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If you haven't read Steve Kraske's op-ed regarding Mayor Sly James' response to the Song of Ice and Fire week we've endured in Kansas City, please take the time to read it (link at the bottom). For my fellow ADD afflicted readers, the "too long; didn't read" version: Sly James "overreached" by not being former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
When a writer uses Rudy Giuliani as a reference, the intent is to invoke emotion of the worst terrorist attack on American soil. While what happened at JJ's was an awful tragedy, comparing it to 9/11 does everyone a disservice.
I can hear the rebuttal, "When did I ever compare 9/11 to the explosion at JJ's?" Quick, who was the Mayor of Los Angeles in 2001? .....Bueller? Bueller? Exactly.
Comparing JJ's and the response to 9/11 is as irresponsible as comparing Hitler to whatever minor issue or political difference you might have with a person.
If the editorial was on shaky ground already, it completely lost me when Kraske wrote this:
"James fell short with facts that sometimes weren't quite right"
24 hours after one of the more horrific events in Kansas City history and Kraske (and much of the KC media) wants a 100% accurate report? The KCFD, ATF, OSHA, and the Missouri Public Service Commission have yet to release their reports, how can anyone expect 100% factual accuracy? Believe me they will be released, dissected, scrutinized, and litigated. No one is suggesting these not be done, yet Kraske's implication is that Mayor James is giving false information on purpose.
"...a full-body embrace of his own Fire Department that may prove embarrassingly premature"
Anyone who knows me for any period of time knows I love to pooh-pooh just about everything and anything, my cynic credentials are impeccable and unimpeachable. So this next statement comes with extra weight: There is never anything wrong or embarrassing about embracing a Fire Department. This is the Fire Department that saved the adjacent structures, this is the Fire Department that works tirelessly to make KC safe, this is the Fire Department whose men and women risk their lives on a daily basis to ensure that we as a city know no damage to property or loss of life.
To suggest embracing them may be embarrassing insults anyone who wears the uniform.
"James grew testy as reporters pursued a storyline that's not going to quit"
If you bounce around the local news sites here in Kansas City, you will see a common thread, "Who can we blame?" I am not in news (as this poorly written column clearly enforces), but a faction of KC media seem in a rush to place blame.
It isn't for the victim, it's for the exclusive. Kraske's column launched into Mayor James less than 72 hours after a tragedy, before any of the investigations had even been concluded. There are many agencies working tirelessly to find out what happened, and we need to give them that time to get it right. Do you want wrong answers now or the correct ones later? Do you want an arbitrary patchwork of solutions or do you want to understand what happened and implement solutions to ensure this never happens again?
If the storyline won't quit it is because members of the media will not let it die: If you have read any of Yael T. Abouhalkah's work at the star, you know he loves getting into city officials craw (what is a craw anyway?), and relentlessly hammers at any inconsistency in public policy (which makes him a great twitter follow). It makes his piece that much more poignant: He asks for answers, doesn't jump to conclusions, and is respectful of all parties. Give that link some clicks and get much more informed than I could ever possibly be.
"What Giuliani did so well was come across as the people's ambassador. James came off this week, at least, as something closer to the government's defender-in-chief.
That is his opinion, and clearly he has a right to it. That being said, take a look around KC or twitter. Ask some people how they think ole Sly handled this week, and I'm pretty sure the response will be...
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