To the editor:

Why have conservatives become so mean-spirited, angry and anti-anything often only because the “other side” supports it? “Cancel culture,” victimization, untruths and “what aboutism” have become their mantras and weapons.

GOP lawmakers in Kansas and Missouri are laser-focused on ending abortion, blocking any gun reform, punishing transgender children, preventing Medicaid expansion and enacting voting restrictions.

Instead of solving problems of concern to everyone, they obstruct and divert. Conservative media has upped its fear- and hate-mongering rhetoric. Anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers abound. It is George Floyd’s fault, not the police’s. Immigrants are “criminals.” They shun any kind of police reform while unjust killings of Black people continue. There is no systemic racism. The majority of people believe a woman has the right to make her own personal choices. LGBTQ individuals have fundamental rights upon which politicians should not encroach. Most people know that mass shootings and suicides could be prevented with sensible gun reform. Why can’t they see that people don’t want to ride buses or go to school with 18-year-old gunslingers? Medicaid expansion in both states has been blocked continually; Missouri voters approved it last year. And many poor still have no health care. Voting rights are being trampled all over the country. Gridlock has only gotten worse. By Republicans. Why do they arrogantly forget why they were elected and by whom? Have they no conscience, character or even shame? They profess to believe in a higher power, but do they? Or is it their own power that counts?

Leslie Mills,

Lawrence