Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Success has a proud father, but failure is an orphan

When should lawyers get their name in the paper? I suppose it depends . . .

In today's Star, Dan Margolies' column consists of two stories. In the first, he covers a decision by the 8th Circuit to reverse a local trial judge's decision to dismiss a case for discovery abuse. The Eighth Circuit agreed that both sides had provoked the Judge Whipple, but felt that he should be recused on the case because he lost his temper toward the plaintiff.

None of the lawyers' names appear in the paper. I know and like both sides' attorneys, so I'm kind of glad that they dodged mention in this stinker of a case, but it seems an odd editorial decision to include this quotation:
“You didn’t hear enough with four phone conferences, and I’m sorry you missed one, with three, four, I kept telling you to produce stuff, expert stuff. You ducked. You wove. You did everything to keep from producing them. You go to the Eighth Circuit. They tell you to produce them, and you still god---- don’t produce them. Now what the hell do you not understand? You must produce them”,
and not mention who the "you" was. I completely understand that in many discovery disputes, the lawyer is caught in the hard place between a recalcitrant client and an angry court, but the inclusion of such a gem of a quotation without a clear pronoun reference is striking.

At the other end of the spectrum, Kansas City's largest law firm is featured glowingly in the very next item. We are told that "Shook Hardy & Bacon won a big victory in Florida last week in a smoker’s liability case." It's notable that Shook, not the client, won the big victory, because when the vedict goes the other way, it's the client's loss:
In February a Broward County jury ordered Philip Morris USA to pay $8 million, including $5 million in punitive damages, to the widow and son of a chain smoker of Benson & Hedges cigarettes, finding that Philip Morris showed a reckless disregard for the smoker’s safety. Shook represented Philip Morris in that case also.
In victory, Shook wins, but in defeat, Shook merely represents its client.

In summary, the lesson seems to be that if the judge is yelling at you, then only your client's name will show up in the paper. If a verdict goes in favor of your client, though, the victory is yours.

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Monday, March 30, 2009

Best Tamales in Kansas City?

If you google - best tamales kansas city - this site shows up at the top of the page. Last week, 34 people conducted that search, and wound up visiting Gone Mild to research that vital topic. Unfortunately, I'm letting my visitors down, so I seek your help in updating my opinion. Where can you buy the best tamales in Kansas City?

The source of my traffic dates back a little more than two and a half years ago, when I brashly opined that the best tamales in the universe, not just Kansas City, were sold at Habanero's on Troost. Sadly, Habanero's on Troost is now long-closed, and my advice is no longer helpful.

Readers and gourmands, I seek your help. Where can one purchase the best tamales in Kansas City? (I realize that the BEST tamales are probably made by somebody's mother or aunt, but please don't frustrate me with tales of unattainable tamales . . .)

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Join the Jackson County Ethics Commission - Day 112 of the Jackson County Ethics Blackout

I recently spoke with one of the County legislators most resistant to Ethical Home Rule. Not only did he attack the concept of local oversight, he even had the gall to attack the future ethics commission. "Do you really think Sanders is going to appoint people he doesn't control?", he whined. That vile little attack on the process came from someone who agrees with the appointment of criminals to be a majority of the Anti-Drug Committee.

The fact is, Mike Sanders will appoint whichever 5 nominees that the Ethics Commission Selection Committee delivers to him. Mike Sanders has been above-board through this whole process, and is the prime mover behind the move to articulate the very Ethics Code that the Jackson County legislators are excluding themselves from. Unlike the Jackson County legislators, Mike Sanders is not foolish enough to maneuver himself into a battle against ethics. It takes a special kind of stupid to fight against Ethical Home Rule in Jackson County, and Sanders doesn't suffer from that kind of stupid.

Unfortunately, the Jackson County Ethics Commission Selection Committee is facing a few problems in finding a properly balanced slate of candidates to submit to Mike Sanders for appointment. The application "deadline" has been extended from the end of February until whenever they can get a great slate of candidates they feel confident will carry out their duties impartially and diligently. Here is the application, and here are the qualifications. The application is a simple online form and the qualifications are minimal.

If you read this blog, and live in Jackson County, you probably qualify to be a member of the Jackson County Ethics Commission. Stepping up and serving now would give you a chance to learn more about how the County works. More importantly, you would be playing an important role in the return to Ethical Home Rule for Jackson County.

Hint - while the Charter requires that "no more than three commissioners must be from the same political party", there is no restriction that you must belong to either of the major parties. Seems like this would be a great way for one of those third parties to get somebody involved in actual government . . .

Won't you consider going online and filling out the short application? If you will not or cannot, do you know somebody who might be waiting for a call from you to get involved? Would you please make that call?

I promise to continue the fight to bring Ethical Home Rule back to Jackson County, but the fight is meaningless if we can't find 5 citizens to serve on the Ethics Commission. The criminals on the Jackson County Legislature and their secretive colleagues are quite happy to allow the Ethics Commission to remain unfilled. They need our oversight.

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Sunday, March 29, 2009

Sunday Poetry: Taxi, by Elise Paschen

Taxi

Why don't we cruise
Times Square at noon
enjoy the jam
I'm not immune
to your deft charm
in one stalled car
I'd like to take
you as you are

- by Elise Paschen
______________________________________

This remarkable little poem isn't famous, and it never will be. I clipped it out of a New Yorker back in 1995, and stuck it in a notebook I found on a shelf yesterday. It doesn't strive to explain deep truths, or justify God's ways to man. But it perfectly captures the giddiness of naughty lust that leavens the loaf of life.

There's quite a bit going on in the short space of the poem. The poem's title works to make the poem even more audacious - she's not only proposing the exhibitionist thrill of a quickie in Times Square, she wants to do it in a taxi!

Structurally, the poem is a gem. The line breaks work with the rhymes to give a short, choppy feel to the poem. Each line has two stressed syllables (at least if you read it the way I do, with Times Square rising on the Square), in iambic form for the first four lines. When we lead up to the proposition, though, it becomes more halting - "deft charm" and "stalled car" stand and grab attention against the iambic flow.

The poem is made all the more delightful because the reader is the object of her bawdy desire. "We", "your", and finally "you". This is not a love for the ages - she doesn't praise our sagacity or steadiness. We aren't compared to a summer's day - we are merely deft in our charm, and that's good enough for her. She'll take us as we are.

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Friday, March 27, 2009

Not Gonna Fight It, and I Hope Funk Doesn't, Either . . .

Like our Mayor, I disagree with portions of the budget passed by a 12-1 margin yesterday. Most of the disagreements are relatively minor, but a few of them (deep cuts to the police, $1.7M donation to the County) might be worth screaming about. And I know how to carry the fight to them, too. Call on Funkhouser to veto their scandalous budget and force them to cast their votes twice in favor of hurting our City. Divide the $1.7 million by the 12 votes in favor and ask whether any one of them is worth the $142,000 they are giving to the County, and maybe even try to tie them into the Jackson County Ethics Blackout. Scream about the "Marcason-Hermann Police Cuts" and set up a weekly report on which crimes get assigned to which Council members.

Yeah, when it comes to being a screaming ass, I could write the book. But I'm not going to play that game, though some say I'm pretty good at it.

Fact is, our Council has put in a lot of effort on this budget. I can sit here on the sidelines and Monday morning quarterback all I like, but they are the ones who had to jump into the mudpit and wrestle the beast. If I really, really, really, think I'm absolutely, clairvoyantly right about how to set up a budget and balance the priorities to lead our city forward, I should have either run for office back when they put their reputations and wallets on the line, or I should have been at every public budget meeting and forum offering them my spectacular wisdom.

Instead, I stayed home.

That doesn't mean they're above criticism for foolish decisions (ahem, extending Cauthen) or that I won't complain when they use hard cases to make bad law (ahem, anti-Volunteer ordinance), but there comes a time when a good citizen knows when to shut up. This is one of them. They managed to unify behind a budget that may be imperfect, but it's a sober document reflecting hard choices and deep thought. If I thought they were supporting an insane, irresponsible, ill-thought-out budget, I would be screaming, but nobody can seriously claim their budget is not a realistic attempt to wrestle with our problems.

Funkhouser voted against it, and I can respect his vote. Like him, I personally think the police cuts are too deep, and that when it comes to basic services for all, public safety is job one. Politically, the vote might have been wise, too, since he can now point to that vote as having stood up for citizens and police when the council gave money away to the county and stadiums.

But it's a pretty weak point, and it's been made now. Vetoing the budget will change absolutely nothing, practically or politically.

It's time to move on.

The time for fighting about the budget is over. Ultimately, neither Funkhouser, the City Manager nor any of the Council members won or lost the battle, because it's really about US. As citizens, we have elected representatives that have decided on a budget by a 12-1 margin, and any further fighting about it is game-playing that can only distract our representatives from getting on with the business of overseeing the implementation of that budget.

