Letters on Confederate flag, GOP vision, Trump

Confederate flag belongs in park

Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell’s removal of the Confederate battle flag from Veterans Memorial Park was disappointing. This misguided action borders on revisionist history and political correctness. That concerns me as a Wichitan.

U.S. Public Law 85-425 (H.R. 358) recognized “the term ‘veteran’ includes a person who served in the military or naval forces of the Confederate States of America.” Therefore, this flag very much belongs in this park.

Because the flag display honestly depicts the forces that profoundly affected the molding and definition of the American character, both sides have to be given recognition. The Confederate national flag was rejected because it honored the Confederacy itself, while the battle flag was felt to recognize the Southern troops – some of whom died serving that flag in Kansas (Battle of Mine Creek).

All who served, fought under, and bled or died for that flag deserve the respect shown by U.S. public law, recognizing their service as American veterans to also be shown by the city of Wichita and its tribute park to all American veterans. Therefore this flag should be restored to its rightful place in Veterans Memorial Park.

Got vision?

What do candidates A-Z plan to do should one of them become president? Mainly I’ve heard of strong desires to build walls along our borders.

If the construction is to be a Franklin Roosevelt-type works project, maybe some of the unemployed can get jobs. I hope the workers can be paid a living wage; otherwise, we will have to depend upon young, healthy immigrants to do the work.

Good news – the Canadians might happily pay for the northern wall, just to keep Americans from sneaking over the border to steal their water.

Wait a minute – building walls thousands of miles long sounds like a huge government project. Will it mean seizing private property? What about guarding those walls? More helicopters, more munitions, more government workers. Or maybe it will be more Halliburton.

What about wall maintenance? Oh, yes, I remember – the taxpayers could shell out big bucks to some “friendly” private firm with a macho name like Blackwater. A really influential firm would probably contract immigrants to spray weeds, pick up loose stones, and reinsert the electric wires. While minding their workers, the contractor’s snipers could stay alert by conducting target practice at stray citizens, illegals and prickly pear.

That’s what I call visionary. Let’s make America great again.

Trump’s ‘religion’

People of faith I’ve known all shared one thing – they felt compelled to share their faith. For them, witnessing was a cornerstone of that faith.

Therefore, Donald Trump’s claim that his religious faith is too personal to share is nonsensical. When he was asked to cite a few favorite verses or opine on his view of the Old Testament versus New Testament, he didn’t address the topics because he lacks the knowledge to do so.

Trump does have a faith that he proclaims in detail in his books. He worships wealth, money and power to the exclusion of all else, and considers anyone who doesn’t share that view to be naive. Jesus spoke often of the wealthy and powerful, rarely in a positive way. Jesus didn’t preach that nice guys finish last; rather, he taught that humility, and treating everyone with dignity and respect, is the essence of a good life. Humility and kindness don’t describe Trump.

People of faith should understand that Trump’s “religion” is the antithesis of their beliefs. For him, the Bible isn’t a road map to living; it is a tool to manipulate those he looks down upon.

Bold yet tactful

Though I like several of the issues that Donald Trump has brought to the forefront, I agree with Phil Ruffin’s assessment that “you can’t tell Donald what to do” (Sept. 16 Local & State).

In many ways, “loudness” has translated into an implicit message of “bold leadership.” However, it is a double-edged sword. I see no need for Trump’s verbal tirades against journalist Megyn Kelly nor swipes about presidential campaign competitor Carly Fiorina’s face. He is alienating more than half of the voting electorate (women) by being the “alpha male.”

I like Trump, yet I like retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson’s straight talk, too. He is a dignified gentleman.

I am an independent voter, but if Republicans ever hope to win the White House in 2016, they need to find a candidate who is bold, tough, yet tactful. It would be the equivalent of finding an even-keeled Trump and more vigorous Carson.

Will that person emerge? Or will popularity or apathy reign yet again?

A democracy?

This election cycle seems different from the previous ones. The party establishment and the media have carefully selected the candidates we are supposed to support – the ones with the most political action committee money from special-interest groups to pay for advertisements for these candidates.

Yet the silly electorate doesn’t seem to appreciate all the hard work and money put into these candidates. Voters seem to support the candidates they want. What do they think this is, a democracy or something?

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Letters on Confederate flag, GOP vision, Trump."