Letters: Rule-preserving Democrats living in a filibuster fantasy world. We have not overcome.

Filibuster leads to 'stagnation,' not moderation

During her recent tone-deaf floor speech, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema suggested that  the filibuster would protect the American public from “wild swings in public policy.” But I contend such swings could ultimately be good for democracy. 

Let the majority enact its policies, let's see if they work, and if they don’t, the American public will be swift to vote that party out of the majority and they will give the other party its opportunity to enact its policies. 

Brown anti-filibuster:Changing his tune, Sherrod Brown wants to dump filibuster due to GOP

Voters will be motivated to go to the polls because they will see laws enacted, and will respond robustly for or against those laws. When votes translate into laws, that is motivating, either positively or negatively. When votes translate into no action, that is demoralizing and results in voter disengagement, which is the greatest threat to democracy.

The filibuster doesn't lead to moderation.

 It leads to stagnation and gridlock. It leads to  voter disengagement. A Senate that enacts legislation via simple majority will quickly lead to a more stable government in the long run. 

Abolish filibuster:Letters: Open enrollment, welfare, Texas laws, litter, filibuster

A very engaged public that will run to the polls and oust a party that overreaches its mandate will provide all the moderation Sen. Sinema and her ilk are looking for.

Matthew Baron-Chapman, West Chester

More:How to submit a letter to the editor for The Columbus Dispatch

Senate GOP shows true colors by opposing voting rights act

Having just celebrated the day honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, both the man and his mission, let’s not forget that Senate Republicans stand unified in defeating voting rights legislation. 

They do it under the guise of preventing the very voter fraud they support, with their continued contention that Joe Biden is not our legally elected president, their refusal to subject themselves to taking an oath to tell the truth before the House Jan. 6 committee, and their colleagues in numerous state legislatures who have passed new legislation to thwart the ability of our elections to reflect the will of the majority.  

Protecting rights:Barack Obama: 'Our democracy isn’t a given.' Voting right must be 'vigilantly' preserved, protected.

Certain Democratic senators refuse to support the altering of filibuster rules to pass effective voting rights legislation with the wrongheaded notion this will protect Democrats should Republicans become the majority in Congress. 

Do they really think the party that denied Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee with a year left in his presidency and confirmed Donald Trump’s nominee within months of his leaving office, would hesitate to change any rule to favor themselves? If they do, they are clearly living in a fantasy world.

Voting rights bill:Opinion: Congress must pass voting rights bill to prevent Republican gerrymandering

So, let’s get voting rights legislation up for a vote so that all senators are forced to go on record as to their position with regard to free and fair elections. Hopefully, that voting record will be reflected in their election successes or failures in 2022 and 2024.  

Joe Barmess, Pataskala

Portman should 'do the right thing' and cast ballot for voting rights 

Rob Portman's time in the Senate will soon be over. I ask the question President Biden asked: "(Does he) want to be on the side of John Lewis or Bull Connor?" That is what his intransigence on voting rights suggests.

If voting rights for all are not protected, eventually no one will have any rights. The United States will no longer be a beacon on the hill, and Russia and China will have won. Does Portman want that to be his legacy?

Voting obstacles:Ohio is part of a shameful trend to erect barriers to voting in America

For once, he should do the right thing and vote for the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. If not, he will be the reason our democracy dies.

Sharon Hamersley, Columbus

Check in on pandemic-stressed kids

Most children prefer in-person school, but they also want to be safe. These conflicting feelings have led to record numbers of children with anxiety. The recent walkouts by students across the country is just the latest example of the frustration they might have.

More:COVID-19 in Ohio schools: 'Kids belong in the classroom,' Columbus officials say

As a former teacher and now pediatrician-in-training, I’ve learned a simple check-in from a caring adult can go a long way in allowing children to feel heard. Students may even have suggestions regarding school issues that have not been considered.

Ali Sawani, Columbus

Irene Morgan an unsung civil rights heroine

Allow me to add a tenth name to your Jan. 17 article, "MLK's work was also women's work," which contained a list of black women who defied segregation laws. 

Be like Martin:Jeffries: Dr. King worked tirelessly for democracy. We should do the same.

Irene Morgan of Baltimore was visiting her mother in Gloucester County, Virginia, in the summer of 1944. She boarded a bus for home at Hayes Store. When the bus stopped at Saluda, Virginia, to take on more passengers, the driver directed Morgan and her seatmate, a black woman with an infant, to the rear of the bus. Morgan refused and was charged with violating the seating law and resisting arrest. 

MLK Day not just a holiday:Our view: Martin Luther King Jr. Day is not a time for rest and relaxation

In October 1944, Morgan pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and was fined $100. But she refused to plead to violating the seating law, was found guilty and fined $10.

Morgan sued Virginia over its segregation law under the commerce clause. In June 1946, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Virginia had no authority to regulate the terms of interstate travel.

King quotes:Thought-provoking quotes from Martin Luther King's most memorable speeches

Morgan’s case was originally filed and argued by Spottswood Robinson of Richmond (and his famed partner Oliver Hill) and was later joined by Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP.

The case is not lost to history but often overlooked in the history of civil rights litigation.

Tom Ayres, New Albany

Ahrens' column cast new light on caste system

The Jan. 16 guest columnist Rev. Tim Ahrens' commentary, "This MLK Day, acknowledge our US caste system for what it is" put our racial institution and its imbalance of equality into a perspective I'd never before considered. 

U.S. caste system:Keeping the faith: The 'untouchable' Martin Luther King Jr. and America's caste system

It's heartbreaking to think a child is born into a system that, like the Hindu caste system, considers one "untouchable" and disregards a particular person just because of the family they were born into. 

We have such a long way to go to overcome our system of beliefs and prejudices in this country. 

As I once told an acquaintance who held onto the old ways of thinking, racism will be with us until a Black man can honestly say it didn't matter he was born Black because he is treated the same as a white man.  

Cindy Kiener, Columbus

 All children deserve access to high-quality schools

It deeply concerns me that we have yet to provide central Ohio students and families with high-quality public and private school options.

It is not an either/or but a both/and. Until we as a community see it this way we will be going back and forth year after year, decade after decade.

More:Ohio legalized school vouchers to help kids in failing schools. Is that what's happening?

As a mother of three children that have all attended both public and private schools in Columbus, we know the value that each experience gave to them — and to us.

Let's face it, education is not just experienced by the student, but by the family as well. We become a part of the school family and are knitted into the fabric of the school community.

Voucher lawsuit:100 public schools are suing Ohio, saying EdChoice voucher programs are unconstitutional

We can decide to parcel out funding so that all of our children have access to high-quality education and school communities. Why would we ever settle for anything less?

Tiffany Edwards, Gahanna