Melinda Henneberger's Avatar

Melinda Henneberger

@melindakcmo.bsky.social

Kansas City Star metro columnist. From Mt. Carmel, Illinois. Alum of NYT, Wash Post, NY Newsday, Dallas Morning News, University of Notre Dame and UCLouvain. 2022 Pulitzer for commentary. George Eliot, Sondheim, 3rd-gen Cubs fan. Not giving up on anything.

550 Followers  |  123 Following  |  18 Posts  |  Joined: 14.11.2024  |  1.5835

Latest posts by melindakcmo.bsky.social on Bluesky

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KC man tackled, handcuffed at church after unauthorized but straight-from-Jesus prayer | Opinion β€œI wasn’t preaching hate or using profanity,” says Jimbo Gillcrist. But four parishioners threw him to the ground. From Melinda Henneberger:

He didn't even get to the part about care for the stranger before being thrown off the altar. They grabbed his phone but failed to stop it from recording, so the 38-minute audio captures the whole incident, and shows cops were a lot more chill than the church folk

www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-...

30.03.2025 21:44 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Vance called professors the enemy. On campus, the right wants to replicate what it hates | Opinion This is an authoritarian takeover, and appeasement won’t make it stop. From Melinda Henneberger:

In 2021, JD Vance called progressive politics β€œa language used by our new oligarchy to do 2 things: rob people blind and to tell them to shut the hell up about it if they dare complain.” I couldn’t have described what’s going on right now any better.

Read more at: www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-...

18.03.2025 14:12 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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If Amy Coney Barrett is β€˜evil,’ then only those who’ve given up thinking are safe | Opinion The capacity for independent thought now makes Trump’s own Supreme Court pick a β€œDEI hire.” From Melinda Henneberger:

I’ve seen Melania give him worse side-eye & that was just at his 1st inauguration. Given that he'd just justified his favorite dictator, lied that many dead people get Social Security & pretended that tariffs will require only a β€œlittle bit of an adjustment," she actually showed heroic restraint.

10.03.2025 15:50 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Autopsy: KCK detective had β€˜history of suicidal ideation’ yet was left on house arrest | Opinion Michelle Houcks, who was going to testify that Roger Golubski raped her, said the system β€œfailed us and they failed him.” From Melinda Henneberger:

Should someone with that history have been allowed to stay on home detention for more than 2 yrs. after being charged with sex trafficking, rape and kidnapping? As two of the women he caused so much pain told me, the system failed him, too.

Read more at: www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-...

24.02.2025 15:07 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Endless emails and hustles: Is this the White House or the home shopping network? | Opinion There is no unsubscribing from the constant incoming ads to buy tchotchkes and claim prizes from the current President of the United States. From Melinda Henneberger:

Buy my cup! Buy my cap! Buy my coin! Buy my country!

Despite my many attempts to unsubscribe, I can’t opt out of the constant incoming hustles to buy tchotchkes and claim prizes from the current President of the United States.

Read more at: www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-...

22.02.2025 17:56 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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This Super Bowl showed Donald Trump and Elon Musk won’t easily undo America’s strength | Opinion Everything that MAGA loathes about America was center stage and shimmering. From Melinda Henneberger:

You can appoint yourself arbiter of culture, and go after all "who do not share our Vision." You can even chair the @kennedycenter.bsky.social, and feature nothing but Wagner and Kid Rock. But that halftime show is still going to be what a lot of America loves.
www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-...

11.02.2025 19:50 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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This Super Bowl showed Donald Trump and Elon Musk won’t easily undo America’s strength | Opinion Everything that MAGA loathes about America was center stage and shimmering. From Melinda Henneberger:

Everything that MAGA loathes about America β€” especially that we are not threatened, but instead are powered by our diversity β€” was center stage and shimmering at the Super Bowl.

Read more at: www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-...

11.02.2025 19:19 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you!

11.02.2025 19:12 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

For those of us who stiffened at Elon Musk’s stiff-armed salute, who saw the billionaires seated in First Class and felt sorry for the true believers in steerage, who took in Melania Trump’s hat and thought, β€œWell I would hide my face, too,” Monday did not scream β€œgolden age” but β€œgolden calf.”

23.01.2025 01:20 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you!

11.12.2024 06:10 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

My new column breaks some news: Roger Golubski is dead, but KCK’s Golubski problem is very much alive. And as of Monday, another of the former KCKPD detective’s many victims, a man convicted of a double homicide in 2010, is entitled to a new trial. www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-...

10.12.2024 11:36 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

β€˜Y’all never monitored him and we were never safe’: Golubski plays God one last time

If he did shoot himself, it’s criminal that someone charged with terrorizing so many for so long managed to have a gun and the chance to use it.

www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-...

03.12.2024 15:28 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Antiabortion groups plan new crackdowns, emboldened after election Distressed by rising use of abortion pills, activists devise aggressive new action now that Republicans will be in charge.

"The largest antiabortion group in Texas is planning a new wave of legal action in early 2025, looking for men interested in suing people who helped their female partners get abortions" through use of pills. Tearing couples apart, so pro-family.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

21.11.2024 17:48 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank God, but he'll be back, either next session or in some job that doesn't require confirmation. Is being under investigation for sex crimes a requirement for these posts? That was the case last time Trump was in office, too, in case we've forgotten.

21.11.2024 17:41 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

What Jimbo Gillcrist said in class was in no way neutral. But then, neither are the Gospels.

And unless we just go ahead and admit that what Matthew 25 says about care for the stranger is no longer operative, I don't know how you’d teach Catholic ethics now without talking about mass deportation.

21.11.2024 14:29 β€” πŸ‘ 15    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 2

Thank you, Joel!

21.11.2024 14:15 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I know the press is hated, but Joe & Mika are not the press. Of course he praises those who come to praise him.

19.11.2024 01:21 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Musk appears to pressure Trump on Cabinet and tariffs, raising eyebrows Elon Musk, the billionaire who has become Donald Trump’sΒ β€œfirst buddy,” appeared to publicly pressure the president-elect on economic policy and a key Cabinet pick.

President-elect Musk has "started to grate on transition officials who feel he is radically unfamiliar with the ways of Washington." Ha, I thought being unfamiliar with how to get anything done was a plus. He bought this presidency and now he can break it.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

17.11.2024 02:32 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0
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Lawyer of alleged Gaetz victim: Release House ethics report β€˜immediately' Mr. Gaetz's likely nomination as Attorney General is a perverse development in a truly dark series of events,” wrote attorney John Clune.

My colleague and friend John Clune has been tirelessly representing this teen victim. Join with him to demand the release the House Ethics Report regarding his sexual assault of an underage girl.

#releasethegaetzreport

14.11.2024 21:54 β€” πŸ‘ 14    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

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