So, instead of screaming or personal attacks or any other pushback on this budget, I want to thank our City Council. You've worked hard on a budget, and come up with a document that united twelve of you. That's impressive work, and my admiration is sincere. Each of the twelve who voted for the budget worked hard to arrive at something that you think represents Kansas City's best interests, and my points of disagreement are incapable of overshadowing my appreciation.

Fine work, City Council. I hope our Mayor signs on now that the time for fighting is past.

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Thursday, March 26, 2009

Stretching Myself

I don't care for dance. I don't know why, but I don't get swept up in the beauty of a ballet, or the choreography of contemporary. I can appreciate that it's tough, athletic work to do, and it draws on a rhythmic talent I've never had, but I don't particularly care. It doesn't "speak to me" - I don't catch on to the art of it all.

It's not a rational thing, I know. I can look at abstract paintings and feel moved by the artist. Jazz can take me out of my world. Poems can make me forget to breathe. Symphonies can pull me to the edge of my seat.

But I'm a nonreactive stone when it comes to dance. Worse, I sit there and wish for something interesting or awful to happen. A wardrobe malfunction or a mistimed leap that turns into a chop block. I'm the idiot wanting NASCAR wreckage tossed into Swan Lake.

This weekend, I hope to give it another try, with Presumed Lost. According to a friend, I will be seeing
Classic silent film meets absurdist theater in this new collaboration with artist Nate Fors. The program also features “Canon Play,” a light-hearted exploration of choreographic and musical canon, and “Hong Kong Audio Diary,” an energetic, often comic vision of Hong Kong's vibrant urban life and clash of cultures as seen through the eyes of a foreigner.
Wish me luck, that I will discover a new facet of artistic appreciation. Better yet, come on out and demonstrate your artistic superiority to me by sitting next to me, enraptured while I look puzzled and sneak glances at my watch. $15 is a small price to see some of Kansas City's best artists put on a live show.

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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Unauthorized Practice of Law, Consumer Protection and the Economics of Law Practice - Lots of Questions

By common perception, Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) is either non-existent or a victimless crime. You don't often hear about cases of non-attorneys representing anybody but themselves. The problem of UPL appears to be a minor one, if it even exists.

But the case of a fake lawyer trying a case is not the real problem, according to many solo and small firm lawyers. The real battle over UPL is when non-lawyers offer advice and forms to help draft wills, bankruptcy filings or divorce papers. In that context, they argue, UPL is a massive problem with dangerous ramifications.

If you need a will, why should you have to pay an attorney hundreds of dollars when online forms exist? If you want a run-of-the-mill divorce, why should a lawyer get involved in your dissolution? Lawyers often charge money for "how-to" information, and the information age is making that business model seem outdated. In some cities, nonlawyers are opening shops where you can come in and they will help you prepare a will form, a bankruptcy filing, or divorce papers.

The courts have even gotten involved in the legal form business. Tired of struggling to interpret and apply the unclear and inaccurate forms brought in by unrepresented couples seeking divorce, the Missouri courts have made "approved forms" available just by asking the Court Clerk. On its face, the Court forms seem to be a helpful tool that can save Missourians the cost of an attorney while allowing the Courts to function more efficiently. If I were expected to adjudicate dozens of "simple" divorces, I would certainly appreciate the assembly line approach.

The problem is that the intersection of law and people is never really simple, and divorce is a major transaction. Anyone who argues that a simple form, court-approved or not, will fully and fairly represent either side's interests is simply mistaken. Solo and small firm lawyers can argue convincingly that in the vast majority of divorces handled by the courts on court-approved forms, one of the parties is losing rights that a lawyer would catch. In fact, by providing forms for pro-se divorces, the Courts are helping some people hurt themselves.

On the other hand, people hurt themselves in court every day, and it's not the court's duty to hold people's hands and make certain they do what is in their own best interest. Hiring the second-best lawyer in the room hurts your chances, too, but I don't think anybody expects the Courts to issue lawyer rankings.

Of course, the issue of fees is at the back of everyone's mind. Feeling sorry for lawyers is a lonely past-time. The popular understanding is that lawyers start at $100,000+ salaries fresh from school, spend the rest of their lives increasing their wealth without heavy lifting or contributing to society, and retire as undeservedly powerful and respected members of the community. So, when we hear about lawyers missing out on a few fees wrung out of working-class divorcees, we tend not to get too choked up.

But the reality is that the economics of solo and small firm practice in store fronts is vastly different than that of large firms in mahogany board rooms. Many law graduates coming out of school have debts of $100,000 or more, and wind up with jobs earning well under $50,000.

The disappearance of "small" divorces threatens the very existence of the "street" lawyer, and those are the lawyers who disproportionately stand up for the average Joe, and create the vast majority of case law that protect citizens' rights. Miranda and Brown v. Board of Education were started in storefront law offices, not mahogany board rooms. But does the occasional Atticus Finch justify preventing poor people from getting divorced without hiring a lawyer they can't afford?

Does the provision of approved forms by Court Clerks constitute the unauthorized practice of law? Of course not. Does the provision of forms with simple advice on how to properly fill them out constitute the unauthorized practice of law? We may be getting into a gray area. If John Doe opens up a shop or a website and advertises that you can come in and he will help you draft your own will or divorce papers, is that the unauthorized practice of law? I believe that it is - but will we find a prosecutor willing to file the case, when the maximum fine is a few hundred dollars?

Would it help if we made the remedies for Merchandising Fraud available in cases of Unauthorized Practice of Law?

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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Missouri Tax Credits - The Republicans Might be Right on this One

Tax credits are the sneaky twin of government appropriation. Sometimes, when the prospect of attaining direct government funding of your special interest is simply too daunting, tax credits offer an easier route to accomplish the same goal. If direct spending is "pork", tax credits are "sausage" - kind of the same thing, but more highly processed, and more likely to include snouts and anuses.

According to the Star this morning, there are currently 61 different tax credit programs in the state of Missouri. They are administered by the Missouri Development Finance Board, and their "counsel" is Gilmore & Bell, a law firm specializing in transferring public dollars to private pockets though tax incentive deals and bonds (or, as they phrase it, "one of the leading public finance law firms in the United States"). Gilmore & Bell's website brags about how many public dollar giveaways it worked on in 2008 - just under five billion dollars nationwide.

If you're looking for the heart of darkness for governmental spending, you've found it.

The funny thing is, this secretive little back room has flourished for years, because it has no natural enemies. Democrats tend to support it because much of the money goes to big projects in the urban areas. Republicans tend to support it because most of the money goes to insanely wealthy insiders who know how to work the system - country club Republicans and development lawyers. It's a rare opportunity to toss money around without supporting increased government spending, and appearing to actually be reducing taxation.

It's even shadier than that, though. There is actually a market for these tax credits, and they get sold to the wealthiest entities in the state, at a discount. If I get a million dollar tax credit, but I don't pay much in taxes because I don't earn much, I can sell that million dollar credit to a multi-millionaire for $850,000. The millionaire gets a million off his taxes for only $850,000, and I get $850,000, while the taxpayers get the shaft.

To Gilmore & Bell and the Missouri Development Finance Board, that's a victory to brag about on your website. For the taxpayers, though, that's a million dollars that needs to come from somebody else's pocket.

Of course, with this much money being tossed around, there are puppets who can be counted upon to stand up for the status quo.

Ironically, the loudest defense of tax credits is based upon the fact that they accomplish much good. Indeed, that is absolutely true. Not even a secretive board sequestered in a back room in Jefferson City can spend millions upon millions of dollars without accomplishing some good. Spending money makes people happy.

But, if the money spent is so darned wonderful, what's the problem with dragging the process into the light? The proponents of change want to set caps on how much money the Missouri Development Finance Board can give away from our treasury without approval - can anyone seriously argue there should be no limits? They also want to treat the tax credits like appropriations - and they are exactly like appropriations, only shadier, so I agree with that point as well.

When you hear the wonderful accomplishments of tax credits, and how many jobs they have created and how much investment they have spurred, congratulate the defenders of the status quo on their achievements.

But ask them why, if everything they are doing is so darned positive, they fear more accountability?

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Monday, March 23, 2009

Off to See the Wizards

As recapped over at Kansas City Bloggers, a group of us headed over to the windy prairie west of civilization to watch the Wizards play Toronto FC on Saturday evening. Truly, 5 people wedged into a hybrid vehicle plastered with liberal bumper stickers may have been the most left-wing event in suburban Kansas so far this century.

Since others have already discussed the social aspect, I'll tackle the sporting aspect. Believe it or not, the Star's coverage actually had it right! The game was dominated by Toronto in the early going, but the Wizards controlled the second half. One of the goals came off what appeared to be a sloppy rebound, though it's hard to judge whether the goalie really had a chance to smother the ball since I was at the far end of the field.

