Letters to the editor for Tuesday, July 15, 2008

I'm really struggling with Jesse Ventura's latest boast, "if you were in a dark alley, which one of the three of us would you want with you?

Of course, he thinks the answer is himself over Norm Coleman or Al Franken. The reason it rankles me so is that I am past my limit of tolerance for the public bluster of phonies and liars.

Let's set aside for a moment the ridiculous assertion that being with you in a "dark alley" somehow qualifies a person to be a good U.S. senator and meet Jesse's challenge head-on.

The correct answer to Jesse's question is Franken: He was a real wrestler, and Jesse was a fake wrestler.

When did we start to give more credence to what a person did for pretend as opposed to what they did in reality? Like President Bush's military record vs. John Kerry's.

Wrestling in Minnesota has a great tradition, and the young men and women in this state who sacrificed to compete in this sport are being insulted by Jesse's flippant comments.

THOMAS JOHNSON, MINNEAPOLIS

DAN NELSON, DELANO

If there is an unforeseen consequence of the Pentagon's policy to shield Americans from viewing flag-draped caskets of soldiers and the military burials that honor them -- it may diminish a pride that might have inspired future youth to aspire to military service.

MILLICENT ADAMS DOSH, MINNEAPOLIS

Beijing spends billions on world-class architecture for the Olympics, Paris a couple of hundred million to improve visitors' experiences at the Eiffel Tower, and Minneapolis musters half a million to bolster its well-deserved image as a place that values creativity and has plentiful water ("Price tag on drinking fountains causes a lot of gulps," July 13).

These two attributes may be symbolically and in reality the harbingers of the city's future. The Star Tribune labels also-ran mayoral candidate Lisa McDonald "no foe of the arts." Like any politician, she favors art that furthers her goals and, like the late Jesse Helms, she opposes art when doing so gets her attention.

TOM BORRUP, MINNEAPOLIS

Money to burn? Minneapolis must have solved its crime problem and fixed all the streets that were in need of repair. Now it is addressing more important projects -- like drinking fountains!

Instead of $6,000 drinking fountains, the city needs $50,000 "artist-designed" drinking fountains. Aren't most of the current drinking fountains in Minneapolis "artist designed" with graffiti from taggers and gangs?

GARY FISCHBACH, ST. PAUL

Spend it on cops I find it deplorable that the mayor and City Council have approved $500,000 for the installation of 10 artistic water fountains when we clearly do not have enough police to keep the city safe and many of our roads and other infrastructure are in poor condition.

SUSAN PETERS, MINNEAPOLIS

The July 12 article "Longtime GOP Rep. Erhardt will run as an independent" states that I said that I would likely caucus with the majority DFLers if reelected. That is misleading. What I said to the reporter was that I would likely caucus with whichever party was in the majority after the fall elections.

As a moderate, I have always believed that effectively representing the interests of my constituents should take precedence over purely partisan interests. I have been able to best serve Edina citizens by working successfully with members of both political parties on issues affecting the good of all Minnesotans. That is why I am prepared to caucus with the majority, no matter which political party it happens to be.

REP. RON ERHARDT, I-EDINA

It's disappointing to see the editorial board fall into the framework of scarcity that says we don't have enough resources to fund our public infrastructure ("For now, bus, rail fare hike is a necessary evil," July 13).

The fact is, the Met Council can use half the available Metro Transit reserves to keep operations going until the next legislative session, where the people can properly discuss a needed long-term solution. This is the democratic way of doing things. Why take this important decision out of the hands of the people by prematurely hiking fares?

Our public transit system is public. Let's keep it that way by funding it with public dollars.

DAVID GREENE, MINNEAPOLIS

We are quick to condemn death threats and worse from Muslims who fly into a rage over cartoons unflattering to Mohammed. We feel smugly superior to such Taliban-like intolerance. Not here, we say.

How revealing, then, to read the blurb in the July 11 Star Tribune that a Florida college student who took a communion wafer "hostage" has been receiving death threats, and that the Catholic League (ironically dubbed a "civil rights group") is demanding that the University of Minnesota, Morris, take action against a professor there who championed the student's tactic on his blog.

AUSTIN SULLIVAN, PLYMOUTH

In her July 14 column, Debra Saunders establishes herself as a potential Phil Gramm replacement: Lost your job? House foreclosed? Can't afford health care? Quit whining! Don't you realize that last year GDP grew 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter?!