Readers react to Donald Trump, drones and Christmas reality
Candidate Trump
It is refreshing to listen to a candidate for president talk about protecting U.S. citizens for a change.
Republican billionaire Donald Trump has definitely hit a nerve with potential voters by discussing how dangerous the Islamic State is and how our borders need to be shut down both north and south before it is too late.
He flat out states that bringing 10,000 Syrians here and hoping for the best is lunacy.
We should be learning from the Paris attack that many Syrian refugees are undercover Islamic State members.
I was always taught that by studying history, the citizens of the United States will not repeat the same tragic mistakes that other civilizations made before us. Now is the time to put that belief into practice.
I find it refreshing to hear Mr. Trump discuss the billions of dollars that should not be going to countries that hate us and the fact that those funds should be used instead to fix roads, bridges and dilapidated structures in the United States.
Many potential voters like the traditional belief that charity begins at home (the United States).
One has to wonder who has our backs.
The Islamic State is a junior varsity team?
Lynn Pierce
Independence
Drones create risks
With drones, anyone can now hover a camera over my backyard or private event, and certainly some people will not be able to resist cruising neighborhoods and recording whatever they like.
Farmers can monitor soy beans from their barns, and thieves can monitor your house from their basements. Three men recently tried to airlift drugs into a Maryland prison.
The man in Kentucky who shot down a drone over his (or his neighbor’s) property could get 10 years in jail.
Now we read that drones were spotted by pilots, including some flying commercial airliners, nearly 700 times this year through early August.
A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration commented on public radio, “The regulation process is designed to go slowly.”
That’s not good enough.
Robert Stewart
Prairie Village
Reclaiming unity
Despite seasonal observations based on love, peace and family, audacious statements target ethnic or religious groups and anyone who might be in need, including refugees, the poor and the disabled, and inspire violence toward groups considered as “other.”
Unless this country finds its lost sense of unity of humanity, quite frankly it is unlikely to survive as a democracy. Groups of any political persuasion worldwide that continue to stoke hatred and fear could push the human race into genocide and even into a war that annihilates the species.
If there’s no one left, it would of course eliminate the problem of getting along.
But hopefully we can do better than that.
Let us reclaim a sense that human beings are brothers and sisters and that we all benefit when we live in harmony, respect and compassion.
Amrita Burdick
Kansas City
Christmas reality
I grew up poor and didn’t get many presents but was happy for what I got. We sang and decorated the tree with strings of popcorn and got some fruit in our socks sometimes.
Some kids today get nothing, and some go hungry.
It’s not about the stuff and an imaginary fat man with a bag who’s checking a list to see whether you were naughty or nice, or asleep, and breaking into your house for a couple of cookies.
It’s about love. Kids understand. Someday they’ll pay it forward.
I was mostly naughty as a kid. I think I’ll hang up my orthopedic support socks so I can see how much coal I can get.
It’s hard to find these days. Go figure.
Tom Dodson
Kansas City
Postal accolades
I have a deserved accolade for my neighborhood post office clerk, Brittany. I go to the post office at Main and 51st streets and am delighted with the gracious, articulate and efficient service I have received from Brittany, who works (at least when I visit) the noon shift.
Not all U.S. Postal Service workers are difficult.
Stephanie A. Henry
Kansas City
This story was originally published December 23, 2015 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Readers react to Donald Trump, drones and Christmas reality."