I used to be proud to call Missouri home. With this batch of leaders, I’m ashamed

Missouri pride

As a transplanted Missourian now residing in California, I want to thank The Star for its coverage of the outrageous behavior of Missouri’s current batch of so-called “leaders,” in particular Sen. Josh Hawley and his followers.

Your editorials give me hope that someday the Missouri I know and grew up in can return, and I won’t be embarrassed to tell people where I came from.

Keep up your very fine work. It is a source of hope and pride. Thank you.

- Alan Schmidt, Chico, California

Teacher scapegoats

When I read about politicians pushing “parents’ bill of rights” legislation, I get it. (Feb. 24, 1A, “Teachers feeling attacked as states pursue education changes”) I’m a parent. I understand feeling scared and angry at the state of the world and worrying about what kind of future our children are inheriting.

But I don’t understand or tolerate blaming teachers for it.

Our teachers have been through two years of hell. They’ve freely given their time, money, health and sanity to help our kids navigate this chaotic time with kindness and some semblance of normalcy. They should be awarded Purple Hearts for all they have sacrificed and endured.

If parents want to blame someone, blame the opportunistic politicians who stoke our fears for political gain. These politicians offer plenty of culprits (teachers, doctors, school boards), but no solutions. Now they want to turn parents into snitches, with no thought of the consequences. So, when our best teachers have finally had enough and walk away, these same politicians will let the parents take the rap. Meanwhile, our kids will suffer.

Adults in Jefferson City and Topeka should kill these measures while it’s early. We parents don’t need a bill of rights. We need better representation in our statehouses.

- Jos G. Linn, Kansas City

Fresh options

It was nice to see community-supported agriculture spotlighted in the story “Looking for local veggies this spring? Here’s how to join a CSA in Kansas City.” (Feb. 28, KansasCity.com) However, the farms listed are far from the only spots available to sign up for a CSA.

Kansas Citians interested in supporting local agriculture and eating hyperlocal, sustainably farmed food should also look within their own neighborhoods. Small family farms such as Dirt Beast Farm, Bread and Roses Farm, Young Family Farm and Woodland City offer CSAs, weekly produce pickups or online ordering, and will often deliver within city limits. A number also offer sliding scale pricing.

Supporting these small-scale farmers can create a big impact in our communities. I urge readers to seek out these and other farmers, who might be just next door.

- Chhaya Kolavalli, Kansas City

Truckers used

Professional truck drivers: Your profession is being hijacked by a bunch of selfish “Me First” people who have a warped and confused idea of what freedom is. They are hiding behind our American flag the way a spoiled child hides behind his mother’s skirt.

They are attempting to paint your entire profession as people who don’t care about the more than 950,000 Americans killed by COVID-19. They are under the false belief that American freedom gives them the right to spread the disease from coast to coast and country to country without consequences.

They claim to believe in freedom, but along with freedom comes responsibility — responsibility for ourselves and others. I cannot believe that these people don’t seem to understand that COVID-19 cannot live outside the body of a living host and can’t morph into different variants without a host. It is beyond me why anyone would jeopardize other people’s lives by turning his or her body into a mobile petri dish.

As a Christian, I do not believe the Lord wants me to go out and increase the pain and suffering of others by spreading disease and pestilence. What these truck drivers are doing is simply wrong.

- James P. Gann, Pineville, Missouri

Let’s make lists

Tacky, trashy, tactless, tasteless, troublesome, troublemakers, thick-headed, tiresome, thoughtless, thick-skinned. Gee, it’s amazing the number of “t” words that fit Rep. Lauren Boebert and her cohort in crime, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. These two (pick an adjective from the above list) heckled President Joe Biden as he was talking about the death of his son during his State of the Union address.

Guess we can start an “i” list as well: insensitive, inhuman, iron-hearted …

Feel free to add your own words.

- Suzanne B. Conaway, Kansas City

This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 5:00 AM.