Fort Worth Mayor Parker gave in to bigots on Pride reading badge. That’s un-American | Opinion

Taking away Texans’ freedom

Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker’s removal of the optional Pride badge from the city’s summer reading challenge is disappointing, un-American and antidemocratic. (June 8, 1A, “Critics blast mayor over removal of Pride reading challenge”)

Removing this component of a reading program because a small number of nearly 1 million city residents complained undermines the professionalism of the librarians and takes away the freedom of choice from other families.

Children need to see themselves and their families represented in literature. Learning about cultures different from their own creates empathy and a better understanding of the world around them.

Libraries are for everyone.

- Megan Hale, Arlington

We have better than Ken Paxton

Ken and Angela Paxton are the Bill and Hillary Clinton of Texas in terms of grift. (June 8, 2A, “Ken Paxton impeachment: What we know about the timing for a trial in the Texas Senate”)

It’s time for Ken Paxton to go.

Texans deserve an attorney general who is not a crook. There are plenty of qualified, honorable, conservative Republican lawyers in our state from which to choose a replacement.

- Todd K. Hulsey, Burleson

Big Tech wants to take the wheel

It’s clear what the Big Tech companies behind driverless vehicles are up to. They’re hard at work downplaying the serious concerns about trucks that can weigh up to 80,000 pounds operating next to you on our roads and highways. (May 28, 3A, “Why Fort Worth is so important to the future of self-driving technology”)

These companies claim that autonomous trucks are safer than those driven by humans. They fail to mention accidents, vehicles freezing in traffic and lack of safety data in some states.

We can’t let California-based autonomous vehicle companies such as Waymo dictate what’s good for Texans.

Lawmakers are paying attention, given the pushback the industry received in a recent House Transportation Committee hearing. With investment in autonomous driving dropping more than 58% in the past year, as a recent story in Forbes noted, it’s obvious that driverless vehicle companies are stuck in low gear.

- Brent Taylor, Dallas

The writer is the leader of Teamsters Local 745 and international vice president for the union’s Southern Region.

Fort Worth thanks G.K. Maenius

Serving with aplomb, G.K. Maenius has made an enormous, lasting difference in Tarrant County government. (June 9, 1A, “G.K. Maenius, county official since 1988, to step down”)

Someday, a county building will be named in his honor, as it should be.

- Roger Summers, Arlington

Bishop Michael Olson’s hypocrisy

I am so heartbroken and frustrated to read repeatedly about the mess with Fort Worth Catholic Bishop Michael Olson and the nun accused of breaking her chastity vows. (June 8, 1A, “Police investigate nun’s dispute with Fort Worth bishop”)

She is being dismissed from the Order of Discalced Carmelites, where she oversaw cloistered nuns. Though the accused priest is from a different parish, we have yet to hear about his punishment from the church. And this entire group of nuns is being punished by no longer having a daily mass.

But what upsets me more is how differently it is being handled from the cases of priests who molested children for many years. Many were merely sent to different parishes, and those parishes were not alerted to their histories, so the molestation probably continued.

Can you see the difference here, male versus female? What about the priests’ vows?

- Barbara Suber, Fort Worth

Shame to local Catholic Diocese

Isn’t it curious how often Bishop Michael Olson manages to get himself in the news for picking fights with women? Most other bishops seem to avoid the amount of attention that Olson brings to the Diocese of Fort Worth with his inability to shut his disrespectful mouth.

Most other bishops realize that false imprisonment isn’t canonical and is not covered under the First Amendment.

- Kelly White, Watauga

Is there a Trump feeding frenzy?

Doesn’t the increasing number of Republicans lining up to jump into the presidential race as Donald Trump stumbles bring to mind the headline: “Blood in the water”?

- Guelma B. Hopkins, Fort Worth