Letters: KC readers discuss Harry Truman’s leadership, billionaires’ duty and pesticides

Truman’s mettle

Kurt Graham’s April 12 commentary about President Harry S. Truman was outstanding. (13A, “For the good of the world, may we find another Truman”)

Graham outlined more than 10 of Truman’s great accomplishments, both domestic and international, that still stand today. Graham also mentioned that Truman did not have a college education. However, he failed to tell us about the valuable military experiences Truman had during World War I in France.

The future president was promoted to captain and assigned as commander of Artillery Battery D of the 129th Field Artillery Regiment. Truman led his men successfully through heavy fighting during the Meuse-Argonne campaign in 1918, earning the respect and admiration of his men.

As a retired U.S. Army infantry officer with two Vietnam combat tours while assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade, I can attest to the vital importance of having highly qualified field artillery support in combat. That is precisely what Capt. Harry Truman demonstrated.

- Robert Allen, Kansas City

Use your means

I was glad to read the news that billionaire Michael Bloomberg is using his money to help the health of New York and surrounding states with mass testing. It will help get his state’s economy up and running responsibly.

Since we are having trouble with the federal government stepping up to the plate and handling the issue of getting adequate testing to the states, maybe we should call on the billionaires from every state to pay for extensive testing.

Bloomberg’s $10 million is a drop in the bucket for people with so much money. These are also the people who benefited the most from the present administration’s tax breaks.

According to Forbes, there are at least five billionaires in Kansas and six in Missouri.

So, how about it, billionaires? You could do a great service to your country, your state and everyone who lives and works there. You could safely and responsibly open your states’ economies.

- Debbi Mall, Kansas City, Kansas

Higher profits

With these days of being secluded in our nests, I for one see this as a time to heal — not just for myself, but for all human beings and the Earth.

I wish we were under better circumstances and that the environment we live in wasn’t in the shape it is, when people are struggling to survive or worrying about what tomorrow will bring. When money comes first, before lives.

In these moments, take a second to breathe and observe the world. What do you see? What do you notice?

I read a few articles and saw images of how the Earth is slowly starting to heal, from the air we breathe to the small creeks down the road in our neighborhoods. I’ve tried to note the differences that surround us. I believe the conditions have changed.

We focus highly on the bad and rarely take the time to observe the moments worth remembering. The moments that bring out the best in ourselves and the world around us.

When we start to roam freely outside of our nests again, hopefully we won’t take our home for granted and will treat it — and ourselves — better.

- Brandon McDonald, Olathe

Sneaking it in

Chances are slim that even people familiar with controversial pesticides such as glyphosate and dicamba have heard of the recently approved herbicide called isoxaflutole. But you can be sure that’s about to change for people living in Kansas City, my hometown, and across the Great Plains — even for folks who have nothing to do with farming or pesticides.

That’s because not only has isoxaflutole been linked to cancer and liver damage, but it’s also notorious for drifting more than 1,000 feet from where it’s sprayed, much like dicamba.

You’ve never heard of it because at the same time the Trump Environmental Protection Agency is claiming it needs to pause environmental enforcement during the coronavirus crisis, it is fast-tracking approvals of some of the most controversial pesticides.

That means it’s approving the pesticides without providing any of the normal public notice or opportunities for comment by independent scientists or backyard gardeners. Instead, the industry-friendly agency solicited input only from people involved in profiting from pesticide-intensive farming practices.

And after receiving only comments supporting isoxaflutole, the agency announced it had approved the pesticide for use on as much as 90 million acres of soybeans in 25 states, including Kansas and Missouri.

- Nathan Donley, senior scientist, the Center for Biological Diversity, Olympia, Washington