Opinion: Trump should have borrowed an Ike smile for his Kansas visit

President Trump speaks during a rally near Wichita on Monday, Oct. 19. (Photo by Sherman Smith / Kansas Reflector)

By Rudy Taylor, publisher

Taylor Newspapers

When you come to Kansas, tell the truth.

The president missed that point when he spoke at a Wichita suburb on Monday. He stood on ground that we consider holy, and failed to honor the unwritten law of our state — shake hands, look friends and foe squarely in the eye, and speak sincerely.

This is the home of Gen. Dwight Eisenhower who led allies to victory in World War II. 

This is where a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case decided forever that racial discrimination in public schools was unconstitutional.

Kansas is where Bob Dole was born and raised, and spent the majority of his lifetime caring a limp right arm after being struck by a Nazi sniper’s bullet in Italy, then came home to be a truthful, honored leader in the U.S. Senate.

We became a state in 1861, the same year that we gained the reputation of being anti-slavery.

Our heroes are folks like Amelia Earhart, newspaperman William Allen White, and every farmer and rancher who ever  pushed a shovel into Sunflower State soil.

We are known for honest deals, dusk to dark labors, neighborly greetings, and sitting beside friends at Friday night ballgames and then go  to our own churches on Saturday or Sunday

We look up to teachers, pastors, coaches, local merchants and community volunteers.

So, when someone stands on a podium and makes us into guttersnipes, as Trump did on Monday — we quietly frown.

Attacking a Christian man of God, who is a candidate for office, is not a Kansas way. Using anti-Semitic words and sprinkling in profanity, does not make us feel good about our state and nation.

So, this is a shout in the forest. Our outrage is hard to verbalize or write. The words bouncing off the Kansas skies over Wichita were hurtful, and need to be repaired before the Nov. 3 election.

Both Roger Marshall and Adam Hamilton are honorable Kansans. They work, travel and worship God on the Holy Ground of Kansas.

Moral values, traditions and truth-speaking are expected whenever a national leader arrives here to campaign for a friend.

There was nothing friendly about Monday’s speech in the small town of Park City, Kan.  

It hurt deeply.