Shenanigans vs. security

While the rest of us hard-working people are trying to make a living and do the right thing, the four-star generals are busy emailing and playing games with their mistresses and are too busy to watch out for our U.S. ambassador and Navy Seals in Benghazi (11-13, A1, “Email trail thickens”). And where are President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?

As far away from this scandal as they can get. And obviously running away from the Benghazi hearings on purpose. This is disgusting.

Iran’s shooting at one of our drones and Benghazi are both acts of war, and our generals are busy with their extramarital affairs. And no Obama or Clinton stepping up to their duties to clean this mess up.

Thanks a lot, America, for putting this administration back in office.

Kathy Hamilton-Dix

Fairway

Time to heal in dioceses

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is meeting this week. Our convicted Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop Robert Finn is attending.

A local church spokesman said: “Bishop Finn did not intend to address the bishops either in their public or closed-door sessions. USCCB officials also said there were no plans by conference leaders to raise the issue of Bishop Finn’s status.”

Bishop Finn’s status isn’t a subject the bishops are eager to discuss. The church spokesman said in the two months since Bishop Finn’s conviction, no bishop or church authority has addressed his case and no one has spoken to him privately. Doesn’t this just deepen the scandal?

I wonder whether by their silence, the bishops are condoning Bishop Finn’s actions. Or is membership in their hierarchical ranks of such importance to them that they will not risk speaking their consciences?

Surely, they don’t all condone what took place. Is there a voice of courage among them?

We know Bishop Finn isn’t a voice of courage. If he were, he would resign so the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph could begin to heal and move forward with renewed life.

Sister Jeanne Christensen, RSM

Kansas City

GOP obstructionists

Three days after the election, while still basking in the glow of my president kicking Richie Rich to the curb, my phone rang. The caller ID read “Defeat Obama.” Hadn’t they heard, even on Fox Noise, that the president had beaten Republican Mitt Romney soundly?

So I picked up. It was a robo call from a group called Conservatives Now. They proceeded to regale me with the same old same old. The president is a Muslim socialist Kenyan who wasn’t born here and therefore deserved to be impeached.

If I would donate, they would begin impeachment proceedings against President Barack Obama for these and other “unspecified crimes.”

Elections used to matter. One party won and the other side became the “loyal opposition.” In 2001, despite George W. Bush losing the popular vote by 3 million but winning the election in a 5-4 Supreme Court decision, Democrats worked with Bush on areas of agreement.

Since 2009, the Republicans have become the party of “disloyal obstructionists” and deserve to be consigned to the dustbin of history.

Pete Henderson

Basehor

Smoke detector safety

I hope that no one gets hurt in a fire. My mom’s school had a student who was killed in a housefire.

The house did not have smoke detectors. I want to encourage all families to have family meeting places in case of fires and to make sure their smoke detectors are working.

Kaylee Mitts

Lenexa

Steve Rose’s column

Regarding Steve Rose’s Nov. 9 column, “Kansas cannot ignore need for consolidation,” one benefit would be improved coordination and relationships with the cities that school districts serve.

I was village manager of Park Forest, Ill., from 1989 to 1995. Five school districts served portions of my 6½-square-mile Chicago suburb, including separate elementary, high school and K-12 districts.

As about 70 percent of the typical Park Forest property tax bill went to schools, trying to get them to spend less money was a major concern that was not easily addressed by the governing bodies involved.

Park Forest is a unique post-World War II planned community, designed so that most children could walk or ride their bikes to school without having to cross major thoroughfares. It was built for a society that has evolved considerably.

But my experience there convinces me that consolidation makes a lot of sense, despite the difficulties.

Jack Manahan

Kansas City, Kan.

Voters won with Obama

The perfect storm didn’t happen for the Republicans on Nov. 6.

One would think that with the Supreme Court decision on Citizens United saying corporations are people and therefore allowing them to infuse billions of dollars into campaigns, primarily Republican campaigns, coupled with voter suppression by the Republican Party nationwide, they would’ve been victorious last week.

One would think, but thankfully the plan failed.

Not only did President Barack Obama win, but the American people won. Obamacare won, and Karl Rove, Dick Armey and others of their ilk lost.

The biggest loser was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. His No. 1 goal was to make Obama a one-term president.

McConnell and his party spent the last four years trying to make that happen. It didn’t.

Now, perhaps McConnell will focus on what he should be doing — working with Obama to move our country forward.

The big winners were the voters who rejected the high rollers’ attempts to buy the election. Voters showed the Republicans they can’t suppress us. Example: Florida.

Missouri, be prepared for our veto-proof Republican legislature to try to suppress your vote in 2016.

Linda Shumate

Excelsior Springs

Advocates for puppies

As an advocate for canine companions and former American Kennel Club breeder, I thank Gov. Jay Nixon for his leadership with the new puppy mill bill.

His emergency action was necessary after the GOP repealed Proposition B.

Although we wanted Proposition B to stand on its own, it did not, and immediate action was needed so the dogs would not suffer one more day.

Without Gov. Nixon’s intervention after the GOP repealed Proposition B, the dogs in puppy mills would have been without protection. The modification bill has been enforced by Attorney General Chris Koster, who has taken legal action against 23 facilities.

The dogs no longer will suffer in tiny, wire, stacked cages without food and water. Thank you, Gov. Nixon, for bringing the rural and urban communities together.

The dogs now have an outdoor exercise area, and no longer will they be crammed into tiny, wire, stacked cages.

Jean Woolery

Missouri Humane

Action Network Inc.

Byrnes Mill, Mo.

Time to end bullying

My concern in school is about bullying. I think my school does a good job teaching children to be kind to each other, but more needs to be done. I have been bullied, and it hurts. I’ve seen other kids get bullied.

I try to stop it, but it seems to get worse. My mom and dad teach me to be kind and respectful to others.

I think more parents need to talk to their kids about bullying. When I grow up, I want people to remember good things about me, not bad.

Sophia Root

Shawnee

World not cesspool

Every time I open the opinion page, it’s shame, blame and fear.

On one day, I read an OpEd piece that blamed and shamed the whole baby boom generation for nearly everything while the writer venerated himself in a blaze of self-glory.

The day before I read a piece that fear-mongered a whole class of people who simply held a differing viewpoint. But these others are human beings not to be loathed and made out to be despicable.

It’s beginning to feel as if we live in a cesspool of the negative, unhealthy, unhelpful, frightening and frightened who feel entitled to their own righteousness. This is a different kind of entitlement, but it comes at great cost, the cost of the human soul.

I would urge us to be careful of being entitled to be right about everything we believe. After all, we simply cannot believe everything we think.

Debra Singer-Hanson

Kansas City, Kan.