Opinion Line (July 2)

The assault on my home began a day earlier than what is legal. What is it about fireworks that turns an adult into a complete idiot?

Don’t miss out: the biggest illegal fireworks display in the nation. Wichita, July 4, 2015.

A Sunday letter writer’s comments on “National Fireworks Week” were spot-on. The celebration should only be on July 4, not for a whole week, to spare our veterans and others the noise, damage and accidents, and to truly know the meaning of the day.

America had better worry more about terrorism on the Fourth of July than about a little fireworks.

If people were to read history from a factual perspective as opposed to history as the revisionist historians want people to believe, then it would be realized that blaming the unfortunate violence in Charleston on the Confederate flag is like blaming Benghazi on a video. It’s not true.

If we only knew that taking down the Confederate flag would solve all the problems in this country, it could have been done years ago. And if you believe that….

What is lost in the discussion about gay marriage is any mention of mutual respect. There is no need to push your opinion on others, nor force anyone to do something they don’t want to do. Let’s stop hating people with whom we disagree.

Why would any couple, gay or straight, want to be married by a priest or pastor who did not want to marry them?

Work harder, taxpayers. Big oil depends on your generous subsidies.

We have recurring significant increases in our water and sewer rates, and the state just increased our sales tax by a sizable percentage factor. And now we learn that the Wichita transit advisory board also wants to increase our taxes. How ridiculous it has become.

I hope that the new Wichita police chief will make traffic enforcement a very top priority.

I noticed that the ads that are not selling cars fall into two categories: wonder drugs to make life worth living, and lawyers offering to make you rich when the wonder drugs cause damage or death.

Since the one in Mulvane has been so successful, it’s nice to see that southeast Kansas will soon have its own Social Security Redistribution Center.

What a good choice bringing Roy Heatherly back to Wichita to be The Eagle’s publisher. We grew up together. He will provide a close relationship with the staff and readers, and can be trusted to support the community and provide an energy to move us forward.

This story was originally published July 1, 2015 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Opinion Line (July 2)."