Clayton Hill
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
Should bridges here in Jefferson City be named for retiring U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt? I don't think so right now. A living person has every opportunity to disgrace that reputation or be discovered as unworthy.
Blunt's predecessor at the secretary of state is a prime example. I was assigned his escort for an inaugural parade. En route from his home in Warrensburg to Jefferson City, his face-to-face boasting of a contracting ploy was stopped in mid-sentence. Now when I travel the mill bottom, I am reminded of his name affixed to the archive building -- not for his long-time service to the state, the escort duties, nor for the souvenir shamrock pen holder, but of his bid fixing story. It's ironic that those bid documents are probably deep in the files there. Politics, power and office longevity sometimes make strange bedfellows.
That Blunt has served in public office for more than 35 years in Missouri and Congress does not necessarily qualify a person for such acclaim. Tell me what he has really accomplished for the betterment of Missouri and society in general to stand above the rest. Merely seeing that our federal taxes paid to the government are being returned to us is not enough.
In jest, maybe one bridge here should be named for Merriweather Lewis and the other for William Clark as that would commemorate President Jefferson's initiated exploration of the Louisiana Purchase. Both were later governors of the Missouri Territory before statehood.
But wait, maybe our mayor will push to have Jefferson removed as our capital's namesake (regardless of his dedication to the writing of the Declaration of Independence, being the third president, an ambassador to France and founder of the University of Virginia -- among other significant endeavors). He was a slaveholder and most active in removing native Americans from settled land; got to hide objectionable history, "don't-cha" you know. This is way more in line with her "wokeism" demonstrated by attempting to eliminate the commemorative Civil War markers. That backfired, costing the taxpayers some $12,000. The mayor should be required to reimburse our wasted taxes for her feeble attempt to change history to her liking.
I have nothing against Senator Blunt and generally appreciate his dedicated service, but being memorialized should be achieved after death and after no "skeletons" are discovered that would mar that acclaim. Maybe delaying this honor is most prudent.