Letters on Legislature’s failure to govern, Obama’s failure in Cuba, armed protesters at Islamic Center

Most lawmakers refuse to fix problem

The Legislature is composed of 165 members. In reading “Kansas House and Senate pass school equity plan” (March 25 Eagle), one must come to the conclusion that august body is composed of 93 cowardly House members and 31 decent ones, together with 32 cowardly senators, five decent ones and four lawmakers who went home early.

According to our lawmakers, they passed this bill to meet and complete the equity standards imposed by the Kansas Supreme Court. And they claimed they did so with the honorable intention of trying to ensure that the state’s public schools remain open for the 2016-17 school year.

Such hogwash simply doesn’t hold up.

These lawmakers have observed month after month of declining tax revenue, with complete knowledge that their approved tax policies, as promoted by Gov. Sam Brownback, were asinine. Yet these lawmakers continue to ignore the option for correcting this shortfall problem – repealing the state income tax exemption for LLCs and other pass-through businesses.

If they can’t fix this problem and govern, they each should resign, and every citizen of this state should sign a pending petition to have the federal government revoke the state’s charter and install a temporary territorial governor (March 18 Eagle).

Failed to speak out

On his visit to Cuba, President Obama admonished Cuban President Raul Castro to “not fear the different voices of the Cuban people – and their capacity to speak, and assemble and vote for their leaders.” But Obama stopped far short of his comment made in Argentina just a day or two later, when he said: “Democracies have to have the courage to acknowledge when we don’t live up to the ideals that we stand for. And we’ve been slow to speak out for human rights and that was the case here.”

Obama’s Cuba visit presented an extraordinary opportunity to publicly and most vociferously discredit Castro over his ongoing human rights violations, but Obama had not the courage to do so.

Guns as expression

The Islamic Society of Wichita canceled a fundraising dinner and a speech it had planned (March 26 Eagle) in part because it had heard that an armed group planned to show up outside the society’s buildings to protest, according to The Eagle.

Here is a perfect example in which gun advocates can learn about concerns of gun-control advocates.

Yes, many owners use guns for hunting and many for self-defense. But some also use them as thugs.

I agree that the Islamic Society of Wichita showed poor judgment inviting Sheik Monzer Talib to speak. The moment Talib renounces any support for Hamas, he perhaps becomes a good speaker to invite to the community.

However, to threaten his arrival with an armed protest shows that some people are willing to threaten violence to suppress ideas. It is a form of terrorism, and it is exactly what our professors and administrators fear in allowing guns on college campuses.

I do not enjoy advocating for stricter gun laws. But I see no other tool to address a culture that wants to use guns as a form of expression.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Letters on Legislature’s failure to govern, Obama’s failure in Cuba, armed protesters at Islamic Center."