Letters to the editor (Oct. 27, 2018)

Voter fraud is a non-issue

Thanks to the efforts of our Kansas Secretary of State, Mr. Kobach, we can be assured that there will be less voter fraud in this year’s elections. Really?

Study after study has found no credible evidence that voter fraud is a significant problem.

And why, in a state that votes strongly Republican, would our Secretary of State spend so much time and energy on this problem? Does he think it’s because of voter fraud that the Republican majority is so strong here?

Mr. Kobach has spent a considerable amount of his time as Secretary of State on this non-issue, to say nothing of his censure by the courts. That suggests that there’s something else behind the issue, which he’s not saying, or that he has pretty poor judgment on where to spend his energies. In either case, this is not the kind of person we need as governor.

Another thing that confuses me is Mr. Kobach’s praise for President Trump. Which of us would appreciate Mr. Trump calling us names like “Slimeball”, “Wacky”, “Lyin’”, “Sleazy”, “Crazy”, “Dopey”, “Sloppy”, “Dumbest”, “Psycho”, “Crooked”, “Horseface.”

Didn’t most of us get over being this petty by the time we finished fifth grade? Is this how we want our children and grandchildren to grow up? Do we really need a governor who thinks Mr. Trump is great?

Ron Nibbelink, Augusta

Return to the middle

I have always believed that no matter who is president, our nation will survive. It always has, because we the people own the government. The president is our employee, hired by the voters to manage the government. As our employee, the president is accountable to us for what he says, what he does, and how he acts. I’ve seen presidents and their administrations come and go, and, as I have always believed it would, our nation survived each time to welcome the next President.

I am beginning to wonder if my belief in our country’s eternal survivability has been overly optimistic. The extreme divisiveness that I see today in our government and our population is highly destructive, and of great concern. We have a chaotic and dysfunctional White House, and a highly polarized, dysfunctional Congress whose members don’t seem to understand that a representative democracy like ours operates and survives by cooperation and compromise.

Feeding the fire of divisiveness is the constant flow of misinformation and political propaganda coming from the White House, and extreme left and right media sources. President Dwight Eisenhower was correct when he once stated “The middle of the road is the usable surface, extremes, right and left, are in the gutters”. We the people and our government need to get back on the usable surface, and start working together as the “United” States of America. I hope voters in the upcoming election and future elections will move us in that direction.

Don Setser, Wichita

Back off on bomb info

All the news channels are talking about the current bombing scare. I think they are giving out too much information.

They say: “We are sure not going to tell our viewers how to make a bomb. We are just going to tell you what law enforcement looks for when they are trying to find the bomb maker.”

Isn’t that a little bit like saying: “If you ARE making a bomb and do not want to get caught, here are some things/tips that might help you keep your identity hidden”?

I think the news media should back off some when they talk about the intricacies of bomb making and how law enforcement tries to track down the maker of a bomb.

Larry G. Houtz, Wichita