TKC BREAKING AND EXCLUSIVE NEWS!!! LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT ACTIVIST CLAY CHASTAIN RAGES AGAINST DEAD TREE MEDIA KANSAS CITY STAR CENSORSHIP!!!
Recently, the very best and AWESOME TKC TIPSTERS INTERCEPTED A COMMUNIQUÉ betwixt Clay Chastain and a Dead Tree Media reporter.
To wit . . .
CHECK OUT THIS CLAY CHASTAIN MISSIVE WHICH OFFERS A BEHIND THE SCENES LOOK @ THE KANSAS CITY STAR ATTEMPTING TO SILENCE ALTERNATIVE TRANSIT ARGUMENTS!!
It's cool to see Clay Chastain stand strong amid pressure and a lot of hot air from the newspaper. Not so long ago, some old white lady from the Star called me up and threatened a flimsy lawsuit simply because of online comments . . . I actually tried to be nice which is always a mistake . . . In this missive, Mr. Chastain addresses a Kansas City Star reporter directly and takes the reporter to task regarding the facts of his advocacy.
The behind the scenes note is impressive and offers a great insight into the bias of those making the news.
Check it:
Star's Rejection Of Clay Chastain Commentary
######, even though i am a credible leader...i won last time... and my light rail issue is in the news...check your own paper...it seems obvious that you have no intention of printing anything I might write.
I even followed some of your suggestions about explaining the facts about funding and studies behind the light rail initiative, and still...no thanks. And no offer to further suggest what kind of communication to the people of Kansas City you would print from the leader and author of the light rail initiative petition.
You have displayed your bias before when we have talked on the phone saying you don't think much of my proposals. You even mocked my light rail victory in 2006 in suggesting the voters were stupid, and parroting the city that the plan was 'unworkable."
Furthermore, it is an unprofessional position to take especially when, unlike me, you are not a degreed engineer and you cover the city's competing streetcar plan on a regular basis.
I think you are afraid of the flack you will get from the establishment if you print something from Clay Chastain.
Trying to maintain your access to the establishment, #####?
The Kansas City Star is suppossed to be a "paper for the people," not a paper for the establishment.
Your actions here...to decline the two columns I have authored without suggesting the type of article you would accept... Have undermined the Star's noble statement of dedication.
Clay Chastain
##########
Clay's point is well taken. He has more votes on transit than 10x what Sly and Russ Johnson earned so far.
ReplyDeletethe bear likes this article...while hipsters are not cool, standing up to the dims at the Star is. Way to show ball Clay. Tony, nice job of grabbing you some too. (whatever)
ReplyDeleteThere's a difference between censorship and not running something because it's too boring, too long, too obtuse, too repetitive, uses the same damn talking points over and over, is written by someone who doesn't even live here, is written by someone who used petitions to call chicks up on dates like some weirdo creep.
ReplyDeleteBut not censorship. Also we can save the "bias" discussion - and how horribly biased this "blog" is - for some other time. Hearing you complain about biased news sources is like hearing John Altevogt complain about fish sticks.
ALso, "intercepted," my left nut. Clay sent it to you.
"even though i am a credible leader"
ReplyDeleteI stopped reading there. How many other lies to Clay tell about himself?
I give Clay credit for being persistent. He didn't give up when City Hall and the Stars minions kicked him in the k-nuts. He is much like Glazer lovers, not real smart but like a pit bull in their defense of loser.
ReplyDeleteI've supported C Chastain and voted for his LR initiatives from the beginning and continue to do so now. He is as valid a player as any. seems many are dismissive of him because of his persistent tenacity.. i see him as a guy doing something to move this sleepy town forward. thx tony for exposing this, stay on it!
ReplyDelete7:12 ftw
ReplyDeleteBlond Watermelon is not addressing the fact that the Star is censoring Clay. As for being "too boring, too long, too obtuse, too repetitive, uses the same damn talking points over and over," doesn't that cover most of Lewis Duiguid's and Charles the dog guy's columns?
ReplyDeleteAttacking Clay Chastain is not the same as addressing the issues.
OK, let's address the issue. Which is NOT your opinion of Diuguid or Gusewelle.
