Readers react to guns, Donald Trump and F. Glenn Miller Jr.
Logic of firearms
A recent letter writer attacked the Second Amendment with numbers from an Internet article and a survey.
The first is from slate.com, a left-wing publication. The second is so famous it has no name. It is just referred to as a national survey.
Anyone can find a poll or survey supporting his position, so to trot them out as relevant is a joke.
There are many instances in which a legal firearm owner has defended his or her home or business, but the news media do not report on these as it goes against their agenda.
I do have to agree with one sentence in the letter, though. Criminal uses of firearms far outnumber legal defensive uses.
Sounds like we should be going after criminals as opposed to law-abiding citizens.
Bob Berry
Oak Grove
Trump’s leadership
As we teachers have greeted our new students during the first weeks of school, we are challenged to implement and sustain our districts’ anti-bullying campaigns.
We work diligently to teach this generation that kindness and acceptance of diverse ideas are essential skills in today’s world. Name-calling and public humiliation of others are absolutely unacceptable behaviors.
Republican billionaire presidential candidate Donald Trump’s need to publicly vilify others — and the media’s need to glorify his actions — opposes the very concept of human decency and respect that we educators are working to instill in today’s young people. Mr. Trump’s actions and words run counter to classroom expectations across the nation.
Mr. Trump’s subliminal message is that power exempts a social filter.
Should he be elected president, his behavior and word choice will have ramifications that reach classrooms nationwide. How do we instill a mindset of compassion and acceptance in this generation if the leader of the free world is the biggest and most vocal bully of all?
Karen M. Tritt
Lenexa
No more on Miller
Please, please, please, don’t waste any more ink on the shenanigans of F. Glenn Miller Jr. He must enjoy reading about his craziness in the newspaper, along with a photo on the front page. He makes me sick.
Jane Gilbreath
Kansas City
Navy intervention
As a U.S. Navy veteran, I was shocked by the photograph of a small Syrian migrant child who had drowned (9-3, A1, “A heartbreaking tragedy”). The question that haunts me is Where were the multinational naval forces that could have prevented this tragedy?
In the recent past, the U.S. Navy was one of the first responders to natural disasters around the world. When Somali pirates threatened freedom of the seas, the United States took the lead in countering the threat to international commerce.
The sad truth is that were it not for the United States’ ill-conceived invasion of Iraq, which has led to the disintegration of the social order in the Middle East and displacement of millions of refugees, we would not be facing the disaster we are today.
The United States, its NATO allies and Israel have the capability of patrolling the Mediterranean Sea and ensuring that refugees, whose main goal is seeking safety and a peaceful life, reach Europe safely.
It is now time for the United States to stand up and attempt to solve the problem. Ignoring the problem will not make it go away.
Tom Hutcheson
Olathe
Distracted drivers
Drivers with passengers under the age of 13 who drive distracted should be cited for child endangerment.
There is not one driver-education course that endorses driving distracted. Not one motor vehicle manual says it’s all right to drive distracted.
We all know someone who has been lost to senseless driving or who has been seriously injured. Motor vehicles account for more than 30,000 deaths every year in the United States, but society seems to brush it off as just part of life.
The even scarier part is that when law enforcement announces it will increase enforcement of traffic laws, people get upset and say why not focus on catching murderers. If you kill someone with your motor vehicle because you are unfocused on the task at hand, then you are a murderer.
Let’s stop putting children in danger when we load them in the vehicle. If you have important business, then pull off the road and handle it. Don’t risk hurting your children over a conversation about what’s for dinner.
David Reinert
Kansas City
Mountain meddling
As both a native son of Ohio and a descendant of the 25th president, William McKinley, I question the value of renaming presidential mountains by President Barack Obama (9-1, A2, “Loss of ‘McKinley’ name riles Ohio”).
When Obama goes to Colorado, will he change Mount Lincoln?
I think our first two president’s mountains are safe: Mount Washington in New Hampshire and Mount Adams in Washington state.
Still our current president should be careful of setting precedents.
Someday a successor might change a possible “Obama Mound” in Illinois for the sake of Native Americans buried there. It’s one thing to christen ships, but leave mountains alone, please.
William Duncan-O’Neal
Overland Park
Iran agreement
President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry blame Israel if Congress turns down an inept, one-sided agreement with Iran. Mr. President, please consider this deal from the standpoint of U.S. security.
Has your negotiating team lost its sense of reasoning about the dangers facing America with this agreement with Iran, the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism?
Leaders of Iran lead mobs shouting “Death to America,” but negotiators agreed to remove sanctions that release billions of dollars to further Iran’s goal to globally continue to spread terrorism. This and the OK to produce nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles are an absolute threat to America.
You release five murderous terrorists from Guantanamo in exchange for a U.S. Army deserter, yet your negotiators did not request that Iran release four imprisoned Americans with the lame excuse that you did not think that this should be brought up during negotiations.
You say that war is the only alternative to this deal. We are already at war with worldwide terrorism, Mr. President, and Iran is one of the prime enemies.
When Iran has nuclear weapons, we will be in an unwinnable war, and America will be at its greatest peril.
Paul Warner
Leawood
Backing Brownback
Recent letter writers have said that no voters for Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback had written to The Star. I did vote for him.
I’m not totally pleased with all his moves but I never am with anyone I have voted for.
Many are unhappy with Kansas having a $400 million deficit in the annual budget, why it happened and how it was covered. I respect others’ opinion, but there were steps to cover it, which is commendable for any government — local, state or federal.
A recent independent study ranked Kansas in the middle of the 50 states regarding financial position. California, New York and Illinois ranked near the bottom.
It’s likely these states spend more on social programs and education than Kansas, but their liabilities in the billions of dollars are also underfunded.
It’s also interesting that during President Barack Obama’s eight-year term, the national debt will have increased by nearly $10 trillion. That’s an average increase of more than $3 billion every day that he will be president.
As a Kansan, I’m much more concerned about what this national debt will mean to my children and grandchildren than I am about Kansas taking a conservative position on spending.
Terry Isenberg
Lenexa
Ode to Trump
Careful, Donald,
Ross meant well
But gave us Bill.
If you run
You’ll give us Hil.
Gene T. Waters
Kansas City
This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Readers react to guns, Donald Trump and F. Glenn Miller Jr.."