Single-issue voters, smearing Kavanaugh and marital vows

Joining a list

Christine Blasey Ford’s name can now join Emmett Till accuser Carolyn Bryant Donham, Duke lacrosse team accuser Crystal Mangum and Justice Clarence Thomas accuser Anita Hill as women who made false or unsubstantiated claims of sexual assault or harassment. And add Justice Brett Kavanaugh as another victim.

David Scott

Lee’s Summit

Greater than one

I don’t understand people who vote for a person on just one issue. How is that person going to work across the aisle?

Abortion is one such issue that you hear about all the time. But how will our elected officials deal with education? Or kids who need food, clothes and a place to sleep?

We need to look at the big picture, not just one issue.

Alice Smith

Lee’s Summit

Can’t be political

The alarming acrimony surrounding the confirmation process of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh points out that allegations and accusations cannot in themselves be the basis to confirm or deny.

We are living in a time of compromise, but we must never compromise ethics or honor. Guilt must be proved.

I am not advocating for or against the justice. I am saying that unless an allegation can be proved through the judicial process, we as a society cannot allow otherwise.

Political affiliations must be set aside to allow a fair hearing for any high position.

Edward H. Barnes

Prairie Village

The numbers’ story

There seems to be the belief that because the U.S. has a low unemployment rate and the stock market is doing well that our economy is good. This belief includes two delusions.

The low unemployment rate creates the delusion of a good economy because it does not reflect income inequality. The statistical modal income in the U.S. — the income level earned by the greatest number of Americans — is grossly less than the median, or the midpoint between low and high. The significance is that even though people are employed, many are making only poverty-level wages and have to hold two jobs or share expenses with someone else.

This means that even though people are working, many are making wages that don’t afford them a good living. Is that what you say reflects a good economy?

The other delusion is about the stock market’s strength. Being a belief-driven creature, the market is in a euphoric mood and has not yet internalized President Donald Trump’s tariffs, low wages and the reality of dumb leadership. When that happens, Katy bar the door. Wait until the flock of birds that controls the market swarms in a different direction.

American citizens will want to know who’s to blame. Will it be you and others like you?

Hugh Taylor

Overland Park

Realistic examples

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has noticed a big increase in commercials featuring interracial couples. Bravo.

With our country being torn apart because of the present administration’s strategy of attempting to divide and conquer us based on what we look like and where we come from, these messages of unity could not be coming at a more opportune time.

Eddie L. Clay

Grandview

Skin in the game?

It seems a little strange to me to read about Kansas Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach’s ideas on public education funding when his children are homeschooled.

Susan Coughlin

Overland Park

Vow’s a vow

I read Jackie Keech’s Oct. 7 commentary, “Alzheimer’s disease pinned an unjust scarlet letter on me,” about how she fell in love with a married man whose wife had Alzheimer’s. (19A)

My mother and father have been married for 62 years. My mother has had Alzheimer’s for the past 12 years, and my 84-year-old father continues to care for all her needs. She isn’t capable of eating on her own at this stage of the disease. She requires constant supervision and attention to every detail of normal daily existence — the flattering and the not-so-much.

I won’t judge Keech for falling in love with the man who became her husband, but I do not condone them acting on those feelings while his spouse was still alive. This article shines a positive light on infidelity and looks for reasons and justification for those actions.

The last I recall, the wedding vows that most people take include “until death do us part.”

Ryan Sprecker

Olathe