ReplyDeleteWhy is the Star obligated to give Chastain the time of day, let along space in their newspaper?
Because he is the brilliant, almighty Clay Chastain?
I'm sure he's got a handfull of groupies, but absolutely nobody but they and Chastain are impressed in the least with his brilliance.
And the idea of a gondola between Union Station and the Liberty Memorial. Yeah, brilliant.
Like every megalomaniac standing on a street corner, Chastain can't even hear the world laughing at him.
He, Derron Black and Toni Bones need to learn this one lesson. When Tony Botello is the only person paying attention to you, you've really fallen into the village idiot category.
So 8:00 how does it feel to be the Mayor of Idiot Village?
ReplyDeleteNo one really reads the Star today. You are focusing on the past.
ReplyDeleteI hate the fucking Star for their fawning attitude to the power elite and their complicity in the ripoff schemes concocted at 11th and Oak.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, if Clay wants to argue that it is "unprofessional" for the Star to offer commentary on the light rail petition because they are not "degreed engineers", then he better quit bitching about not getting his columns printed because he is not a "degreed journalist".
Stupid arrogant fuck is Clay.
8:00 u r your own contradiction -- u r reading tkc
ReplyDeleteNot really, 8:31. Tony provides a valuable service by rounding up all the village idiots in one place.
ReplyDeleteAnd let's include Glazer in the village as well.
ReplyDeleteISSUE: He's a freakin' creep
ReplyDeleteChastain says he is sorry
Union Station activist sought dates with signers of his petitions.
BY MARK MORRIS and TIMOTHY HEIDER
THE KANSAS CITY STAR
Clay Chastain apologized Monday for calling some women who signed his petitions and asking them for dates.
Holding a balloon that pictured a teddy bear and the words "I'm sorry," Chastain also acknowledged that he now understood that the descriptions of the women, which he wrote in the margins of his petitions, were offensive.
"I apologize to all the ladies of Kansas City, " Chastain said. "I'm not making excuses. I'm apologizing for inappropriate behavior."
A Kansas City political scientist said Chastain's apology didn't go far enough. He said Chastain had broken the public trust involving a civic institution - the initiative petition process, which citizens use to bypass government officials.
"As a citizen, I felt violated, and I'm outraged by his conduct," said Frank J. Smist Jr., chairman of the political science department at Rockhurst College. "He owes an apology to everyone, not just women. He's done a lot of damage."
Anne Nattinger, who signed one of the petitions, said she felt betrayed that Chastain was using the process to further his social life.
"I'm really disappointed. I signed the petition, and I felt proud I was part of the cause," Nattinger said. "I don't think any woman who has seen this will ever sign another one."
Nattinger said the notation "short cute yes" next to her name made her feel "creepy." She said Chastain should be stopped from doing petitions in the future "if he's going to be using it for a dating service."
Nattinger said she was not called, as some petitioners were.
For much of the 1990s, Chastain has circulated petitions in Westport and Brookside calling for public votes on various plans to renovate Union Station and the Liberty Memorial. His most recent drive concluded last week. In addition to his civic activism, Chastain has worked as an electrical engineer and a home remodeler.
On Sunday, The Kansas City Star reported that Chastain used the personal information to look up phone numbers and ask women out.
The Star also found 54 notations written on Chastain's petitions. They ranged from a star next to a woman's name to physical attributes, such as "tall blond," "pretty chunky blond," "blond bomb," "short cute," "beautiful hair," "small body," and "shook my hand, freckles."
Chastain explained one notation, "blond watermelon," as a reminder of what the woman was carrying from a grocery.
"That was not meant to be (sexually) suggestive," he said.
No such descriptions appeared beside the names of men who signed.
Chastain said Monday that the descriptions were spontaneous notes jotted down in the stress and weariness of grueling petition drives. "Maybe I was out in the sun too long, " he said. Chastain appeared to blame his predicament on city officials, who stalled three previous petition efforts with legal wrangling and appeals.
"The corrupt city of Kansas City has forced me for the last five years to do petition drive after petition drive after petition drive to get the right to vote, and, yes, this has hurt my social life," he said. "And when I've been on the petition trail I have asked a few women outand a few women have asked me out. I'm not going to apologize for liking women."