The outing was my first visit to Community America Park, and I intend to go back. The family atmosphere was nice, the game was good, and the parking was free. The level of talent on the field was better than some of the games I see on the Fox Soccer channel, and 5 goals made for an exciting game.

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Sunday, March 22, 2009

Sunday Poetry: Peace, by Sarah Teasdale

Peace

Peace flows into me
As the tide to the pool by the shore;
It is mine forevermore,
It ebbs not back like the sea.

I am the pool of blue
That worships the vivid sky;
My hopes were heaven-high,
They are all fulfilled in you.

I am the pool of gold
When sunset burns and dies, --
You are my deepening skies,
Give me your stars to hold.

- by Sarah Teasdale
_______________________________________________

Of all the poets that I've written about here, Sarah Teasdale is probably the one I would least like to have met. She grew up in my home town of St. Louis, a sickly rich girl who fell in love with a poet but married money instead. After making two additional people miserable (the poet committed suicide and she divorced her husband in an age where that was uncommon), she killed herself with an overdose of sleeping pills when she was my age. During her life, she created several books of gushy, dramatic poetry about passions she never acted upon. She described herself as a "flower in a toiling world". In short, she was a pampered, self-absorbed drama queen.

But she did write a few memorable poems.

In this one, she takes a simple image of a pool near the ocean, filled with water that reflects the blue sky during the day and the starry sky at night. It's a pretty poem, and the directive "give me your stars to hold" contrasts with the passivity of the rest of the poem.

The poem gains additional interest when it is contrasted with another "pool" poem by Teasdale concerning the other side of love:
After Love

There is no magic any more,
We meet as other people do,
You work no miracle for me
Nor I for you.

You were the wind and I the sea --
There is no splendor any more,
I have grown listless as the pool
Beside the shore.

But though the pool is safe from storm
And from the tide has found surcease,
It grows more bitter than the sea,
For all its peace.


Reading Sarah Teasdale's poetry is a bit like reading a teenager's journal - self-indulgent, self-absorbed and over-the-top. It's pretty and interesting in small doses, but you wonder what she might have accomplished if she had ever grown up.

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Saturday, March 21, 2009

Keeping my Word

I told Deb Hermann that I would not join in the line-by-line criticism of the Council budget, and I'll stick to my promise.

That said, I will point out, however, that Yael Abouhalkah has been uncharacteristically insightful here, here, and here. If I weren't a man of my word, I'd be writing something very similar.

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Friday, March 20, 2009

Missouri Place Names Explained

This is great! In a newsletter I received today from the State Historical Society of Missouri, there was a reference to a card file of Missouri place names compiled by the students of a Professor Ramsay compiled in the first half of the 20th Century, including towns, waterways, post offices, schools and railroad stations located anywhere in Missouri.

If you, like me, enjoy the history of Missouri, then here is a resource you can spend hours with. I've barely started my browsing, but I've already found lots of gems.

Here's an explanation of how Springfield got its name:
There are conflicting stories of the origin of the name Springfield, but by far the most satisfactory one, it seems to me, is that by Mr. Hubble. It is as follows: "Everybody in the country was invited to come in to vote their choice of a name for the county seat.---"James Wilson (after whom the present Wilson Creek is named) had a jug of white whiskey, and as fast as the people came in he took them over to his tent and said: "I am going to live here and I was born and raised in a beautiful little town in Massachusetts named Springfield, and it would gratify me very much if you would go over and vote to name this county seat after my native town." Then he produced the jug and told the voter to help himself, which he did, and of course went and voted to name the town Springfield. My informant Captain Lucius A. Rountree, told me this story many years ago, and three years ago he told it to me again.---There is no doubt that this story is true." (Taken from Captain Martin J. Hubble's story in FRAGMENTS (19), p. 33)

Closer to home, here is the reported derivation of Knobtown:
A settlement of a few houses, several stores and a filling station in southeastern Brooking Township. The name was attached to the place after a tragic happening there. A former resident of the town writes: "The tale of the hanging at Knobtown is where the name originated. The man's name Alex Klass or Klaus--the date September, 1897. He was found sitting on the lower basement step with binder twine looped around his neck and on the door knob." Doubtless the originator of the name had in mind the term which is sometimes applied to a town on a knob, and gave the name to the present place in a semi-facetious mood. (R. Mc. 1935; Kemper; Morrow; Mrs. Fenton)
Here's an odd anecdote from the history of High Blue Townships in Eastern Jackson county:
The two townships, 49 and 50, in range 30 were not opened for purchase for about fifteen years after the organization of the county. The surveyor reported to the government that he was unable to survey the land on account of the pressure of some powerful magnet and as they were mostly "prairie," he thought they would not pay the expense of bringing them into the market. The story is told that the surveyor, while drunk, lost his notes, and reported as he did because he did not want to re-survey the land. The townships were referred to as "Lost Townships" and also as "High Blue" Townships. The territory is rolling land east of Little Blue River. (ATLAS JACKSON 1877, 14; EARLY HIST. OF GREATER K.C. Vol. I, 215)

I hope you enjoy searching through this great database as much as I am.

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Day 102 of the Jackson County Ethics Blackout - the CCP Calls for Ethics for All!

Yesterday, over at Blog CCP, the Committee for County Progress issued the following press release:
COMMITTEE FOR COUNTY PROGRESS
P.O. Box 10462
Kansas City, Missouri 64171
info@committeeforcountyprogress.org


For immediate release:
March 18, 2009
CONTACT: Pat McInerney
(816) 983-8364
pat.mcinerney@huschblackwell.com

CCP Calls For Uniform Application of Jackson County Ethics Code

The Committee for County Progress, Jackson County's oldest political organization, today called on the Jackson County Legislature - and all Jackson County elected officials - to make themselves subject to the Jackson County Ethics Code enacted earlier this year by County Executive Mike Sanders. Following enactment of the code by Sanders, the legislature passed the code as an ordinance but exempted themselves from its provisions. By executive order, the code currently applies only to the County Executive.

"It's only right that every elected official should be bound by the new ethics code," said CCP President Pat McInerney. "Because they set the ethical tone for the county, the idea that there is one set of rules for elected officials and another for everyone else really undermines the idea of having an ethics code at all. The new Ethics Commission should immediately review the Ethics Code and recommend whether it will apply across the board or just to some. The code may need other improvements, but exempting the people elected to represent us is not the way to start."

McInerney said he expected the legislature to abide by the code and predicted that, once resolved, the ethics code issue would not be a campaign issue in 2010. CCP has been involved in previous Jackson County charter issues - urging and passing a measure reducing the number of legislators from 15 to 9 in 1985 - and has been a voice for progressive and open government since its inception in 1964.
That's good news for those of us who care about good government.

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Is the City Council Irrelevant?

Yesterday, Funkhouser went ahead and signed the ordinance extending the TIF package for the Savoy Hotel. While I criticized the extension here yesterday, and I questioned the good faith of the Council, the developer and even the developer's lawyer, it turns out that the only party truly deserving of scorn on this issue is the Council.

The developer, developer's attorney, Funkhouser and the other taxing districts went ahead and worked out a better deal without the Council, rendering irrelevant the Council's attempt to actually harm our city. Actually, as Mark Forsythe correctly pointed out the other day, they had already worked out a better deal before the City Council followed joined in Terry's Terrible Temper Tantrum and, incredibly, approved a worse deal for the city than was already on the table!

Truthfully, they went ahead and approved an ordinance that was worse than the developer had actually agreed to, just because Terry Riley was angry that someone else had negotiated the deal!
Is that the sort of person you voted for?

Fortunately, the adults fixed the situation. Through written, good faith agreements apart from the Council, the developer agreed to do the right thing, whether the Council cares about the good of the city or not. Thank goodness Funkhouser worked with them to make it all come out okay.

Meanwhile, city hall observers are left to smirk at the Council's behavior. The more juvenile members of the Council have been claiming lately that the Mayor is "irrelevant", just because they don't talk to him much. Sadly, the Council is becoming Junior High at its worst, with cliques excluding others on the Council and bragging about it to the rest.

If Mark were the sort to join in those games, he would be out whispering to others that the Council is "irrelevant", and snickering at the silly ones who joined in Riley's malfeasance.

But he won't do that.

Instead, he realizes that the Council remains very relevant, and capable of much more mischief in the future. In this instance, he managed to prevent them from bringing as much harm to the City as they attempted, but he knows we are still burdened with Cauthen for a couple years because of their immature behavior. Alas, the City Council may be outsmarted on occasion, but they are not irrelevant. Fortunately, neither is the Mayor.

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Thursday, March 19, 2009

Savoy TIF - A Reason to Despair

If Kansas City is ever going to do the right thing, this should have been the moment. Everything was set up absolutely perfectly for success, and we absolutely blew it.

