Letters: KC readers discuss Independence Center unrest, GOP overturn and Chiefs’ thud
Seen this before
Is Independence Center going the way of Indian Springs Mall and Bannister Mall? It certainly will if the center managers do not find a way to control crowds of young people and make legitimate shoppers feel safe. (Jan. 2, 3A, “Police: Teenager is shot in leg at a mall”)
- Gene Arnott, Overland Park
All about me
Sen. Josh Hawley’s piece of tragicomic theater is only the latest of many over the past two months as thousands of elected officials have challenged the 2020 election. But do they really believe there was fraud on a scale that would overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory?
That’s simply implausible, indeed impossible. So why are they doing what they’re doing?
A few have let the truth slip: If they were to cross President Donald Trump, they would be committing political suicide. They could never again win a Republican primary. Their own political futures trump (pardon the expression) everything.
When Americans run for public office, their motives, they always say, are of the highest order. But the current charade gives lie to that mendacious rhetoric. Actually, being elected to office means putting a metaphoric needle in one’s arm: Give me power! Elect me forever!
So joining Trump’s ranting is not really a stand for fair play, but an act of political self-preservation. If I don’t support the raging bull in the White House, his legions will never vote for me again. And, hey, I’m really important!
Political survival is all. For your light winter reading, try Edward Gibbon’s “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”
- Tim Miller, Lawrence
Buyer’s remorse
Former Missouri GOP Sen. John Danforth led the recruiting charge for Josh Hawley to oppose Claire McCaskill in the 2018 Senate race during Hawley’s less-than-stellar two years as Missouri’s attorney general. Now Danforth is denouncing Hawley’s efforts to challenge President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College certification. (Jan. 5, 1A, “Danforth slams Hawley protest”)
You reap what you sow. Perhaps if Danforth had supported McCaskill’s reelection, Missouri wouldn’t be in this embarrassing situation.
- Robert Bromberg, Kansas City
Pardon me?
On June 18, 1788, at the Virginia Ratifying Convention for the Constitution, George Mason IV rose and stated:
“I conceive that the president ought not to have the power of pardoning, because he may frequently pardon crimes which were advised by himself. It may happen, at some future day, that he will establish a monarchy, and destroy the republic. If he has the power of granting pardons before indictment, or conviction, may he not stop inquiry and prevent detection? The case of treason ought, at least, to be excepted. This is a weighty objection with me.”
His concern was dismissed, as the checks and balances of our system should assure that any such tyrannical action would be squelched.
With 2020 hindsight, we can see that Mason was prescient in his concern. And now I can only hope that our checks and balances can appreciate the obvious need to correct this oversight and install limits on presidential pardons:
▪ No pardons after Election Day
▪ No pardons of family members
▪ No pardons of those charged or convicted during an investigation of the president
I’m sure our forefathers believed that setting the presidential age requirement at 35 would suffice. But it has become obvious that we need to childproof the Oval Office.
- Jim Waltz, Kansas City
Work, not rest
The Chiefs’ game Sunday was painful to watch. Ostensibly, coach Andy Reid was resting the starters. After watching the previous game that they barely managed to win, I think the starters should have been playing to stay sharp. Alas and alack.
- Gloria Pankratz, Lenexa
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: KC readers discuss Independence Center unrest, GOP overturn and Chiefs’ thud."