that has revealed the contents of the letter.

So far, I've received a lot of reaction to the letter through comments and e-mails and what impressed me most was the hypocrisy of right wing reactionaries in regard to a simple piece of paper placed at the door of a woman who belongs to a group that CARRIES GUNS along the border during their vigilante volunteering efforts. Apparently, it's perfectly all right for a group of predominantly white males with guns to exercise their "freedom" to play neighborhood watch in the desert or racially profile people here in the Midwest but when another group of law abiding minorities wants to save money on a stamp and drop off a letter than suddenly the topic of "intimidating tactics" is raised. Riiiiiiight. Nearly every other week in my neighborhood some d-bag with a camera comes down and takes photographs of all of the mojados waiting for work on the corner while I inadvertently end up in the photos as well as I make my way to buy a burrito and a 2 liter of Dr. Pepper on the Boulevard. So spare me the indignation routine . . . It just makes the Mintuemen backers look just as misguided as a Senator taking a "wide stance" in a public restroom. And while I don't agree with the door knocking tactic, it's clear that the Minutemen were the first to use intimidation as part of their rhetoric and now they're cowering in fear of a piece of paper.

Even better, Mayor Mark "One term at best" Funkhouser continues to back this old lady with all of his might despite the fact that he has stated time and again that he doesn't agree with her politics. So what's the motivation? It couldn't be loyalty considering his PR flack Joe Miller is about one mistake from the door and has already been demoted and it's hard to believe Ms. Semler has so much standing in the Northland that she isn't replaceable by somebody with an equal amount of political clout but maybe isn't so obvious with their intolerance. Obviously the guy is just being stubborn and his brush off of the Latino community is equally laughable:

He “fervently hopes” the NAACP and La Raza conventions would come to Kansas City, but he said his constituents would not want him to allow groups from outside of Kansas City to dictate his appointments.

“I think if they (NAACP and La Raza) would look at our record as a city, they will find it is good, and if they look at my record beyond this particular issue … they will find my record is good,” Funkhouser said.

Outside of Kansas City? That's not only an insult but also it's absolutely incorrect, this controversy started when Latino leaders FROM KANSAS CITY expressed their concerns and were blown off by The Mayor. Additionally,

MAYOR FUNKY HAS NO RECORD WHEN IT COMES TO THE LATINO COMMUNITY.

I have absolutely no idea what the guy is talking about when referring to his "record" with the Latino community considering he has virtually no experience when it comes to community involvement and his only achievement to date has been a couple of token hires while Latinos are grossly underrepresented at City Hall and have been all but excluded as a legitimate topic of discussion (drop out rate? Hello?) from his upcoming educational summit.

And before the call-in cowards (like myself) ask for Mayor Funky "to stand up" to La Raza . . . Let's remember that only a few short months ago Funkhouser WENT HAT IN HAND TO ASK FOR THE SUPPORT OF LA RAZA POLITICAL CLUB in order to win an incredibly close election. Now that their favor pushed him over the top, he has simply BETRAYED their trust and most if not all of that group regret having ever given him their support.

Strangely, I don't feel guilty at all for voting for Kathryn Shields in the primary and writing in my own name during the general election.

But what about this topic of door to door solicitation and unwanted knockers (he-he)?

Nearly everyday somebody I don't like knocks on my door. If the Mintuemen and their supporters are going to claim that these Union and Church people had no right to knock on this lady's door then let's see if their argument stands up to logic:

If you can prohibit people from knocking on your door then am I allowed to slap one of those young, female cookie pushers because thin mints are delicious but full of carbs that wreck my girlish figure? Is it okay to jam a knife into the eye of a Jehovah's Witness because I like to sleep in on Saturdays and couldn't possibly give up my favorite holiday of Halloween? Are people who are offended by unwanted door knockers saying that I am well within my rights to boot those short broads wearing brown and their mothers off my doorstep because I feel like the use of brown berets is copyright infringement. Am I allowed to open fire on somebody handing out flyers? Surely not . . . As usual the double standard touted by the anti-immigrant crowd when it comes to door knocking is only intended to thwart the efforts of people of color.

And a double standard is what we see from so many idiots who castigate the NCLR for wanting to take their money elsewhere.

Apparently, anti-immigration activists want to round up brown people by the millions, pass laws deriding and punishing anyone who speaks Spanish, pursue an anti-Latino agenda BUT THEN EXPECT TO PROFIT FROM LATINO ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION AT THE SAME TIME.

Put simply, the anti-immigrant crowd wants to spit in the face of all Latinos and then demand their money.

No thanks, I'm sure they can find a better deal somewhere besides a town that stands with a hate group .

And that's what it's about isn't it? Putting your money where your mouth is . . . The Mayor is stubbornly putting KC's interests in the corner of a anti-immigrant, anti-Latino group mistakenly believing that the mostly suburban and white call-in guests of talk radio accurately represent the people of Kansas City Proper. Meanwhile the Sprint Center and the P&L District desperately want to attract as much business as possible and will undoubtedly suffer if Kansas City is cast as a town that is unfriendly to people of color and intolerant in general.

The PR nightmare from Funkhouser's stubborn, inexplicable stance could cost Kansas City many more millions at a crucial juncture in KC's "renaissance" when bad press could derail the costly developments that affect Kansas City's future. Once again, Funkhouser has not only refused to change his mind but has offered little in the way of explanation or reasoning behind his decision. This issue has become too big for Funkhouser to continue stonewalling given how much money is on the line for this town; the new Mayor promised transparency and on this topic he has not delivered.

If supporting Semler is worth alienating entire communities, costing the City millions and jeopardizing the image of Kansas City then at the very least Funkhouser needs to further explain his position.

So far, on this topic, Mayor Funkhouser's refusal to explain why this appointment is so important and why he must have this way on this issue has done nothing but bring incredible animosity, division and hostility to Kansas City.