COLEMAN: IT'S A RECESSION

Words aren't enough

Norm Coleman is once again confusing words with actions.

On CNN last week, Sen. Coleman was asked how he differs from President Bush on how we should reverse the Republican Recession. He answered that he'd "be more forthright with the public on telling them that we're in a recession."

In other words, he'd talk about the problem differently. But that's not action.

Here in Minnesota, we need an economy that works for everyone. And, with real leadership in Washington, we can build one. We can invest in our infrastructure, create "green-collar" jobs in renewable energy and conservation, extend tuition tax credits to make it easier for Minnesota families to send their kids to college, and cut taxes for the middle class.

But Norm Coleman's voting record makes it clear that he has other priorities. And on CNN, he announced that he would support making permanent the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. Not much of a "difference" with the president there.

It's nice that Sen. Coleman is willing to admit that seven years of the Bush-Coleman economic plan has, in fact, driven us into a recession. But when it comes to action, Norm Coleman is all about the status quo -- and Minnesotans can't afford more of that.

ANDY BARR, ST. PAUL;

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR,

AL FRANKEN FOR SENATE

dove hunting

They're tasty!

Why waste valuable space with Michael Markarian's March 14 commentary "Harmless and hunted"? The inanity of his third sentence -- "Typically, if someone wants to take the life of an animal, he or she tries to argue that the creature is a pest ..." -- shows a total lack of comprehension about dove hunting.

Try this for a reason: I hunt dove because I like to eat dove. I like to eat dove because dove does not taste like chicken, does not taste like turkey, does not taste like duck, does not taste like beef, etc. The same goes for other wild game.

If you don't want to shoot dove, then don't hunt dove and make an argument that you don't like hunting, but please don't try to force feed the rest of us this tripe.

DALE VANDER LINDEN, DELANO

It's a right Regarding the March 14 commentary, I am a hunter but I would never shoot a dove. I look forward to a pair coming to my bird feeder, and I love the cooing of them in the morning.

The problem with the Humane Society is that it will not be happy until it ends all harvesting of game and fur by hunting and trapping.

Though I don't shoot doves myself, I will support politicians who protect out Second Amendment rights and our right to hunt, fish and trap.

MICHAEL WILLIAMS, JACOBSON, MINN.

Deserve protection Doves are birds of peace, and they deserve to be protected as they were for more than 50 years in our state.

DIANE LARSON, EAGAN

ELCA AND GAYS

This is a culture war?

The March 14 article on the on the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Draft Statement on Sexuality suggests that the denomination is trying to practice "church ethics" and avoid what ELCA Bishop Peter Strommen calls a "culture war."

But what exactly is this "culture war"? One presumes that definitions will vary. But one can be sure that gay and lesbian people and their families don't see themselves as mere cultural artifacts of little ethical significance to society and the church. It hardly seems like engaging in culture war to say in public that the church should support, honor, and celebrate gay and lesbian couples and their families just as much as it does married couples and their families.

Yet this is exactly what the draft statement avoids saying.

ELISABETH PLETCHER-HARINCAR, MINNEAPOLIS

RACE AND THE DEMOCRATS

A looming implosion

Much to the delight of John McCain and the Republicans, the Democratic Party is systematically destroying itself. The continued racial barbs being thrown out by the Clinton campaign are obtaining results, but at what cost? By doing so, not only is it attracting a certain sector of the electorate that believes in that garbage but it's also legitimizing these types of attacks for the 527 groups that are soon to emerge.

I think we're already seeing this as previewed in the Wall Street Journal's exposure of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's inflammatory rhetoric. The racially charged atmosphere being created could tear the party, and maybe even the country, apart.

The superdelegates should step in and end this bloodletting. Since Geraldine Ferraro was instrumental in starting this, I challenge her mentor, Walter Mondale, to step up and start the healing by renouncing the Clinton tactics and switching to Barack Obama.

MIKE IRELAND, ST PAUL

Obama's funny story Barack Obama's feigned ignorance of his pastor's racist and anti-American remarks does not ring true, especially in light of Mr. Obama's stated close relationship with the Rev. Wright for the past 20 years.

If it took Barack Obama 20 years to learn what was going on right under his nose, by his own radical minister friend, all I can say is heaven help the United States if he gets elected president!

RICHARD MEIXNER, CHANHASSEN