02-18-2011 FUNKHOUSER TURNS TABLES ON STAR; SLAPS ABOUHALKAH Almost from the day he took office, Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser has been attacked on virtually every decision he has made by the Kansas City Star. And his chief nemesis has been editorial writer Yael T. Abouhalkah. Star insiders have told Bottom Line that Abouhalkah feels that he singlehandedly directed his newspaper to endorse Funkhouser in the last election. However, when the Mayor started to make decisions that did not agree with Abouhalkah and his minions, Abouhalkah took it as a personal affront. Since that time Abouhalkah's attacks have often been ugly and personal. Other Star staffers---worried about losing their jobs in the ongoing downsizing at the paper--- have joined the fray hoping they can keep their jobs. Columnist Mike Hendricks may have taken it the farthest when he took very mean-spirited and personal shots at the Mayor in a column, calling him "horse-faced" with a "face only a mother could love." He later was forced to apologize. With the primary election set for next Tuesday, Funkhouser has turned the tables and produced a video where he pokes "Yael" and some of his opponents such as Sly James and Deb Hermann. Like him or not, at least Funkhouser has the integrity to actually to respond to the Star's repeated attacks rather than simply be directed by them as previous Mayors have done. He knows the Star will never be "fair and balanced" when it comes to him. Maybe the newspaper should try a little "Funkomania," which the creative video says "is a persistent impulse to tell the truth even in the face of adversity." It would be a pleasant change for the Kansas City Star.
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