<strong><span class="subhead">Where&#8217;s outrage over wiretapping?</span></strong></p><p>I see once again our Constitution is under attack in the form of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 2008, and the assault goes underreported by our &#8220;free press&#8221; and unnoticed by the public (6/20, A-2, &#8220;Wiretapping bill rewritten&#8221;). Sen. Kit Bond has led the charge with his compromise legislation that would vastly expand the Bush administration&#8217;s powers to spy on the American people while at the same time granting immunity to the telecommunications industry.</p><p>What is most disturbing, however, is the lockstep support this legislation has received by both the Kansas and Missouri Democratic delegations. Even Reps. Emanuel Cleaver and Nancy Boyda, who have been supportive of civil liberties in the past, have chosen to betray their oath of office and collaborate with the likes of House Republican leader John Boehner and Rep. Roy Blunt.</p><p>This legislation is headed to the Senate with the aid of Majority Leader Harry Reid and is very likely to pass. Let us watch and see if our new agent of change, Sen. Barack Obama, will use his power as the presumptive Democratic nominee and stop this outrage.</p><p>I&#8217;m not optimistic.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>Frank. M. Hendricks</strong></p> <p align="right"><em>Kansas City</em></p> If we start down the slippery slope of retroactively granting immunity for breaking the law in the instance of illegal wiretapping, just where is it going to end?</p><p>The criminals who have been running this nation like emperors for the last 7 1/2 years need to be held accountable.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>David Oberdorfer</strong></p> <p align="right"><em>Bonner Springs</em></p> <strong><span class="subhead">Why we&#8217;re in Iraq</span></strong></p><p>Is there anyone who still believes we went to war in Iraq for any reason other than oil? The recent &#8220;no-bid&#8221; contracts awarded to the same companies who were kicked out 40 years ago (6/20, Business, &#8220;Iraq prepares to tie up deals with oil companies&#8221;) should be sufficient proof of Bush-Cheney&#8217;s real energy policy.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>Don Porter</strong></p> <p align="right"><em>Overland Park</em></p> How much more information does Congress need? Most of us who paid any attention to the news at all knew that the Iraq war was a scam before it started.</p><p>Of course, you had to pay attention to Page A14 and be brighter than the average tulip.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>Tom Reyner</strong></p> <p align="right"><em>Kansas City</em></p> <strong><span class="subhead">It&#8217;s Obama&#8217;s policies, not race</span></strong></p><p>How dare Kathleen Sebelius spout the Democratic line, saying Republicans would undertake &#8220;a major effort to try and frighten people about&#8221; Barack Obama because of his race (6/27, A6, &#8220;Sebelius: GOP will try to scare voters; She echoes Barack Obama&#8217;s warnings of Republican attacks with racial undertones&#8221;). Sebelius is governor of Kansas because many Republicans voted for her, and now she turns on them.</p><p>Obama is opposed because of his positions. He plans to raise taxes on capital gains, which those of us living on our retirement investments need. (Obama would prefer we rely on government subsidies so our country can become even more socialistic.) He would raise income and Social Security taxes. He offers no relief on energy except the pie-in-the-sky alternatives. He accepts the global warming theory, which has no true basis in science (I would suggest he take courses in astronomy and geology).</p><p>For Obama, government is the answer to all problems. Goodbye, entrepreneurs! None of the above concerns has anything to do with Obama&#8217;s race. It is the man&#8217;s policies that bring opposition to his being our president.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>Jean Placke</strong></p> <p align="right"><em>Baileyville, Kan.</em></p> <strong><span class="subhead">Brains needed in White House</span></strong></p><p>I admire John McCain for his valor and war heroism. However, John McCain is not as smart as George Bush. We&#8217;ve had enough cowboy macho flailing a sledgehammer aimlessly trying to swat flies. We need some brains behind America&#8217;s considerable brawn. Was 9/11 a failure of our military might? Or our intelligence?