Letters: Wichita readers discuss party politics, medical marijuana, Capitol riot
Party politics
There should be no surprise to anyone that our new freshman Sen. Roger Marshall voted to acquit our former president on impeachable charges of inciting a riot against the U.S. Capitol.
Unlike most of us, he was present on the floor of the U.S. Senate (arguing for the voting rights of the citizens of Arizona) at the time of the raid by Trump supporters. I assume he has seen what the rest of us have seen and hope that he paid attention to the video evidence offered at the Senate trial and the testimony of several participants in the raid affirming that they acted on the orders of Trump, who urged the crowd to march on the Capitol and “fight like hell.” But hey! Why bother with evidence when you made up your mind long ago, right Sen. Marshall?
Marshall has shown us his true colors on this vote and has sent a clear message that he is willing to ignore compelling and convincing evidence supporting a conviction in favor of continuing party politics as usual. None of his constituents back here in Kansas should be too surprised as to how he will vote in the future.
Marijuana’s dangers
I strongly disagree with your Feb. 3 editorial, “It’s time, Kansas Legislature: Legalize medical marijuana.” Marijuana’s side effects far outweigh its benefits.
Recent research shows that usage may increase a person’s chance of heart attacks, abnormal heart rhythms and other cardiovascular disease. According to Elite Healthcare’s 2020 Nursing Continuing Education course, approved by the Kansas Board of Nursing, possible health effects include damage to the heart, liver, endocrine and immune system, and associations with decreased motivation and apathy, to list just a few. It also says that “nearly 45% of people with lifetime cannabis use progress to the use of other illicit drug use at some point.” Evidence supports it is a gateway drug.
Is this what you want for the welfare of the Kansas people? We are the smart ones; let Colorado, Missouri, and Oklahoma deal with the fallout from marijuana usage.
Trump’s inaction
Concerning Marc A. Thiessen’s article, “Capitol Police deserve apology from Biden over his remarks,” (Feb. 14 Eagle): I took President Biden’s comment — “No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they wouldn’t have been treated very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol” — to be a criticism of then-President Trump’s failure to get help to those police officers, not a failure on the part of the police.
In several state protests, Trump had the National Guard there immediately, even at the objection of the states. On Jan. 6, he did nothing except enjoy the fact that his base was fighting for him, supporting the lie that the election had been stolen from him, instead of sending in as much help as he could. The United States government could have done much better to protect the Capitol.