Yesterday in Warrensburg the Johnson County Democratic Central Committee hosted its 19th annual James C. Kirkpatrick celebration. Representative Emanuel Cleaver (D) was the keynote speaker.

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Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D): ….It was one of the tur, turbulent moments in the history of our nation. In fact, it was the time of the birth of our nation. And General George Washington, uh, had committed himself to lead the Continental Army. There was no turning back. And that was, uh, they’d gone too far in their fight against, uh, the Brits.

But in 1782, uh, one of the colonels in the army, a guy by the name of Lewis Nicola, uh, wrote a famous letter to General George Washington. And in that letter he asked that the general consider becoming the first king of the United State of America. In May, May twenty-first, 1782 General Washington responded to the colonel and said, that no graver disease can befall me as a general in this army than to even remotely consider being the king. After all, we’ve just been fighting the king. [applause] And so, um, that hushed the talk of making him a king although it, it was very, very popular among the soldiers. Uh, many of them, uh, saw themselves, you know, the soldiers protecting the, the king. And so he put it to a standstill and then, uh, everything was fine until the Don [laughter], King Don [laughter], uh, came to the throne. Uh, who is a, uh, a dictator [voices: “Yeah.” “Yes.”], uh, and I have seen it first hand….

….I have never seen anybody who could lie, uh, repeatedly, and actually believe themselves [laughter]. The hoodlums that I was around, they, they knew they were lying [laughter]. And they would confess if you got around the corner. ‘Oh, yeah, I was making it up.’ This man lies, I say he lies on the lie….

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D): …Ladies and gentlemen, this is a crisis that even those early soldiers could not have anticipated. And all of a sudden it becomes a requirement if you are a Republican – you have…the first place you have to respond to is that you have to lie and say that, uh, Donald Trump won the election. First thing, you gotta lie. And the second thing you have to do is become politically subservient to a man who knows nothing about government, or frankly…[laughter], doesn’t know anything about government. And, uh, is just making up stuff. His chief of staff, one of the top generals in the United States Army, said after he resigned, Donald Trump, he said, I’m quoting him, is the most flawed human being he had ever been around in his life. And when people come out, when they retire or quit, and then finally it’s okay to tell the truth. Then, some of them, by now publicly saying, yeah, this happened and this happened, and he said this, he lied about that. It goes on and on and on….

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D): …So, I think that, uh, we’re in a, a troublesome spot. Uh, but, we have had dark days before. And if you look at the history of the United States there, there was a moment of darkness before we became a nation. Then we became a nation and then there was a great light. And then, uh, periodically there have been dark, dark, dark moments for us.

But we’re the light. We’re Democrats. What I’d like all Americans to know is that there is no such color of dark or black. It’s not a color. We’re thinking, we have dark days, we’re trembling. Black is not even a color. Black is the absence of color….

….And the way that you defeat darkness is with light [voice: “Yeah.”]. And you are the lamplighters for America. [applause] The lamplighters for America. We, we are going to defeat darkness. [applause]…

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D): …I want to make sure that all of us understand right now that we’re gonna vote. What do we want to win, t’ain’t enough. We right now are willing to do whatever we can to make sure that this nightmare ends. T’aint enough. We are the men and women who will save this country. Our children and our grandchildren will talk about the fight we put up and how we won. And brought back the light into the United States. And make it the citadel of justice and peace….

Previously:

Johnson County Democrats – James C. Kirkpatrick Heritage Luncheon – Warrensburg, Missouri – March 14, 2026 (March 15, 2026)