Letters: Readers discuss racism; Ninth Amendment; Mark Twain
Call for sanity
Leonard Pitts’ column “Challenged by my elders, but struggling after new betrayal” (12-9, 13A) left me awestruck with a profound sense of both anger and hopelessness.
One could figuratively see Pitts’ frustration virtually oozing between the lines of the newspaper as he recited a timeline of murders followed by betrayals of justice.
One need not be black to see the terrible miscarriages of justice committed each time black men are killed by rogue cops or vigilante cop wannabes, and then set free by a flawed justice system.
Nor does one have to be white to fear criminals who happen to be black and are a danger to society as a whole.
As a black man, I feel Leonard Pitts’ pain each time innocent black men are murdered and guilty white men go free.
If all good men and women who have a conscience speak out and condemn jurors who allow their personal prejudices to interfere with their duty to judge cases on the merits, perhaps we will finally restore sanity and civility to our justice system.
Eddie L. Clay
Grandview
Acts of bullies
The recent bullying behavior by Donald Trump, which depressed Boeing's stock value and led to pushback by Robert Riech and the Twitter attack on the Carrier union official, has emphasized Trump’s tendency to be vindictive and very thin-skinned. These acts (almost hate crimes) will not be tolerated by the majority of Americans (Trump lost the popular vote).
Carried to logical conclusion, Trump will face impeachment for the same reasons Richard Nixon was impeached. Trump is clearly not a man who should have access to the nuclear codes.
Behavior designed to secure domination or control that creates fear, harm or submission will not be and cannot be behavior that the president of the United States exhibits. In a nation of laws, the checks and balances written into our constitution must be exercised, or may God help us all.
Also, what is your liberty and safety worth if Trump refuses to even read the intelligence reports provided to him?
Ron Trecker
Overland Park
Powers, not rights
There is a dangerous error in Jonah Goldberg’s column, “Local autonomy ought to unite devils, angels” (12-13, 6A).
He describes the 10th Amendment as apportioning “rights.” Not so. It apportions “powers.”
Yes, local power, as opposed to federal power, is very important. But only individuals have rights.
There are no “states’ rights” in our constitution. The apportionment of rights, individual rights, is in the Ninth Amendment, describing the enumerated and unenumerated rights.
By giving states rights, the two amendments seem to contradict one another. That is why this is such a dangerous error.
Cynthia Gillis
Olathe
Not normal
The Trump transition team submitted a set of questions to the Department of Energy. Questions include requests for a listing of individuals who have attended key meetings on climate change, along with documents and emails associated with those events.
In addition, the team asked for a list of peer-reviewed publications, other publications and a list of professional society memberships of staffers.
This is not an orderly transition of government powers. It is the targeting of unwanted peer-reviewed science and the targeting and isolation of individuals based on professional association — guilt by association.
This is not normal or acceptable in our government. Science and scientists are under attack by think-tank political hacks.
John Dunn
Westwood
Prevent rape
At the beginning of every fall semester, Kansas State University students are required to complete an alcohol-and-rape-awareness online workshop. Being a senior, I have now taken four of these time-consuming online tutorials.
I will be the first to admit that I mindlessly click through the mind-numbing activities with little engagement. I know this to be true for many of my K-State peers.
The goal of these tutorials is to educate students on responsible alcohol consumption and to prevent rape on campus. This is a noble initiative, but this method does not work.
More and more female students are coming forward saying they are victims of rape. The most recent victim came forward Dec. 4, saying she was raped in a dorm.
If administrators want to affect the behavior of the student body, they must create a method that effectively engages and relates to students. Localizing the scenarios in the online tutorial to the K-State campus would be one way to help engage and prepare them.
Alcohol consumption and rape prevention are important issues that every university, including K-State, should take seriously.
The current method needs to be altered to eliminate preventable tragedies on campus.
Katie Howland
Manhattan
This story was originally published December 15, 2016 at 5:56 PM with the headline "Letters: Readers discuss racism; Ninth Amendment; Mark Twain."