A generation ago, J-Lo and Shakira at the Super Bowl would have been called porn

A question about what is wrong

On “CBS Sunday Morning,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren posed the most insightful political question I have heard in recent years: “Ask what was broken in this country that got Donald Trump elected to begin with,” she said. It would be enlightening for the candidates and media to objectively answer this question.

- James Udstuen, Granbury

Not my kind of imports

A remark in Sunday’s front-page story about Congressional District 24 struck a nerve. (“Race in Congressional District 24 drawing interest around country”) Marketing director Jessica Kelton said that so many people have moved from the West Coast that they’ve “brought in a different mentality and a different mindset” to the district.

The saying “Don’t California my Texas” comes to mind. Every state on the West Coast is a mess, with nobody to blame but themselves. That mindset can stay in California, Oregon and Washington.

Hopefully, those who have moved into Texas believe they are escaping liberal government, high taxes and social mismanagement.

- Steve Himes, Fort Worth

Learn from attacks on abortion rights

The Supreme Court decided in 1973 that the 14th Amendment protected women’s right to abortion. However, the Texas Legislature doesn’t agree. State lawmakers have enacted law after law making access to abortion impossible.

How can it be legal for a state to make laws that deny women a right guaranteed by the Constitution? But it occurs to me that the same could be done with guns. The Legislature could effectively outlaw guns the way it outlawed abortion.

So we need to be sure the people we elect to the Texas Legislature are ready to do everything possible to end gun deaths, whether deliberate or accidental.

- Barbara Johnson, Hurst

Worth a thousand bad words

How hard did you (or The Associated Press) have to look to find a photo of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell looking like a dorky Dr. Seuss character for the Feb. 1 front page? Disgraceful. You’re better than that, or so I thought.

- Kelvin Johnson, Crowley

No celebrities on pedestals

Many people were affected by the death of Kobe Bryant, but could we, as a society, stop deifying sports and entertainment figures? They have excelled at their crafts and have made a lot of money, but they are not heroes or gods. We ignore the real heroes: the military men and women who return from war, some with a flag over their coffins, some with missing limbs and brain injuries.

During the Super Bowl halftime show, we saw what two well-known celebrities think of the flag and this country. They have been blessed with fame and fortune beyond what most people could conceive, yet they chose to show their disdain for the country and the people who have supported them.

- Clista Hancock, Arlington

Democrats have failed Texas

In the drive to turn Texas blue, consider what we have received from Democrats elected to previously red districts. They have not served their constituents but rather the agenda of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Reps. Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler.

The result is the waste of taxpayer dollars in a foolish scheme to undo the election of President Donald Trump. Remember that our wealth, prestige and opportunities were wasted by Democrats, and vote them out.

- C.W. Minshew, Keller

That used to be called porn

I was pleasantly surprised to read Cynthia M. Allen’s column on the Super Bowl halftime show. (Feb. 4, 11A, “Halftime show is reason I didn’t watch Super Bowl”) The performances by women in extremely skimpy costumes and engaging in pelvic thrusting and crotch grabbing would have been described as pornographic a generation ago.

I hope most responsible parents would, as Allen did, not allow their children to be exposed to the blatant use of sex to help sell the Super Bowl.

- Gil Williams, Mansfield

This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.