We have some fine and intelligent people on our City Council. We have a Mayor who even his most dogged opponents acknowledge has the political courage to stand up to developers seeking to get wealthy from tax funds. We have a budget crisis raging, to keep the focus on the budget imbalances created by bad decisions made in the past. We even have a sane economic development policy that the Council has already agreed upon, to help it make rational decisions.

Surely, under these circumstances, when a wealthy developer approached our City with his hand out, our Council would have the strength and good sense to honor their commitment to the citizens of Kansas City, right? Surely, at this moment of crisis, they would not screw us one more time, for old times' sake . . .

Wrong.

Absolutely incredible. With the sole exceptions of Mayor Funkhouser and John Sharp, the City Council went ahead and showered a rich developer with undeserved tax breaks, at the urging of a well-connected development lawyer who gave them money.

For a great explanation of just how bad a deal this was, go read Mark Forsythe's excellent analysis at The Kansas City Post. Make no mistake about it, Kansas City taxpayers are helping to make the rich richer, while facing cutbacks in basic services.

And your council member is fine with that.

If they're not going to stand up for us now, when will they stand up for us? When Terry Riley chooses not to play silly games over turf? When the development lawyer appearing before them has not greased their palms with substantial campaign donations? When the contrast between having money to pay for basic services and having money to pay for a "four star" restaurant is somehow sharper?

It's moments like these that make me wonder why I care. The deck is stacked in favor of the status quo, and even good people like my city council representatives are riding with Terry Riley and Jerry Riffel instead of Kansas City taxpayers.

I can only hope that sometime today, Mayor Mark Funkhouser vetoes this disgusting display of legislative sell-out, and that a few good council people will look themselves in the mirror and think about why they got involved in the first place.

I know it's politics, but, really, how could you fall this far?

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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Dolphins Learn how to Blow Bubble Rings

This is just bizarre. These dolphins figured out how to blow bubble rings and play with them, and the others learned.

I'm feeling a little less special for being human.

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Day 100 of the Jackson County Ethics Blackout

It's now been over a hundred days since Jackson County has had functioning Ethical Home Rule. A hundred days for people like Henry Rizzo, James Tindall and Dan Tarwater to thank their lucky stars that no local authority exists to examine what they are doing with millions of dollars of COMBAT funds. A hundred days of a broken ethics system.

This is how they like it. They think they're winning.

By exempting themselves from Ethical Home Rule, the Jackson County legislators have abandoned one of the key tenets of Jackson County government. As wise commentators here have pointed out, principles of statutory construction probably make their monarchic attempts to place their ethics beyond scrutiny legally ineffective - but, until we have a panel of brave citizens with the courage to fight the kind of fight that Rizzo and Burnett and the rest of the anti-Ethical legislators will fight to free themselves from scrutiny, it looks like we will have no functioning Ethical Home Rule in Jackson County.

Have they really won, though? In reality, they have lost more than they know.

First, almost all of them will face vigorous challenges in the 2010 elections. Rizzo will lose his election. Tarwater will lose his election. Tindall will lose his election. Burnett, Spence and Waits will face stronger challenges than they've ever seen, and two of them will lose their seats in races defined by ethical issues. Arbanas will attempt to handpick a successor, but his seat will go to an experienced politico running on a pro-Ethical Home Rule platform.

Second, they may well lose the COMBAT tax in the next reapproval election. By funneling all the money through a committee with a majority actually found guilty of financial crimes, they have undercut confidence in the administration of the COMBAT tax. It's a terrible shame, because the COMBAT tax accomplishes much good in our community, but, even if we weren't in the midst of an economic crisis, nobody can expect Jackson Countians to ignore the potential of massive corruption coupled with a refusal to accept Ethical Home Rule.

Third, they will lose the Ethical Home Rule battle anyhow, but not until they have destroyed their own credibility and electability in the process. Whether it's through the work of a few brave legislators who could bring this issue up for a reconsideration, or through a brave Ethics Commission taking on the battle of standing up for the Jackson County Home Rule Charter, or through a revision of the Charter to make it even more explicit that our legislators do not get to prevent their own ethical oversight, or even through an initiative petition, Ethical Home Rule will be restored in Jackson County.

Finally, the scrutiny is not going to stop. Now that we've hit day 100, I will be scaling back my Jackson County Ethics Blackout coverage to weekly updates on the misdeeds of the Jackson County legislature. There's plenty of material to do a daily piece, but there are other topics I want to cover in this blog, as well. By doing a weekly piece, bolstered by more time to do a few Sunshine Law requests and some insider interviewing, I'm hoping that less will be more.

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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Thoughts on My Irish Heritage

I won't be at the parade this afternoon, and I'm not preparing a "traditional" dinner of corned beef, cabbage and boiled potatoes. I don't have any Guinness in the house. You probably won't hear me singing sentimental songs late in the evening, and for that you can consider yourself blessed.

When I was a kid, St. Patrick's day had its own traditions. Milk at the dinner table poured right in front of our eyes turned from white in the jug to green in our glasses, except for one misbehaving sibling who would receive the dreaded orange color. It was the work of leprechauns, we believed. We also had green snake bread at the dinner table.

Our heritage was heavily dependent on food coloring, I suppose.

As I grew older, I learned more of the history of the Irish. Racially, the Celts were a different people than the many invaders who visited the shores of Ireland, but eons of invasion and interbreeding have diminished the distinction. Those of us in America have intermarried with everyone, so, if someone more apparently African-American or Asian or Hispanic has a "kiss me, I'm Irish" pin on today, they very well may be deserving of the kiss they claim to seek.

But, for those of us with Irish last names, it's easy to feel somehow more Irish than the rest. In my own case, I'm less than half Irish, and my wife, with her German maiden name, is a good deal more Irish by bloodline than I am. But I've always identified myself as Irish, and read my history through that lens.

What does heritage really mean in the United States? I've known people who have learned in their later years that their family background was something different than they had been raised in. Someone who thought they were from a heritage of Polish Catholics finds out that he is really descended from Hungarian Jews. Ellis Island offered fresh starts and opportunities for revision of family histories. We get our heritage through stories told to us by a string of ancestor-narrators, some of whom may have had motives to lie.

It's difficult for me, as an American, to imagine true heritage, in the sense that more ancient cultures have it. My wife is from Buffalo, I'm from St. Louis, and our kids are currently in New Orleans and New York. We don't grow up and die in the same place that our ancestors did. My great-great grandfather didn't help build my church. The local cemetery does not include a section where all the stones bear my last name. My family bears no grudges against another family because of a fence line set down generations ago. A few hours on Ancestor.com can deliver only a whiff of the groundedness that growing up in a thatched cottage in Ireland might offer.

Heritage, for many of us, is so shallow that it approaches willful illusion. A suitcase full of papers found with my family's belongings could, conceivably, have completely redefined my understanding of where I come from. No such suitcase turned up, so I am sprung from Irish who came to Troy, New York, and then somehow went to South Dakota, and wound up in St. Louis - on my father's side. I was named after a man who fought in the Civil War Cavalry on the Union side, came home to drop off his sword and pistol, and headed West, never to be heard from again.

Pretty slim pickings, really.

But here's the scary thing - I can use that tiny sliver of heritage to make myself a monster. As I mentioned above, I have read history through Irish eyes. I have read accounts of boats packed with food leaving the ports of Ireland while people were starving. I have read about the suppression of religion and language committed by the English. I have read the treachery of Cromwell, and remember what happened at Wexford. I consider O'Connell's decision at Clontarf to be a vivid lesson on the limits of pacifism.

Back when I was a young man, I allowed my knowledge of history to override my sense of morality. I didn't feel bad at all when the IRA planted a bomb and blew Lord Montbatten to pieces. Terrorism, sure, but it was part of a struggle that was justified by history. A year later, I rode a bicycle around Ireland, and felt even more deeply connected to the struggles of the Irish. I could rationalize almost any atrocity they could commit, even to the extent of not resenting a bomb threat that interfered with my travel.

I'm a deeply flawed person, but I will give myself credit for trying to be a good one, and wanting to live a moral life. But, when I was 20 years old, I was sympathetic to terrorism, for a cause I had not lived and only read about. How would I have lived my life if I were closer to the conflict? What if the stories told to me included ancestors and neighbors gunned down by the "Brits"? What if I stood on that turf and really felt like my people had been subjected to hundreds of years of oppression by the Brits. What if, having been raised with REAL heritage, and being twenty years old and full of the "moral" confidence that sometimes inflicts that age, I were granted an opportunity to strike back?

Someday, I hope that Sunnis, Kurds, Jews, Palestinians, and every other historically aggrieved people has a parade that features colored beer and warm sunshine. I hope today's parade is a huge success, and I'm thrilled that the weather looks absolutely wonderful. I know that St. Patrick's day is nothing more than what it seems - a fun day to go out and party and welcome spring. Maybe next year I'll ride on a float and toss candy and laugh like a banshee.

