Letters: KC readers discuss Louisiana dads, radical reform of Congress, Olathe police

Strength together

In her Nov. 1 column “Curbing violence in a high school — one dad joke at a time,” (9A) Lynn Schmidt praises a group of dads for taking “personal responsibility” to stop the violence at a Louisiana school. Schmidt maintains that “the dads’ response was conservatism in action.”

Conservatives tout personal responsibility as the solution to everyone’s problems, often referring to it as “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” or “rugged individualism.” But the Louisiana dads acted not individually, but as a group. They saw a problem, took collective ownership of that problem, worked together to find a solution and are implementing the solution through community action.

What they did was the opposite of conservatism. If this were an economic situation, their actions might be labeled socialism.

In our lives, there are many times we need to rely on other people’s help. Even those who claim to have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps conveniently forget all those who provided the bootstraps that helped them achieve their success.

Schmidt is right to commend the Louisiana dads, but her focus on personal responsibility makes her blind to the truth: The dads acted as a community. Their success shows how effective that can be, as opposed to each going it alone.

- Elsje Smit, Lenexa

Grayed out

It is apparent that The Star has an endless supply of color ink for full-page ads that add volume to the print version. Every Sunday, we are disappointed with the Arts and Culture section when it shows us how to make wonderful color decorating changes, but they are printed in black and white. This past Sunday, the feature “Design Recipes: Pretty in pink” (5C) was printed in faded black and white — totally frustrating. Why even bother to print that section?

This also often happens when showing colorful new food dishes. Why not try putting some of that abundant color ink where it counts or matters?

- Dianne Pallanich, Prairie Village

Also changed

The photo caption with The Star’s Sunday editorial, “Kansas City hosting the GOP convention isn’t worth the money or headache,” (20A) read, “The Republican Party of today is no longer the party of politicians like Gerald Ford and Robert Dole”

I would say that the Democratic Party of today is no longer the party of politicians like Harry S. Truman and John F. Kennedy.

- Eddie Brann, Pleasant Hill

Rework it all

We badly need political reform including, but not limited to:

▪  Term limits for elected officials

▪  Age limits for elected officials

▪  Voter ID

▪  Reduction of campaign donations to a flat figure per candidate — for example, $500,000 per election

▪  Give unspent campaign donations to the U.S. Treasury to reduce our national debt.

▪  Strict controls on transparency, conflict of interest and insider trading

▪  Reduction of salaries for members of Congress to that of the average American worker

▪  No special retirement or health benefits for members of Congress

▪  IRS audits of every congressperson in every congressional term

The values of our representatives need to reflect the values and needs of normal American people, not wealthy elitists who are completely out of touch with the average American’s needs.

These elitists are more interested in getting rich than in improving the lives of the people. They are never going to pass legislation that would decrease their possibility to become elected year after year, maintaining their potential to become even more powerful and obscenely wealthy into senility.

We, the voters, need to emphasize the importance of honesty and do our best to vote in patriots who support political reform.

- Don McCullough, Manhattan, Kansas

Thanks, Olathe PD

Last week when visiting my favorite coffee shop, Pour Coffeehouse, about eight uniformed Olathe police officers were in the store. When getting prepared to pay, I was told the police department was buying. After thanking all of the officers, I realized that they were truly enjoying themselves and sincerely were pleased to be there.

What a wonderful gesture and great public relations for the department and city.

- Rick Merker, Olathe