Create middle schools

Because Kansas City Public Schools are way below regular standards, I strongly think our middle schools should be reopened.

I have a younger brother who attends the African-Centered College Preparatory Academy. The high school building runs from seventh through 12th grades.

When my brother started at that school as a seventh-grader, the behavior of the high school students made him fearful of attending the school. Middle school children should not be exposed to the older teenage environment. They need their own buildings.

With this, middle school students can approach their transition into high school more smoothly. Also, they will have their own environment away from the older and younger crowds.

Middle school years are a precious time, and having their own building will prepare them for the next level.

Of course, cost will be a factor. However, to get our education system back on track, we need to invest as much money as possible.

Kansas City could see this as a steppingstone to improve our school district. After all, the children are the future.

Airicha Lunn

Kansas City

Righteous Republicans

Liberals once again have trumpeted the charge of racism since Sen. John McCain questioned whether Susan Rice was qualified to be secretary of state because of her initial comments concerning the terrorist attack on the U.S. embassy in Libya. This charge is a common one made against those who question liberals’ policies or positions.

The problem is that it is the Democratic Party with the history of racism. During the civil rights era of the 1960s, it was the Republican minority, that Time Magazine, The New York Times and the NAACP credited with the civil rights laws’ passage.

Democrats such as Sen. Robert Byrd opposed civil rights, with Byrd actually filibustering against the bill for more than 14 hours in June 1964.

President Lyndon Johnson did not support civil rights until after 1957 but took credit for its passage, infamously saying blacks would vote Democratic the next 200 years.

And yet liberals have the gall to despicably label conservatives and Republicans racists.

Gene Morris

Cosby, Mo.

Obama wins standoff

President Barack Obama and his administration know they hold the winning hand. Either they get to high-five each other if the GOP folds on raising taxes or they win the blame game when taxes rise for the middle class. The media will see to that.

Obama is the master at instigating class warfare. The socialist team members will not have to break their pledge to keep all entitlements.

Perhaps we all have to suffer from those bad choices in November.

The newspapers and the three largest networks will be the Obama cheerleaders to the bitter end. The very clever Obama strategists realized long ago that the top 2 percent cannot come close to paying for all the promised free stuff.

Massive wealth will need to be extracted from the producers to placate the takers. Besides this, there will be demands to borrow billions more.

Clarke Homoly

Warrensburg, Mo.

Positive public roles

Recent news articles on George McGovern highlight a blaring contrast between those like him and fortunately most others who leave politics and go out with class.

Among recent presidential non-winners or two-termers, some have gone quietly into retirement, like George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush or Hubert Humphrey, and others chose active, issue-oriented roles like Jimmy Carter, Bob Dole, Al Gore and Bill Clinton.

Fortunately, few chose the bitter old man’s role, spewing negativity on every issue addressed.

I feel sorry for Sen. John McCain in the role he has chosen for himself, and I hope the bitterness expressed recently by Mitt Romney with explanations for why he lost the presidential election subsides before he joins McCain and Dick Cheney in a life of self-inflicted misery.

They all served the country and deserve positive legacies rather than being remembered for negativity.

Bob Hishaw

Kansas City

Tag illegal weapons

If assault with a deadly weapon is illegal, then why isn’t a deadly assault weapon illegal?

Jim Cianciolo

Independence

Broken U.S. Congress

I am fed up with listening to the constant news regarding the congressional battles over the current “fiscal cliff.” It’s a replay of the bickering that took place during the debt-ceiling crisis, which ultimately resulted in the U.S. credit rating being lowered.

Let’s face it, our U.S. Congress is pathetic. The only items its members ever agree on are their recesses, long weekends, congressional pensions and their pay raises.

Bruce Erickson

Lee’s Summit

Sway of influence

In a world where an opinion can be altered by the second and we are relentlessly battered by information from the moment we awaken, it’s hard to determine: What do I believe? What do I want to do?

Any time we make a decision, it would be nice to know that we are making a choice based on our own autonomy, free from influence. On the other side, perhaps our beliefs are simply a compilation of society’s impressions imposed on us.

The true abuse of the individual comes when an entity drastically tilts a group. This is relevant in today’s atmosphere, seeing that the entire country is expected to encompass individuals’ ideals into the policies and beliefs of two individuals.

It seems impossible that the platforms of two candidates can represent the supposedly free minds of millions. It is to be expected that these groups have enveloped our opinions and influenced us.

Just because we are given a choice does not mean we are actually free. As long as our principles are so easily hypnotized by flashy politicians, we will not be free.

If we are to be free, we must question, “What do I believe?”

Zachary A. Kelsay

Independence

U.S. rich, poor divide

“Old Tippecanoe,” William Henry Harrison, our ninth president, speaking in 1840, said, “All the measures of the government are directed to the purpose of making the rich richer and the poor poorer.”

Now, 172 years later, we as Americans still face this fact. The two-party system has polarized the population with social issues.

Yet the parties are the same when it comes to the systematic destruction of our rights and economy.

We will continue to be divided into the rich and the poor in both spirit and wealth by the government.

John Nelles

Shawnee

Government regulations

As I’ve been watching the news about the meningitis outbreak and deaths caused by contaminated medicine from a facility in Massachusetts, I can’t help but think about the politicians who keep pounding the small government theme. I wonder how many people think through what that means.

I’m more than happy to pay as many Food and Drug Administration inspectors as it takes to monitor the medicines our doctors use. I’m also very glad the Federal Aviation Administration made sure the airplane my kids and grandson flew on was inspected for safety.

And what about food safety, police and fire departments on call and the road repair crews that protect us and our vehicles? How much is it worth to know that the FBI and other intelligence agencies are tracking people who want to blow up buildings in our country?

I’m thankful for good teachers who care about our kids and help them succeed despite the lack of necessities in some families.

The next time you hear someone complain about “job-killing regulations,” think about what that really means.

Someone wants more profit and less accountability. It’s not about killing jobs. It’s about potentially killing innocent victims.

Susan Cunningham

Pacific, Mo.

Enjoying forensics

As an eighth-grader, I was a little insecure and had a small group of close friends. My drama teacher gave me the opportunity to change this by inviting me to be in forensics (competitive acting). It is a wonderful experience for middle and high school kids.

Forensics helps you achieve confidence. Through performing, you get comfortable with talking in front of people, and if you find an event you are good at, you may place, and that’s a wonderful thing to experience.

It also helps you make friends. Between rounds, you eat, talk and laugh with a bunch of other crazy kids who love doing the same thing you do. You create a strong bond with them.

Forensics is a wonderful way to express yourself. You can be in dramatic or humorous acting, or you can make it up on the fly. Do what you are most comfortable with.

People may argue that it’s time-consuming, but the benefits are far greater than the few cons. Some kids are encouraged to be in sports, but they are time-consuming, too.

As you can see, kids should participate in forensics.

Rachel Ladd

Blue Springs