Letters: Readers discuss shame for Roy Blunt, future peril and LGBTQ Kansas Citians
This is a shock
Dear Sen. Roy Blunt,
President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the election results and his actions to overturn the outcome are a clear threat to our nation’s stability and security. Having said that, his behavior is precisely what I expected.
I expected better from you. To say I am disappointed in your silence is an understatement. The security of our country and the sanctity of our elections seem to be an inconvenient afterthought to party loyalty. To what end, sir?
What happened to you, Senator? Although I may not have agreed with your policies over the past years, until now I never thought you would actively subvert democracy. Yet, here we are.
I’m shocked. I’m ashamed for you. I’m angry.
Sincerely,
- Ann Sheridan, Kansas City
What lies ahead?
I struggle of late to identify which metaphor best applies to the millions who believe the election was stolen for President-elect Joe Biden: children following the Pied Piper into the forests never to be seen again; adoring followers moving to another country to drink the Kool-Aid of passage to the next life rather than submit to governmental intervention; lemmings by the thousands pouring over a cliff to their deaths for reasons no one but a few obscure evolutionary biologists can explain.
The probability of such a widespread alleged conspiracy is so unlikely to occur — much less to succeed — as to provoke the laughter of those of us who choose reason, science and dare I say common sense to judge such matters. I am stunned by and quite frankly ashamed of my fellow Americans who have chosen the path of willful ignorance.
This does not bode well for our collective ability to stave off a right-wing dictator in the future — maybe the near future.
- Kevin Connaghan, Roeland Park
Do it ourselves
On Dec. 2, Kansas City’s Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee addressed a proposed ordinance to form a LGBTQ commission, with members appointed by City Council members and the mayor. The compelling idea has hidden pitfalls.
Its scope is incredibly expansive. The morass of citywide demands in an unmatched pandemic with a crippled economy make a new commission last among many priorities. It would mean LGBTQ people would not control the commission’s membership, and it would be subject to Missouri’s Sunshine Law.
A 1993 Kansas City ordinance placed lesbian and gay rights under the Human Rights Commission. The commission requested and the City Council added gender identity to anti-discrimination prohibitions in 2008. Years ago, the Human Rights Project established the power of the “gay vote.” Today’s LGBTQ vote is larger and louder, and it intersects with all shades of diversity, spirituality, nationality and ideology — but our immense political power is directionless and without leadership. We need to create an umbrella group under our own authority to:
▪ Organize, fund and set goals.
▪ Select liaisons to the mayor and City Council.
▪ Screen and recommend LGBTQ candidates for office.
▪ Empower volunteers as a clearinghouse for LGBTQ representatives.
Ask not what Kansas City must do for the LGBTQ community, but what we can do for ourselves.
- Keith Spare, Kansas City
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: Readers discuss shame for Roy Blunt, future peril and LGBTQ Kansas Citians."