Readers sound off on presidential election, Kansas judge retention
Election watch
Like it or not, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton or Republican nominee Donald Trump will be our next president, and the U.S. election will have international bearing on how our nation is treated in the future.
People around the world are watching intently. From Mexico City to Johannesburg, from Berlin to Beijing and Tokyo, citizens and their governments are watching the U.S. presidential election with almost universal concern and alarm. America’s global influence means that its elections matter far beyond its borders.
U.S. allies and rivals alike have counted on Washington, D.C., to underpin international order.
While Clinton is a well-known figure and widely regarded as a steady hand, few observers have any idea what would be in store for their countries should Trump win the White House.
“If Clinton wins, people are reassured that it would be a slightly modified continuation of existing policies,” says Thorsten Benner, head of Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin. “But with Trump there is just totally a randomness factor that is hard to prepare for. It seems so incalculable.”
Most European news media favor Clinton.
Internationally, our economic health is at stake in this election.
Charles G. Coy
Washington, Mo.
Call me deplorable
Of my 24 years in the Navy, I had top-secret clearance for about 10 years.
I’ve consulted with Black & Veatch in Kansas City with a secret clearance. Most of this work was for the Army. When I left my desk — going to the bathroom, lunch or home — work went into the security vault.
Had I mishandled my trust, I would be in jail, not running for president. For this reason, plus the composition of the Supreme Court, military, foreign policy, Israel, taxes, economy, etc., I have voted (early) for Donald Trump.
With five years of undergraduate study (Kansas State, U.S. Naval Academy) and 3 1/2 years of graduate study (U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, California Institute of Technology, the University of Arizona and Oklahoma State), I must be an uneducated deplorable.
Vincent U. Muirhead
Lawrence
Court vote
We’ve seen the damage done to Kansas schools and the fiscal stability of the state by Gov. Sam Brownback and his supporters. That same group has launched a smear campaign to throw out judges of the Kansas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.
Let’s maintain the merit-based system of judge selection by voting to retain our judges. Our system of checks and balances serves to prevent any one branch from usurping too much power.
Vote yes to retain our judges, and prevent a judiciary that is based on politics, rather than merit.
Alex Migliazzo
Leawood
This story was originally published November 5, 2016 at 2:10 PM with the headline "Readers sound off on presidential election, Kansas judge retention."