Letters to the Editor: On Kentucky sharks, McConnell, Barr and Trump

A Kentucky shark

It was instructive to read of the latest discovery of fossil sharks in Kentucky — great find! However, this new discovery is a little late in coming – we already have a fossil shark in our midst, have had him for many decades, some would say an eternity. I refer of course to the Honorable Mitch McConnell. Congratulations, Kentucky.

Diana Rast, Lexington

Support vet bill

I served in Iraq from 2009-2010. I lived and worked near the burn pit at Joint Base Balad. When the “snow” from the burn pit fell on the base, you had no escape from the smoke and ash. It was everywhere. I went from perfect health and peak ability in 2009 to a basket of health problems in 2010.

The number of burn pits operating in overseas conflict zones exceeded 230 at the height of operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, exposing tens of thousands of troops and contractors to toxic contaminants.

I am urging support of U.S. Senate Bill 2950, the Veterans Burn Pits Exposure Recognition Act. The bill will help military personnel have on record the location where they were exposed to toxins. Reserve Component service members and their families wrestle with the overwhelming healthcare effects of open burn pits and they should be able to seek care from the Veterans Health Administration. However, they have had difficulty showing service connection because their medical records were never kept, were lost, or were destroyed. National Guard and Reserve members have to prove they performed duty near burn pits, but their orders don’t provide exact locations of their duties for national security purposes.

Steven Logan, Lexington

Cancel the show

I am so tired of Republicans saying Democrats want to “take back the election.”

What an attempt to evade the truth. Yes, I am a Democrat and voted that way. However, once Donald Trump won the presidency, I was “okay enough.” Even curious. I loved his TV show “The Apprentice.” It was one of the few shows I watched every single week, in whatever form it morphed into (“The Celebrity Apprentice” etc.). In fact, I even sort of liked (oh how that makes me feel now) the “Trump of the show” and was interested to see what he might achieve for the country with his different approach..

Then — over time — he revealed whom and what he truly is. My God. It is more than foolish — and obviously a way to try to avoid the reality of the kind of individual they are supporting — to not acknowledge that it is nothing more than Trump’s own actions that have caused so many of us to want him out of that office.

I wonder how anyone, of whatever belief or party, could support the individual now revealed by his numerous own actions and words. Yet I have many close friends and family that do so. It is collective and selective madness. It is scary.

Dorothy Irene Hoskins, Danville

In Trump’s pocket

Congressman Andy Barr seems more interested in playing on team Trump than representing his constituents. Barr has attempted to paint Trump as doing what the Democrats have always wanted, fighting corruption in Ukraine. Except, Burisma Holdings is a private Ukrainian company, not a government-run entity. Corruption in Burisma has about as much to do with addressing Ukrainian government corruption as blaming a shooting victim for being in the path of a bullet.

Trump wasn’t fighting or demanding answers for corrupt Ukrainian government practices as Barr claims. Those assurances were obtained prior to his hold on Ukrainian aid. Nor were Trump’s efforts directed at addressing Russian interference in the 2016 election as Barr has asserted. House testimony revealed associating Ukraine with meddling in our 2016 election was a Russian disinformation campaign to discredit Ukraine for Russia’s benefit.

Meanwhile, Barr had no problem ignoring Trump’s refusal to provide a single subpoenaed document or allow any eyewitness testimony to Congress, ensuring a total absence of checks and balances or accountability from the executive branch. Trump can shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it because Barr has found a way to blame the victim instead of the criminal.

Peter Wedlund, Lexington