Letters on Lindsborg graffiti, plumbing standards, Beier, Snowden, Powell

Graffiti example of racism resurgence

The recent racist graffiti – such as “make Lindsborg white again” – left on the Bethany College campus is an example of a resurgence of racism, xenophobia, nativism and populism in America (Sept. 20 Eagle). The fact that Lindsborg is a town started by Swedish immigrants reminded me that currently Europe is seeing a resurgence of those same politics – the anti-immigration populism of our own presidential campaign.

White Anglo-Saxon Protestant America is no longer WASP America. That ship sailed some time ago. We are on the tipping point of America not even having a white majority. So the nativist feeling among wannabe WASPs is understandable but hard to take serious in a nation of immigrants.

Who is a true American? Let’s say those whose ancestor stepped off the boat first.

The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves (1807) was given sharper teeth in 1819 by Congress with a violation now termed “piracy” carrying a possible death penalty. It follows that the ancestors of most African-Americans set foot on American soil prior to 1819, decades before the the Irish, German, Polish or Italian ancestors of many Americans. And the ancestors of Latinos living in the City of Angels and the Four Corners area of the Southwest arrived on those sites about 13,000 years ago.

So much for nativism and populism in America.

Lowering standards

Warning: A group of plumbing-repair companies have submitted a petition to the Sedgwick County Commission to allow them to lower minimum standards to the weakest plumbing code in America.

They are asking to lower the quality of their work so they can make more money. Many of these companies are already charging more than $100 an hour.

They know that Wichita will never lower the health and safety standards for citizens, and they know the County Commission majority would love to.

They’re trying to shove it through before the majority loses its votes.

Make sure your plumbing work meets the Uniform Plumbing Code minimums.

Wrong reason

Newman University recently canceled a talk by Kansas Supreme Court Justice Carol Beier. It cited safety concerns.

It was the right decision but for the wrong reason. Newman is Catholic. Its website states that it “is grounded in Catholic values and traditions.” Beier has a pro-abortion record. That stance goes against those Catholic values. That should have been the reason.

The Cardinal Newman Society says, “By honoring those who disregard Catholic teaching, and holding them up as role models for students, administrators at these Catholic colleges send a dangerous message to students, betray the religious mission of their institutions and disregard the guidance of the U.S. bishops.”

The nation’s Catholic bishops have made it very clear that Catholic colleges and universities should not give a platform to abortion advocates.

Columnist Davis Merritt wrote that Beier’s position is irrelevant to the purposes of her appearance (Sept. 13 Opinion). The intentional decapitation, dismemberment and ripping of a baby from its mother’s womb is never irrelevant.

The ability to seek recourse from wrongdoing in a court system is not the most precious individual right in America. The most precious individual right in America is the right to life. Without that right, there are no other rights.

Snowden’s sacrifice

Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, calls Edward Snowden “a liar and a criminal.” The truth of the matter is that, after over two years of investigation, the committee issued its own series of lies and distortions to further denigrate Snowden. Obviously this committee’s “investigation” is much like the fox guarding the henhouse.

And after all this time, the government still cannot put forth a single instance where the release of classified documents revealing the illegal activities of the National Security Agency “put countless lives at risk.” Were those lives also performing illegal acts?

Snowden merely exposed the truth about an agency Pompeo oversees regarding its unconstitutional and nefarious actions. This Big Brother intrusion on we serfs doesn’t seem to bother Pompeo.

After all, it is Pompeo who deemed that we consumers don’t need to know whether the food products we buy have genetically modified organisms in them. Never mind his usurping of state sovereignty on the matter.

Snowden sacrificed himself to warn us commoners what our government masters were doing.

Pompeo is obviously one of them, not one of us.

Investigate Powell?

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed nuclear weapons in an e-mail that has been hacked. When will Congress start hearings on this delicate, classified issue? Where is the outrage from the commentators? Has the FBI begun a long, costly investigation of this egregious misuse of power?

It seems to me that we must mirror the extravagant witch hunt made of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. If not, why not? Isn’t what’s good for the goose also good for the gander?

This story was originally published September 21, 2016 at 5:03 AM with the headline "Letters on Lindsborg graffiti, plumbing standards, Beier, Snowden, Powell."