At his morning press conference, Chastain also apologized to his young daughter, who stood beside him and held a bouquet of roses.
"I misbehaved," Chastain said. "I didn't set a good example for my daughter. My daughter usually behaves better than I do."
ISSUE RESOLVED
This is one of those rare instances where I would be ok with killing the messenger.
ReplyDeleteThis guy is fuckin nuts. Travels all the way from West Virginia or somewhere to indulge his narcissistic "Mr. Smith Goes to Kansas City" dream of political relevance.
Seriously, I think I read he moved out of town a decade ago. Take up golf, buy some whores, pick up a coke habit, get in a fuckin car wreck but get thee hence you miserable wretch back to where you live.
cant forget chuck and ernest if we're making a list of village idiots
ReplyDeleteI lived in Westport at the time of the petition kerfuffle and my upstairs neighbor did indeed have nice melons.
ReplyDelete"...degreed engineer"? Not a civil engineer nor a public engineer but an electrical engineer. Major bull shit try. Also, has no background in finance, whether private nor public, in order to correctly identify costs of the massive project nor the funding streams to finance it. Enough from this crazy shit!
ReplyDeleteTo 8:00 )and all your subsequent posts):
ReplyDeleteSo what if Clay is an idiot? So what if the gondola was lunacy? If the current streetcar proposal were held up to the same litmus test (i.e., not being pushed forward by fanatics of the lunatic fringe), do you think they'd be worthy of a mention in the Star? Give the guy a chance to state an opposing opinion. If the opinion is not valid, then we can ignore it, but let's hear it first.
Clay=Lives in West Virginia=Bat Shit Crazy
ReplyDeleteByron=Lives in West Virginia=????
Discuss.
9:57=guilt by coincidence. I think Clay actually lives in Virginia.
ReplyDelete10:00 that is plenty close enough for Bryons stupidity to wear off on KC's answer to "the Dating Game" Chastain.
ReplyDeleteWow! How insecure does the Star have to be and how far down has its standards dropped that it has to come on a private blog and attack people, some not even mentioned in the article, by name?
ReplyDeleteIs this another one of Derek Donovan's public meltdown's? I notice that as part of the attack on Chastain that an old article from The Star's library was used as an ad hominem attack, something an ordinary contributor would not have access to, but something Ms Donovan would have access to as The Star's public editor and librarian.
This would not be the first time Derek, notoriously thin-skinned, had gone bonkers and attacked critics of the paper in an unethical manner. One can only hope for the sake of The Star's bottom line that his mental health costs are not a part of his medical package.
The guy is living some really bad movie in his head. I am sick of him making us watch it.
ReplyDeleteWho is making you watch it?
ReplyDelete10:49: Could also be Yael. He goes ballistic whenever Chastains name come up.
ReplyDeleteThe Star is a whore for the establishment, it's why we need The Pitch and yes, neither Yael nor Derek are tolerant of views that differ from theirs.
ReplyDeleteshould the bear unleash a attack on Fael and the crashing Star ? It would be brutal.
ReplyDeleteByron Funkhouser alert.
ReplyDeleteWhere's the cum guy when you need him to drop a load on Clay? Where?
ReplyDeleteClay is a true Democratic. Thanks for showing us what democracy and advocacy look like. You are a Kansas City treasure.
ReplyDeleteIf I recall correctly, Clay lives in Virginia. So I've never understood his fixation with KC.
ReplyDeleteWe all knew when the Star dropped most of the Sunday Funnies that they had lost a lot of their humor so naturally they will not entertain fools or provide free space for lunacy and its humor.
ReplyDeleteHey everybody why so nasty to a guy with a degree in wiring. He has some good plans and I think that they could be integrated with the Sly Mans B.S. plan and we could have one of the most interesting transit plans of any FIRST CLASS city in the world.
ReplyDeleteIs it true that Russ has already bought an engineers hat. I can hear him up in the front of the train saying Linwooood Costco&Homedepoooo! Those waiting for 38th please move to the rear for disbarking. Westport coming up and then he pulls the chain to ring the bell. Woooo Woooo Ding Ding Ding