Letters: KC readers discuss Kansas unemployment, Roger Marshall, laws about teaching
No Kansas help
What is wrong with the Kansas Department of Labor? I have been trying for well over a month to obtain unemployment benefits that I am eligible for, but I’m unable to reach a live person or apply online.
Gov. Laura Kelly, you said you were going to fix this. Why don’t you have people who care about others? I am angry and frustrated. Get your act together, because what you’re doing isn’t working. Where is Amber Shultz, who’s supposed to lead the department? This is disgusting, and it’s not right. Why don’t you care, Governor?
- P.J. Beasley, Kansas City
A third way
Here’s where we stand, folks: We have too many people with limited imaginations who slavishly follow a man who is clearly unfit for office, and some of those followers control the Republican Party. So, what strategies might get us back on track?
▪ Find Donald Trump guilty of behavior while in office that precludes him from again running for the presidency.
▪ Organize patriotic Republicans to make a concerted effort to vote out all the Trumpists now in Congress.
▪ Form three new parties that would absorb most of the current parties’ members, thus eliminating the Democratic and Republican parties. The three new parties would be a conservative party, a progressive party and a moderate party.
This would provide a home for all acceptable political philosophies, with the moderate party in a position to influence legislation by throwing support to one of the other two. It could end the two-party stalemates and clear the way to begin restoring our country and solving its problems — both internal and external.
- Patrick Shannon, Lawrence
It’s our say
The freedom to vote is important to all Americans because it gives us power over politicians. It is our chance to say how we want to be governed. Despite what some politicians say, there is no reason to make it harder for some Americans to vote.
Recently, at least 19 states have passed at least 34 laws that make it more difficult for people to vote. Some of the worst attacks on our freedom to vote come from states enacting laws that could allow them to overturn election results. Last Wednesday, in a brutal blow to our democracy, the Senate failed to pass voting-protection legislation. As a result, the opportunity for substantial democracy reform is over for this Congress.
We are going into the midterm elections with GOP voter-suppression bills that are devastating to the poor, people of color, the elderly and the disabled. Not only that, but election-subversion bills that would allow election officials to overturn election results are springing up all over the nation.
We cannot allow fascism to rise any further in our democracy. Get out and vote for our democracy while you still can. It is really simple: Protect our democracy by casting your ballot.
- Janet Fossey, Salem, Missouri
Say ‘us,’ Joe
As President Joe Biden struggles to unite us, I have a simple suggestion for him that just might help. Instead of referring to every action, bill or idea as “my” or “mine,” he should use “our” and “ours” to indicate that his entire team is involved — and in agreement — with the problems, programs and progress he’s preaching.
- Richard F. Thomas Jr., Kansas City
Such disrespect
Sen. Roger Marshall, when I read about your comments on how Dr. Anthony Fauci is trying to help the American people with this pandemic, it seems like you and Sen. Rand Paul think you know more than Fauci does. (Jan. 13, 8A, “Roger Marshall’s COVID games are worse than moronic, Dr. Fauci”) I do not think you are that knowledgeable. In fact, you are the pot calling the kettle black. Why don’t you and Paul keep your comments to yourself?
Sen. Pat Roberts never criticized anyone in this manner, nor did Sen. Bob Dole. In other words, if you cannot speak nicely about someone, keep your mouth shut.
- Bertie Farabee, Haysville, Kansas
Belong together
I totally agree with Kansas state Rep. Tom Burroughs and co-author state Rep. Stephanie Clayton in their well-stated position that Johnson and Wyandotte counties need and deserve representation in Congress. (Jan. 18, 7A, “Johnson and Wyandotte Counties need a voice in DC”)
I have lived and worked for issues in both counties. My home now is in Johnson County, blocks away from Wyandotte County. The two counties are intertwined historically and economically, and they should remain in the same congressional district during what should be a transparent process of redistricting.
I call on our Legislature to resist any thoughts of gerrymandering and do what is in the best interests of not only our area, but the entire state of Kansas.
- Karen I. Johnson, Westwood
Goes both ways
New GOP bills targeting Missouri’s education policy would have a chilling effect on factual learning, but the fundamental problem is their exclusionary intent. The proposed ban on any curriculum deemed divisive and unpatriotic because it identifies people or entities as systematically biased or oppressed is clearly written from one perspective, neglecting all others. That’s extraordinarily divisive.
Authors of such legislation may do so with their white male constituency in mind, allowing them to intimidate school boards with lawsuits if they think their personal moral beliefs are threatened — but state laws apply to all. A white parent may consider lessons on Jim Crow laws in Missouri divisive, but African American parents could sue if a subject considered similarly relevant to their children’s upbringing is censored. A father’s demand to eliminate pay inequity and sexual harassment curricula would be offset by a mother who believes teaching those issues is a moral imperative.
Parental energy would be better spent teaching children that they’re responsible for their own characters, not the sins of past generations or transgressions of their contemporaries. Censorship is divisive and unpatriotic, so trust Missouri’s schools to present unvarnished instruction at age-appropriate levels and our students to comprehend its relevance without assigning guilt.
- John McDonald, Ferguson, Missouri
