Thursday, February 12, 2009

The Source, Siettman and Gay Bashing


Mayor Funkhouser recently hired Mark Siettman away from Jeff Roe's blog, The Source.

The Source is the mouthpiece for all things ultra-conservative. Which is fine, the 1st Amendment is a great thing. CCP Blog readers may not recall (but I do) that the Source likes to engage in a little gay bashing every once in a while. Sure, that is standard fair for Roe in all his campaigns for Congressman Graves, but is it really ok for City Hall in KC?

When I called Jeff Roe onto the carpet, the best insult they could come up was to insinuate that I was gay. The picture above is the picture The Source used under the caption of "Stephen Bough's Got a Crush" and here's the partial text:

Here at The Source we’ve found it disturbingly creepy that CCP blogger Stephen Bough can’t take his mind off of Jeff Roe. You have to wonder if Bough has a little man crush on Kansas City’s most prominent political figure.


Grow up, I know. Listen, the problem is that some folks think it is ok to trash gay people, make fun of gay people and tell gay jokes. That's all fine if you are a Republican at The Source. It is not ok in the Democratic Party and not ok if you work in KC City Hall. I would bet you that every one of our City Council members don't think gay bashing is funny. Several of them are down right progressive and think folks that happen to be gay are actually humans.

It is horribly distributing for the Mayor to employ a person with this kind of history. Kansas City is known for being open, affirming and accepting of those in the GLBT community. The Source and Jeff Roe, Mark Siettman's former employer, is not. Remember the fuss about Roe and Graves calling Mayor Kay Barnes "Gay Barnes?" How about Graves and Roe with the whole "San Francisco Values" campaign?

Mark - did you pen the nasty anti-gay attacks?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now let us see if the gay community gets off its collective as..... and protests this hire. If Siettman had written an anti black or hispanic column like the one Bough links, we know there would be outrage. The CCP and Citizens Association should protest too.

Dan said...

Does that mean that you agree with everything written on this blog, Steve?

I haven't talked with the guy, but it seems a little erratic to tar him with Jeff Roe's brush.

All that said, I think you raise a good question, and I hope he answers it. The behavior you cite is unacceptable, and, if he WAS part of it, he should be fired immediately.

Anonymous said...

But do Democratic leaders care enough about the issue to take a public stand? Nope. They do what is politically expedient.

Anonymous said...

You've got your panties in a bunch over very little.

Mark Siettman = The Source?

Now, who is it that screams the loudest about guilt by association??

And democrats don't tell homosexual jokes!

OH PUH-LEEEZ

Anonymous said...

Promo, The Four Freedoms Democratic Club and KC Pride should be addressing this with the Mayor immediately.

Anonymous said...

You can't be serious, anonymous at 7:50. Kansas City doesn't have any viable GLBT organizations anymore ... certainly none with the balls to speak up. Of the three you mentioned, I'm not sure KC Pride even exists any more, Promo needs to go back to St. Louis where it started since it has failed so miserably as a "statewide" organization, and Four Freedoms long ago became stagnant. All of these organizations were too gutless to speak out when Funkhouser appointed Frances Semler to the park board (she was a member of the homophobic Eagle Forum as well as the Minutemen). Sorry, but expecting the local GLBT community to speak up for anything other than their own fundraisers and membership drives is to expect way too much out of them.

Stephen Bough said...

Dan - I do not agree with everything written on this blog. I agree with everything I have written on this blog.

Anonymous said...

It is clear that the CCP should take a stand against Roe and his thugs everywhere they show up. So I suggest we expell from the CCP membership Mike Sanders, Georgia Sanders, Dutch Newman, Michelle Newman, Calvin Willaford, Marriam and Kevin Hennossy and other members who are on Mike Sanders payroll or related to him as well as several members of Big Jim Nutter's staff.

Here is why these Mike Sanders proxy votes need to be kicked off the CCP. Mike Sanders hired Jeff Roe on numerous occasions to savagely attack opponents who just want to clean up the Democrat party and Sanders consults with him on a regular basis. If we allow Sanders to have so many votes on the CCP you are really just handing Jeff Roe control of the CCP.

This needs to be done before next year's candidate screenings.

Think about your logic Stevie Bough, you know I am right.

Anonymous said...

Dan you are fucking insane.