When Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser named a new parks board in June, he declared an end to a culture of community divisiveness. At the time, Funkhouser wasn't aware that one of his appointments, the grandmotherly Semler, belonged to the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a nativist outfit known for its odious rhetoric about the United States becoming a Third World country.
In spite of howls from minority constituencies, a stubborn Funkhouser refused to accept Semler's offer to resign. I still don't understand why the mayor, who preaches honesty, didn't dump Semler after she claimed — falsely — that she was "not active" in the Minutemen. (After Semler made that claim, Pitch writer Carolyn Szczepanski quickly revealed, in blog entries, the real extent of Semler's involvement.)
Funk screwed up, all right. But critics of the Semler appointment have screwed up, too — one of them in a way that bodes ill for her next few years as a 4th District city councilwoman.
On July 16, The Wall Street Journal printed a 1,300-word, trouble-in-the-heartland piece about the Semler controversy. The author, Miriam Jordan, quoted Councilwoman Beth Gottstein as saying: "This is about racism and divisiveness — everything we are not supposed to be about."
No argument about that. But later in the piece came this nugget: "Two days after the council approved a resolution against Mrs. Semler's appointment, several demonstrators gathered outside council member Ms. Gottstein's gated condominium with placards protesting her vote. Her office has been flooded with angry e-mail from Minutemen supporters across the country, she says."
I believe that angry 'mericans gave Semler's opponents an electronic piece of their minds. But the bit about protesters outside Gottstein's condo? I think the councilwoman made it up.
I've been reading about the local Minutemen since Szczepanski's cover story on them last fall ("To the Rescue," November 16, 2006). The feature didn't leave the impression that local chapters of the "corps" mustered that frequently. Yet we're to believe that the Minutemen or their supporters rallied for the not-very-satisfying experience of waving signs outside the crib of a councilwoman who voted with eight others on a largely symbolic resolution?
Szczepanski went to Topeka for a Minuteman rally on the day of the supposed Gottstein protest. None of the people she spoke with, she says, brought up the council resolution. Olathe resident Ed Hayes, who founded the Kansas Minuteman chapter, says he doesn't know anything about the demonstration described in The Wall Street Journal. "I don't even know where that woman lives," he tells me. The manager of Gottstein's condominium declined to comment.
I called the councilwoman on July 18 in an effort to talk to her about the Journal story and left a message. She didn't return the call, so the next day I tried to get a word with her after the council's regular Thursday business session. This is a fairly normal course of action for a reporter (after the meeting adjourned, The Kansas City Star's Lynn Horsley went behind the council table to chat with Funkhouser), but Gottstein acted as if I had ambushed her. She refused to talk and ducked into an elevator. Later, she called Pitch writer Nadia Pflaum, whom she had met on the campaign trail. Pflaum encouraged Gottstein to give me a call, which she did.
Gottstein, as you'll read in this lightly edited transcript of our conversation, refuses to remove my doubts about the protest. After greetings are exchanged, she begins by scolding me for trying to interview her between council meetings.
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Who is stirring things up? If these demonstrators did exist it is something that should be reported but I really don't know why anyone would make it up. It seems that one council member has felt a certain amount of anxiety about further tangling with minuteman supporters. Possibly she is intimidated which is just what the critics of the Minuteman organizations have been talking about.
How could this purported intimidation have gone on and Semler remain on the park board? Look at www.kansasminuteman.com I think it is pretty extremist, especially the part about illegal immigrants conquering the Southwest and driving out everyone else upon pain of death.
Funkhouser funked up!
I wonder if we haven't heard from Semler because she is mortified by the conduct of her Minutman co-leaders like Ed Hayes and Chris Simcox? Or maybe she is the one who negotiated the rapproachment between them with the idea of a national convention built on the demonizing of La Raza and other Hispanic organizations.
And it won't go away because white supremacy against Hispanics is just as real as white supremacy against African-Americans, different but just as real. If Gottstein had stirred things up a little more we might still have the La Raza convention in town. Of course it was the Mayor, not the Council who embraced Semler.
