TKC blocked by KCMO City Hall

I recently received an e-mail from a reporter employed by The Star informing me that my blog has been blocked at KCMO City Hall. The e-mail was a request for an interview which I hope still stands after I write this post but I thought my loyal readers (i.e. you d-bags) deserved to know first.

I guess the first thing that comes to mind is that the action is a sure sign that the Funkhouser Administration is without a doubt petty and averse to criticism. However, I guess I should note that I don't know where the block of my site originated from . . . It could be that City Manager Cauthen just doesn't like the "Cauthen Countdown" and this blog chronicling his last days of employment with the City. But I'm just gonna go ahead and blame Mayor Funky because the buck stops with him whether he likes it or not.

Also, it's good to know that my former buddy Joe Miller isn't looking out for me at all . . . As the Funky Communications Director his hand was probably somewhere in the decision.

And to put this in perspective . . . Let's remind you folks of one thing . . . Former Mayor Barnes never blocked this site!!!

And I was every bit as rough with her administration as I have been with the Funky regime.



But instead of making any kind of bold statement I guess what really comes to mind are a few questions:

How is enforcing what the "regular folks" at City Hall can and can't read the move of a real reformer?

Are the mayor and his staff so thin skinned that they have to run and hide from a joke/satire/sarcastic blogger?

What about the "regular folks" who comment on this blog or have sites that I link from time to time? I should note here that the Mayor's campaign worked the blogosphere pretty thoroughly during the election but now to start banning blogs seems as YET ANOTHER betrayal of the things he said he believed in before the election. By the way, if he was just gonna ban people like me for practicing free speech and freedom of the press maybe I wouldn't have produced a video for him.

And for his supporters: How does this kind of censorship or at the very least thwarting of citizen media, citizen voices distinguish the mayor from any other politician?

And with this one I'm not asking anybody to stand with me or support me in any kind of cause . . . I'm sure that the people who want to read my site at City Hall can find another way to access this blog either at home or through a mobile device. But, in the end this action must ultimately be answered for by the Mayor's administration (dun-dun-dun!!!!) and makes it seem as if the only free speech Mayor Funky endorses is the kind that supports him.

Also . . .It's pretty damn gully and hardbody that this block of my blog proves the TKC is the most alternative of all local media outlets . . . In the Mayor's defense I guess I should note that maybe it was just an attempt to bolster productivity given that his staff wasn't getting any work done because they were spending all day trolling my comments . . . I hear they have the same problem at The Pitch.

TKC posts a lot of rude remarks, crass jokes, funny photos from the internet, scantily clad celebrity models but every now and then there is a bit of information on this blog about topics that have an impact on Kansas City and I do my best to provide a forum and encourage criticism & commentary from anyone about every topic I cover . . . Mayor Funky blocking this site only makes him blind to what thousands of people in Kansas City are reading every day . . . And it's just kinda sad that the former bean counter has progressed this far in City government without learning that "problems" (people?) won't go away simply because you (try to) ignore them.