ELECTION '08
Coleman's real record
In a June 7 commentary, two leaders of the National Organization for Women repeat an inaccurate charge against Sen. Norm Coleman that cannot go unanswered.
Sen. Coleman has been fighting violence against women throughout his three decades of public service. When he served in the Minnesota attorney general's office, he prosecuted child rapists and worked hard to fight child abuse. In the mayor's office he worked to make the streets of St. Paul safer. And in the U.S. Senate, he was a cosponsor of the successfully reauthorized Violence Against Women Act in 2005. He has called for full funding of the VAWA programs. He was awarded the annual Congressional Crime Fighter Award from RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual assault organization. And his reelection campaign this year has been endorsed by the St. Paul and Minneapolis police federations, demonstrating his long record of working alongside law enforcement.
The one procedural amendment that the Franken campaign alleges shows Norm Coleman voted against the VAWA bill is an attempt at distortion. Coleman was not only a cosponsor of the VAWA measure itself, he supported an increase to VAWA funding above the amount in the amendment cited by the Franken campaign -- which successfully passed the Senate on a subsequent vote.
Coleman has been working throughout his entire career to make Minnesota communities safer and better places for families to live and raise their families, and has done so as a three-decade resident of St. Paul.
ERIN RATH, ST. PAUL;
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR,
COLEMAN FOR SENATE
Not ha-ha funny So the DFL, in its infinite wisdom, has nominated a political satirist with no governing or political experience for the U.S. Senate. Amazing. The real joke will be if Minnesota voters actually elect him. Shades of Jesse Ventura!
LEIGH THOMAS, TWO HARBORS, MINN.
Al will make us proud Al Franken is intelligent and sincere. He will make Minnesota proud of its senator again.
Don't fall for the tricks Republicans are pulling. What someone does as a profession might say something about who they are -- except when that someone is an actor or a humorist/satirist. That doesn't speak to their true values, only that they are quick-witted and bright.
FRANK DOLINAR, ST. PAUL
Past sins Now that Franken has apologized for some of things he has written and said in the past, will Coleman apologize for backing Bush so staunchly over the years?
FRANK JONDAL, OAKDALE
HILLARY ENDS CAMPAIGN
Time to back Obama
"You can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable ... to think that a woman can be the president of the United States."
These words from Hillary Clinton's speech endorsing Barack Obama as the Democratic presidential nominee highlight an integral component of this historic campaign -- an achievement that gains authority for women as compelling as the power realized when they attained the right to vote.
Now we need to hear that Hillary's supporters understand and respect the historic aspect of Obama's campaign, as well, and that they will throw themselves into the effort to win his run for the presidency of the United States as wholeheartedly as they supported hers.
Both of these extraordinary candidates represent the finest in America today, and none of their supporters should stoop from the heights to which they have carried us. We are uplifted by all that they inspire; we are brought down when we reduce the battle simply to race and gender. And we show a traitor's face when we entertain thoughts of supporting a candidate whose political platform is diametrically opposed to that which we claim as ours.
SHAWN GILBERT, BLOOMINGTON
CONFEDERATE FLAG
A symbol of murder
If the suspended Bloomington Kennedy students had displayed flags bearing a swastika instead of a Confederate flag (Star Tribune, June 4), there would be little discussion of the fairness of their consequence, exclusion from graduation.
To me and many other African-Americans, the Confederate flag and the swastika are equally abominable, as they both conjure images and feelings of disrespect, fear, hatred, discrimination, bigotry, oppression, terror and murder. Many of us have argued this point for decades in places, like my home state of Mississippi, where the Confederate flag continues to be the state flag.
The fact that some choose to "celebrate the Southern lifestyle" in this manner on a school campus and act indignantly when they receive consequences not only shows insensitivity and ignorance but also demonstrates blatant disrespect, arrogance, and entitlement.
JOHN COOK, BROOKLYN PARK
OIL PRICES SOAR
Nationalize airlines
As the price of oil shoots to infinity, the profitability of the airline industry grows futile. Airlines are desperately slashing salaries and canceling flight obligations. Without government intervention or assistance, they may shroud themselves into bankruptcy once again.
Clearly, as a solution, the government must take ownership of the entire sector. The airline industry could become what Metro Transit is here today -- a government public service, owned by the taxpayers.
If we continue the business-as-usual scenario, it is likely that the cost of flying will become too high for most to afford. We must repeal the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 if we wish to remain in the air.
JARED HELTEMES, MINNEAPOLIS
KAHN CRITICIZES VETO
A slippery slope
Rep. Phyllis Kahn criticizes Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto of a bill authorizing research at the University of Minnesota that would have required the destruction of human embryos. She does so by dancing around the core issue and by accusing opponents of being undereducated. Using dangerous moral shading, she states that nothing in the bill would allow destruction of human embryos "destined for life," only those "destined for destruction." If Minnesota had the death penalty, would Rep. Kahn offer a bill authorizing the use of body parts taken from convicts "destined for destruction"?
This session Gov. Pawlenty signed many bills supporting the good work done by the university, but he also had the moral clarity and courage to use his veto pen against the destruction of human embryos.
STEVE CALVIN, MINNEAPOLIS; PHYSICIAN