Opinion Line (Dec. 17)

The Governor’s Cup for basketball will never happen because of the arrogance of Bill Self.

The state’s collection of child support is at a 14-year low. Gov. Sam Brownback’s response is that it didn’t cost as much to collect the payments. Sounds like the man who starved himself to death saying, “Yes, but look how much money I saved on food.”

Regarding “Gov: Koch has no undue influence on Kansas politics” (Dec. 15 Eagle): Thanks, Governor. With nothing but bad news these days, everyone needs a good laugh to start the day.

There’s a fellow down in Texas primed to run for president and he gets my vote. Who wouldn’t vote for a guy who names his dog “Aurora Pancake”?

Rather than get our hands dirty torturing terrorists in hopes of getting some useful information, we should subcontract that task to any one of the many, many countries that have no qualms about such activities.

If you torture someone long enough, he would promise you he has the winning Powerball numbers. The odds are 259 million-to-1 that he is lying to you.

You have a person in your custody and your treatment of him results in death. Then the people responsible claim it is not torture? Well, folks, it did happen and it is torture.

The past several weeks have caused me to have a greater appreciation for those who serve in the CIA and our local police forces that protect us and preserve civilization.

The Sunday article on police was right-on. The police are only doing the job they are trained for. All police must realize it is better to be judged by 12 than to be carried by six. They must do their job and go home to their family.

If the cops would ticket all the speeders, they would soon have enough money to equip them all with body cameras. I drive the speed limit, and mine is the slowest car on the road.

Be it dawn, midday, dusk or dark, my headlights are on so you can see me. Please return the favor so I can see you, so we don’t have an unplanned meeting.

You can lead a horse to water – but you can’t make a teenager do their homework.

What creativity was shown in the beautiful handmade wooden toys at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum’s Holiday Toy Festival. These treasures were reminiscent of a simpler time and demonstrated the wonderful skills of the Sunflower Woodworkers Guild.

This story was originally published December 16, 2014 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Opinion Line (Dec. 17)."