Letters: KC readers discuss Trump’s policies, valuing friendships and debating masks

Concrete reasons

The author of a Wednesday letter to the editor (14A) said that he doesn’t need a morality or character check on his choice of a plumber, carpenter or other people he seeks services from and draws an equivalence to the irrelevance of those qualities in the choice of president of the United States.

I would contend that the president, as the leader of the free world, should lean a little more heavily on character and morality than a plumber.

As for the letter saying nobody offers arguments against President Donald Trump’s policies, I would offer:

▪ No health care initiative.

▪ Building walls, but no bridges or other infrastructure.

▪ Steps back in addressing pollution and climate change.

▪ A wink and a nod to extreme right-wing anarchists.

▪ His obsession with so-called “election fraud,” but no leadership in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. More than a quarter million Americans have been denied their right to life.

▪ Zero effort to control gun violence.

▪ A record deficit (even before the pandemic).

▪ Taking credit for a growing economy he inherited.

▪ Ignoring and insulting our allies while warming to our adversaries.

▪ Stabbing the Kurds in the back after their heavy lifting in defeating ISIS.

Oh, yes, and he was impeached.

- Tom Bruce, Leawood

Strength together

I first heard of the concept “we of me” on the late 1970s TV show “Family.” In the episode “We Love You, Miss Jessup,” the character Buddy wrote an essay on “we of me,” about how people can form intimate bonds and use them to learn all they can from one another.

I was born with cerebral palsy, and though I have a compassionate family, I have often felt alone. I felt like I was some kind of monster no one wanted. “We of me” appeals to me because, as a person with cerebral palsy, I don’t like being alone, left out or criticized about things that are out of my control. I’m a compassionate people person. My family has been great with my disability and has given me support. I love being part of the “we” in a friendship. My friends are a part of me and I am a part of them.

Some people, I fear, aren’t up for the challenge of being part of a “we of me.” But that’s for them to decide and to rise to the challenge.

- Dianna Stahl, Independence

Help us, moms

I do not get the debate about masks. I do not understand how it devolved into a Republican or Democratic issue. It is not similar to Nazi Germany. They were not concerned about saving lives.

When angry mothers protested, saying they were tired of kids dying because they weren’t wearing seat belts or because drunks drive, laws were changed and people accepted it. Lives were saved.

Maybe we need more angry mothers saying we are tired of seeing people die.

- Melissa Carrico, Prairie Village

This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: KC readers discuss Trump’s policies, valuing friendships and debating masks."