Mike Parson brags he made the ‘right people’ judges. The Missouri Plan is a better way

Party justice?

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson recently appointed his 100th judge. He said: “We wanted to start molding the judiciary with what we believed to be the right people on the bench making the right decisions for the people of this state.”

Does that sound like Parson picks the best person for the job, or the person he believes will do his bidding?

Thank goodness for Missouri’s Non-Partisan Court Plan, which provides for the selection of judges based on merit rather than party affiliation. A panel, which includes non-lawyers, chooses three of the best applicants based on qualities such as life experience and expertise, rather than which political party they pledge allegiance to. This leaves the governor with a choice that may not be to his or her liking but results in an eminently qualified person being placed on the bench. This system was created to halt exactly what Parson has indicated he is trying to do.

Unfortunately, this plan is in place in only two circuits in St. Louis, in Springfield and in three counties in the Kansas City area.

Regardless of which party you prefer, whom would you want judging in court: someone beholden to the opposite of your political beliefs, or someone who only listens to the evidence and follows the law?

Think about this when you vote.

- C. Carl Kimbrell, North Kansas City

Whose choice?

Thank you for publishing the Oct. 23 front-page story “Who is listening?” about the lack of postpartum care for women in Missouri. So horrible.

What disgusted me was the concern expressed by a member of the state House of Representatives, Excelsior Springs Republican Doug Richey. Helping women with postpartum care was hard, he said, because substance abuse disorder contributes to 54% of pregnancy-related deaths in Missouri. You can almost see him shrugging his shoulders: “It’s really hard for the state to help women make the right choices,” he said. If Health and Senior Services determined that fact, what was a poor state representative to do?

Just what could the state do? I know! I know! Let’s punish the women with lousy mental health care, then deny lifesaving heath care.

So, now the state tells all women that abortions are illegal and decides which women will have health care during and after a pregnancy and for how long, based on behaviors lawmakers approve — because they can, and because that’s what they have been doing all along to disadvantaged women, disproportionately those of color, who must use Medicaid.

Words fail. What kind of behavior would deny health care to you and endanger your life, Rep. Richey?

- Mary Weston, Kansas City

Praise earned

The United States owes a big thank-you to Dr. Anthony Fauci as he retires as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. I so admired him as he had to stand by a former president who mishandled the nation’s whole response to the COVID-19 pademic.

It sounds as if Fauci has some good plans for his future work.

- Judy Allen, Olathe

Musk’s influence

Elon Musk is a disgrace to our political and social media world as he plans to open his newly purchased Twitter media business to former users who have been banned by most outlets. Musk recently posted a false conspiracy theory about the attempted murder of Paul Pelosi. He later deleted his tweet because of the negative feedback.

Musk has promised to reverse the Twitter ban on Donald Trump and other disgraced media figures in the name of free speech. As one of the most wealthy and powerful influencers in our country, Musk is a promoter of chaos and disinformation. He may be a brilliant businessman, developing Space X rockets and popular Tesla electric vehicles, but he is an embarrassment to Tesla’s customers and board of directors.

His dissident and erratic behavior likely will affect Tesla sales. Potential customers might think twice about buying a Tesla and instead consider a product from a pro-union and apolitical manufacturer such as Ford, GM or Stellantis. Tesla and the import manufacturers operate non-union assembly plants in southern Republican right-to-work states.

- Richard Gilman, Overland Park

You matter

If you are a Republican who does not share the beliefs of hard-right Republicans, to them, you are a RINO — a Republican In Name Only. If you do not think, act, talk or vote like them, you are a RINO. If you disagree with them about anything, you are a RINO.

Forget them. In this country, we are all allowed to disagree with one another.

As a Republican myself, I disagree with the hard right. I am confident in who I am, what I know and what I believe. No ad hominem attacks will change me. I will not toe or vote the party line.

I encourage others to do the same, be they Democrats, Republicans or whatever. Vote your conscience, cast your ballot, put on your “I voted” sticker and head for home.

- Stan Beckett, Topeka