Unfettered Letters

Redemption after Katrina

Politics, not unlike life in general, is full of ironies. Last week at the presidential inauguration, I was struck by how ironic it was that America was celebrating the swearing-in of its first black president, in no small measure because of George Bush’s mishandling of the Katrina disaster.

Even some key aides now concede that Bush lost faith with the American people when they saw on television tens of thousands of their fellow citizens, mostly black, suffer and some even die in the streets of New Orleans because the most powerful government on Earth did not have the will to rescue them. It looked like a scene from a post-disaster “response” from Haiti or Pakistan or Myanmar.

Bush will have to explain all that suffering to his maker, but for the black people I saw and talked to that day in Washington, it felt like redemption.

Steve Glorioso
Kansas City

Obama draws Americans together

We, as a team, have had an incredible journey. Last July, we came together as neighborhood team leaders supporting Barack Obama’s campaign. Our group was an improbable mix. A CPA, a retired schoolteacher, a small-business owner and a college student made up our core team.

Our larger pool of volunteers ranged in age from 7 to 82. We knew there was something extraordinary happening when Americans, who are young in age and in spirit, came together because they knew in their hearts that this time had to be different.

We helped organize our community into a group of people who knocked on doors on the hottest days and eventually the frigid cold and dark. They left their families night after night to volunteer on phone banks that we worked until our voices were hoarse and our feelings numb to those who responded hatefully.

As we prepare for the inauguration of our new president, we are happy, proud, and exhausted. We are better for the work we did, the thousands of doors we knocked on, the thousands of telephone calls we made.

We all made this change possible, and we thank you for your part in it.

Karen Ferling
Nancy Long
Chris Wray
Michelle Thompson
Members, Missouri Team Obama
Harrisonville

Hillary’s campaign debt

Here is my plan. I read that Hillary Clinton cannot locate anyone to pay her bills. Not even her millionaire husband will help, so she will write the millions she owes off her income tax (12/23, A-2, “Clinton writes off campaign loan”).

So the next time I buy a soft drink and candy bar in a store, I will look around for someone to give me money. Then, if I don’t find someone, I will “loan” myself the $3 to pay the bill and write if off my taxes.

Bob Faulkner
Prairie Village

Ideas for reforming election process

Now that the election is over and we have a new president, I would like to propose some changes to the voting procedures.

First, just before any presidential election there are many letters decrying the Electoral College. If the citizens really want to do away with this entity, whereby a candidate with the most votes can still lose to a candidate with fewer, then now is the time to start reviewing the Electoral College and get rid of it.

Second, on all ballots the incumbent should be indicated in such a way so that the voters know for sure just whom they are voting for.

Third, because there are many times when we don’t like any of the candidates, I propose to enter a space for “none of the above.”

If you agree, contact your representative (even if he’s your “none of the above”) and try to get him to represent you and not his own interests or those of his wealthiest contributors.

Ken Montgomery
Kansas City

Why Obama won

Karl Rove wants to tell us that he knows why Barack Obama won the election. He points to the fact that Obama spent so much more money than his Republican opponent was able to do.

To Mr. Rove, I ask this question: Which came first? Obama’s message of hope and change or the political donations made to his campaign? Here, let me help you, Mr. Rove. In fact, neither came first.

What came first was President Bush’s message of despair and ineptitude.

Richard L. Strickland
Mission

Politicians must scale back

The voters were bought in this presidential election. Does anyone care? Yes, we made history, but are we ready for the future that awaits us? It may not be the “change” that is good for this country.

I cannot tolerate the extravaganza spending on campaigning and now the presidential inauguration celebration. It is heartbreaking to me that people are losing their jobs, homes and savings while Congress is debating whether to bail out the Big Three. No more bailouts!

Barack Obama says he is for the poor. So please, president-elect set the example to show compassion and scale down your inauguration celebration.

Where were the other politicians, media talk shows and financial advisers to inspire a solution that both candidates should have stopped all campaigning and put those funds into the market to help with the financial crash? No one said a word. It was taxpayers’ money, wasn’t it?

It’s time for congressional term limits and a cap on campaign spending.

Patricia Baker
St. Joseph

Changing mind about Obama

I did not vote for Barack Obama. I did not like his big-dollar backing, his ties to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright or his high-profile celebrity endorsements.

Now that that’s out of the way I would like to say how happy I am that the majority vote went his way. I cannot ever remember a president-elect having such a unifying effect on the American public. He has hit the ground running.

Obama’s cabinet choices have been well thought out, and he is sending a dove across party lines in an effort to unify rather than divide. He seems to be honest, eager and dedicated to the well-being of the country. Obama is a family man, so I believe he is in touch with the trials of parenting and concerned with the welfare of public education.

He will take over a country in shambles, and I, for one, believe that if anyone will be able to get us on the right track it will be Barack Obama.

What was I thinking Nov. 4?

Sharon George
Kansas City

We’ll make it through hard times

I hope that the people who elected Barack Obama did so for the right reasons. I’m not sure President Bush was elected that way.

It would be sad if academia, the mainstream press, Hollywood, liberals, ethnic groups and die-hard Democrats elected Obama simply to exact revenge for Bush, or because he is a black man or because it’s payback for perceived mistreatment of Clinton.

It is my hope that the man will grow into the presidency, that he will surround himself with bright, honorable people without regard to anything except his and their allegiance to the U.S. and willingness to provide for the health and welfare of all of us. We need and deserve such action, even though we have not always received it.

Our Constitution is not a living thing to be changed at the whim of a justice or politician.

Our president must protect those of us who served, in our time, to protect him and those who came before and after him.

Many of us have lived hard times. We prevailed by hard work, good fortune and with the help of good people.

Ours is a flexible and resilient economy and society. We will be well again.

E.H. Barnes
Prairie Village

Voters’ ‘diversity test’

Lewis Diuguid writes that “Missouri sided with McCain, but America passed the diversity test” (11/12, Opinion, “For every American, a time of celebration”). I read the full commentary several times to see if I was missing something but came up with the same conclusion each time.

Apparently, by voting for McCain, I either do not understand diversity, do not want diversity or it must be a racial issue that I did not vote for Obama. I take offense to this blanket Diuguid has thrown over those of us who did not pass his “diversity test” simply because we voted based on our basic principles and political ideals regarding many serious issues.

It will be difficult to sit my family down and explain to our six children, four of whom are white and two who are African-American, that Dad failed the “diversity test.”

Steve O’Neill
Kansas City

Politically, it’s a small world

When I read the “As I See It” column by Jenny Lumpkin (11/7, Opinion, “A ballot heard round the world”), I had tears in my eyes.

My husband and I traveled in England in late September, and we had similar experiences. Everyone wanted to talk about the election, and I was struck by the fact that everyone we spoke to knew far more about the issues than many people in own country. And they definitely knew more about the world in general than Americans know about the rest of the world.

There is much work to be done, by the media and by our schools, to educate Americans about the world. It is growing smaller day by day.

Karen Brown
Kearney