Letters: Readers discuss bossy Bloomberg, gun threats and letting veterans suffer

Political points

I don’t normally bother to pay attention to political advertisements. I usually ignore them. But I just saw Mike Bloomberg’s latest ad in which he addresses the coronavirus. Actually, “addresses” might not be the best term.

The disease is making people anxious and scared around the world. We know it is spreading and that, as of now, we don’t know how best to treat it.

We need to remain calm and prepared. We don’t need political ads that promote panic. Bloomberg’s message is basically that he is the one who can protect us.

- Nancy Roos, Olathe

Biggest concern

President Donald Trump finally thought it was time to reassure United States citizens that he had everything under control regarding the coronavirus. He finally held a news conference with the vice president and the heads of our public health teams Wednesday. (Feb. 27, 1A, “Pence to lead US fight against coronavirus”)

After watching, I cannot tell you how comforting it was to hear Trump contradict everything the medical experts had just said. I felt even safer listening to him address his concerns about the stock market and the cause of its record losses. I’m so glad to know that the cause was not the coronavirus but in fact the Tuesday Democratic debates, which took place after the markets had closed down for two days.

Sadly, the only thing that was evident during this news conference was that Trump is concerned about only the health of the stock market. Of course, you can be laser-focused on your stocks when you know more about subjects than the experts.

- Dennis Way, Roeland Park

Rights for some

Last fall, my wife and I attended the Summit Art Festival in Lee’s Summit. We bought two heavy tile pieces and were attempting to get them back to the car. I had just had shoulder-replacement surgery and really should not have been trying to lift anything.

A man whom I had never seen before got between me and my car, and he tried to start a fight with me. He repeatedly said he was going to shoot me as he reached for his gun. I could not believe what was happening.

I went to get help from police officers talking to each other at the center of the fair. They responded and questioned the man, who indeed did have a gun. The police told me the man felt threatened and was within his rights — so no crime was committed and no report was filed. The police let the man go back to the fair with his gun.

I filed a complaint with the Lee’s Summit Police Department, but complaints are handled in-house, so nothing was done.

I have never felt the need to carry a gun. But this incident showed me that when you don’t, you don’t have any rights.

- Tim Altenburg, Kansas City

Unspoken message

Isn’t it enough that Sen. Bernie Sanders is the favorite presidential candidate of the current occupant of the White House? What does that tell you?

- Anna Elizabeth Smith Merritt, Overland Park

Blocking veterans

Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle is using her position to push through an anti-abortion bill at the expense of veterans’ health.

House Bill 2610, which would allow the state to build a long-term care facility for veterans in northeast Kansas, has been stalled by the Republican-led government, as has all other legislation related to health care. This bill would give our veterans much-needed medical care and assisted living they deserve, but lawmakers attempting to get their anti-abortion bill pushed through are using our veterans as leverage.

If you believe in our veterans and what they fought for, contact Wagle at susan.wagle@senate.ks.gov and Kansas House Speaker Ron Ryckman at ron.ryckman@house.ks.gov.

- David W. Nelson, Leavenworth

Comically wrong

I have watched with sadness the amazingly poor choices of political cartoons published by The Star for the past couple of years, often shaking my head. However, the example by Joey Weatherford that you picked Wednesday lampooning former President Barack Obama went beyond poor taste into the field of creating or repeating an outright lie. (13A)

There is simply no one who would say Obama inherited a strong economy and then “derailed it” with his policies. No one. That is flat-earth-level stupidity and inaccuracy.

Get someone wiser and saner making your editorial cartoon choices so they’re at some level honest and thought-provoking. You should apologize to your readers for this one.

- John White, Lenexa

Misplaced blame

I am distressed about Joey Weatherford’s misleading Wednesday editorial cartoon blaming former President Barack Obama’s administration for derailing the economy. The economy collapsed in late September 2008, largely because of lax regulation of banks and similar institutions in their handling of home mortgages. Obama did not take office until January 2009. He inherited the poor economy from the George W. Bush administration, which had engaged in a costly and ill-advised war in Iraq.

One might take issue with how Obama and the Congress handled the meltdown. I think a lot of people are still angry that almost no one was prosecuted or punished for the greed and bad judgment that led to the crisis. But it is not accurate to say that Obama’s policies caused the derailment.

- Anne McDonald, Kansas City

This story was originally published February 28, 2020 at 5:00 AM.