Letters: KC readers discuss political needs and Missouri Gov. Parson’s COVID-19 inaction

Leadership void

Missourians should be livid. Missouri is now among the states with the highest rates of new COVID-19 infections. Sadly, it didn’t have to be like this.

We opened too early and way too haphazardly. Gov. Mike Parson has not been proactive or even reactive; he has been missing in action since early May.

When a bar in the Ozarks got national media attention after a video showed partygoers neither wearing masks nor social distancing, Parson indicated it was not his responsibility, but rather that of local officials. Meanwhile, those local officials said they couldn’t do anything without a directive from the governor.

To this day, Parson still hasn’t issued a statewide directive on masks nor regularly worn one, like someone else we know.

He has shown a total lack of empathy regarding students going back to school, stating that kids will get the virus but easily get over it, ignoring that there are also teachers in schools and that many of these kids are high-risk or live with high-risk individuals.

Gov. Parson, instead of fishing for “attaboys” from President Donald Trump, please take some tips from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, so you can learn what it means to govern.

- Patrick Briscoe, Liberty

One insight

I recommend that, rather than blindly following a political party, we look closely at the attitudes of the individuals regarding children and adults with special needs.

- Ed Regan, Overland Park