My Manifesto

After nearly a three year hiatus, I'm at it again.  It's time to focus in earnest on the job at hand.  What is that job?  Well, it's to talk about sports, life and the things that are important to me.  But before we get started, it's time for an introduction.  My name is Duke Frye. I’ve worked in radio and television most of my adult life. For a few costly years, to my deep financial regret, I owned a food service business. But that’s another story for another time.

Today, I’ve come to post my manifesto on the doors of this site much like Martin Luther did in 1517, but I doubt the pope will be as pissed at me as he was with him. You may or may not agree, I really don’t care, but at the least we’ll have a starting point from which to begin our conversations.

I believe American’s have lost their sense of humor. There’s a difference between laughing at the expense of others and being able to laugh at ourselves. We’ve got enough serious issues. Remember to laugh.

I believe we went to war in Iraq for the wrong reasons. I also believe our servicemen and women there and in other foreign countries deserve our support and respect. I don’t believe dissent is unpatriotic. It’s our duty to speak up against our government, if we feel strongly about it. It doesn't mean we have to scream in each other's faces though.  That freedom to speak is what makes America unique in the world.  Ask the Iranians.

I have no plans to burn an American flag any time soon, but I believe that it’s my right to do so, given to me by the people who framed the Constitution. While they may not have gotten everything correct, I have no doubt their reasoning for allowing me that right is much sounder than the fools in our government clamoring for a constitutional amendment banning my right to do so.

I believe that a person can believe in evolution and creation and have absolutely no conflict in doing both. I do. I also believe that evolution is based in scientific fact and should be taught as such, while creation should be taught in history and religion classes.

My wife and I sent our children to public school be exposed to the real world, science, religion and other kids driving sixty thousand dollar BMW’s while they drove a twelve year old Suzuki Samauri that backfired from time to time. From that education, they learned life isn’t fair and we don’t all look alike, but that’s okay. We don’t all think alike either, but that’s a very good thing. Most importantly, they learned to make informed decisions for themselves. Something we’re proud of and the rest of you should be thankful for.

I believe few things beat a warm summer night spent watching a baseball game, drinking a cold beer and enjoying a hot dog with friends, no matter how bad your favorite team is and mine is bad (the Kansas City Royals).

I believe, as a nation, we have to learn that politics is compromise. We have a lot of politicians holding court both my state of Kansas and the nation’s capital claiming only they know what’s best for you and me. What we have very few of is legislators. People who can disagree with each other, but who know in the end, they must compromise and meet in the middle somewhere for the betterment of the country. A true legislator knows cramming my beliefs, or yours, down the throat of every other American is what is wrong with our country today. In the end we must converse and compromise.

I believe a flat tax would work if we could get the lobbyists out of the way, a KU win over Missouri makes for a great fall afternoon and any day spent fly fishing is a good day.

I also believe I met the love of my life 35 years ago and she remains my greatest supporter along with our three children. That, I believe is enough for this man.