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Actor Colin Firth played King George VI in “The King’s Speech.”
He stammered.
Steve Rose plays Mr. Johnson County in two KC Star zoned editions on Wednesdays.
He smirks.
Even for a guest columnist, a picture is worth a thousand words. So there he is, Mr. Smug, Steve Rose, finally writing for the Star, But only on Wednesdays, and only in two Johnson County zones. Rose’s expression in the Star‘s mug shot reminds me MSNBC host Chris Matthews smirk.
So what pearls of wisdom did Rose’s kickoff columns impart?
In the first, he writes: “Johnson County has the mentality of a Republican western state. Kansas City has more of a Democratic, eastern state mentality. And never the twain shall meet.”
Fair enough.
Not particularly edgy or insightful but accurate. Rose reminds that he co-chaired Bi-State I, the rescue of Union Station. Of course, he fails to mention that the money was then squandered and until of late, the venue mismanaged. He also fails to mention that he promised us it would be a ONE SHOT DEAL – the only bi-state tax. Then Rose championed BiState II, a failed money grab for the Chiefs and Royals stadiums with a bone toss to local arts organizations. Later Rose backed a stadium subsidy for the Cerner owner owned KC Wizards.
In Rose’s second column, he references another possible bi-state pact – one he thinks is stupid – where both Kansas and Missouri would withhold tax incentives for businesses that want to move across the state line.
Rose has often acted like a spoiled rich kid who most wants to be popular. But now that he’s forced to send his guest columns across the state line for editing by the Missouri-leaning editors at 18th and Grand, he’s trying too hard.
His writing reminds me of the last three token, minority, sellout, black chick commentators on KCPT/Channel 19’s Ruckus.
“On the one hand this, and on the other hand, the opposite of this.”
He acts like he’s afraid to state an opinion.
Instead he’s writing stuff like: “Mayor Mark Funkhouser called the movement of firms from Kansas City to Johnson County ‘nuts.’ Well then, by those standards, both sides are a little nutty. Or maybe not.’”
Come on, Stevie. The old Rose at the Johnson County Sun would have had the balls to just call Funkhouser out, If you’re afraid to step out of line, go back to the Sun, start a blog or resign.
King George was eventually cured of his stammer. We’ll see if Rose drops the smirk or at least measures up to it.
One minor correction
Rose has written at least one column and perhaps more on the mismanagement of Union Station and the squandering of the money. True, that was when he was at The Sun, but I would give him a few columns to find out where the editorial bathroom is located and I suspect his columns will perk up somewhat. While The Star does give him a large blowtorch from whence to opine, his ego and experience are such that he will chafe at any editorial restrictions. He also would have enough of an audience even if he left The Star to blow the whistle on them if they edited his work with too heavy a hand. He’ll write what he wants and if either side doesn’t like it they’ll just pull the plug.
What would Steve Think
I have actually enjoyed Steve’s column in the Sun. It shows how much things have changed. 15 years ago he was a pretty far right bomb thrower. Now in a lot of ways he is the voice of moderation, often taking shots at the Tea Party and getting their full anger back at him. He hasn’t changed that much, but the Republican Party and Johnson County sure has.
His last column about the business tax breaks does have some holes in it though. He seems fine with the subsidies thrown at businesses to come to Kansas that Missouri can’t match. However, I wonder what he thinks of Kansas being willing to write checks worth over a million dollars to companies willing to move to the nearly vacant Sprint Campus when the same state has just cut millions of dollars to his favored Shawnee Mission School District. It’s a true measure of where their priorities lay. If you have a good size company willing to move to 119th and Roe, Kansas will write a check for a large portion of your employees future income tax in advance, however they’ll also take millions of dollars away from their schools. Curious what Steve says about that…
tracy has grudges
Rose is a good pickup for any KC publication or blog. Much better pickup than Tracy Thomas.