Letters for July 24

Elect Democrats to prevent more Trump-led authoritarianism

Keep America beautiful. Unless you are Native American, your ancestors immigrated seeking freedom from despot-ruled homelands just as immigrants do today. America is a melting pot — e pluribus unum — out of many, one.

The January 6 House Select Committee, through direct testimony of his GOP staffers, has painted a clear picture of a self-appointed despot, wielding hijacked power like a club. Freedom from a despot is the reason we fought the Revolutionary War, yet virtually every GOP political ad touts support for Trump.

Attack "socialism" — their term for any government controlled and administered public program? Senior voters, they are including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in that. Senate Republicans have proposed ending Social Security within 5 years through their 11 point "Rescue America" plan.

These same GOP candidates, while demanding a parent's bill of rights to protect children's minds, are teaching them by example — gun violence, discrimination, lack of respect for democracy and the rule of law through their support for Trump, and to ignore Christian teachings by attacking programs aiding the needy, erroneously claiming it is "their dime" paying for them — greed.

Since 2016, Trump has consistently attacked the checks and balances that make our democracy strong. He politicized the Supreme Court, cast doubt on our elections with The Big Lie, and orchestrated the attack on the Capitol on January 6.

If you believe in economic freedom, not being bound by authoritarianism and greater participation in government by free men, then you may be a liberal. The GOP does not believe any of that, as proven by their constant attacks on voting rights.

Each generation benefits and shares responsibility to maintain and protect democracy. A major effort is underway to install Trump sycophants in state offices controlling elections in preparation for another attempted takeover in 2024. Save democracy. Elect Democrats.

Jan Lancaster, Springfield

New SPS Board members address crucial issues

Recently the News Leader published three large articles concerning some internal workings of the SPS Board of Education. The first revolved around restarting the Facility Task Force and its composition. This was followed by a piece in which emails were obtained which alleged board member Kelly Byrne suggested secret meetings. The final article concerned emails centered around DEI.

The articles contained discussion regarding numerous issues facing the Board – a new Facilities Task Force and a potential bond issue, legal services representation, Strategic Plan development, nutrition services, DEI, discipline, SPS Mission Statement, just to name a few.

Over the past two elections, five new faces joined the SPS Board. Not a few of them touted their business experience and acumen as benefits to the stewardship of taxpayer funds in addition to developing strategic plans — Dr. Mohammadkhani, Scott Crise, Kelly Byrne and Steve Makoski.

Much in the articles concerned the proper procedures by which the above issues should be addressed. While some of the new board members may not have finished their schooling in proper Board procedures, I applaud their willingness to identify and articulate critical issues and suggest action plans to address them.

SPS student scores have been on a downward trend for years and we are losing teachers and students — we need new thinking and expertise.

I congratulate the newest members of the SPS Board for surfacing critical issues and suggesting the need to tackle them with transparency and concrete action plans containing quantifiable measurable results. Change and new thinking can be unsettling, but voters in Springfield spoke loudly, and change is what they selected.

Nelson Knapp, Springfield

Boomers will learn climate change importance if they experiencing effects

A rant in two parts:

Part 1: I hope you read this in a newspaper or similar digital publication. This means you get information from professionals who attempt to print the truth using strict rules known as journalism. “Free Information” is propaganda for the weak-minded.

The world is on fire. You see the pictures of Arctic forests burning. The American West is burning. South America is burning. Europe is burning. And the Middle East would be burning except it’s already burned leaving only sand. The oceans are dying. The rivers and glaciers are disappearing. The planet-killing carbon pollution we dump into the sky today will be here for a long time.

And nobody cares. Nobody cares. Oh sure, there’s some cranky scientists pointing out the obvious and using the same physics that powers your cell phone to predict the coming Hell on Earth. But I can’t find anyone in any positions of authority in our region who actually cares.

Part 2: This is only for Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z and beyond. My Baby Boom generation drives fat, carbon-spewing land yachts. Our houses puke energy. We jet around the world. We build gross hog factories on top of your pristine springs and rivers to kill the fish and critters that live there. We pray to the invisible Jesus in giant air conditioned barns for him to save us from our bad behavior.

And because we ignore the evidence of our eyes we deserve only rough justice. So, here’s how it works. When old age finally loosens our grip on the levers of power, feel free to shove our wheelchairs onto the black coal, tar-covered parking lots of abandoned Big Box stores so we can suffer and bake in the Homemade Hell of our own making. Then we will finally understand the world we leave for you.

I’m so glad that practically nobody will read this. Otherwise people my age might be angry. No, this little screed is for my children and grandchildren. I will carry a folded paper copy of this letter and keep it in a pouch on my cheap Chinese-made wheelchair. I will pull it out to plead with the Minders to please, please, please move my chair to the shade of a handful of tough old trees that survive on the perimeter of the parking lots. And as the torment drives those of us on the pavement with military grade machine guns to spray hollow points in all directions, well… we deserve that too. And by then, like today, nobody in authority will care.

To my children: As you place orders for wheelchairs, please vote out of office every person who feels entitled to ruin your lives because they believe they can escape to Mars or Heaven. And please, please, please save me a place in the shade.

Dan Chiles

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Letters for July 24