Demeaning
I love cats. Most people I know love cats. Vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance spreads false rumors about cats being eaten by Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, and Donald Trump further promoted the idea in the presidential debate last week.
This unfounded claim is based on wild internet hearsay and has been refuted by local police and other officials. The issue is not that one preposterous allegation has appeared online, but rather that it has been given extended life by a major political party, including its members of Congress and candidates for president and vice president. Could this be part of their ongoing efforts to brand immigrants and people of color as those to be feared and hated? I guess they find their claims that immigrants are criminals, drug dealers, rapists and worse are not sufficient, so they resort to accusations of cat-eating.
Absurd. Can they possibly stoop any lower?
– Sheryl Rose, St. Louis
Poor KCPD
As I watched a squad car go by recently, I thought of the three U’s regarding the Kansas City Police Department: understaffed, underpaid and underappreciated.
– Jim Dunn, Parkville
Left behind
It seems to me we are wrongly arguing a right to abortion in our country.
Certainly, there are circumstances when a pregnancy goes bad, as it sometimes can, and the life of the mother is at risk, when abortion is health care.
Certainly, rape and incest can result in pregnancy, and it might not be pleasant for the victims to endure, but the sympathetic thing to do is to help these mothers through their pregnancies and find families for their babies through adoption. Why are we letting otherwise healthy babies die for the circumstances of their existence?
Certainly, the legal system can be strengthened to make prosecution of rapists and incestuous fathers more successful and more of a deterrent. Why must abortion be the only answer to an unfortunate situation? Crisis pregnancy centers exist that help mothers through unfortunate circumstances of all kinds. Why are these groups not more widely supported in their work?
– Mary Bognich, Overland Park
Abortion lies
I watched the presidential debate and again heard the assertion that doctors and parents are killing children after birth. I looked up the statement Donald Trump referenced from the “previous governor of West Virginia.” He presumably meant Ralph Northam, a former governor of Virginia, who spoke about babies born with severe physical impairments, not about abortion. Northam said these infants should be made comfortable, with the parents and doctors discussing the best way forward. Nowhere did he discuss killing the baby. And again, it was never about abortion.
Parents and families going through this and having to decide what to do deserve better than to be lied about and used to manipulate people for political reasons.
– Thomas Kenney, Liberty
False fame
I’m a bit confused when newspapers, TV networks and other mass media outlets elevate a previously unknown loser to a celebrity and then act befuddled by his motive — for example, the recent shooter at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. He has achieved his objective and set the standard for those seeking similar recognition.
– Larry Murphy, Kansas City
Just so sad
It’s a rarity for me to agree with a white supremacist, but I feel Nick Fuentes’ pain. He erupted in anger recently after Donald Trump stated several times that he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. In interviews on Aug. 4, 23 and 30, Trump said, “He beat us,” or used similar language.
On his podcast, Fuentes called this a “tremendous betrayal” and “callous indifference to the sacrifices that his supporters made on his behalf.” He blasted the Stop the Steal movement, which fed into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, resulting in criminal charges against more than 1,200 Trump supporters. Fuentes also complained that it has led to lawsuits, indictments and disbarments for Trump’s inner circle, and that it has caused himself personal and financial hardship.
Sorry, Nick, but Trump’s betrayal was no surprise. The only question was when he would throw you under the bus. I guess now he wants to appeal to moderates and independents by disavowing the wackadoodle stuff.
Don’t lose hope, though. I’m sure Stop the Steal 2.0 is already prepped in case the wind shifts and Trump needs the far right again.
– John McDonald, Ferguson, Missouri
Zero trust
Denny Hoskins, Republican candidate for Missouri secretary of state, wants to hand count ballots in our state’s elections. (Sept. 11, 1A, “Missouri Republican’s call to hand count ballots sparks alarm”)
I will say this: I trust the ballot tabulation machines far more than I trust the Republican Party to count ballots.
– Carrie Homstad, Kansas City
Response request
Thanks to Steve Paddock for pointing out Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall’s constant blaming of the Biden administration when, in fact, Marshall’s claims are often exaggerated and very misleading. (Sept. 5, 13A, “Sen. Marshall’s email should help Kansans, not just play politics”)
I write to Marshall almost weekly and have received only one response, other than confirmations of receiving my email.
Maybe after Paddock’s Star guest commentary, Marshall will feel a need to respond to his own unfounded comments.
– Alison Pearse, Overland Park
#Absurd #allegations #cateating #immigrants #Ohio #prompt #outrage #refutation
