Tag Archives: Kansas City

Focusing On The Wrong Thing

Posted on by

On Thursday, Todd Starnes posted an article about a graduation speech given by Kansas City Chiefs football team kicker Harrison Butker at Benedictine College, a private Catholic school in Kansas.

The article reports:

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is facing the wrath of the National Football League.

He recently delivered a commencement address at Benedictine College, a private Catholic school in Kansas.

Butker encouraged women to embrace their vocation as a homemaker and that set off the heavy-set, magenta-haired feminist crowd.

“I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,” Mr. Butker said. “I’m on this stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation.”

He added: “It cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.”

The Kansas City Chiefs kicker also blasted Gay Pride month and condemned President Biden’s stance on abortion.

“Our nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally. He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people, it appears you can both Catholic and pro-choice,” he said.

The article notes:

More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for him to be fired.

“We demand accountability from our sports figures who should be role models promoting respect for all people regardless of their race, gender identity or sexual orientation,” read the Change.org petition. “We call upon the Kansas City Chiefs management to dismiss Harrison Butker immediately for his inappropriate conduct.”

Are these the same people who were quiet when some of the best players in the NFL were charged with various crimes such as sexual assault, driving under the influence, and drug use?

The article concludes

“Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity,” said Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, in a written statement to People. “His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”

The NFL has an interesting definition of the word “inclusive.” Their definition does not include players who are pro-life, pro-family or pro-Catholic. And if the NFL is so inclusive – why aren’t there any female linebackers or quarterbacks in the league?

Harrison Butker’s speech expressed values that were mainstream in America less than fifteen years ago. Is our society or culture better off now that these values are no longer considered mainstream?

This Is Frightening

Posted on by

The coronavirus is scary. It is a silent plague that has caused many deaths in America. Unfortunately in many areas of the country it has also caused the death of compliance to the U.S. Constitution. On Sunday The Western Journal posted an article illustrating the latest constitutional victim of the coronavirus.

The article reports:

Churches in Kansas City, Missouri, that reopen for in-person services are required to make a list of everyone who attends, according to new city rules that were denounced by Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel.

“In-person religious gatherings (including weddings and funerals) may resume, subject to the 10/10/10 rule (if held inside) or limited to 50 people outside, provided social distancing precautions are followed and event organizers maintain records of all attendees, according to the city’s website.

The article cites Mat Stayer’s reaction:

Staver, a religious rights advocate, erupted at the new rules in a post on Liberty Counsel’s website.

“I am running out of adjectives to describe how completely insane the tyrannical abuses launched by state governors and local officials against pastors and churches are becoming. It is as if these leaders never bothered to so much as glance at the Constitution they swore to uphold and defend. They seem to be governing from some make-believe, dystopian viewpoint,” he wrote.

“The Germans did this very thing to Jews – collecting the names and locations of all known synagogue attendees – in the early days of the Nazi regime,” he wrote.

“Never in our wildest dreams could we have imagined Nazi-like measures designed to surveil, track and spy upon what was once a FREE American people. Yet that is exactly what Kansas City’s misguided government officials are now demanding,” he said.

Is the city also keeping  list of people who go to WalMart or Lowe’s? This is totally unconstitutional and needs to be immediately challenged legally.

Insanity In Our Schools

Posted on by

Hot Air posted an article today about a 12-year-old girl who is facing felony charges because she allegedly made a gun shape with her hand and pointed her finger at four students before pointing her finger at herself. Yes, you read that right.

The article reports:

Police hauled her out of school in handcuffs, arrested her and charged the child with a felony for threatening.

Shawnee Mission school officials said they could not discuss the case, citing privacy laws, but did say it wasn’t the district that arrested the child.

According to the Kansas City Star, the incident unfolded in a classroom at Westridge Middle School.

The person said that during a class discussion, another student asked the girl, if she could kill five people in the class, who would they be? In response, the girl allegedly pointed her finger pistol — like the ones many children use playing cops and robbers.

Because of that gesture, The Star was told, the girl was sent to Principal Jeremy McDonnell’s office, and the other students involved were also talked to. The school resource officer recommended that she be arrested, the source said. She was detained by police and later released to her mother.

It gets even worse. According to Star columnist Toriano Porter, there were two kids in the same school district who recently brought real guns to school that aren’t facing felony charges for their actions. Toriano Porter also states that pointing a finger gun at classmates and then yourself is a cry for help — not a criminal act of violence.