But today I look at my Irish heritage, and I'm remembering how I once thought that my Irish heritage was enough to secretly kind of cheer on terrorism. I know I deserve the orange milk at dinner.

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Jackson County Legislature Extraordinary Secrecy, Without Ethics - Day 99 of the Jackson County Ethics Blackout

When a legislative body sttempts to exempt itself from an Ethics Code, and to deny the Charter-granted right of its citizens to oversee its ethics, the wisest course of action is to start with the assumption that they are up to something untoward. No benefit of the doubt goes to those who insist they are above the scrutiny and accountability they would impose on others.

In that light, yesterday's hijinks at the Jackson County Legislature ought to be raising eyebrows. Chair Scott Burnett introduced a last-minute resolution calling for a closed meeting, excluding the press and citizens from knowing what the Legislature is up to. Typically, such resolutions are introduced at the meeting preceding such an extraordinary action, but this one was introduced and acted upon without normal notice. The exception to the Sunshine Law relied upon by the Legislature was RSMo 610.021(1) - "Legal actions, causes of action or litigation involving a public governmental body and any confidential or privileged communications between a public governmental body or its representatives and its attorneys."

The Jackson County legislature is lawyering up again? What is it this time? Is somebody trying to explain in simple terms to Henry Rizzo that the City is under no legal obligation to spend $2,000,000 on public safety rather than entertainment for suburbanites? Are Tarwater and Tindall fighting it out over the disputed chairmanship of the Anti-Drug Committee? Is yet another federal investigation for corruption focusing on the Jackson County Legislature - a fresh chapter in the rich history of Jackson County crime and corruption?

We can only guess at what went on behind those closed doors. We can be certain, however, that the Jackson County legislature has exempted itself from Ethical Home Rule, and now it feels the need to have emergency meetings about secrets.

Is that the type of government Jackson County deserves?

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Monday, March 16, 2009

Tarwater's Tape Exposes Rizzo - Day 98 of the Jackson County Ethics Blackout

As promised earlier, a videotape of Dan Tarwater grandstanding on the stadium issue may be found here. In watching the performance again, it's hilarious to see Henry Rizzo spring into action and attempt to nail down the legal obligation of the City to make a donation to cover Jackson County's commitment of funds. Rizzo flails away, asking awkward question after awkward question, until, finally, Tarwater admits that there is no legal obligation for the City to divert two million dollars from public safety into suburban entertainment.

Even the County Counselor was dodging Rizzo's questions, not wanting to make him look like a fool in front of everyone. Nice try, but when Rizzo gets on a roll, there's no stopping him.

Sadly, truth may have emerged on the tape when a legislator from outside of Kansas City pointed out that several Kansas City Council members are willing to join in the diversion of funds and sell out Kansas City. Any Council Member who votes to give away $2,000,000 during our budget crisis will demonstrate that s/he is on the side of Henry Rizzo and Dan Tarwater.

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Sunday, March 15, 2009

Sunday Poetry: The Lake Isle of Innisfree, by William Butler Yeats

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

- by William Butler Yeats
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Of course, on the Sunday before St. Patrick's Day, I must feature an Irish poet. "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" was in Yeats' second book of poems, and it was his first major success. Over a hundred years ago, long before email and air travel and telephones, this poem's message of yearning for a quieter, more grounded world struck a chord in readers, and its appeal has only grown as the world has sped up.

Structurally, the poem abandons iambic pentameter for a looser rhythm of 6 accents per line for the first three lines of each stanza, followed by a four-stress line. To me, the "irregular steadiness" of it matches the sound of the sea. The ABAB rhyme scheme reinforces the rhythm without becoming sing-songy. The form fits the poem.

To save a trip to the dictionary, "wattles" were woven sticks that helped form strong walls when covered with clay or mud. "Linnets" are long-tailed finches. The poem is as understandable in 2009 Kansas City as it was in 1893 Dublin. It achieves greatness with words as simple as a clay wall - "peace comes dropping slow" and "deep heart's core" are thrilling passages, but not because of heightened language.

There are more obvious poems to choose on the Sunday before St. Patrick's Day. I love "Easter, 1916", and it is a more obviously Irish poem. There are dozens of other Irish poets I could feature, having already indulged my love of Yeats once (The Second Coming), like Seamus Heaney or Thomas Kinsella. Perhaps I've brought up a small nugget from the deep gold vein of Irish poetry, but perhaps if you hear William Butler Yeats read and comment on his work, you will understand.

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Saturday, March 14, 2009

April 16th - Beer Wars


This movie looks like a must-see for those of us who care about the beer world. I hope it goes beyond simple bashing of the mega-breweries and gets to the heart and soul of what makes beer such a fascinating beverage.

There will be live screenings all around the city and nation at 7:00 PM Central time. I'm thinking the Cinemark on the Plaza will be the best place to catch the show, maybe followed by beer and discussion at the Waldo Pizzeria's Tap Room. Who's in?

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Friday, March 13, 2009

Ignoring John Stossel

The Star's Prime Buzz is trying to draw attention to a special involving John Stossel that will be on TV sometime soon. No links, intentionally.

John Stossel is undeserving of attention. He is an immmoral libertarian, with a flair for dishonest mock journalism. I'm saddened that the Star is promoting the man.

Stossel had the gall to do a story lying about a local victim of death by denial. If you're interested, the victim's widow did a fine letter addressing Stossel's integrity here.

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Who is Dan Tarwater Working for? - Day 95 of the Jackson County Ethics Blackout

In the March 9 meeting of the Jackson County Legislature, Dan Tarwater usurped the role of Inter-Governmental committee members and abandoned the economic interests of his constituents. And he accomplished all this misbehavior in only 6 minutes.

An amateur video appeared in the comments of one of my prior posts, but I won't embed the video here because its producer has marred it with a title which engages in childish name-calling.

In the video (I will link to the official video when it is available), Dan Tarwater goes off on a rant about the Mayor's position on stadium financing. While it's kind of disturbing that he has his facts wrong, I wouldn't expect straight talk from someone who has sought to avoid Ethical Home Rule. Sadly, the dishonesty of my County Legislator is neither interesting nor surprising.

What is surprising, though, is that he uses his tirade to attack the interests of his own constituents. Dan Tarwater's district covers a large number of Kansas Citians, who are bearing the burden of double taxation (actually, triple if you count the State money) for the Sports Complex. Those of us in Kansas City pay both as Jackson Countians and as Kansas Citians, to support the same cause.

As a representative of Kansas Citians, Dan Tarwater owes us a full measure of representation. Instead, he abandoned us and got caught up in an inter-governmental spat between the city and the county. In an "us" versus "them" battle, Tarwater foolishly believes that he is on the side of the County as an entity, when, in fact, he should be representing the interests of his constituents. I can understand that as a Jackson County legislator, Tarwater would prefer not having to face the struggle of having to replace the $2,000,000 that the County signed a contract for (but not the City), but not at the cost of having his constituents facing double taxation.

Dan Tarwater should be representing his constituents, not the Legislature.

It's easy to see how someone without intellectual rigor could miss this point, and perhaps that is why Tarwater was not chosen to serve on the Inter-governmental Affairs Committee, and ought not to be injecting himself into that committee's role, anyhow.

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Thursday, March 12, 2009

FBI Citizens Academy - Looking Inside the Case Files

Last night's FBI Citizens Academy meeting was another great opportunity to hear from the agents who work hard at solving and preventing horrific crimes. Last night, we heard about the work of Behavioral Psychologists - a term they much prefer to "profilers", and went through the process of trying to deduce what type of person murdered three people from the clues found in photographs of the crime scene. We also heard about the work done to find the bodies of the children murdered by Daniel Wayne Porter.

It really is fascinating stuff, on multiple levels. On a moral level, we heard a perspective on the death penalty from one who has sat in rooms and talked with the most vile criminals our society has produced. Does that experience bring a sharper perspective on the need for society to put people to death, or does the experience lead one to lose the self-doubt that should accompany moral decisions. Personally, I remain passionately opposed to the death penalty, while acknowledging that I could kill under certain circumstances. I can see how people develop personal yearnings for revenge or retribution on behalf of coldly slaughtered innocents, though morality frequently calls for us to rise above understandable yearnings.

While it was not highlighted as an issue, we also heard an anecdote about how the zeal to solve a compelling case led two great, dedicated FBI agents to violate FBI procedures to look at a crime scene. Together. While the incident was entirely understandable and did not involve anything that violated anybody's civil rights or jeopardized a case file, it certainly makes the point that a gap exists between official procedures and actual practice, and the gap is big enough that two exemplary agents can fit through it together. A rogue could fit through even smaller gaps.

