Readers share views on presidential candidates, election parallels, debate questions
Poor choices
I as well as many of my friends are extremely disappointed in both parties. They both care more about their precious party without giving a thought to the country.
The Republicans have an arrogant person running for president, and the Democrats have a woman whom just about everyone dislikes. So, what do we do?
I am stuck with voting for the one I dislike less, so I guess I’m voting for Hillary Clinton and I am not happy about that. Donald Trump is probably the most disgusting candidate I have ever seen in my 70 years of living.
The qualities I look for are honesty, integrity and common sense.
Leslie Christians
Kearney
Election parallels
The nervous boy with the disabled arm waited for the speech. He had disputed the bogus claim, made by the rich, mean kid running for student body president, that all Muslim students had cheered 9/11.
The rich kid spoke. He waved his arms, contorted his face and mocked the boy in the front row. The crowd roared, but some students were relieved they weren’t targeted. The rich kid had given them nasty nicknames, too.
The bully shouted: “Make the school great again! I have a secret plan to defeat the gangs! I’ll build a wall and keep bad people out!”
He called Mexicans rapists and murderers and called Muslims terrorists. “The current president is Kenyan and Muslim,” he said.
They were all lies, but many believed. The smears worked. They always worked.
The rich boy had never run for office but declared: “I’m a winner. I’m rich. If I lose, the system’s rigged. If I win, it’s not!”
Many were sad. The school was once welcoming.
The next candidate was serious and smart. She had led school projects since kindergarten.
She developed detailed plans for school improvements but wasn’t loud like the mean kid and was taught to be polite.
David Evans
Kansas City
Debate questions
The first debate of the 2016 campaign is Monday. Will the moderator ask questions of substance? For example:
GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump: Our defense spending exceeds the sum of the next 10 countries combined. Is that too much, too little or just right?
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton: For more than 50 years we have stationed more than 100,000 troops in Japan, South Korea and Europe. What is their mission? Are those hostile countries?
Mr. Trump: The Medicaid portion of Obamacare was intended to help our poorest citizens. Sixteen Republican governors have rejected this help. Why?
Secretary Clinton: You have said, in retrospect, your vote to send troops to Iraq was a mistake. What was the problem with your decision-making process at the time of the vote?
Mr. Trump: Corporations do not bleed or feel pain. Do you agree they are people that deserve protections of the constitution?
Secretary Clinton: How will you go about overturning Citizens United? Or will you?
I am sure readers have many more questions on their minds. What if The Star were to solicit a list and present it to the moderator for one of the future debates?
Ron Platt
Overland Park
Lies as facts
Facts are essential, and a lie is a lie. We would not tolerate our children lying constantly or attempting to pass off falsehoods as facts.
We would not name as our friends people who cannot tell the truth and continually tell us stories that have no basis in fact.
We would not work for companies that were deceitful and couldn’t be trusted to tell us the truth.
We would never keep employees who always lied to us and who consistently told us stories that were untrue.
Yet we do not call out nor shun a political candidate, for the presidency of our country, who will say anything whether it is true or not and will attempt to spread obvious lies as fact.
We may see our political system as broken, and we may be cynical of our political candidates. But that is not an excuse to abdicate our responsibility as citizens of our great country.
If they as candidates do not know the difference between what is true and factual and what is not and are willing to pass off lies as facts, they are not worthy to be president of these United States.
Jim Cox
Lawrence
This story was originally published September 24, 2016 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Readers share views on presidential candidates, election parallels, debate questions."