Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009
Ulterior motives lurk behind the tree-lighting ceremony
MIKE HENDRICKS COMMENTARY
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ReprintFor more years than he can remember, Bill Grigsby was the master of ceremonies at the Mayor’s Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at Crown Center.
Good ol’ Grigs. Smiling. Jovial. Kansas City’s biggest booster, and entirely noncontroversial.
“I did it for a lot of mayors,” Grigsby said. “That is, until Funkhouser came in.”
Yep, Mark Funkhouser vowed to shake up the tree-lighting ceremony the way he’d shake up everything else.
Which brings us to this year’s ceremony, a week from today. Funkhouser has for the second time in three years picked one of the most polarizing figures in town to ring in the holiday season.
Chris Stigall. And if you’re not familiar with Stigall’s morning radio program, count yourself lucky.
The former aide to Republican congressman Sam Graves is so vociferous in his commentary that he makes Rush Limbaugh look soft.
While Stigall’s reach ordinarily extends only to KCMO listeners, he’s caught national attention lately as a fill-in host for the likes of Michael Savage and Lou Dobbs.
Sitting in for Lou Dobbs in September, Stigall hit the president’s plan to speak to schoolchildren, saying: “I wouldn’t let my next-door neighbor talk to my kid alone. I’m sure as hell not letting Barack Obama talk to him alone.”
There’s a lot more. And as someone in a similar line of work, I recognize Stigall’s right to his opinions — even if they’re often wrongheaded, narrow-minded and despicable.
But why pick this bomb thrower as the master of ceremonies for an event supposedly meant to bring the community together, unless you have an ulterior motive?
And I’m pretty sure this mayor has one that, unfortunately, is purely political.
Neither Funkhouser nor his staff offered comment when I put that to them in an e-mail the other day.
Stigall, meanwhile, wrote that “I would hope people could put aside politics for an evening … especially during the holiday season.”
Of course, it’s impossible to set aside politics when politicians are involved. Every move sends a message.
The message here is that Funkhouser needs the support of the people who listen to and agree with the likes of Chris Stigall.
The “knuckle-draggers,” as Stigall refers to them affectionately.
After all, the only people Funkhouser can rely on as he heads for a re-election bid are those who still think of him the way he likes to think of himself: as the rebel out to upset the status quo.
That’s Stigall’s target audience.
Therefore, picking him as master of ceremonies is a cynical move for a supposed Democrat in a nonpartisan office who needs right-wing support to get re-elected.
That’s how I see it, anyway. And no, I’m not jealous. I wouldn’t pick me as MC of the tree lighting, either.
Too controversial.