The hour spent on what I will not call "profiling" was also fascinating. After hearing how a skilled agent dissects a crime scene and draws information from clues the entire class overlooks, and uses that information to narrow or expand the scope of likely suspects, I can only be impressed. It's a blend of hunch, experience, knowledge and science. In the case we examined, it could all have been a useless distraction if the murderer had been a black teenager with no criminal record, or an elderly Asian neighbor who committed the rape and triple homicide because the voices in his head told him to. But, playing the percentages and zeroing in on the clues and behavioral psychology, the FBI was able to focus its resources on white males, 30-34, with a criminal record involving assault who would have had occasion to meet the victim, and ultimately found their man. It's a little like CSI, but it doesn't get wrapped up in a tidy bundle after an hour, and I found myself staring at photos of three very real corpses - a man a little older than me with multiple stab wounds, an 11 year old boy run through with a knife, lying over a board game he had been playing, and a naked young woman, beaten, stabbed and raped.

If I met the man responsible for the death of those people, stabbing the boy so hard the knife plunged entirely through his body, through the carpet, through the sub-floor and hard enough into the concrete slab that it broke the tip off the knife, and then raping, beating and stabbing the frantic girl while her wrists were duct-taped - might I change my position on the death penalty? Does more complete information always lead to better moral decisions?

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Jackson County Serves as National Bad Example - Day 94 of the Jackson County Ethics Crisis

Out there in the real world, far from the shady world of the Jackson County legislative chambers or the Star's "Let it Be" newsroom, serious people pay real attention to ethical issues. One of the leading ethical resources for local government is City Ethics, a nonprofit organization devoted to best practices in ethics administration.

The nation is aghast at the behavior of our Legislature.

Way back in January, the resignation of the Jackson County Ethics Commission captured the attention of the national ethics community. Two months ago, the national ethics community was aware that, "When the entire ethics commission of a major county resigns, something is seriously wrong."

Last week, national attention turned our way again. In a post entitled "Legislators Fending Off Ethics Enforcement -- Who Needs Legislative Immunity?", City Ethics refocuses on the issues raised by the Jackson County Ethics Blackout. The national experts reach the same conclusion that Gone Mild has been pointing out all along:
When a legislative body makes ethics rules, but applies them only to others, it undermines the very trust in government that ethics programs are supposed to support. All the constitutional and other arguments . . . cannot change the view that legislators are just trying to get away with unethical conduct.


It's ironic that the national ethics press is able to reach that accurate and appropriate conclusion even in response to inaccurate and inappropriate statements.

Ethical Home Rule must return to Jackson County. The attempts of our Legislators to avoid accountability are embarrassing the County on a national basis. The County Legislature must be replaced in 2010, and the national shame brought to our community should help assure the ouster of those responsible.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Dave Helling - Daily Revisions

Dave Helling claims he needs a translator to understand my criticism of his column entitled "End of $2 million stadium subsidy could let JoCo off the hook for ballparks". Now he's claiming that his column was an attempt to offer a history lesson about a long-gone politician's version of a backroom deal done decades ago.

Sure, Dave.

If it's a history lesson, why the budget analysis (faulty again, but math has always been a weakness for Helling) based on today's dollars?

As for your claims that you weren't saying what you thought of the proposal to end the tax dollar give-away (even though you trotted out every BS argument opposed to it, and neglected to mention that the City has no legal obligation to make the donation), they are as weak as your argument that $2,000,000 dollars is not a lot of money because it shows up in a larger budget (much of which is non-discretionary).

It's not surprising he can't understand my point - he even whines that I misspelled his name when I merely misplaced an apostrophe. Helling's inability to understand what is going on around him is a hallmark of his writing. Whether it's worrying about the collapse of the Democratic party in 2008 or low voter turnout in a record setting year, Helling never seems to need a translator for current events.

But, until yesterday, I had no idea the poor guy doesn't even understand what he himself has written. His post on Monday was a defense of the status quo for stadium donations, and his post on Tuesday was a poor attempt to redefine his current argument as an irrelevant history lesson.

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Tuesday, March 10, 2009

SHUT UP! County Blocks Gone Mild? - Day 92 of the Jackson County Ethics Blackout

A funny thing happened with my hit counter yesterday. I had my highest count in a month, thanks to links from Tony's Kansas City and the Prime Buzz Blog Watch, but there were no hits at all from the Jackson County Courthouse. It seems I've been blocked!

I've always had my fans at the Jackson County Courthouse, and I have never NOT had hits from there on a workday since - heck, I don't know. 2005?

I must have gotten under somebody's skin, I suppose. Fortunately, they haven't blocked me from access to their site, so I can still get access to their agendas and keep an eye on who's lying about what committee he's not chairing. For the moment, they are free of local ethical oversight, and heaven knows the Star refuses to do an adequate job of covering County issues, but others are starting to pay attention.

Personally, I think it's a waste of time to block websites. When City Hall blocked Tony's site, they used the excuse of his penchant for pictures of scantily clad women as an excuse, but everyone knows it was a ham-handed and failed attempt to reduce his influence. I don't know what excuse the County may be using to block Gone Mild, but it can't be bikini models . . .

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Dave Helling Beyond Satire

I've made sport of Dave Hellings' inability to do simple math and everyone agrees that his hilarious hand-wringing about the demise of the Democratic Party after a triumphal primary season was an unintentional masterpiece of cluelessness.

Dave Helling doesn't produce much copy anymore, but when he does publish something, it often carries that special glow of obtuseness that makes real political observers stop in their tracks and say "Huh?".

Yesterday's gem was this - Kansas City should raid its general revenue to support the stadiums because that is the same as Johnson County giving money. This is the actual title of Hellings' piece - and, no, I haven't altered it to make it seem more ridiculous - "End of $2 million stadium subsidy could let JoCo off the hook for ballparks".

Because Johnson Countians pay a portion of the earnings tax. Which goes into general revenue.

Absolutely incredible. The Kansas City Star actually published that analysis.

By the same analysis, the City can bestow the benefits of Bistate funding anywhere it redirects general revenue by laying off enough police officers and cutting enough basic services.

It's genius! If Kansas City uses every nickel of its money to support things that suburbanites like, a new Age of Aquarius will dawn, and regionalism will reign over the unpatrolled and unpaved streets of Kansas City. That's the way things work in Hellings' world.

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Monday, March 09, 2009

Who's Chairing the Anti-Drug Committee? - Day 91 of the Jackson County Ethics Blackout

According to every official document I have seen, Dan Tarwater chairs the Anti-Drug Committee, a powerful committee that controls the $21 million COMBAT tax. As the only member of the committee who does not have a rap sheet for financial crimes, he is probably the least inappropriate person of that committee to be in charge.

Why, then, is James Tindall claiming to chair the Committee, and using County resources to publicize that claim? Is it an attempt to convince inattentive outsiders that he is more influential over the dollars than he truly is?

Of course, it's probably just a mistake. But, with the County Legislature fighting hard against Ethical Home Rule, and with an Anti-Drug committee consisting of two people with financial rap sheets, it's dangerous to assume that things are on the up-and-up.

Until the legislature accepts Ethical Home Rule, it does not deserve the benefit of any doubt.

Why is James Tindall using county resources to claim he is chairing the Anti-Drug committee?

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We don't owe $2,000,000

Mark Funkhouser has taken a lot of heat for his proposal that the City should stop paying $2,000,000 out of its general funds to support the Truman Sports Complex. He's absolutely right. We have no contract or law obligating us to make such a staggering gift, and it is insulting to the poor citizens of Kansas City that we would reduce basic services while subsidizing suburban entertainment.

According to news reports, Mike Sanders and others are claiming that if the City of Kansas City does not bail out the stadiums, it will be violating the leases, freeing the Royals and Chiefs to leave the area. That is an absolute lie, and I have the proof.

I have read the lease agreements, and found something amazing. The City of Kansas City did not sign the leases. In fact the agreements (page 13, section 14.a.ii, of the Royals contract and page 21, section 10.5.2(ii)(a) of the Chiefs contract) to be precise) refer to payments by the City as "currently" $2,000,000, which clearly anticipates that the amount could change in the future. Mike Sanders is playing with other people's money.

Kansas City cannot violate a lease it never signed.


I have spent a lot of time looking at the City's budget, and this is not a good year for us to be giving money away when we are under no obligation to do so. In a time when we are looking at cutting the police, closing community centers and jacking up the property tax, it's impossible to justify spending such a huge amount of money for stadiums. We are in the process of firing people - city employees are losing their jobs - and Mike Sanders wants us to spend $2,000,000 to cover an obligation owed by the County??

Will Mike Sanders be willing to walk into the offices of $2,000,000 worth of those City employees and tell them that he'll be thinking of them when he's watching a Chiefs game from the fat-cat suite after parking like a rock star? (Check out page 16, Section 7.4.)

