First Amendment under fire: Should divisive rhetoric be protected? | Opinion

Too divisive

I’m so frustrated with all the recent divisive rhetoric and attacks on the First Amendment coming from this administration.

When President Donald Trump sues The New York Times for endorsing Kamala Harris, that’s an attack on the First Amendment. When he says The Times is a “mouthpiece for the Radical Left Democratic Party,” that’s divisive rhetoric. When Vice President JD Vance calls for people to report negative comments about Charlie Kirk to employers, that’s an attack on the First Amendment. When Attorney General Pam Bondi labels negative comments about Kirk as “hate speech” and says anyone who does this will be prosecuted, that’s an attack on the First Amendment.

Please don’t say, “Well, the other side does it too.” That’s divisive and doesn’t hold this administration accountable. I’m a Democrat. I went to dinner Monday night with three dear Republican friends. We can disagree politically but respect and see the good in one another.

Why can’t this administration do the same?

- Cynthia Maher, Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Thoughtless

Katie Allen, I call baloney. Anyone who is “deeply worried about … violence” doesn’t publicly applaud murder. (Sept. 17, 1A, “Kansas worker ousted after post about Kirk’s death”)

Please think before posting.

- Ann McLiney, Kansas City

Who’s suspect?

I was very disappointed The Kansas City Star published a photo of the “person of interest” in the murder of “right wing activist” Charlie Kirk. (Sept. 12, 1A, “FBI releases images of person of interest in Kirk killing”) I imagine that anyone espousing American values — freedom of speech (for everyone), courtesy toward those who disagree with you, civil dialogue instead of violent confrontation — would be suspect from the liberal mainstream media.

- Bud Frye, Olathe

Bills paid

As a Blue Valley School District resident and advocate for public education, I am outraged that The Star would publish Patrick Tuohey’s recent commentary, “Blue Valley schools are flush with cash. Why are academics slipping?” (Sept. 16, 7A).

Anti-public education (read: anti-tax, pro-privatization) organizations and their mouthpieces are experts at painting public schools in a negative light using select data points and cherry-picked information. As one example, Tuohey pulls out the often-cited “cash reserves” argument to imply the Blue Valley district is “flush with cash,” as the headline claims. In fact, it escrows money for future expenses like business owners do. Our home mortgage escrow account looks pretty full — right before our homeowner’s insurance or property tax bill is paid once a year.

These dollars are not being “stockpiled,” as Tuohey suggests. What would be the purpose of that, anyway? Our elected board of education is fiscally responsible with taxpayer money, ensuring enough is in the bank to pay thousands of staff members on time, pay utility bills and cover regular expenses and emergencies. As with a mortgage escrow account, district reserve funds are larger right before a yearly payment is due.

Opinion pieces can masquerade as fact by citing numbers and sources, producing anti-public education propaganda by those whose agenda is privatization of American public schools.

- Patty Logan, Stand Up Blue Valley: Families for Our Schools, Leawood

Look inside

Feeling conflicted about how I spend my time (thanks to Pastor Adam’s sermon), I decided to audit my calendar and social media presence. With some trepidation, I started with the calendar.

Weekly church attendance. Check. Volunteer chaplain at KU Med Center. Check. Enjoying quality time with family, especially the grandkids. I exhaled with relief and forged ahead. Moderating programs for Boots on the Ground Midwest. That’s a priority. Attending workshops and events to peacefully advocate for democracy. Shouldn’t we all be doing that?

My husband occasionally remarks that if I want to be so busy, I should go back to work and earn money for my efforts. Point made, but I need to use my voice for good, right?

With that in mind, I turned to my social media posts. Ouch! Why did I like or say that? Had I even tried to understand that person’s point of view? I questioned whether dialoguing with anonymous people on a non-curated platform is really worth my time. There were so many voices making so much noise and not much in the way of affirmation. Yes, they were entitled to say what they wanted, but as for me, my conviction has led to action.

I’m taking a break from social media, and, with that, judging others for their opinions and beliefs (whether informed or not.) Instead, I’m using that time to audit my attitude.

- Janet Milkovich, Overland Park

A sure thing?

My grandfather, two of his brothers and two of his brothers-in-law fought in Europe during World War II, so they saw the atrocities of the Nazi regime firsthand.

One night, my grandparents were at our house and my grandfather said: “Our country has been a republic for over 200 years. How many other countries can you name who have had the same form of government for that long?”

But this is why I think I remember that conversation, which took place 45 years ago. Then he said: “So why do we just assume and take for granted that ours is going to last?”

- Traci Harken, Overland Park

Children’s world

On Constitution Day, I joined a vigil at the Historic Sedgwick County Courthouse, hosted by Leading Kansas. There on the old stone steps, flanked by American flags and a crowd holding candles, community members read aloud the U.S. Constitution — word for word, amendment by amendment.

It was a powerful night. But the next day, I felt deep sadness at my generation’s failure to protect basic democratic freedoms for the next. So many rights I took for granted in my youth are slipping away for my kids. They are growing up in a world where speaking your mind can invite threats, where books are banned from classrooms, where basic health care is politicized and where gun violence shadows every school day.

In short, children in America are growing up less free. And too many my age are apathetic.

At the vigil, we were reminded that it is “we the people” who hold the power in America. That means it’s on each and every one us to stop the erosion of our freedoms. Our children will one day judge what we did in this moment.

Now’s the time to ask yourself: Will you be proud of your record?

- Katy Tyndell, Wichita