Letters to the Editor – Rep. Van Taylor, fighting COVID-19, Plano ISD, masks, Dallas and I-345

Appropriate context

Re: “Don’t forget, we’re leaving no one behind – Biden’s failure in Afghanistan is the greatest foreign policy disaster in US history,” says MP Van Taylor, Sunday Opinion.

Rep. Van Taylor articulates very well the current events that are unfolding in Afghanistan and provides appropriate context to the recent missteps of the Washington leadership regarding our southern border. Both are humanitarian crises that could be avoided. I pray that our president will have the wisdom to adjust his course and, damn it, get all Americans and our allies out of Afghanistan before our troops withdraw.

Mark Dinkins, Dallas / Preston Hollow

Did the columnist forget?

I read this column pretty quickly. Did I miss where Rep. Van Taylor pointed out that it was his president who negotiated a date with the Taliban for the US to withdraw from Afghanistan on May 1st? Or where he said it was a bad idea to invite the Taliban to Camp David, as the leader of his party did?

Michael Bulkeley, Richardson

Unlimited hypocrisy

Hypocrisy seems to have no limits. Republicans are calling for President Joe Biden to step down after 13 US soldiers were killed in a very difficult extraction of civilians from Afghanistan. At home, we are waging one of the greatest wars in US history against COVID-19. Over 600,000 deaths so far, an average of around 1,000 deaths per day. reuters.com/world/us/us-reports-more-than-1000-covid-deaths-single-day-2021-08-18/

These soldiers were heroes. The thousands of health workers fighting in the war on COVID-19 are also heroes, many of whom have died from the aftermath of the coronavirus while selflessly and tirelessly cared for their patients.

Republican governors and lawmakers are now busy preventing communities from using effective countermeasures against this terrible enemy; Encouraging some citizens to act selfishly and irresponsibly; derogatory vaccinations, masking and distancing; and claims to have a constitutional right to be deserters in this war.

When will all Americans wake up to the reality of this war? Where is the real patriotism? Perhaps these governors and lawmakers should be urged to resign, not Biden, who was a staunch commander in this terrible war on COVID-19.

Johannes Grande, Richardson

The I-345 dilemma

Re: “I-345 is a dead end – Dallas has five options for this elevated road, but only one will lead to real progress,” by Mark Lamster, Sunday Arts & Life column.

Architectural critic Mark Lamster articulates our city’s dilemma with Interstate 345 and with urban highways in general. I find it scary that we are keeping this in mind as we ponder the humiliating evacuations of our country from Afghanistan, Lebanon and Vietnam. Strangling a once vital city center with more and more motorway lanes is the civil service equivalent of a failed war effort. Vietnam War correspondent Peter Arnett recalled a US major who pondered the Battle of Bến Tre: “It was necessary to destroy the city to save it.”

Ken Duble, Dallas / The Cedars

Against the mandate

Thoughts, feelings and emotions were a motivator for both sides, which could be heard loud and clear in the school board meeting on August 23 in Plano. It is time to put the emotions aside and look at the bigger picture that the majority of those attending the meeting had. There is a misunderstanding as to why the majority of the anti-mask mandate people in Plano are so passionate about it.

Her passion is less about the mask than about the job. There are very few things Americans are required to do other than pay taxes and comply with public safety laws. So why do we start any type of mandate with children as young as 5 in public schools? Children who appear to be the least affected by this virus, with a death rate barely visible on a graph? There are very few, if any, mask requirements in private companies, venues, and stores. So why are we implementing it in elementary schools first?

Many of these children need daily reminders of personal hygiene, but now are we requiring them to maintain their own masks seven hours a day? If it is not the responsibility of the students to manage their equipment in the absence of their parents, it falls back on the teachers and staff, who already have full plates.

Emily Gaddy, Plano

Centuries of evidence

Re: “Abbott puts safety first,” by Donald Jones, Saturday Letters.

In his letter, Jones complains that “children have to breathe their own carbon dioxide” when wearing a mask. I have heard other claims that “masks are bad for your health, harm your children, etc. This comes as a surprise to me, and probably to the millions of other operating room nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists, scrub technicians, and other operating room workers all over the place World who have to wear masks for 10, 12 or more hours a day – in careers that last 40 years and longer.

Guess what? We survive and prosper! Sure, masks take getting used to and can be uncomfortable, and some people may have medical issues that make them impossible to wear. But masks are not harmful. Two centuries of wear have proven it. I’m sorry to add a bit of reality to the subject.

Jane Dempster, garland

So long, Clapton

Eric Clapton posted an anti-Vaxxer song and announced that he reserves the right to cancel the show at any location that he is playing that requires a vaccination. He has a scheduled concert for Texas. So, to steal from a very famous commercial a few years ago, Texas says, “Clap, off,” Eric.

Kurt Wolfenbarger, East Dallas

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