Author Archives: Dwight D. Sutherland, Jr.

Caution, provocative opinion ahead…                  “Wisconsin Human Resources Director Arrested on Child Porn and Exploitation Charges.”                                                                                                                                                                                2/19/24                 “No Charges for Democrat Staffer Who Filmed Gay Porn in Senate Hearing Room.”                    … Continue reading →

When I was a kid, my parents told me to avoid religion and politics as conversational topics in most social settings…    In those days religious beliefs and partisan affiliation were often family traditions, so family gatherings, where people were … Continue reading →

The racial animosity sweepstakes by local Democratic officials in conjunction with the Kansas City Star continues unabated… On February 14 twenty-two people were shot outside Union Station at the Kansas City Chief’s Super Bowl Victory Parade. One died and 15 … Continue reading →

“All right, we are two nations.”      – John Dos Passos   A couple of months back, I had the distinct pleasure of spending the evening with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He was in Kansas City for a conference … Continue reading →

Or, everything’s up to date in Kansas City (still)…             Randolph Bourne was a radical journalist who was active during the time of the First World War. The phrase I used as a title to this post is from an … Continue reading →

The Kansas City Star has a long, dishonorable tradition of race baiting… Following the lead of its founder – the bush league Citizen Kane known as William Rockhill Nelson – for three generations the Star delighted in patronizing the black … Continue reading →

The title of this post is a take-off on a book that was published in 1935 by George Dangerfield, “The Strange Death of Liberal England: 1910-1914.” A classic of political history, it describes how the Liberal Party in Great Britain … Continue reading →

Flashback time… This book was published 10 years ago, but I only read it recently. I think every native Kansas Citian would enjoy it, as well as any adopted Kansas Citian who intends to learn more about their hometown. Each … Continue reading →

One of the most overused bits of conventional political wisdom is….. That the decline in the number of seriously contested congressional races is a very bad thing. This is because overwhelmingly Republican or Democratic districts allow each party’s nominees to ignore … Continue reading →

I read an amazing book over Christmas, “The Irish Civil War” by Timothy Pat Coogan and George Morrison… It does a masterful job of exploring how the present-day Irish Republic threw off British rule 100 years ago. It also illuminates … Continue reading →

They ubiquitous, they’re banal,  they’re annoying… Perhaps you’ve seen ’em. If you live in the burbs – Brookside, Prairie Village, Mission Hills, Leawood, Platte City or Parkville -I think you know what I’m talking about. Those ubiquitous, post George Floyd, post riots, post … Continue reading →

Mission Hills’ blow-dried Elmer Gantry, The Right Reverend Robert Meneilly, I first met Russell “Rusty” Leffel 40 plus years ago…  A fellow Kansas City lawyer, he had graduated from KU Law four years before me.  We were both active in … Continue reading →

“So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don’t even know that fire is hot.” George Orwell The English poet W.H. Auden went to Spain in 1937 at the outbreak of the civil … Continue reading →

Flashback, anyone? Three years back KCC scribe Dwight Sutherland saddled up to put former Star staffer Steve Kraske in his place for suggesting Kansas City take Country Club Plaza developer J.C. Nichols name off the iconic fountain just east of the … Continue reading →