Letters to the editor for April 20 (2024)

2nd GOP official quits

Do you remember these lyrics from the 1970s? “Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you.”

The political parties seem to have been taken over by their radical wings. Moderates are being driven out. My Democratic friends tell me they have experienced it, and from my recent experience with the Republicans, I’d say it’s true.

Clowns and jokers sums it up. I have resigned my position as treasurer of the Black Hawk County Republicans because I stand on the middle ground and for fiscal responsibility. The local GOP continues to spit in the face of its own platform by spending more money than they bring in. One word of advice, never donate to local parties. Always donate directly to the candidates that you support. Otherwise your donations could just end up going to a fancy office that is never open to voters.

I know that there are also problems on the Democratic side with radicals trying to run the show. I believe being in the middle is the sanest way to live. Let’s meet in the middle! All are welcome.

Margaret Klein, Waterloo

Christian nationalism

You may be asking yourself, “How do I know if I’m a Christian Nationalist?” Here’s a simple two-question test:

1. Do I believe my understanding of the Bible is superior to everyone else’s?

2. Do I believe my understanding of the Bible should be enshrined into law, so everyone has to live by my opinions?

If you answered “yes” to both of those questions, you are a Christian nationalist. But it’s not too late to change. You can stop being a Christian nationalist while still living out your deeply held religious beliefs. If you believe abortion is wrong, don’t get an abortion. If you believe same-sex marriage is wrong, don’t marry someone of the same sex. If you believe transgender is wrong, don’t transition your gender. It’s only when you vote for those who will turn your beliefs into law for everyone else that you become a Christian nationalist.

And bonus, by not imposing your will on the rest of America, you’re actually obeying the teaching of Jesus to “judge not, lest you be judged.”

See how easy that is? All you have to do is live out your convictions, without trying to make everyone else live out your convictions.

Doug Smith, Cedar Falls

Drugs and crime

Drugs and crime are two big problems in the U.S. today, and I think we should work to lower drug and crime rates. Combating drugs and crime requires addressing the causes of addiction. If you can realize your addiction and get counseling to help with this addiction it would help. Drugs often can lead to violence and just overall crimes, so lowering these drug rates also helps with crime rates. If we can do these things America would be overall better.

Ben Miller, Denver

Flim Flam Man

And he comes again, the boisterous old Flim Flam Man,

Hawking his goods as fast as he can.

Gold-dyed shoes and Bibles galore, ones he reads daily and more.

But someone must pay for those dirty deeds and crimes,

Not he, so gullible devotees rush to pay on time.

He likens himself to Mandela, Hitler, and Christ.

A braggart old con man until he bites the dust.

Mary McBee, Tama

Absenteeism

Around 30-34% of Waterloo’s students are consistently absent. Suggested causes: food insecurity (aren’t most breakfasts and lunches free?); poor transportation (not enough buses?); “inequitable access to needed services.” Such as? If these are known, why haven’t they been fixed? Homelessness is understandably challenging.

Current solutions, say the director of student and at-risk services, echoed by her associate: Increase family support workers and student support specialists. Additionally, buildings have attendance teams plus social media campaigns, texting parents, community partners — a bureaucracy. Paradoxically, the director says, “One of the best ways to tackle chronic absenteeism is enhanced school culture.” Her outside-in “solution” contributes to absenteeism —bureaucracies don’t “enhance school culture.”

Great organizations, large and small, establish cherished core values from the inside out — freedom, family, civility, faith — through trusted, merit-based relationships. What’s the most essential, character building, curiosity stimulating relationship in school learning? Student/teacher. Many good teachers become great when allowed to teach, not texting parents, not force-feeding racist diversity/equity/inclusion (DEI). What are “support specialists” costs? How do they build relationships/culture?

In short, replace inefficient/ineffective funding with more classroom teachers —smaller classes equal nurturing relationships/culture. Curious, character-filled kids will want to come to school.

Larry Van Oort, Cedar Falls

Enemies of freedom

It requires only a little experience in politics or exposure to the media for one to learn that the enemies of freedom today are the radicals and militant liberals. Not only do they propose through their reforms to reconstruct and regiment us, they also propose to keep us from hearing the other side. Anyone who has contended with Marxists and their first cousins, the totalitarian liberals, knows they have no intention of giving the conservative alternative a chance to compete with their doctrine for popular acceptance. If by some accident they are compelled physically to listen, it is with indifference or contempt because they really consider the matter a closed question — that is, no longer on the agenda of discussable things.

The conservative, on the other hand, is tolerant because we have something to tolerate from, because we have in a sense squared ourselves with the structure of reality. Since our position does not depend upon fiat and wishfulness, we do not have to be nervously defensive about it. A new idea idea or opposing idea is not going to topple ours.

Roger W. Smith, Waterloo