The GOP once impeached a president for lying about adulterous sex. What changed? | Opinion
Then and now
Didn’t the Republicans of the 105th House of Representatives impeach a Democratic president for having adulterous sex with a woman — then lying about it under oath?
- Una Creditor, Kansas City
Broken promises
Public tragedies are bizarre. One moment, everybody cares. The next moment, nobody does.
When I became David Hosier’s pastor several months ago, I met someone who’d left parts of himself at the scene of a bygone tragedy. On April 26, 1971, Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Hosier died from a gunshot sustained while trying to apprehend a murder suspect. After that tragedy, people said they’d be there for David, his then-teenage son. Especially, those who declared the most fidelity to “backing the blue.” Nobody followed through.
On June 11, Missouri intends to execute David for the 2009 murder of his former lover, Angela Gilpin. It’s implied that he also killed Rodney Gilpin. David has maintained his innocence. Even if it’s all true, the case can’t be disconnected from failed “back the blue” promises.
Indeed, the “back the blue” folks are determined to make anyone with a suggestion of blood on their hands pay the ultimate price. But how could they take such a bloody stance in the case of David Hosier? This is a child of a fallen officer. I thought the pledge was to leave no family member of the fallen behind?
- Jeff Hood, North Little Rock, Arkansas
Library for all?
We temporarily relocated to Delaware, but I had been able to check out electronic books from the Kansas City Public Library until recently. What a disappointment that the library has switched almost entirely to the Libby e-book format, which is readable only on Apple, Google and Amazon devices. I use an inexpensive Kobo reader that can’t load Libby books without downloading and running third-party software on a personal computer to convert them. I have no desire to pay one of these behemoth companies for an expensive e-reader.
I have seen multiple libraries professing that their main purpose is “to serve the society through the record of human thoughts, ideas and expressions by making them available to all.” Now many of those records are available only to those willing to pay big companies a lot of money.
- Barb Domke, Bridgeville, Delaware
In their shoes
I recently returned from the Texas-Mexico border, where I attended a one-week program on migration issues. With members of St. Francis Xavier Church’s Refugee, Immigration and Migrant ministry, I met with immigration lawyers, border patrol agents, a migration expert, shelter managers and migrants.
We learned that entering the U.S. to seek asylum is not illegal and the asylum process is extremely detailed. Failing to qualify results in deportation.
In his May 21 guest commentary “Lucas and Biden are wrong about migrants in the US,” (7A) Missouri Treasurer Vivek Malek criticized migrants entering the U.S. “illegally,” a term he failed to define. He says he entered the country the “right way” from India in 2001, with a law degree on a student visa.
On my visit to a shelter, I met a mother of two 12-year-old boys and a 13-year-old girl who spent four months walking from Venezuela, where the economy has collapsed, violence is rampant and democracy failed. They endured barbed wire, assault and and hunger on their journey to survive. I’ll bet Malek never faced assault, robbery or rape on his plane ride to the U.S.
With all his education, Malek apparently never learned the meaning of the word “empathy.”
- Patrick Riha, Kansas City
#WearOrange
Friday, June 7 is the 10th annual Gun Violence Awareness Day and the first day of the Wear Orange campaign. This year, please consider wearing orange clothing June 7-9 to remember the 23 victims at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory celebration, including 11 children and one dead.
According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, on average in the United States 117,345 people are shot annually and 42,654 people die from gun violence.
By wearing orange we can show our support and send a message to our representatives that this is unacceptable and we demand commonsense gun laws and regulations.
- Donna Euston, Leawood
Dialysis needs
After I received a kidney transplant, I wrote a letter to the family of my donor expressing my immense gratitude. My journey with end stage renal disease took a toll, and the transplant marked a new beginning. I moved to Kansas City, began working full time and started a family.
I received dialysis — a treatment three times per week to replace my kidney function — for almost seven years before receiving a transplant. I am extremely thankful for dialysis, but it was exhausting.
I qualified for Medicare and Medicaid for the entirety of my dialysis journey, but others rely on private insurance to pay for health care expenses. Surprisingly, the Supreme Court recently opened the door for insurers to push new dialysis patients off of their plans before they’re prepared to navigate Medicare. This brings added financial stress to patients in the tumultuous beginning months of care. Many patients get stuck with exorbitant bills they can’t afford.
Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver should support the Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act, which would ensure dialysis patients can stay on their private insurance for the first 30 months of care, a protection granted by Congress for nearly 30 years.
- Cole Cato, Kansas City