Controversey In KCMO

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Controversey In KCMO; Minutemen/Women in KC
Tweet Topic Started: Sep 7 2007, 07:37 PM (300 Views)
Sibs	Sep 7 2007, 07:37 PM Post #1
Ruler of the Hill Posts: 781 Group: Member Member #56 Joined: November 19, 2006	http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics/story/264374.html Frances Semler, who is a member of the Minutemen, is on a Park Board in KCMO. In the beginning there were people asking her to step down because of her affiliation with the Minutemen. The Mayor stood by her and wouldn't accept her resignation. That seemed to settle down and then LaRaza and the NAACP decided they didn't want to bring their conventions to KC because she's on the Park Board. This has been discussed here on two different radio programs, on two different radio stations. I am proud to say that the Mayor of KCMO said he stands behind her and too bad if they don't want to come here, he stands by what he believes and he believes she will be an asset. It's almost like we've got someone in politics here that actually has some principles! I'm also proud to say that by and large the majority of callers to both stations said they were proud of the Mayor for standing by her and who cares if these two groups don't want to come here. I know this puts the Mayor in a bad situation because of city budgets and tourism, but I'm proud of him.



gobblerblaster	Sep 7 2007, 08:02 PM Post #2
gobblerblaster Posts: 3,284 Group: Member Member #136 Joined: January 23, 2007	Thats great Sibs A politician standing behind a patriot with fortitude. Will the miracles never cease?



Toothless Dawg	Sep 8 2007, 07:38 AM Post #3
Ruler of the Mountain Posts: 4,826 Group: Member Member #22 Joined: August 25, 2006	Linda, That is refreshing to hear. Thanks for keeping us informed. As for La Raza? Let them have their convention in mexico city!!! I'm surprised they didn't want to have it in LA where they have supporters.



Duke	Sep 8 2007, 11:04 AM Post #4
Duke Posts: 1,243 Group: Member Member #19 Joined: August 22, 2006	Sibs, That is the kind of report that is uplifting and makes one proud to read, good for the Mayor and the supporters in KC., Mo. Thanks to the Minute Men also. The NAACP and LaRaza/The Race are the ones that don't want to have their conventions there, good not to have them around as far as I'm concerned. Thanks, Duke



legitlinda	Sep 8 2007, 11:11 AM Post #5
Ruler of the Mountain Posts: 2,746 Group: Member Member #29 Joined: September 6, 2006	Toothless Dawg,Sep 8 2007 05:38 AM Linda, That is refreshing to hear. Thanks for keeping us informed. As for La Raza? Let them have their convention in mexico city!!! I'm surprised they didn't want to have it in LA where they have supporters. Thanks Dawg, but that was Sibs's post.... and yes it is very refreshing to hear that someone is finally standing up to those thugs. Great post Sibs and hats off to the mayor and board member.



Almtnman	Sep 8 2007, 02:19 PM Post #6
Administrator Posts: 5,413 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: December 22, 2004	I find it odd that the NAACP would have a problem with someone that was a volunteer for an organization that only wants to protect our borders. But seeing some of the recent comments from them, I think maybe who is in charge there now doesn't have their thinking cap on. I can see where LaRaza has a problem as they want to take our country away from us. I wish LaRaza would boycott my whole state(the entire US would be better) as I don't think they are for the best interest of our country.



Toothless Dawg	Sep 8 2007, 06:27 PM Post #7
Ruler of the Mountain Posts: 4,826 Group: Member Member #22 Joined: August 25, 2006	James, I've had questions about the NAACP and their agenda for many years. It seems to go beyond 'equal rights'. Now I see them taking the role of the communist/socialists, ACLU, and the unions. I believe they all are beginning to work for the other side and bring down the country ... OR ... they don't 'INTEND' to bring down the country but just want to get theirs before the country falls. Of course, what they don't know is they are contributing to their own eventual demise.



