Letter to the editor: A hug for columnists?

Thank you, Michael Leppert for offering us a sensible suggestion in today’s IBJ [“Human contact, connecting are on the ropes,” Forefront, April 9], because after reading the inane and self-serving comments of Kyle Reynolds and Riley Parr, I needed it.

First, Mr. Reynolds jabbers away with the tired nonsense of government overreach when it comes to the mandate to wear masks [“With vaccines for all, it is time to end mask mandates,” Forefront, April 9]. Obviously, he doesn’t understand that he lives in a society where responsible behavior means caring about the health and safety of others. I guess he would have us throw our trash in the street and develop our own vaccines. That’s not government overreach; it is government protecting us from ourselves, just like the mask mandate.

And then Mr. Riley decries the apathy of Republicans who are tired of “kowtowing” to teachers who are, according to him, among those who are causing “social array” for wanting a decent salary [“Political apathy in U.S. continues to grow,” Forefront, April 9]. He fails to mention that Republican apathy does not extend to the desire to take away voting rights from people of color. They seem amazingly engaged for that.

So, I thank Mr. Leppert for diagnosing the problem of Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Parr: They are in need of a hug. But apparently since they don’t care about anyone other than themselves, a hug may be hard to find. Instead, maybe that Japanese bow that Mr. Leppert suggests is the perfect solution. Sadly, since it wasn’t made in America, they would probably reject it anyway.

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Robert Heimach