Letters: Readers discuss Kansas GOP gerrymandering, COVID vaccine, mask politics

Votes must count

When one political party openly and unabashedly gerrymanders voting districts to deny voters an evenhanded election, our democracy is at great risk.

I’m referring to former Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle’s 2020 speech at Wichita’s conservative Pachyderm Club, where she said plainly the Republican Party wants to unseat Rep. Sharice Davids using gerrymandering. What is happening now, with a dump late last week of a limited schedule of town halls this week, most before census data is even released, represents all that is wrong with our current politics. The political manipulation of district lines devalues the vote and undermines the democratic process.

The openly antidemocratic strategy being orchestrated by the Kansas Republican supermajority to gain even more power and shut out thousands of Kansas voters is the epitome of the march toward total one-party control. Our elected officials must guard our voting rights, not gerrymander them. In a true democracy, citizens select candidates, not the other way around.

We must protect each American’s equal right to vote and have every vote count. The only way to accomplish this is redistricting using nonpartisan commissions that are publicly accountable, taking into account school districts, communities and other geographic affinities. Any approach should be fairly based on changes in census data and be openly subject to scrutiny by the press and the public.

- Jamie Frazier, Overland Park

Good citizenship

A Sunday letter spoke against wearing masks, saying “You are a citizen, not a subject.” (16A) It appears the writer is unaware that citizens have responsibilities as well as rights.

Citizens should be well-informed about what is happening in their community and throughout the country. Citizens should obey rules and laws. Citizens should respect the rights of other people. Citizens should act in ways that make our country stronger and better for all who live here.

We are all aware that masks can be uncomfortable. I’d say none of us wants to wear one. But that discomfort does not compare to effects of COVID-19, and it is a small price to pay to protect others and help us end this pandemic.

For a while, the situation seemed to be improving, but now hospitals are again overrun and health care workers are exhausted — all because a number of citizens care only about themselves and their own comfort. What a sad commentary on our nation.

- Denise Marchin, Lenexa

Friendly advice

Can I be your friend for a moment? I am a registered nurse, retired from a local hospital.

When I was 5 years old, I received a smallpox vaccination at school. As a teen, I loved to swim in the summer, but the pools were usually closed by July because of the polio virus. Everybody knew somebody who was crippled by polio.

Then came polio vaccine. Parents were relieved that their children were finally safe. And could swim all summer.

I knew a girl who had measles. She was never able to return to school. I had three children when the measles vaccine became available. It was my turn, as a mom, to be relieved.

Do you know anyone who has had smallpox? Polio? Measles? Your parents were happy for you to have received these vaccines. Now, there’s this new vaccine. It’s your turn to step up for your children. And for yourself.

Now, listen — I’ve had lots of health problems. But COVID-19 isn’t one of them. I have had this lifesaving vaccine. Won’t you join me? Maybe we can have lunch sometime.

- Fran Furlong, Gladstone

Play your role

As a young executive, I was taught that when pointing out a problem to my superior, I should be prepared with a solution to that problem. So during this terrible pandemic, when I hear people giving various reasons for not taking the vaccine, I ask: What is your idea for getting this disease under control? This is truly one of those cases where if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem — for all of us, including yourself.

There are proven answers. Wearing masks and getting the shot stop the virus. Anything else does not work, except for total isolation. As far as masks being a terrible burden, imagine spending a few years in the military in a combat zone. Further, millions of Americans, including our grandchildren, wore masks for a year and become accustomed to them. It caused no fear, as some allege. I find no difficulty in breathing with a mask on.

In America, obligation to the greater good should come before selfish, misguided freedoms. We are all obliged to do what is best for all. So if you don’t have a better solution than wearing a mask or getting vaccinated, then you are a part of the problem.

- Herman Kirkpatrick, Leawood

This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: Readers discuss Kansas GOP gerrymandering, COVID vaccine, mask politics."