How long did halftime last to ‘Lenny the Cool’ Dawson? I still chuckle at his answer
Talk about cool
The lights went out in Arrowhead Stadium when we lost Lenny Dawson. He and his teammates put us all on their shoulders and Kansas City on the map when they beat the Vikings in Super Bowl IV. After his time with the Chiefs, he made Kansas City his home and made us proud to live here.
I didn’t know Lenny well but quite often was on the driving range at Indian Hills Country Club with him, shanking balls all over hell’s half acre. Afterward, sometimes we played nine holes.
I once asked him, “Leonard, how long was halftime when you played?” He looked back at me and without blinking said, “Two cigarettes.”
Thanks for the memories and rest well, Lenny the Cool.
- Jim Huntington, Fairway
Unrepresentative
The media need to stop their deification of U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney. I encourage her and all eligible citizens to vote their conscience every time they step into a voting booth. That exemplifies the spirit of democracy.
But she flagrantly violated her duty to represent her constituents at the national level in the House of Representatives by acting against their will. Her Republican opponent in the Wyoming primary received double the votes of Cheney and the Democratic candidates combined, so the will of the people is clearly evident.
What would happen to delivery drivers who dropped off packages wherever they pleased instead of to the addressees they were sent to? Or to restaurant servers who brought whatever food they decided instead of what the customers ordered? Just like Liz Cheney, they would soon be looking for another job.
- Bill Watkins, Lansing
Personal liberty
My sincere thanks to the voters who supported the Kansas Constitution in the face of a self-righteous and vocal minority who derive their religious beliefs from the pre-Christian Old Testament rather than the teachings of Jesus. You have put the heart back in America’s heartland. I can now be proud again of my Midwestern heritage of decency.
It’s long overdue for voters to reject the idea that a narrow-minded minority can curtail and criminalize our liberties. The recent Betty Bowers YouTube video called “’Religious freedom’ is neither” sums up this situation quite well. I recommend it to you.
This should be a heads-up for politicians who pander to that same minority to get elected using misinformation and outright lies to further their careers. A dear friend who has multigenerational roots in Kansas told me that the people there traditionally vote for Republicans because Republicans leave the people alone. This is no longer the case.
The voters of Kansas have spoken. The message is clear. If you are opposed to abortion then don’t have one. Stop interfering politically with the patient-doctor relationship dealing with very personal medical decisions.
- Donald Hazelton, Napa, California
Struck out
First, Clarence Thomas.
Second, Josh Hawley.
Now third, as John Wood ended his bid for U.S. Senate on Tuesday night.
Three strikes and you’re out of here, Jack Danforth.
- Rick Pittman, Shawnee
Not her choice
The anti-abortion people keep finding new ways to distort language to fit their program. They’ve redefined “life,” and “fetus,” and “murder,” and now the author of an Aug. 19 letter to the editor has found a new way to use “choice” in a manner that finds it to mean something that he can twist to confirm his values, demanding that all others conform accordingly. (7A)
These linguistic contortions are never put forward as proposition or suggestion, or even as a statement of personal conviction. They tell us that life begins at conception, period; a fetus is an unborn person; abortion is murder. Now this writer informs us that choice does not take place once a pregnancy has begun and that the woman has no further rights to make a decision. Their hubris precludes any other opinion. Choice is redefined and that’s settled. Modern medicine simply doesn’t matter.
- Mike Messick, Kansas City
