Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, ICE agents and Trump’s Supreme pick

What’s in a name

Sam Mellinger has written many great sports columns, but his recent epistle about Chiefs lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif lacked the forethought of his usual writing. (June 27, 1B, “There’s be no M.D. for Chiefs’ LDT, and that’s a shame”)

Mellinger lamented the NFL policy and the Chiefs’ acceptance of barring the lineman from adding “M.D.” to the name on his jersey. He equated this with permitting players to add “Sr.” or “Jr.” to their names.

There appears to be an obvious difference: That “Jr.” or “Sr.” is part of the player’s legal name. Would Mellinger also suggest adding other academic degrees to those jerseys, such as M.A., M.S. or MBA.?

I believe the NFL got this policy right.

Roger Ewing

Overland Park

No limits?

“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers,” says an evil rebel in Shakespeare. This may be overmuch. But can we agree that breaking bones and drawing blood would also be too much in all cases?

Immigration lawyer Andrea Martinez is on crutches after being struck down by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during said counsel’s representation of Noah, her 3-year-old client, as he reunited with his pregnant mother. (June 27, 1A, “ICE agent accused of assaulting lawyer while deporting mom, child”)

Some say we want for law and order today. I agree.

There are thin lines between the rule of law and the rule of despotism. Perhaps federal forces such as ICE wield too much power now. I read they hold no sway over U.S. citizens, yet Martinez was held in a locked room for 40 minutes after she hit the concrete. Mother and son were then deported sans their luggage.

I think the following tutorial for the feds would be timely:

“Bad hombres,” by definition, do not include:

1) Pregnant women

2) Women and kids fleeing abuse

3) Blue toy dinosaurs (as found in Noah’s luggage)

And, if a citizen who works as an attorney is not safe from ICE while doing her job, the U.S. government does indeed have too many police powers.

Janice Stalings

Kansas City

Put it off

Our country is increasingly governed by means of President Donald Trump’s executive orders, which are then rubber-stamped by his Supreme Court.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, please delay your retirement until after the midterms.

Tom Stroud

Overland Park

Seen it before

A June 25 letter to the editor said, “The hatred (toward President Donald Trump) from the Democrats is like nothing I have ever seen.”

Where was this writer during the eight years of the Obama administration — living on a remote island in the South Pacific with no electricity?

The hatred that Trump supporters perceive for the current resident of the White House is crocodile tears compared with the vile remarks, innuendos and callousness shown to President Barack Obama.

You remember: “He’s a Muslim.” “He’s not my president.” “He won’t work with Congress. That’s why he uses so many executive orders.” (By the way, all these objections came from the current president.)

Trump has turned our great country, what President Ronald Reagan referred as a “shining ‘city on a hill,’” into a laughingstock in the eyes of our trade and military allies (Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, Germany, France and others), and he’s OK with it.

Meanwhile, most Republicans in the House and Senate condone his behavior with their collective silence.

Lew Hendricks

Kansas City

Tariff itch

Looks like Harley-Davidson has come down with a case of the flees. (June 26, 12A, “Harley-Davidson, blaming tariffs, to move some work out of US”)

Thomas Sewell

Lenexa

Wrong targets

Although our politics are white-hot surrounding the travel ban that was upheld by the Supreme Court, the implementation of the ban will be problematic. (June 27, 1A, “Supreme Court upholds Trump’s travel ban”)

There is a philosophy at work that cannot be long practiced. It’s called guilt by association, and it punishes the innocent.

Declaring people guilty simply by categorizing them is patently opposite to the protection of freedom. Guilt by association is punishment for offenses committed by others.

It also takes a simple practice and applies it to anyone the authority chooses to include — “those people over there.”

This travel ban will accomplish absolutely nothing. If you believe it will, you are willing to say someone is guilty by merely existing.

Reggie Marselus