Upset our Kansas City Chiefs were drinking at the Super Bowl parade? I have two words | Opinion

In response

The Star has published a few letters from concerned citizens regarding Chiefs players drinking alcohol during their Super Bowl victory parade. I’d like to offer a rebuttal to those letters:

Shut up.

- Vince DeMatta, Olathe

Think ahead

I know from experience that it doesn’t do any good to shame people. Having said that, I think it makes a great deal of difference when we prepare people. In this instance, a playbook for a true champion might help. I believe this is what a lot of members of the community who love their Chiefs are trying to say.

It isn’t just the amazing play on the field, but the opportunity to be true role models off the field that will define our players and our team.

One day, each of us looks back. So I can only ask our players: Is this how you want your children and fans to remember you?

This weekend, I attended the English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition semifinals for high school students. These young performers being able to take the stage, then command it and the respect of the audience, was exhilarating not only for the students, but also for their audience. Is there a lesson here?

We love our Chiefs, but to command long-lasting respect in matters of role modeling, it might take more than what we saw at the Super Bowl parade.

Be as prepared off the field as on the field. I say this with love and care. Go Chiefs.

- Annie Newcomer, Prairie Village

Close to home

Mary Coffman recently wrote in a letter to the editor: “I hope that the 67th mass shooting of 2023 at Michigan State University will be the one that finally forces our elected officials to act.” (Feb. 16, 12A)

Mary, I don’t think our elected officials will act unless and until their children or loved ones are victims.

- Linda B. Lyon, Kansas City

Travelers’ signs

After reading the article covering the passengers who took part in a simulation at the new terminal at Kansas City International Airport last week, (Feb. 17, 1A, “KCI Airport’s new single terminal gets a test run”) I urge the Kansas City Aviation Department to heed information from passengers such as Keith Johnson who said the “signs will need to be tweaked to help travelers find their way in the terminal.” A follow-up comment said that could change as people become more familiar with the new terminal.

We must consider every point between the entry and exit of the terminal and the gates very much from the perspective of someone who has never been there. The greatest frustrations at the old terminals came from those arriving in Kansas City for the first time.

- Pamela Powell, Belton

Support Ukraine

On a recent visit to the Truman Library and Museum — our first visit since the renovation — I saw a plaque that rings so true today.

In 1946, George Kennan, an American diplomat to Russia, helped make Russian containment a key Truman foreign policy goal. He wrote in a State Department telegram that Soviet aggression was driven by insecurity and indifference to negotiation. It must be “contained.” Soviet leaders were “impervious to the logic of reason,” yet they were “highly motivated to the logic of force.”

I believe most Americans hate the war in Ukraine, but the longer it continues, the more its support in Congress will wane. Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to build back the Russia he remembers from the Cold War years, and anyone paying attention to the media coverage of the war should understand the type of atrocities the Russians have inflicted upon the civilians of Ukraine.

I ask all of us to stay united in helping the people of Ukraine defeat the Russian aggression, whether it be monetary support, prayers or otherwise. Write your representatives in Washington, D.C., to indicate your support.

- Richard Moore, Liberty

Wall to wall

Life is like wallpaper: too many choices for the well-to-do, and too few for the not-so-well-off.

- Joan Harrison, Kansas City