The simple fact is that the City of Kansas City owes no money whatsoever under the leases. If anybody wants to claim that we are so obligated, I would ask that they show us the legal documents that back up their claim.

If, on the other hand, they resort to bogus claims like "Kay Barnes promised . . .", ask them if they really, truly believe that is how government works. Did "Credit Card" Kay Barnes really have the ability to obligate the city with a speech? If you believe that, you really have no idea how the process of government works. If Mark Funkhouser announces in a speech that the City will, without any sort of ordinance or documentation, or signing any contract, give $2,000,000 to me every year forever, because he likes my writing, is the City on the hook?

And don't let them trot out the old "economic engine" argument, either. Of course there are tangential benefits to having the Chiefs and Royals in town, but that's true of any employer or tourist attraction. And a lot of those benefits go to Lee's Summit, Independence, Blue Springs, Liberty and Overland Park. How about if the City of Kansas City matches the tax dollars chipped in by those municipal governments?

Sadly, this is a very difficult budget year. I would love to see the City in a position where it could make a $2,000,000 charitable contribution to help the County live up to its contractual obligations. Especially if we could do that AFTER helping the truly needy in our community, with things like better police protection and codes enforcement. But, really, we cannot do that this year.

Those two millions dollars to not come out of thin air. They represent choices. If we put $2,000,000 into the stadiums, when we are not obligated to do so, we need to take $2,000,000 from somewhere else.

Why should we pay what we do not owe?

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Sunday, March 08, 2009

Sunday Poetry: To his Coy Mistress, by Andrew Marvell

To his Coy Mistress

Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, lady, were no crime.
We would sit down and think which way
To walk, and pass our long love's day;
Thou by the Indian Ganges' side
Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood;
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow.
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast,
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart.
For, lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate.

But at my back I always hear
Time's winged chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found,
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song; then worms shall try
That long preserv'd virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust.
The grave's a fine and private place,
But none I think do there embrace.

Now therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may;
And now, like am'rous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour,
Than languish in his slow-chapp'd power.
Let us roll all our strength, and all
Our sweetness, up into one ball;
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life.
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.

- by Andrew Marvell

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Poetry has many uses, and the speaker in this poem was employing verse for one of the classics - he wanted to get laid.

You cannot read this poem with too dirty of a mind. "Into one ball"? Can't believe that a guy writing in 1651 meant what you think he means? Get over it - this generation did not invent horniness, you know. "Languish in his slow-chapp'ed power"? Slow-chapp'd means slow-jawed, and yes, indeed, Marvell was talking about exactly what you think he was. If you thought oral sex was something invented at the Playboy Mansion in the 1950s, you're off by at least a couple centuries. It's even worse than you think - even the word "quaint" was intended to be word play with the word that garners shock and disgust even in our jaded age.

This poem is more than 350 years old, and it still has the power to surprise. I guess it's not just high-minded human traits that are timeless.

Go ahead and enjoy this poem for its subject matter. Given how often poetry is about death, art, etc., it's refreshing to find a poem that meets us in the gutter where we sometimes belong.

If you want to look at the craft of poetry, though, this poem gets us back to the good old-fashioned iambic beat. Indeed, the insistence on the "dah-DAH" rhythm is so important to Marvell that he even chops the final "e"s out of "preserved" and "slow-chapped" and the first "o" out of "amorous" because he can't spare the syllable and keep the beat.

But it's hard to get all musty and academic when the poet is talking about worms in his lady and tearing pleasures with rough strife. If you want to read a poetic response to Marvell's plea, there are dozens, but my favorite is "His Coy Mistress to Mr. Marvell", by A.D. Hope.

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Saturday, March 07, 2009

Theresa Garza Ruiz WAY Ahead of the Game - Day 89 of the Jackson County Ethics Blackout

Yesterday, I wrote about Theresa Garza Ruiz standing up against the "old dogs" on the Jackson County Legislature in her latest newsletter. It's an impressive act of political courage, and one which I believe will draw her favorable attention.

Perhaps even more impressive is that Theresa Garza Ruiz had the foresight to write about Ethical Home Rule months before the Jackson County Legislature decided to exempt itself from local ethical oversight. Way back in July of 2008, Theresa Garza Ruiz wrote a fascinating history of the development of Home Rule from the 18th Century up until present times. You should really go read it if you want proof that all our county legislators are not knuckleheads installed by dying political machines.

She also outlines the crux of the issue that consumes county-watchers during this Ethics Blackout:
The Ethics Commission is part of our county charter. In order to change any portion of our charter, it must come before the voters. The commission’s ability to thoroughly investigate a complaint is well within its power and is outlined in our home rule.

With that quotation, Garza Ruiz warned the legislature not to embark on its current path toward monarch. They ignored her, and now we are stuck without an Ethics Commission and with a public opinion of our legislators that has sunk to sewer level.

Why in the world is Theresa Garza Ruiz not the Chair of the Legislature? We would be in a far better position if she were . . .

(Honestly, I hadn't intended to do a post today, and was planning on saving this piece until a weekday, but an old friend sent me a link to this awesome Cobra, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to use it.)

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Friday, March 06, 2009

Theresa Garza Ruiz Gets It - Day 88 of the Jackson County Ethics Blackout

Yesterday, I received an e-Newsletter from Theresa Garza Ruiz, the Jackson County legislator in the first district at-large seat. Her newsletter included the text of a column she wrote for The Examiner, expressing her feelings about her vote on abandoning Ethical Home Rule for Jackson County.

Theresa Garza Ruiz agrees that the Ethics Blackout is wrong, and she call on the "old dogs" to fix it. It's a wonderful piece of writing, and signals hope that significant change will be coming to the dark underworld of the Jackson County legislature.

Ms. Garza Ruiz writes:
For far too long, Jackson County government and "ethics" have been somewhat of a running joke throughout the metro area. Honestly, when were these two items used in a good light in the same paragraph, let alone the same sentence?

In spite of the progress the county has achieved in the past few years, I can understand why critics are skeptical on whether our hearts are truly into overhauling the rules that govern us. In my book, the fact that a Jackson County ethics code was even passed speaks volumes, but then I'm optimistic.

When decent people are faced with having to compromise due to situational choices, then an ethical dilemma has been presented. Ethical dilemmas can involve right-versus-wrong situations or right-versus-right situations - also known as no-win situations.

So, there it is. The ethics code is not perfect.
In an of itself, the admission that the code is imperfect is what I would call "Praising with faint damn". By excluding the legislature from Ethical Home Rule, the County Legislature has undercut the Jackson County Charter and established a arrogant, almost monarchic attitude toward ethics in Jackson County. "The ethics code is not perfect" is kind of like writing "The economy is not perfect" or "The intelligence on Iraq was not perfect."

But, thank goodness, Ms. Garza Ruiz was just getting warmed up. She next turns her focus on the wretched good-old-boys who have long viewed Jackson County Government as their fiefdom and family employment agency: "With no disrespect intended, as that old saying goes, 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks.' Not that it's impossible, it just takes time." So far, its been 88 days of time trying to get the old dogs on the Jackson County Legislature to learn the new trick of being ethical. Seems like Ms. Garza Ruiz is getting impatient in her role as the "dog whisperer" of ethics.

Finally, Ms. Garza Ruiz ends on two high notes:
The ability for any Ethics Commission to deal credibly and forthrightly with the issues that come before it depends on a governing body's willingness to reform its own ethical rules and behavior. As I said before, greater scrutiny and public awareness can help set a higher standard and force change from our leaders and our governmental institutions. In the end, no matter what's on the books, it still boils down to personal integrity.

As for the ethics commissioners who resigned, I was disappointed upon hearing the news. It was a good group of solid, decent, hardworking individuals dedicated to upholding the public interest.
In those two paragraphs, Ms. Garza Ruiz draws a line in the sand and dares her fellow county legislators to remain on the wrong side of it. Where Dan Tarwater attacked the citizens who served, and Dennis Waits accused them of playing politics, but Ms. Garza praises them. Old dogs snarl and bite when people want to look inside their doghouse, but friendly dogs welcome them.

More significantly, Ms. Garza Ruiz sets out the terms of the changes she seeks. By speaking of "a governing body's willingness to reform its own ethical rules and behavior", she is saying that the bogus reforms being bandied about by corrupt insiders that do not result in Ethical Home Rule will be insufficient.

It is wonderful to see an elected official embrace - even encourage - scrutiny of the Jackson County legislature designed to "force change from our leaders and our governmental institutions." It's going to happen, and Theresa Garza Ruiz is going to wind up on the right side of Jackson County history over this issue. Ethical Home Rule will return to the Jackson County Courthouse, and the smart legislators are getting on board.

Thank you, Theresa, for the leadership and encouragement. We're glad you're not joining of the pack of old dogs.

