If you watch reality TV, you know that there isn't much left in terms of taboo in this society. I'd venture to guess that one of the few things that will always be forbidden is necrophilia . . . Yet one after the next, so many people in this town couldn't help pushing their own pet cause in the name of Buck O'Neil . . . Latching on to O'Neil's legacy even more embarrassingly than one of those stereotypical African-American mom's on TV at the funeral of their thug kid (most likely, deservingly) shot dead.
The worst of these d-bags was (not so surprisingly) Jason Whitlock. In a column he turned in before O'Neil's body was cold, the biggest of all of The Star's Affirmative-Action hires wrote "It's going to take all of us to do Buck's job. We're going to have to promote the museum, support its functions, donate . . ."
In other words, throwing good money after bad in order to back an attraction that has been nothing but a constant drain on this town is the best way to celebrate the life of one of KC's heroes. I didn't know that dead people liked tax money as much as real estate developers . . . And people thought the Aztecs were crazy for their sacrifice in the name of their superstitions.
Still, all of this speculation about "what Buck would have wanted" is the worst kind of pandering I've seen out of this town yet. And who's to say, given the circumstances, that the guy might have been equally enthused about donations to fight congestive heart failure or bone marrow cancer? I don't know and I'm too scared to play with a ouija board in order to find out.
What I do know is that Jason Whitlock has never met a tax he didn't like when it's support of sports attractions that give virtually nothing back to this community. I hear that Whitlock is tipping the scales at close to 400lbs these days so obviously you can't count on the guy to be conservative about much . . . However, his readers should know that he has an enormous appetite for the perks that come with pushing his audience to support whatever sports related scheme backed by tax money that's on his plate.
"...the biggest of all of The Star's Affirmative-Action hires..."
ReplyDeleteHeh, fat jokes never get old.
For someone "sensitive" enough to enjoy the opera, you sure like throwing some rather inflammatory words around.
ReplyDeleteWhitlock is "Raping" Buck's corpse?
Come on, you are better than that, aren't you?
I don't care for Whitlock - he's smug, almost always wrong, and doesn't seem to play well with others. But, I don't think he did anything wrong here.
It's well known (to most) that there has been a donation drive called "Thanks A Million Buck" to build an education center that Buck O'Neil dreamed of building.
A quote from Buck: "This new education and research center is much more important to me than any Hall of Fame election."
That sounds to me like Buck WANTS PEOPLE TO DONATE.
Also, I happen to be someone who feels that the Negro League Museum is a very worthwhile endeavor, and it should be funded, to remind people of what life was like when the U.S. was segregated.
You said "throwing good money after bad in order to back an attraction that has been nothing but a constant drain on this town is the best way to celebrate the life of one of KC's heroes."
With that said, that "constant drain" was Buck's passion. He was one of the main reasons that the museum is standing in the first place, and the reason he was there all the time. I don't remember Buck ever giving a speech or building a museum for bone marrow cancer, so I don't think it is outrageous to think that donating to the museum would be what Buck would want.
Also, I'm sure there are probably some shady politicians and others who have their hands out - but isn't that how EVERYTHING works in Kansas City?
You are being unfair to Whitlock (this time) and by referring to Whitlock "raping" Buck's corpse you are certainly guilty of bad taste.
Whitlock is fat?
ReplyDeleteTony, you're a fucking idiot!
ReplyDelete