Letters: KC readers discuss senators’ impeachment duties, brain injuries and Britt Reid
He gets around
It has been reported that Sen. Josh Hawley did not watch the testimony or generally pay attention to the evidence in the impeachment trial. I am very sorry that your senator has such a lack of respect for you, the people of Missouri, that he has no interest in protecting your government or your Constitution.
Anyone who can ignore the bravery of the police and continue to support the extreme violence of the insurgents does not deserve to be in Congress. Only you can make a difference with your vote.
- Kay Brown, Reno, Nevada
What a change
It’s really incredible how far the Republican Party has fallen.
Back when I was a Republican, I was impressed by how ethical then-Rep. Roy Blunt sounded when saying President Bill Clinton had violated his oaths and no president should be allowed to do that.
Donald Trump violated multiple oaths, put members of Congress in danger, refused to call it off and refused to concede. Now-Sen. Blunt calls Trump’s attorneys “our side” and falls back on procedure to shirk his own oath to do impartial justice.
How the mighty have fallen in fealty to a little man who lost an election and caused deaths at our Capitol. I hope Blunt is proud of himself.
- Dana Zevecke, Independence
Law and order?
Make no mistake, a vote to acquit Donald Trump is a vote against the very core of our democracy.
I hope Sens. Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley think about this: A simple concession would have cleared Trump of any perception of wrongdoing, yet he could not muster even those words.
The junior senator from Missouri even said that whether Joe Biden would be sworn into office “depends on what happens” Jan. 6.
It seems, then, that I can appeal to only one of my representatives in the Senate, as the other was all but a co-conspirator in inciting the insurrection, lifting his fist in support of the group that would shortly cause death and damage in the halls of the Capitol.
The party of law and order? There is no way — absolutely no way — the GOP can ever claim that moniker again.
A simple concession speech by the outgoing president is all it would have taken to prevent the greatest betrayal of the presidential oath in the history of the United States of America. Trump must be convicted for the very soul of our nation.
- Shawn Harrel, Greenwood
Help them home
For 30 years, Kansans with brain injuries (from car wrecks, falls or violence) could get funds from the Brain Injury Waiver Program to leave hospitals, nursing homes and other institutions to return home with the therapy and services they need to resume their independence.
The program has been so successful that in 2019, the Kansas Legislature championed a definition change so people who experienced strokes or medical incidents that resulted in brain injuries could also come home. They also added children. More than 118 people in facilities requested to go home over the past year, and they did.
When that definition was changed to include children, the Legislature did not add money to the program. The state now faces an imminent waiting list. The program provides far more than nursing homes, yet a waiting list means that is where people will languish.
Please speak up and let your legislators know you do not want a waiting list for people with brain injuries in Kansas. A waiting list on the brain injury waiver does not save money – it costs lives.
Please tell your legislators that people can’t wait.
- Janet M. Williams, Board member, Brain Injury Association of Kansas and Greater Kansas City, Overland Park
Cheated Chiefs
I demand that the Tampa Bay Times and its complicit sports section immediately investigate the lies that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl over the Kansas City Chiefs. Millions of Americans watched that game and witnessed the unprecedented amount of cheating by several corrupt officials, players and especially Tom “Deflategate” Brady.
There were 11 penalties, all without merit, called against Kansas City and just four against Tampa. Without these illegal penalties, the Chiefs would have won by a landslide. These officials all need to be investigated, several times.
If the NFL does not reverse itself by declaring the Chiefs the 2021 Super Bowl champions, a violent insurrection will be scheduled for April 1 at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Don’t let Brady get away with it again, Stop the Steal!
- Robert Fern, Show Low, Arizona
Hurt compounded
It is tempting to use position and power to provide a soft landing for family, especially those who seem to need it most. But hiring spouses, siblings and children into the workplace is ill-advised at best and a financial and PR nightmare at worst. Emotion so often clouds our ability to see the obvious and prevents us from acting fairly and decisively.
I don’t know whether Britt Reid has real NFL qualifications beyond his lineage, and it is far too early to know exactly what happened in that tragic accident near the stadium. What is clear, however, is that the Chiefs organization should follow the lead of many in the corporate and business community and prohibit nepotism.
Andy Reid should never have been allowed to hire his son. This decision has placed both the coach and the Chiefs in a terribly awkward and regrettable position of addressing incredibly personal matters from the professional podium.
- Jim Dunn, North Kansas City
This story was originally published February 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: KC readers discuss senators’ impeachment duties, brain injuries and Britt Reid."