Who is stirring things up? If these demonstrators did exist it is something that should be reported but I really don't know why anyone would make it up. It seems that one council member has felt a certain amount of anxiety about further tangling with minuteman supporters. Possibly she is intimidated which is just what the critics of the Minuteman organizations have been talking about. How could this purported intimidation have gone on and Semler remain on the park board? Look at www.kansasminuteman.com I think it is pretty extremist, especially the part about illegal immigrants conquering the Southwest and driving out everyone else upon pain of death. Funkhouser funked up! I wonder if we haven't heard from Semler because she is mortified by the conduct of her Minutman co-leaders like Ed Hayes and Chris Simcox? Or maybe she is the one who negotiated the rapproachment between them with the idea of a national convention built on the demonizing of La Raza and other Hispanic organizations. And it won't go away because white supremacy against Hispanics is just as real as white supremacy against African-Americans, different but just as real. If Gottstein had stirred things up a little more we might still have the La Raza convention in town. Of course it was the Mayor, not the Council who embraced Semler.
thanks for being an outstanding reporter we need more like you thanks on the immigration article
thanks for being an outstanding reporter we need more like you thanks on the immigration article
"Who is a Character in a Crappy Novel" - If she had answered his questions, he would have used her answers to stir up more trouble with the Minutemen. She was smart enough to realize that, and chose not to give him what he sought, which is entirely within her rights. The fact that you consider reporting based on hunches and fact-free accusations to be a "nice reporting job" is sadly indicative of the reading public's slipping standards.
Kaikee - I think you are mistaken about what would have happened had she answered his questions. IMO, Martin would have gone back to the Minutemen and fanned the flames of a story that was dead by the time that Martin got around to reporting on it. If she had answered, we would be dealing with more protesters and more nastiness. By refusing to answer, the story has dwindled to one angry hack making claims he can't back up. I'd say Beth came out way ahead - if I were her, I'd much prefer to have David Martin embarrassing himself in the paper than a bunch of Minutemen embarrassing themselves on my front lawn. Wouldn't you? Even if you don't like Beth, and I understand that you don't, you have to admit she won this round.
"Who is a Character in a Crappy Novel" - If she had answered his questions, he would have used her answers to stir up more trouble with the Minutemen. She was smart enough to realize that, and chose not to give him what he sought, which is entirely within her rights. The fact that you consider reporting based on hunches and fact-free accusations to be a "nice reporting job" is sadly indicative of the reading public's slipping standards. Kaikee - I think you are mistaken about what would have happened had she answered his questions. IMO, Martin would have gone back to the Minutemen and fanned the flames of a story that was dead by the time that Martin got around to reporting on it. If she had answered, we would be dealing with more protesters and more nastiness. By refusing to answer, the story has dwindled to one angry hack making claims he can't back up. I'd say Beth came out way ahead - if I were her, I'd much prefer to have David Martin embarrassing himself in the paper than a bunch of Minutemen embarrassing themselves on my front lawn. Wouldn't you? Even if you don't like Beth, and I understand that you don't, you have to admit she won this round.
If Beth would have just answered the question, this probaly wouldn't even be an issue. In my opinion Beth is a liar, not just from this instance but others. I am glad someone asked her about this...it may seem trivial but if someone is exaggerating the truth to make people feel sorry for her I think the public has a right to know about it. I still just can't believe of all people in KC she actually made it to the City COuncil.
More thoughts on this article here. http://gonemild.com/dan-ryan-i...
Nice reporting job. It shows what a paranoid piece of crap Beth Gottstein is. She could have just answered your questions (truthfully) and put the whole thing to rest. Instead she goes crazy (as she does constantly) and creates a story. Beth has become legendary here at City Hall for her irrational behavior. Keep digging David. There's more. If she has Dan Ryan defending her you know something is wrong.
More thoughts on how bad this article is here: http://www.gonemild.com/2007/0...
If Beth would have just answered the question, this probaly wouldn't even be an issue. In my opinion Beth is a liar, not just from this instance but others. I am glad someone asked her about this...it may seem trivial but if someone is exaggerating the truth to make people feel sorry for her I think the public has a right to know about it. I still just can't believe of all people in KC she actually made it to the City COuncil.
More thoughts on this article here. http://gonemild.com/dan-ryan-is-a-complete-tool.html Nice reporting job. It shows what a paranoid piece of crap Beth Gottstein is. She could have just answered your questions (truthfully) and put the whole thing to rest. Instead she goes crazy (as she does constantly) and creates a story. Beth has become legendary here at City Hall for her irrational behavior. Keep digging David. There's more. If she has Dan Ryan defending her you know something is wrong.
Hah! Looks to me like a rude reporter got schooled by Beth Gottstein, and then leveraged it into an opportunity to publish something based on his probably wrong suspicions.
Beth didn't give Martin a quotation, and he didn't have any evidence, so, instead, we get crap like this.
More thoughts on how bad this article is here: http://www.gonemild.com/2007/08/journalism-blogging-and-david-martin-in.html
Hah! Looks to me like a rude reporter got schooled by Beth Gottstein, and then leveraged it into an opportunity to publish something based on his probably wrong suspicions. Beth didn't give Martin a quotation, and he didn't have any evidence, so, instead, we get crap like this.
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