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Thursday, March 05, 2009

Cozy Cash Committees Closely Controlled - Day 87 of the Jackson County Ethics Blackout

Why are the "Big Money" Committees on the Jackson County Legislature controlled by only 5 legislators?

Why are 3 legislators (Theresa Garza Ruiz, Greg Grounds, and Fred Arbanas), excluded from the three committees (Anti-Drug, Finance & Audit, and Budget) that have the most financial influence on Jackson County (Anti-Drug, Finance & Audit, and Budget)?

Dan Tarwater serves on all three of the Big Money Committees. Theresa Garza Ruiz serves on none.

James Tindall (convicted of income tax evasion) serves on two of the Big Money Committees (Budget and Anti-Drug). Greg Grounds serves on none.

Henry Rizzo (convicted of providing false information to a financial institution) serves on two of the Big Money Committees (Budget and Anti-Drug). Fred Arbanas serves on none.

It can't be based on experience, because Fred Arbanas has been on the County Legislature since it started.

It can't be based on knowledge, because Theresa Garza Ruiz is completing a Master's Degree in Public Administration with an emphasis on Government Business Relations and Public Management.

It can't be based on qualifications, because Greg Grounds has over three decades of government and business experience, including a stint on the Jackson County COMBAT Commission.

It can't be based on public trust, since two of the Financial Five (controlling 4 of the seven seats on the Budget and Anti-Drug committees) have criminal records for financial improprieties, while none of the other three have rap sheets.

It just doesn't make sense. Any auditor knows "there is safety in numbers", meaning that you should have as many people as possible involved in oversight of financial matters - a rule that would apply with special force where some of individuals involved have been caught and convicted of financial improprieties.

At the same time this bizarre and unsettling committee structure was being set up, the Jackson County Legislature decided (in violation of the Charter) that it should not have to answer to the Jackson County Ethics Commission anymore.

Why does the Jackson County Legislature oppose Ethical Home Rule? Is there Big Money involved?

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Book 'em, Danno

I spent yesterday evening at 13th and Summit, in a conference room with a bunch of people getting introduced to the FBI's Citizens Academy. Over 8 weeks, we'll be learning about the work of the FBI, locally, nationally, and internationally. We'll get briefed on major cases, and meet the people involved in preventing and solving them. We'll get to visit the FBI shooting range, and fire weapons. We'll see how the counter-terrorism, counter-intelligence and intelligence programs operate. At the end of the program, we get invited to the FBI headquarters in DC, and the FBI training facility in Quantico, Virginia (all on our own dime).

I even got a special badge with my picture on it to give me access to the parking lot. It doesn't get much cooler than that.

I'm looking forward to learning a lot more about the reality of federal law enforcement, and getting to know my fellow students.

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Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Milk-Braised Pork Roast

On Sunday, I had the time and inclination to try making something new. My wife suggested pork for dinner, and off I went to find something new and exciting in the pork world.

The answer came from Molly Stevens' soul-satisfying book, All About Braising. Her recipe for Pork Loin Braised in Milk is simple but unusual, and it came out fantastic.


To prepare it, cut several cloves of garlic into slivers, and mix them with spices. I used sage and fennel seed, but you could substitute whatever you prefer. I poked holes all over a 2.5 pound pork loin roast, inserted the spiced garlic slivers, and then salted and peppered the roast. I let it sit for a few hours before browning it in cast iron pan a mixture of oil and butter. After it was browned, I removed the roast, and tossed in a little extra garlic, stirring it till it was toasty. Then I poured in a cup and a half of whole milk, brought it to a boil while stirring the brown bits up from the bottom. After it was boiling, I returned the roast and juices to the pan, and turned off the burner. I put the lid on and put the whole thing in the oven at 250 for around an hour and a half, turning it half-way through.

After taking it out of the oven, I put the roast on a carving board and covered it. The milk had transformed itself into soft, tan curdly sauce. I removed some (but not all) of the fat (pork is so lean these days there wasn't much) and boiled the sauce until it thickened a little, adding a little salt and pepper and just a few drops of lemon juice. When I served it, the meat was tender and moist, and the sauce complemented the sweetness of the pork.

Next time I try it, I might toss in a few halved new potatoes, but it was just fine served with steamed broccoli. I had never considered milk to be a braising liquid before Sunday . . .

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Retraction Regarding Criminal Dominance and Influence on the Jackson County Legislature - Day 86 of the Jackson County Ethics Blackout

A couple days ago, I referred to the Jackson County legislature as "dominated by criminals". A commenter questioned my description, and, to be completely fair (as always), the legislature is not necessarily, in fact, dominated by criminals. It is, however, influenced by criminals. And, in its infinite wisdom, the legislature has chosen to appoint two of its legislators with rap sheets to a three person committee handling every nickel of the COMBAT Fund, which gives those individuals unusually strong influence over the disbursements of the Legislature.

So, I'd like to retract my previous statement about the Jackson County legislature. I am not sure it is 100% fair to claim that it is dominated by criminals. Instead, I would prefer to make the 100% accurate claim that "In boom times or tight times, though, one thing remains constant - the Jackson County Legislature is scandalously under-regulated, influenced by criminals and defying local ethics oversight."

My apologies for any confusion.

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Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Tarwater Vulnerable? - Day 85 of the Jackson County Ethics Blackout

It has been 15 years since Dan Tarwater was first elected to the Jackson County legislature. I remember the election well - it was my first exposure to how slimy Jackson County politics can be. Tarwater cruised to a victory over a young lawyer named Matt Davis, partially by recruiting a woman named Mary Davis to appear on the ballot as M. Davis. Tarwater was part of the Bill Waris operation, and Matt Davis was like that brave student in Tiananmen Square, only the tank didn't even slow down.

Since that time, Tarwater hasn't faced a serious opponent. According to Missouri Ethics Commission reports, it's been well over a decade since Dan Tarwater has raised more than $500 to support a campaign. Even in 2008, when other unchallenged politicians were raising money for their more embattled friends, Tarwater sat on the sidelines and only made token contributions to a couple organizations.

While Tarwater was a tank in 1994, 15 years can gather a whole lot of rust. Since that time, he has gathered bad publicity in the form of a brawl with another legislator, on-again-off-again bribery issues asserted by former Chair Katheryn Shields concerning COMBAT funds (he's the only one on the Anti-Drug Committee who hasn't been convicted for criminal financial behavior), and he's given his aide lavish bonuses from county funds. Et cetera.

Now that Tarwater has come out aggressively against Ethical Home Rule, he has made himself an attractive target for a spirited campaign in 2010. I've heard rumblings that some budding politicos in the south Ward Parkway corridor are talking to friends about running on a pro-Ethical Home Rule platform.

Here's a map of the district. Take a second and think about all the good people in that district, who could really bring something fresh and positive to the Jackson County legislature . . .

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Monday, March 02, 2009

Dr. Seuss' Birthday

And I get to read a book of his to a bunch of kids at Brookside Day School, for my Rotary Club. Sounds like a nice way to start the day!

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They Want to Win When They Lose? - Day 84 of the Jackson County Ethics Blackout

While the Kansas City Star assiduously avoids mentioning it, there's gold in the Jackson County Courthouse. $678 MILLION dollars are being doled out in Jackson County's 2009 Budget, which is actually a reduction from the prior year. In boom times or tight times, though, one thing remains constant - the Jackson County Legislature is scandalously under-regulated, dominated by criminals and defying local ethics oversight.

That makes the Jackson County Legislature a playground for lobbyists. Two out of three members of the committee that handles the $21 million dollars of COMBAT funds have criminal records for financial crimes - a majority with a rap sheet! And both of those individuals (Henry Rizzo and James Tindall) have voted against local ethics oversight.

If you ask a County Legislator about the Ethics Blackout, he or she will likely lie to your face and claim it's no big deal, because the Legislature is covered by the Missouri Ethics Commission. It's apples and oranges, though - the Jackson County Ethics Code includes important provisions ignored by the State Ethics Code. As pointed out earlier during the Jackson County Ethics Blackout, the Missouri Ethics Commission doesn't even prevent our brawling legislators from showing up to meetings drunk or stoned!

Another, more profitable, difference between the Jackson County Ethics Code and the Missouri Ethics Code is that Missouri has no provision about former legislators coming back to lobby their former colleagues, while the Jackson County Ethics Code includes a prohibition against former elected officials profiting off of old backroom favors for a year.

In short, if they lose their next election, they want to be able to cash in on the cronyism and corruption that they have fought to preserve. They know who to ask and where to apply pressure for COMBAT funds, and they want to be able to sell that knowledge to the highest bidder when they finish their "public service".

That's only one of many reasons Jackson Countians must defeat the Jackson County Ethics Blackout, and why the criminal element of Jackson County government is fighting so hard to fight Ethical Home Rule.

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