Letters on Trump, biased media, school spending, Marvin Martin

Don’t make Trump the face of America

If Donald Trump is elected president, he will be the face of America throughout the world. This is the most compelling reason there can be for uniting to defeat him.

The world is at a tipping point, and while Muslim extremism must be judiciously stamped out, the danger is that the divisive rhetoric used by Trump would inflame the Muslim world and drive many moderate Muslims into the jihad mindset – an us-versus-them mentality. This could push humanity into a worldwide holy war. Wars such as World War II would be like child’s play by comparison.

I believe our world is now at a far more dangerous place in human history, with the very existence of humanity at stake.

This election is not just about the future direction America takes, but will very likely be a harbinger of the future of humanity. I am hoping that dislike of Hillary Clinton doesn’t allow a madman to dictate our future. Too much is at stake.

Biased article

I listened to Donald Trump’s speech last week on the economy and then read the article in the Aug. 9 Eagle. I was shocked at the bias in the article until I noticed it was from the New York Times.

Really? Does the New York Times reflect the opinions of Kansans? Does The Eagle not have any journalists?

The article condemned Trump’s plan to eliminate the estate tax, saying it would not benefit average Americans because the first $5.45 million is already tax exempt. What about Kansas family farms? I’m sure there are many Kansas farms over that limit.

Why wouldn’t a deduction for child care help low-income families? Was it referring to the families that don’t pay taxes so have nothing from which to deduct?

The Eagle should buy its articles from the Wall Street Journal instead of the Times. At least its article gave the details of the speech, allowing readers to make their own conclusions.

Biased media

In my lifetime I’ve never seen an election in which the mainstream media are so blatantly behind the Democratic candidate.

Hillary Clinton gets a pass on every event in her past, and anything she might say. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is continually disparaged, and everything he says is spun to infer the vilest of meaning. The bias is getting so obvious that even low-information voters can see what’s going on.

The bottom line is that people are fed up with the status quo, with establishment Republicans as well as Democrats, and with a totally out-of-touch, biased and dishonest press that’s carrying the water for those whom they’re currying favor.

When this election is over, I sincerely hope that there is enough egg to go around for all the faces that deserve it.

Bad budgeting

An article on the USD 259 budget problems and the numbers of classroom and non-essential personnel showed a gross lack of leadership on the part of the current and past school board members (Aug. 9 Eagle).

The number of non-teaching personnel in USD 259 has quadrupled in the past 20 years. Less than 5 percent of these additions are based on curriculum growth. Many of the non-teaching positions have been created to provide promotions to individuals or to maintain individuals on salary who have left the classroom and have nowhere to go.

The number of assistant principals is one significant area that needs culled. A few of these are needed in seriously overpopulated schools, but that total is less than half of what has been created.

A second and more scary excessive cost area is all the teachers who teach English as a second language. This country is an English-speaking country. Immigrants must be able to speak English to become citizens. All elementary teachers already teach English as part of the daily mandatory curriculum. Secondary schools have teachers who just teach English. Students who can’t speak English need to be held in remedial programs until they are capable of participating in regular classroom activity.

Respect Martin

Thank you to Eagle reporter Beccy Tanner for the wonderful article about Marvin Martin as a B-29 navigator on the last mission of World War II (Aug. 9 Eagle). There are many of us in Wichita who have enormous respect for Martin for multiple reasons.

Martin and his wife of 61 years raised a wonderful family. He was an outstanding labor attorney. After being a faithful church attender and even an elder, at age 44 Martin put his faith in the life and teaching of Jesus. As he wrote: “I finally stopped my double-minded faith. I surrendered control of my life to God and accepted Jesus as divine. From that point on, my faith has been in Him. It has made a difference beyond measure.”

Martin is one of the most effective communicators we have ever known. Standing ovations from the Wichita Prayer Breakfast and the Downtown Wichita Rotary Club are indicative of the way many audiences have responded. His five books are available through Amazon.

Martin has given each of us time and has shared life lessons. We know many others who have benefited from his experiences and insights.

We are grateful for The Eagle highlighting Martin’s heroic service as a young man, and we want others to know what a difference this one man has made in the lives of many.

This story was originally published August 16, 2016 at 12:04 AM with the headline "Letters on Trump, biased media, school spending, Marvin Martin."