Letters on LGBT rights, cultural cleansing, Care Act, Kobach, the poor

Liberty, equality and justice for all

A few weeks ago, I reread the Constitution. I hadn’t read it since high school but remembered that all too clear central message of liberty, equality and justice for all – “all” being the operative word.

The concept of democracy is a pretty great thing. It guarantees that no citizen be denied these “inalienable” rights based on protections written into the Constitution and its Bill of Rights.

For instance, all are guaranteed freedom of expression by the First Amendment. The 15th Amendment guarantees all the right to participate in the process via the vote, and we all have the right to practice, or abstain from, any chosen religion, also guaranteed by the First Amendment.

It is for this reason that I have a difficult time wrapping my head around how Gov. Sam Brownback, sworn to uphold the Constitution, could deliberately discriminate against a group based solely on personal religious moralities.

Our forefathers were very clear about the necessity of the separation of church and state, and for good reason. They understood that this nation would be composed of many diverse cultures, and for this reason, all beliefs, or lack thereof, must be respected.

Cultural cleansing

Topeka, we have a problem. Kansas is losing population. The Legislature-led “cultural” cleansing definitely seems to be working.

The latest steps in this plan seem to be to starve education and transportation of their funding. Tell me, what enterprises actually get better when starved of money? Do businesses? Nope. Usually, morale plummets, staff leaves, and the business fails. That is the same track our Legislature has left our schools and roads. That hardly sounds like the road to recovery.

Added to this master plan is Gov. Sam Brownback’s executive order denying anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender state workers. Perception is now nationwide that the state of Kansas is not exactly the most tolerant place in America.

I love Kansas. I have lived here my whole life and raised my family here. We are now faced with inadequate education and roads. If this was not enough, we are now faced with the reputation of intolerance as a state policy. Can we keep our youth? Can we invite families and businesses to our state?

Please, let us not run our state into the ground in the mindless pursuit of no taxes and conservative purity.

Support Care Act

AARP is seeking support for House Bill 2058, which is called the Care Act. It is now in the House Children and Seniors Committee. We need your help to get it to the House floor for debate.

The Care Act would ensure that hospitals ask patients if a caregiver has been identified, record the name of the caregiver in medical records, notify and consult with the caregiver on discharge plans, and provide discharge medical instructions with the caregiver.

We were told that all hospitals are doing this and there was no need for this bill. But how many of the estimated 600,000 caregivers in Kansas would agree?

If you think the medical instructions you received as a caregiver were inadequate for the tasks you needed to perform, we need your story. You can contact Rep. Connie O’Brien, R-Tonganoxie, chairwoman of the House Children and Seniors Committee, at 785-296-7683 or e-mail at connie.obrien@house.ks.gov.

We believe this act would help prevent hospital readmissions and help patients get the best possible care at home instead of another health care facility. You can read the bill at kslegislature.org and see who serves on that committee. We need your help to contact your senator and representative and ask them to support the Care Act.

Real Pinocchio

Who deserves to enter the ring with Pinocchio?

NBC News anchor Brian Williams reports from planes under attack in a war zone and faces down the fury of Katrina to bring us the facts. His opponent, the darling of the Plains, is Secretary of State Kris Kobach. He singlehandedly exposed the massive voter fraud that has raged throughout the state of Kansas. Like Ebola, it was a contagion that had to be stopped. We were saved only by his prosecution of zero – no, thousands, no, hundreds of thousands. You be the judge.

Honor and the poor

I have heard it said many times: “The poor are the first to suffer but the first to help. There is honor in that.” It is so true. I have known many wonderful people who had little but would step up and help in any way they could. My family would have suffered if not for their kindnesses.

I wish the well-to-do would understand that and not be so condescending and seem to delight in adding to the anguish of the less fortunate. The fortune of the wealthy may have to do with their hard work, but it also has to do with fate and others’ hard work. They should be appreciative and thankful.

People turn away and give up when they get burned and disrespected. The poor and middle class will eventually turn away from those they elected to represent their best interests and not be so self-serving. That is not communism or socialism but honor.

This story was originally published February 19, 2015 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Letters on LGBT rights, cultural cleansing, Care Act, Kobach, the poor."