Letters: KC readers discuss a Chiefs name idea, knowing Greitens and police authority
Super new name
Here’s a possible new name for the Chiefs: the Kansas City Super Chiefs, after the famed Santa Fe Railway express train of yesteryear.
It evokes power, speed and glamour. The Chiefs would keep their beloved Chiefs moniker, keep their Super Bowl victory up front and retire the controversial Native American imagery. There might be copyright issues for naming rights to settle with the BNSF Railway company, however.
Remember the Super Bowl play when the Chiefs lined up in a traditional quarterback-under-center formation, then performed a sassy, synchronized backward spin into a wildcat alignment? That play captured the Chiefs’ new persona.
Make way for the Kansas City Super Chiefs.
- Thomas Modrcin, Liberty
A different man
An open letter to Eric Greitens:
I write an estimated 15 years since our last meaningful contact after serving with you through an 18-month deployment cycle.
Your leadership, which I once had a great admiration for, included the pursuit and implementation of missions that created immense opportunities for the Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen community.
You trusted me to play a critical role in that endeavor. You helped open my eyes to the world in a way I’d never really cared to look at it. I became motivated to question everything, gain an understanding of opposing views and look for the common ground — though I could never get behind the divisive narrative of your political campaign.
It pains me to say I am disappointed that you’ve continued to echo the racially charged dog whistles and divisive narratives from President Donald Trump over the last four or five years. (July 14, KansasCity.com, “Deep Background: Mike Parson, Eric Greitens and a Missouri election year like no other”)
The man I knew in the Naval Special Warfare Command understood that his intelligence and compassion did not compromise his strength. He once gave me the analogy of ensuring that all children have jackets in the winter to explain that democratic socialism is not a bad thing — it’s just a different thing.
That man would not invoke boogeyman dog whistles.
- Daniel Schneider, Temecula, Califoria
All for students
Monday night, after a tumultuous, shortened school year, the 2020 class of Liberty North High School (including my valedictorian niece Delaney Clawson) bid adieu to their senior year on an unseasonably cool, breezy July evening during a commencement ceremony rescheduled from May.
How did this happen in July? Through the work of a school administration that cares for its students. Thank you. Through the work of a venue that cares for its community. Thank you, Children’s Mercy Park. Through parents who agreed (even if only for the 10 minutes it took to walk to and from their seats) that they could put on masks for the greater good.
This is what it took to make about 400 students’ year complete. Thank you to this community. I am so proud of you for making lemonade out of the lemons these amazing students were tossed.
Even just as a spectator, I was thrilled to be part of an amazing night of goodwill and celebration of the bright future of these students — made possible by a district with forethought and a generous venue.
- Jeannie Wilcox, Kansas City
Problems ahead
In his Sunday guest commentary, “Kansas City must rethink its policing,” (17A) UMKC professor Linwood Tauheed suggests a “community police” model, “having people who already live there protect and serve their communities’ families.”
After a career in the military, I have experience in the challenges of properly assigning duties to personnel newly promoted into positions of authority relative to their peers and compatriots, and I see potential for disaster in Tauheed’s vision.
For such an application actually to work, a wide range of issues must be resolved. How granularly would we define communities — citywide, school district, neighborhood? How would recruiting and onboarding procedures be accomplished? Would psychometric evaluation be employed, including prior relationships within the communities to be served? Who trains and develops officers, and to what standards of competence — and who assesses said competence?
In practical application, the potential exists for gross misconduct. Community police’s performance would be influenced by pre-existing relationships, including familial, friendly and hostile, and they could be potentially beneficial or harmful.
There is a thin line between authority and (im)potency. Policing must be effective if it is to be viable.
- Charles Black, Leavenworth
This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 5:00 AM.