This kind Leavenworth VA nurse made sure 2 KC seniors didn’t get stranded on the road | Opinion

Generous care

My husband and I would like to personally thank all the staff members at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Leavenworth. He recently spent the night at the hospital, and all the personnel were so professional, kind and helpful. The hospital was clean and neat, and we didn’t have to wait for care.

We especially want to thank Nurse Nicole in the intensive care unit. When I went to pick up my husband, I accidentally left my purse at home in Kansas City. We had no money, credit cards or any other way to pay. We were low on gas and weren’t sure we had enough to get home.

Nicole heard us talking and came in and gave us a little cash. She said she didn’t want to see two seniors on the side of the road in 110-degree heat!

We are so grateful for her kindness.

- Rosemary Miller, Kansas City

Too much Trump

An old trial lawyers’ axiom says: “If you have the facts, argue the facts. If you have the law, argue the law. If you don’t have either, just talk loud.”

Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters have repeatedly taken that third path. Trump is a cruel, predatory bully. Making loud, dubious assertions is his modus operandi.

Trump’s presidency was an odious disgrace. It debased long-established standards of conduct and governance. He used his office repeatedly to enrich himself and his family.

He lost a free and fair election but attempted a coup to remain in power. His response to the due process that has ensued has been like that of a 200-pound catfish that is finally being reeled in: He thrashes and flails to dislodge the hook.

Trump uses social media to tell more lies, to call people names and to taunt judges and prosecutors. The threats he utters are essentially lighted fuses — look at the riot he fomented on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump’s targets deserve protection, and if the way to do that is to revoke his bail and jail him until his trials start, that should happen.

A reprieve from Trump’s repugnant public presence is long overdue.

- Tracy Leonard, Kansas City

Write the tickets

Like the author of a Sept. 1 letter to the editor, I too would like to know how drivers get by with temporary tags that are long expired on their cars. (6A) I see five or six every time I’m out. I saw one tag that was four years old, and I could hardly read it because it was so worn.

I have seen police cars right behind one of these cars at a stoplight, and they don’t do anything — just let them drive off. If that had been me, I am sure they would have me stopped before I drove an inch.

I questioned a police officer in QuikTrip one day, as he was casually drinking a cup of coffee: Why don’t you stop cars with expired temp tags and ticket them? His response: We have other things more important to take care of.

If these drivers are operating their vehicles with expired temporary tags, does that mean they don’t have up-to-date insurance either? I have to keep my automobile legally licensed. Why should others be allowed to get away with breaking the law?

Police need to start stopping these cars and issuing tickets.

- Pam Wishon, Independence

GOP freedom

I’m afraid Mike Souder is totally misreading the GOP of today in his Aug. 31 guest commentary, “My Republican Party once stood for our freedoms.” (10A)

The Republican Party continues to be the party of freedom, as it gloriously was in Ronald Reagan’s days. One only needs to take note of candidate Nikki Haley’s stance on abortion rights, as she recently advocated for the reconciling of opposing views. That is the openness of freedom.

- Felipe Fernandez, Miami

Mutual respect

Melinda Henneberger’s Sept. 3 commentary “KCPD treated Andrew Lester so tenderly after he shot Ralph Yarl” (16A) disregarded the fundamentals of human behavior. She ought to have considered the possibility that Andrew Lester showed the police officers courtesy, respect and cooperation and that this might account for how he, in turn, was treated by them.

- Tom Hankins, Village of Oakwood