Letters: Readers discuss right to work, Eric Greitens and a soldier’s death in Somalia
Hardly fitting
I am a 60-something-year-old man who wants to wear decent casual clothes. My needs are simple.
I went to buy a pair of Levi’s jeans recently. It took me an hour to find one design called “505” that actually fit me properly. They were the only ones I could find that sit at the waist. Almost every other pair was designed to sit below the waist.
Sit below the waist? Why in heaven’s name do they make jeans that sit below your waist?
Things do not “sit” below my waist. They fall down my leg. That’s why we have waists: to hold up our pants.
David Noffs
Chicago
The wrong right
If we want to honor our veterans, we ought to protect job opportunities for service members here in Missouri. As a nearly 20-year member of the Air Force, I am concerned that the “right-to-work” Proposition A will put our career paths in danger.
When I left active duty, the best opportunity for me was to join a union. Today I work at Honeywell, where I conduct electrical inspections as a member of International Association of Machinists Local 778.
In the military, everyone gets a fair shake. No matter who you are, if you put in the work, you can expect equal treatment. That’s how it is with my union, too. I am proud to be part of a workplace with those same values.
Proposition A, which will appear on the ballot in August, would make these jobs harder to come by. In states with similar laws, people like me don’t have a voice on the job. Wages are lower and pay is less equal.
I joined the Air Force because I believe in a nation where hard work is repaid with respect and a decent livelihood. I will vote no on Proposition A to make sure that all Missourians can expect the same.
Brian Simmons
Blue Springs
Out of the past?
In Sunday’s front-page story, “Two Weeks in May; Behind the scenes of Greitens’ decision to resign,” I had a hard time getting past the second paragraph that set the stage in House Speaker Todd Richardson’s Capitol office, where he smoked in front of a group of legislators.
Really? People still smoke in government buildings?
Stacey McBride
Kansas City
A bright future
Congratulations to Eric Greitens. With your demonstrated abilities and obvious values, you are on track to a high-level appointment in the Trump administration. With your unquestionable performance as Missouri’s governor, you qualify for a Cabinet position, or at least a newly created ambassadorship.
A. Minor Anderson
Kansas City
Judge and jury
To be sure, Eric Greitens gave his enemies the ammunition to use against him. In my view, his biggest offense in his detractors’ eyes was that he won the governorship with no elective office experience. But he will never be a political threat to anyone now that they have successfully humiliated him and ousted him from public office.
I am reminded of a story from the Bible: People challenged Jesus to judge a woman who was accused of adultery, for which the penalty was stoning to death. Jesus replied, “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.”
With the state of ethics in politics today, who is really able to pick up the first rock?
Jim Griggs
Stilwell
Senseless death
I was struck by other news reports on CNN as folks mourned Anthony Bourdain.
I am sure Bourdain loved his girlfriend and daughter, had friends and expanded his audience’s world views. CNN spent lots of air time on him. Good on him.
But the scrolling line below the live shots mentioned an attack on U.S. soldiers in Africa. (June 8, KansasCity.com, “1 U.S. soldier killed, 4 wounded in attack in Somalia”) The only details were that an American was killed and four others wounded. The New York Times’ website had few details other than that their mission had drone support and the attack was a mortar strike. The terrorist group responsible was likely Al-Shabaab.
So another wife will be visited by a casualty notification officer. I performed this duty — the toughest I ever had. Another casket will be delivered to Dover Air Force Base, met by a detail from the soldier’s unit or the 3rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard).
There has been no new authorization for the use of military force, no explanation of what policy objective this mission was in support of and no word about how these soldiers’ actions were linked to attaining these objectives. So what is the purpose for which this soldier died?
I am sure Bourdain was a good man, but right now I am not spending any time mourning him.
Kevin Benson
Lansing
This story was originally published June 11, 2018 at 8:33 PM with the headline "Letters: Readers discuss right to work, Eric Greitens and a soldier’s death in Somalia."