20 for '20: The most-read opinions

The following excerpts are from Star Tribune Opinion articles ranked by highest online readership this year. To read them in their entirety, go to startribune.com/opinion and use the embedded links.

1. "Racial justice: The new religion?" by Katherine Kersten: Since the death of George Floyd, a movement that condemns America as "systemically racist" has convulsed our public consciousness.

2. "Defund and disband Minneapolis City Hall leadership," by former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn.: With their city in ruins from lawbreakers who burned it down, the same elected officials whose failed leadership did nothing to eliminate the racism they now lament have seized upon the solution: to disband their Police Department.

3. "Minneapolis momentum is being crushed by the crime wave," by Kate Mortenson: My heart hurts to see so much media coverage about our city's failure to protect its citizens. It hurts even more when you know someone who has been sacrificed by this crisis of leadership.

4. "Counterpoint: I am a racist. So is Katherine Kersten. She can't admit it," by Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer: I have read articles by Katherine Kersten since the 1980s. And after reading "Racial justice: The new religion?" I believe for the first time I can say we share something in common: It is clear that we are both racists.

5. "Here's why I'm challenging Ilhan Omar in the DFL primary," by Antone Melton-Meaux: In 2018, I was excited to vote for Rep. Ilhan Omar. Like so many in Minnesota's Fifth Congressional District, I considered it a point of pride to continue our tradition of electing barrier-breaking representatives. What a difference 15 months make.

6. "Minneapolis must recover from its pandemic of fear," by Katherine Kersten: Minnesota has been in the grip of coronavirus hysteria for the last two months. We have submitted to unprecedented restrictions on our freedoms and stood by as our economy crashed, all because politicians, experts and journalists have warned we face an apocalyptic scenario.

8. "What I learned during 10 days of treating COVID pneumonia," by Richard Levitan, an emergency physician in Littleton, N.H.: We are just beginning to recognize that COVID pneumonia initially causes a form of oxygen deprivation we call "silent hypoxia" — "silent" because of its insidious, hard-to-detect nature.

9. "Fifth District endorsement: Melton-Meaux, for integrity and progress," by the Star Tribune Editorial Board: The DFL primary contest between first-term Rep. Ilhan Omar and Antone Melton-Meaux in the Fifth Congressional District has become one of the fiercest in the country.

10. "Failure of leadership added to Twin Cities chaos," by the Star Tribune Editorial Board: The greatest challenges for leaders never come when times are good. They come when society is at its most imperiled.

11. "Is 2020 truly the worst year ever?" by Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune: This worst year ever has been far worse for some than others, but it's touched us all.

12. "Klobuchar slipped badly during Supreme Court confirmation hearings," by Sarah Van Benschoten of Plymouth: In her unwarranted attacks on Judge Amy Coney Barrett this week, Sen. Amy Klobuchar did some serious damage to her moderate-friendly, for-all-Minnesotans reputation.

14. "Fewer deaths from cancer, more from alcohol," by David Peterson, an author and economist who lives in Duluth, Minn.: These changing statistics suggest a fundamental paradox in America today: Progress is widening on many fronts at the same time hope is waning on others.

15. "Minnesota scientists offer hope on COVID-19," by the Star Tribune Editorial Board: It's a shame that all Minnesotans couldn't listen in on encouraging conversations this week with Mayo Clinic and University of Minnesota doctors tasked with finding and evaluating new treatments for COVID-19.

16. "A month into mass quarantine — what now?" by Christopher Phelan, professor and chair, University of Minnesota Department of Economics: We are sacrificing the futures of our young to protect the old, and mostly the very old.

17. "Visit my neighborhood and tell me we should dismantle MPD," by Brandi Bennett, who lives in Minneapolis: The Charter Commission should do the right thing for the city of Minneapolis and reject the proposed amendment from the City Council to dismantle the Police Department.

18. "On Sven Sungaard's firing: Journalists need to respect neutrality," by Claude Peck, a former Star Tribune editor: Sven Sundgaard didn't lie, cheat, grope or steal. The longtime KARE 11 weather guy was dismissed for expressing an opinion.