Renaming Paseo, Electoral College negation and the Chiefs

Another honor

Kansas City has missed three previous opportunities to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Instead, the city chose to honor Buck O’Neil with the former Broadway Bridge, Bruce R. Watkins with U.S. 71 and former mayor and current U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II with parts of the former 47th Street and Brush Creek Boulevard.

These men are worthy honorees, but should they have been honored before King?

As an alternative to renaming The Paseo, which is uniquely Kansas City, why not honor King by renaming U.S. 169 in the Northland and Broadway Boulevard as it winds south through the Plaza and Brookside after him? U.S. 169 could become the Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway and Broadway, J.C. Nichols Parkway and Brookside could become Martin Luther King Jr. Bouelvard.

Terry Stevens

Kansas City

No to the majority

A Jan. 13 letter writer suggested eliminating the Electoral College, which our founders were smart enough to give to this republic. Such an action would totally change our political system.

The far-left organization National Popular Vote is pushing to get rid of the Electoral College. According to the American Civil Rights Union (not the American Civil Liberties Union), 12 states have passed laws to commit their 172 electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, as mandated by this scheme. If states with at least 98 more electoral votes pledge them to the popular vote winner, the large urban centers would decide presidential elections for everyone.

The less-populated states, such as Kansas and other “flyovers,” would be shut out of the election process, thus fundamentally destroying the fair political system that our founders created.

Joyce Patterson

Marysville, Kan.

Don’t forget

I hope all the people who are going without paychecks will remember that when they vote next time.

No president should have the power to shut down the government.

Evelyn Wilson

Platte City

… as a cucumber

Not being satisfied with quick answers, I decided to investigate thoroughly the reason the Chiefs lost to the Patriots on Sunday. Using sleuth methods, I discovered that the Patriots’ post-game laundry service was short one jersey. Of course, it belonged to the quarterback.

The people doing the washing were told it was clean and did not need to be laundered.

“What about perspiration stains?” I asked. “No, not even under the armpits,” they replied.

Case closed: Tom Brady — no sweat.

John J. Gladbach

Lenexa

Call me anti-fan

It’s like the Chiefs won two legs of the Triple Crown races and then some jerk showed up to the Belmont and wiped away the dream.

I know which team I will not be rooting for on Super Bowl Sunday next month.

Teresa Teevan

Denver

From the past

Sunday’s Chiefs-Patriots game made me think about one Major League Baseball umpire’s notorious blown call in the 1985 World Series. It looks like your Chiefs got “Don Denkingered.”

Dave Alonzo

St. Louis

Tips for teachers

Things I learned while teaching before government shutdowns became commonplace include:

▪ If a child says, “You don’t like me,” that’s code for, “You expect me to behave.”

▪ If a child says, “Your class is too hard,” that’s code for, “You are interfering with my personal life.”

▪ If a child says, “You assign too much homework,” that’s code for, “I’m too busy playing video games.”

▪ If a child says, “Your class is boring,” that’s code for, “What class is this?”

▪ If a child says, “You shout all the time,” that’s code for, “I’m trying to nap.”

▪ Finally, if a child asks, “Why do I have to learn about some dude who lived 1,000 years ago?” that’s code for, “Why am I flunking your class?”

Carole A. Sapp

Independence

But not us?

It seems as if Americans have forgotten what happened to the world in the mid-20th century when Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan were taken over by dictators.

In the United States today, a president sits in the White House apparently with the same idea in mind.

Our representatives in Congress are so well paid that they couldn’t care less. So we had better wake up.

Jim Grogan

Ottawa, Kan.