The article concludes:

I’m not even going to go so far as to say that this 12-year old was exhibiting a “cry for help.” She could have just been a 12-year old who wasn’t thinking that responding to a dumb question by a classmate was going to end up with her in handcuffs. What’s next? Arresting kids playing “Kiss, Marry, Kill” at lunch for making threats?

The 12-year old girl is now living in California with her grandfather, and will hopefully be able to put this incident behind her, but if the laws in Kansas need to be changed to prevent idiotic situations like this from taking place in the future, I hope legislators in the state will see to it that there are no more felony charges for finger guns in the future.

Did whoever decided to call the police on the child consider the emotional trauma to the child? If this was viewed as a cry for help, why did the authorities choose to make the child’s emotional situation worse? I know a lot of adults who played with toy guns and toy soldiers as children who grew up to be respectable non-violent citizens. The way this child was treated is totally unacceptable–and she didn’t even have a gun!

The Catholic Church Gets It Right

Posted on by

The Catholic Church has been the leader in the pro-life movement ever since abortion was declared legal. They have set the example, and many other churches have followed. Not enough, but many. On Friday, CNS News reported that Archbishop Joseph Naumann, who heads the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has stated that politicians voting to expand abortion must not present themselves for Holy Communion, and that while “we are not able to judge their souls,” we do know “there will be a Judgment Day.”

The article reports:

In his statement, A Concern for Catholics in Public Life, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said, “Recent efforts to perpetuate and expand abortion in state laws have illuminated the deplorable actions of some Catholic public officials and advocates. Their efforts to support and even celebrate such legislation will result in killing many more unborn children, as well as the spiritual and emotional wounding of their mothers and fathers.”

“Advocating for intrinsically evil acts, like abortion, is a serious immoral act,” he said, “one that involves grave matter, the prerequisite for the commission of a mortal sin. While we can object to the actions of these public officials, we are not able to judge their souls. At the same time, we know there will be a Judgment Day.”

“Conscious and unrepentant mortal sin endangers our eternal souls and places ourselves on a path to Hell,” said the archbishop.

“To receive our Eucharistic Lord, while in a state of mortal sin, only further jeopardizes the eternal fate of our souls,” he said. “Sincere repentance, a conversion of heart, and a genuine effort to make amends for the harm caused by our sin, are essential to be able to receive God’s mercy.”

The archbishop heads the archdiocese of Kansas City.

The article concludes:

Archbishop Naumann concluded, “I invite all Catholics to pray for spiritual healing for all those involved in or advocating for legalized abortion. When we truly repent, God is always eager to lavish us with His mercy.”

Abortion is murder. It is a forgivable sin, but needs to be acknowledged as murder. Hopefully Archbishop Naumann’s statements and policy will cause some people to rethink their position on abortion.

Do We Actually Have A Southern Border?

Posted on by

On Saturday, the Washington Times posted a story about the latest Congressional oversight report on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This was Senator Tom Coburn‘s final oversight report. CBN News also reported a similar story today.

The article in the Washington Times points out a few highlights in the report:

Less than 3 percent of illegal immigrants will ever be deported, and more than 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border remained unsecured as of 2014.

…The report also said corruption is a serious problem in the Border Patrol, but said agency officials actually told internal affairs investigators to cut down on the number of cases they were pursuing, according to the former division head.

In another finding Mr. Coburn’s staff on the Senate Homeland Security Committee found mission creep to be a problem: agents at one immigration agency spent time cracking down on women’s lingerie that they believed infringed on Major League Baseball’s officially licensed logos. The agents raided a lingerie store in Kansas City, Mo., flashed their badges and confiscated 18 pairs of underwear marked with an unauthorized Kansas City Royals logo, Mr. Coburn’s investigators found.

The article at CBN News reported:

“Ten years of oversight of the Department of Homeland Security finds that the Department still has a lot of work to do to strengthen our nation’s security,” Coburn explained. 

“Congress needs to review the Department’s mission and programs and refocus DHS on national priorities where DHS has a lead responsibility,” he added.

Coburn also says 700 miles of the southern border is still unsecured.

The agency also has problems protecting itself from online attacks, even though it’s supposed to protect the country from them.

Needless to say, the DHS had a different take on the oversight report (as reported in the Washington Times):

Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Marsha Catron thanked Mr. Coburn for his report, but said it didn’t capture the extent of the work her department does.

“Dr. Coburn’s report on DHS overlooks much of the concrete and recent progress we have made over the past year to improve homeland security and the manner in which DHS conducts business,” she said.

You will have to excuse my skepticism. I think it’s time to reevaluate the mission and success of the DHS and consider more effective ways to guard America’s security.