Readers react to the Royals parade, renaming Jackson County and Jesse Ventura

Celebration excess

The Kansas City Royals winning the World Series is exciting and has brought the city together and has given its people something to be proud of. But did we really need to cancel school for the celebratory parade?

District officials were concerned not enough students would attend school. Do you mean to tell me that of the thousands of children in Kansas City, most attended the parade? I think not.

Another concern was that there wouldn’t be enough teachers. If you want teachers at school, require their attendance, just like countless other employees in the city.

With all the pressure on teachers and students to perform better, did they really need a day off for no real reason?

Last, these men aren’t war heroes or great Americans, they are baseball players. By declaring a day off from school, we are putting these men at that level, and I don’t think that sends the right message to our youth.

Clara Bledsoe

Overland Park

Exceptional city

As we bask in the glory of our World Series championship, here are two ideas for our community to consider.

First, let’s change the name of our county.

Andrew Jackson was not only a slave owner, he was responsible for the near-genocide of Native Americans and their forced removal from almost all of the southeastern United States. We can do better. How about Truman County?

Second, let’s make voting mandatory in Kansas City. Make it a civic duty, with some small penalty for not voting. Perhaps everyone who registers and votes gets a $50 credit toward earnings-tax obligations.

Kansas City can set an example for the nation in voting, a civic duty in which our exceptional nation is sorely deficient.

Arthur Benson

Kansas City

Choose carefully

I am a transplant from Minnesota. A few years back (15 years to be exact), we had a fight in Minnesota for governor between two career politicians. We were so fed up with people making careers in politics, we elected (pun intended) to vote for a third-party candidate and ended up with Jesse Ventura for four years.

He said things that were not politically correct, but that appealed to numerous voters. Sound familiar?

We see Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump leading in the polls. Be careful what you think you might want.

Would we really want him in control of the world’s most powerful country and dealing with the leaders of other powerful countries?

Robert Gjertson

Overland Park

Kudos to The Star

Congratulations and thank you to The Kansas City Star for its excellent coverage of the Royals’ winding, but ultimately victorious, journey.

The photos, sports reporting and commentary by Sam Mellinger, Blair Kerkhoff, Vahe Gregorian and other writers captured the crazy, fun personality of each game.

The headline writers also showed up to play with so many clever headers (“Deja Blue” was among the best). All in all great job.

Not only did the hometown team kill it, so did the hometown newspaper.

Mary Bush

Leawood

Keep Guantánamo

I don’t get it. If we renewed relations with Cuba, then why the heck are we trying to transfer those prisoners onto American soil. I stand with Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback.

Deborah A Nguyen

Independence

GOP complaints

The flap over the CNBC debate continues (10-31, A12, “Furious GOP cancels future NBC debate”). The Republicans think that the questions were unfriendly and off target and that there was widespread media bias.

Are the critics right?

Think of it this way. One of the great things about America is that parents can say to their children, “You too can be president.”

But it does seem the talking heads and editorials have concluded at least three candidates cannot be president — Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Bernie Sanders, all leading or near the lead in current polls.

Some say so directly; others are more subtle.

Where is it written that to be president a person must first pay years of dues by playing nice and kissing the you know what of poobahs or donors in one of the two major parties?

Isn’t this how we got into so much trouble in the first place?

Ron Platt

Overland Park

This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Readers react to the Royals parade, renaming Jackson County and Jesse Ventura."