For me, this postcard represents the very best of Kansas City.
It seems to be produced for the 1950 KCMO centennial celebration and captures so much of this town's history in one image. There's a view of the streets and even a hint at art deco architecture which represented a bustling metropolis and the pinnacle of KC's political and cultural influence on the national stage.
That time has passed but the image and the ideas lives on for people who truly understand the legacy of this consistently violent, corrupt, divisive cowtown that has always been nothing more than a way station to better places. This dirty little town is separate from the Midwest and the good people of the American Heartland. Kansas City has always been a place where gangsters, prostitutes, politicos and lowlifes of every sort prey upon the weak or willfully naive who don't know how things really work.
The past is prologue to our place in local history.
But I digress . . .
2020 is important in the history of KCMO and the nation.
We have a few ideas about how we want to clean up, improve and change this dump. Nothing lasts forever and what we want is to improve the conversation without ruining the spirit of this blog that has always been snark, gossip, breaking news, insider perspective, typos and a great deal of attitude.
And so we throw it back to our blog community . . .
HOW CAN WE IMPROVE THE POLITICAL DISCOURSE IN KANSAS CITY?!?!
Social media is rigged. FB is the Walmart of political information and Twitter is just a glorified message board that's only good for meeting stalkers, fellow losers or boosting the morale of C-list journalists.
The newspaper is no longer a daily and they're dedicated mostly to saving their jobs and transitioning to non-profit status paid for by the DNC and corporate handouts.
American Public Square does really great work. They put on wonderful events at the library and offer people a rare opportunity to discuss issues in a civil and thoughtful manner. Their conversations are exciting, informative and benefit everyone who attends.
In our little corner of the Internets we host some of the smartest people in Kansas City who consistently share info BEFORE local news knows what to make of it. Even better, our TKC blog community offers a REAL ALTERNATIVE from the mainstream and a place where "weird" ideas can flourish before they're ready for prime time.
And so, feel free to share ideas to improve this dump, criticize those ideas and offer suggestions for how we can do our part to liven up the local conversation that is no longer controlled by a handful of boring, corporate media dudes.
You decide . . .