Almtnman	Sep 9 2007, 05:35 AM Post #8
Administrator Posts: 5,413 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: December 22, 2004	I think you have a good point. I have talked with some folks that the NAACP is supposed to represent and apparently they don't know the feelings of their own folks. The ones I have talked with have a big time problem with illegal immigration and our lack of border security. What the NAACP needs to focus more on is crime in their own neighborhood as it's running rampant in some parts.



Toothless Dawg	Sep 9 2007, 08:53 AM Post #9
Ruler of the Mountain Posts: 4,826 Group: Member Member #22 Joined: August 25, 2006	I used to say there was a place for unions until they became big business. The same can probably be said about the NAACP ... they have grown to a large organization that now has a certain amount of political power. Their (so called) leaders cowtow with politicians and other 'influential' folk ... and they lose track of their membership. It don't take long and there is sell-out



Sibs	Sep 9 2007, 11:24 AM Post #10
Ruler of the Hill Posts: 781 Group: Member Member #56 Joined: November 19, 2006	I don't understand the NAACP angle either. Maybe they feel the Minutemen group is a racist group against everyone. I tend to agree that unions aren't as necessary as they used to be. Although I know when my husband was a mailhandler at the USPS management used to screw up all the time when it came to overtime and days off and stuff so they'd file a grievance.



Sibs	Sep 15 2007, 12:06 PM Post #11
Ruler of the Hill Posts: 781 Group: Member Member #56 Joined: November 19, 2006	And so it continues... Yesterday afternoon one of the radio stations had a local woman on who is affiliated with Larazza. When asked if she supported a fence on the border she said fences never work. When the Berlin wall was brought she tried to say it didn't work. One of the DJ's is was in Germany when the wall was up and visited East Berlin and told her yes that wall did work. She said well but it came down. She apparently thought it came down cause it didn't work so the DJ explained that it came down because of the fall of the Soviet Union. She was saying that the Minutemen were raping and murdering illegals on the border. She had no proof of this of course, just that's what she'd heard. She kept calling them a racist, lawless, vigilante group and anytime she was questioned she said "that's the perception and perception is reality." Huh? No one could figure that one out. Ed Hayes called the show to dispute what she said, but she kept repeating the perception is reality line. Mr. Hayes invited her to a come to their convention and also to meet to discuss her problems with the Minuteman Org. Mr. Hayes wanted to meet publicly with media and it almost sounded like he wanted to debate with her, but she wanted no part of that. When it ended Mr. Hayes was holding on the line so they could set up a private meeting. My guess is that it wont happen. So the minutemen are looking at having their national convention here in KC. I hope they do!! Minutemen Plan KC Convention after NAACP, La Raza Threaten to Pull Out Friday September 14 2007 11:50 KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Two civil rights organizations have threatened to pull their national conventions from Kansas City because a woman who is a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps was appointed to the city's parks board. But now, stepping into that convention breach is the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps itself, which has announced plans to hold a convention in Kansas City in December. The National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Hispanic advocacy group, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People have said they are considering canceling conventions in Kansas City because of Frances Semler's appointment in June to the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Board. Semler, 73, is a member of the local chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, an Arizona-based group that patrols the Mexico border looking for illegal immigrants. "I heard a lot of suggestions about if La Raza and NAACP were going to cancel, then the Minuteman should have their convention here,'' Kansas Minuteman director Ed Hayes said Friday. "Since everybody is pulling out, we're going to come in.'' The NAACP's weeklong national event in 2010 is expected to bring in 10,000 visitors and $9 million, while La Raza's four-day convention in 2009 could mean about $5.5 million and 4,000 visitors for the area. The Minuteman convention, tentatively scheduled for the first week in December, would likely bring in considerably fewer people and dollars. Hayes said Friday that the convention was still being organized and it was unclear if it would be national or local. He also did not have a location or an estimate of how much money the convention would mean for the city. The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps has about 9,500 members in 80 nationwide chapters, Hayes said. Last year, a Kansas City meeting of chapters from the region was attended by 150 members. Calls to Mayor Mark Funkhouser Friday seeking comment about the Minuteman announcement were not immediately returned. Bit Funkhouser has stood by Semler, 73, saying the "same five-member board that includes Ms. Semler also includes two African-Americans and a Hispanic board president.'' He also has said he would not ask Semler to resign because "if I'm going to champion diversity, I've got to defend diversity of opinion and political thinking along with ethnicity. I won't abandon that principle because the city might lose a convention.'' La Raza President Janet Murguia said her group maintains its position to pull its national conference from Kansas City at a cost to La Raza of about $70,000. "We see the Minutemen as an extremist group that espouses hate and vigilanteism and some violence,'' Murguia said Wednesday. "A member of such a group, no matter how upstanding in other ways, should have no place representing Kansas City.'' Hayes, a retired captain from the Johnson County, Kan., Sheriff's Department, said the meeting could help dispel what he considered misperceptions about the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. "Some of the things that have been said are just lunacy,'' Hayes said. "We are American patriots. You would never meet a finer bunch of people. ... We are for the rule of law and securing our nation. What's wrong with that?'' (Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) The Mayor is still backing Ms. Semler.



