Readers sound off on extremists, Hillary Clinton, Blackburn, Mo., dam
Extremists in faiths
The Orlando mass shooting was carried out by an American whose allegiance was fractured at best. He swore allegiance to the Islamic State and Hezbollah, which hate each other.
He was nothing more than an insane mass murderer with an extremely confused loyalty. What should we call Timothy McVeigh? An extremist Christian?
Should we have built a wall around all Christians because some nut claiming to be a Christian committed an act of terrorism? More Christian extremists reared their empty heads, saying we should line up all the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and execute them.
God knows that the U.S. Senate is going to do nothing to prevent nutty ministers who believe that Jesus was the son of God from buying guns and actually carrying out such an ugly attack. Intolerance hiding behind any religion is scary, sad and hideous.
I ask Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to call out those crazy Christians who promote such a twisted faith accompanied with a call for violence.
Steven Addison
Kansas City
Clinton avoidance
Call me crazy, but I think a vote for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in November would be like a vote for President Richard Nixon after Watergate. For those too young to remember, Watergate was the scandal that forced Nixon to resign his presidency.
Jerry Ameling
Lee’s Summit
Blackburn dam
Kansas City Southern ought to repair the dam in Blackburn, Mo. (7-26, A1, “As pond gets lower, town’s worries deepen”) if the company has held that right of way since the 19th century.
It seems fair to compensate the people of Blackburn who have put up with the freight trains all this time.
Kansas City Southern says the expense would be massive. Whether it’s $300,000 or $30,000, it’s not massive to Kansas City Southern, but it sure is for the city, which has about $65,000 in total tax revenue for a year.
It may not be a legal obligation, but it’s the right thing to do. Just fix the damn dam.
Dick Brummel
Kansas City
Sustain gun veto
Are you horrified by the senseless violence and shooting deaths of innocent citizens and police officers? Do you want to do your part to stop the killings and change the gun culture in Missouri?
Call your state representative and senator and tell them to sustain Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of SB 656. Gov. Nixon used his veto power in June to shut down this dangerous bill, but the Missouri legislature is threatening to override his veto.
SB 656 would make it legal for people to shoot to kill in public, even if they have a clear and safe alternative. This would make Missouri the first state to pass a new Stand Your Ground law since George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin in 2012.
The bill would allow people to carry concealed handguns with no permit or training, which the president of the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police has said would put the lives of law-enforcement officers and other citizens in danger.
Protect your family and community and make a call today and tell your legislator to sustain Gov. Nixon’s veto. SB656 is bad policy for Missouri.
Carol Bates
Volunteer
Moms Demand
Action for Gun
Sense in America
Kansas City
Kansas idiocy
Our family moved to Kansas seven years ago. We chose to live in Kansas because of the exceptional public schools in Johnson County.
In those seven years, our kids have finished quality educations, my employer moved to the Missouri side of State Line Road for tax credits and my wife works in her single-person limited-liability company in Kansas. She has no intention of adding employees.
We don’t pay a penny in taxes to Kansas, and we are watching its exceptional schools be strangled. Although we may revel in the benefit of a tax-free ride from our government, the reality is this is idiocy.
There seems to be little if anything that supports Gov. Sam Brownback’s failed policy. This is a man who would consider selling an annuity providing future income to Kansas, at a discount, for cash today rather than charge a business owner a fair tax on her income.
How much more damage will this man inflict on our state, our children, our future?
Until we can un-elect him, we need to elect politicians who can bring some sense of moderation and fairness to power.
Mark Smith
Leawood
This story was originally published July 27, 2016 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Readers sound off on extremists, Hillary Clinton, Blackburn, Mo., dam."