Readers Write: Mass shootings, clean energy, HealthPartners and St. Paul schools

President Donald Trump, Gov. Tim Walz, and other governors have ordered flags to be flown at half-staff through Aug. 8 in honor and remembrance of the victims in the two mass shootings that took place in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.

Local, state and national leaders should be ashamed of an "action" that mocks the tragic loss of life that has become the norm in our country. Thoughts, prayers, lowered flags and then business as usual is the textbook response from our leaders who lack either the moral compass or the fortitude to address the fact that Americans are committing acts of terrorism against other Americans.

Can Trump, congressional leaders and state leaders look the Dayton and El Paso victims' families in the eye and honestly tell them that after Virginia Tech, Columbine, Orlando, Las Vegas and scores of other mass shootings, the best the U.S. can do to keep its citizens safe within its own borders is to lower flags to half-staff and pray?

Not only does that speak volumes about our leaders, it speaks volumes about the society that elects them.

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As an employee in a public building, I again on Monday faced the all-too-frequent task of lowering the flag to half-staff. It has become a symbolic effort that has lost its meaning. The president puffs up and declares that he will dedicate every effort of the federal government to assist the communities of El Paso and Dayton after this weekend's deadly rampage.

It is a lie. Time and again we hear the words of condolence from those in a position to change the outcome. But nothing changes. Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell have the power to move the needle and reduce the thoughtless carnage. They simply do not have the will. The deep pockets of the National Rifle Association have seen to that.

After the horrendous El Paso and Dayton mass shootings the rush is on, again, to assess blame.

Some allege it is because President Donald Trump is a white nationalist, i.e., racist. Purely political and, I think, terribly wrong! I view Trump as a nationalist who supports all things American. Hatred, bigotry, etc., is un-American. Others place blame on guns in general; nonsense, I think.

Still others say video games are the culprit. Personally, I think young people spend way too much time playing video games to the detriment of other activities such as playing team sports, going to the beach/pool, recreational centers, etc. Having said that, a number of reputable studies show no connection between video games and real-world aggression.

The way I see it, the problem with the internet is primarily with radical websites, chat rooms and message boards. They need to be closely monitored for early signs of mentally disturbed alt-right and far-left participants obsessed with dividing people on racial, gender and political lines.

I am so tired of the Republicans and NRA blaming mental health for the many deaths by gun violence. It is a repressive society that would actually confine mentally ill people before they killed someone. Would anyone go to a therapist if the possible outcome was involuntary commitment because you expressed anger or violent thoughts? I don't think there is any chance a law would pass that would confine people who have committed no crime so that the mentally healthy gun lovers would be free to go to the shooting range with their automatic weapons.

Those who oppose common-sense restrictions on guns often interpret the scope of the Second Amendment to prohibit any form of gun control. It doesn't.

Look at the First Amendment and free speech. All reasonable interpretations of it recognize that we can place restrictions on the scope of its protection. For instance, you can't hide behind the First when shouting "fire" in a crowded theater. Safety trumps free speech.

Look at the Fifth, thou shall not kill. Oops, that's a commandment handed down from a greater authority. Yet all reasonable interpretations of even the words of a supreme being recognize that there are limits on that prohibition — self-defense, killing in the time of war, and, at least for some, capital punishment.

If we can reasonably interpret a commandment not to kill to still allow some forms of killing, then the Second Amendment should not be free of reasonable interpretations intended to save lives.

A recent letter writer representing the American Petroleum Institute would have us believe that "homegrown" oil and natural gas are affordable, clean-burning fuels for our energy future ("Using natural gas and oil isn't antithetical to saving the planet," Aug. 3). Nothing could be further from the truth. Fossil fuels are costing our economy trillions in damage from catastrophic climate events and respiratory illness.

He touts the Enbridge Line 3 as a job creator but fails to mention this is relatively low-paying temporary work. Meanwhile the clean energy sector in Minnesota employs 61,000 and is growing 2.5 times faster than the overall state's economy. These are stable, good-paying jobs.

The API is desperately trying to slow-walk us into a critically needed clean energy future, perhaps just to squeeze a few million more dollars out of dirty fuel. Their time is up. Let's move on.

After years of giving them our business, HealthPartners is currently threatening an unprecedented $4 million penalty on the educators of St. Paul Public Schools for a change in their insurance agreement that would allow educators to join the statewide Public Employees Insurance Program, allowing more choice with their providers ("St. Paul teachers' move hits budget," Aug. 3).

HealthPartners takes in $7 billion of revenue annually and pays its CEO over a million dollars a year, but due to its not-for-profit status doesn't even contribute to public school revenue by paying property taxes on numerous facilities all over St. Paul. $4 million amounts to 0.057% of HealthPartners' yearly revenue.

Why is a company that has $7 billion in premium revenue choosing to assess this penalty to public school employees? To St. Paul Public Schools, on the other hand, this $4 million is the cost of up to 40 full-time teachers, educational assistants, nurses, counselors, librarians, social workers or psychologists who may be cut or never hired.