Readers write for July 3, 2009

The editorial from the Wall Street Journal reprinted in July 2 Star Tribune does not rise above sore-loser fantasy. The writer's gripe boils down to his assertion that Coleman "lost the fight to stop the state canvassing board from changing the vote-counting rules after the fact." After the fact? Is not the canvassing board charged with enforcing the rules in effect on Election Day?

A quick count of the eight judges involved -- three on the contest board and five from the Supreme Court -- shows four Republican appointees, two Democrats and two Ventura appointees. If one of them thought the election was "stolen," why did both bodies decide unanimously against Coleman's weak case?

ERIC HAMMAR, MANKATO, MINN.

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Congratulations, Minnesota, on the arrival of a new senator -- after a long gestation and a very difficult delivery.

PATTY WILLIAMS, EXCELSIOR

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The only fair way for the voters of the state of Minnesota would have been an election with the two candidates being the only ones on the ballot.

BRUCE GRANGER, PRIOR LAKE

An American soldier is being held by Afghanistan's Taliban. I wish America could ask his captors to treat him like we treat our prisoners, but when I consider how we treated prisoners at places like Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, I have to hope they don't.

ED SALDEN, CHASKA

In response to a June 28 letter writer's claims that the elections in Iran were fraudulent, the evidence seems to argue differently. An opinion poll conducted in Iran by the widely respected Center for Public Opinion (CPO) of the New America Foundation and commissioned by the BBC and ABC predicted an 89 percent turnout and showed incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to have a nationwide advantage of two to one over Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

Ahmadinejad took the trouble to campaign all over the country; Mousavi spent three months campaigning in the large cities only.

Why are people assuming fraud in elections held in the only Islamic country that even bothers to attempt democracy? Is it because over here fraudulent elections are common, such as the 2000 presidential election? Or is it because some people are just looking for any excuse to attack Iran?

MARK HANLON, EAGAN

As President Obama's political honeymoon comes to an end, I hope that the American people, who were promised so many things during the campaign season, will now wake up to the realities of the nation's top office. There were many things said by each candidate during the campaign season -- many of which were a wish list of their political parties. But, in the end, President Obama has had to embrace several of the Bush policies because, as he soon found out, they were necessary for the security of this nation.

The president has disappointed almost as many liberals as conservatives. He must surely understand by now that, while dialogue and diplomacy are a necessary tool, the governments in nations such as Iran and North Korea are not interested in talking, and never have been. This fact has never been more evident that it has been in the past few months.

MARY LINNIHAN, MINNEAPOLIS

Banks are now hurrying to raise interest rates, fees and minimum payments, all above what is already decent, to get ahead of restrictions on such changes that will take effect February 2010, as mandated by the credit card reform bill.

This bill was signed into law to protect consumers from the abuse they are now suffering at the hands of banks, whose abuse contributed to the economic collapse that has affected all of us -- regardless of how we use credit cards, if at all.

In protecting themselves in this manner, banks prove they have significantly more power to safeguard their interests, even with governmental regulation, than ordinary citizens do with the help of their government.

That's the beauty of capitalism. No wonder a little more socialism looks appealing.

Former U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad, in remarks before the League of Minnesota Cities, accused both political parties "... of worrying more about their political bases than making sound policy." To promote this need to focus on issues, wouldn't it be helpful if the media omitted party designation after the elected official's name?

LARRY DONLIN, CHANHASSEN

I find it curious that in a job interview it is illegal to ask a candidate about their marital status, health issues, politics, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity and other personal details, yet it's OK to mine Facebook and Twitter sites for such information ("Before a job hunt, put a lid on tweets," June 28). Kind of Orwellian in today's job market.

DAN NORDLEY, MINNEAPOLIS

Having 40 top college graduates signing up for the "Teach For America" program for two years is a win-win-win.