legitlinda	Sep 15 2007, 02:02 PM Post #12
Ruler of the Mountain Posts: 2,746 Group: Member Member #29 Joined: September 6, 2006	Perception is reality...where have I heard those words before...hmmm? I had a pastor who was running for Congress once. I was so excited to see this man of God running that I volunteered to work with his campaign. We had an initiative on the ballot to end affirmative action. He voted against it, even though he agreed affirmative action was wrong and his own son was the victim of reverse discrimination because of it. When I asked him why he wouldn't support the initiative he said because his congregation which had a majority of hispanics would "perceive" it as a racist thing to do, and that he had worked his whole life to be a uniter not a divider. I said that while they may "perceive" it as racist, what about the "reality" that it is racist against white people. He said he was sorry but he couldn't back it. He lost the election. La Raza is the racist group and they are trying to paint the Minutemen as the racists, when they're only trying to defend the border from illegal invasion. It sounds to me like Kansas City is doing everything right in not letting the racist bullies push them around. Right on Kansas City!



Sibs	Sep 20 2007, 09:40 PM Post #13
Ruler of the Hill Posts: 781 Group: Member Member #56 Joined: November 19, 2006	Here's the latest. Frances Semler was given the "Power to the People" award while Laura Ingram was here. The woman associated with Larazza has not called Ed Hayes to set up a meeting, are we surprised? Ed Hayes says the Minutemen have been turned down by two different places in KC the Minutemen contacted to schedule their convention. Also, the head of Larazza, who is a Kansas City, Kansas native and comes back from time to time to visit family, will not accept an invitation to go on the local afternoon radio show for an interview. I am really surprised and upset that the Minutemen are having trouble booking a place for their convention. I'm also concerned that Frances Semler may go ahead and step down "for the good of the city". I sure hope she doesn't. I'm gonna talk to the boss man tomorrow and see if he thinks the convention center where we have the catering contract is big enough for their convention. Edit - I'm embarrassed to say that the latest big new item here is why the Hannah Montana show sold out at the new Sprint Center and only 4000 KC natives were able to buy tickets.



Sibs	Oct 22 2007, 06:49 PM Post #14
Ruler of the Hill Posts: 781 Group: Member Member #56 Joined: November 19, 2006	Well, I think it's finally over. Larazza has pulled their convention. Good Riddance!! They probably would have just drawn more illegals to the area. NAACP says they aren't pulling their convention and that the local board never wanted to. National NAACP will make their final convention decision after they do a site visit, but it sounds like they'll have it here. Frances Semler is still on the KCMO Park Board and the Mayor is still standing by his decision to appoint her. Larazza got some very bad press, Minute Men got some very good press and NAACP didn't really get any press at all.



Duke	Oct 22 2007, 07:26 PM Post #15
Duke Posts: 1,243 Group: Member Member #19 Joined: August 22, 2006	Sibs, Thanks for the updates. Duke



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