North metro letters

If I have heard it once I have heard it a thousand times, we cannot "disenfranchise" the voters.

As a once-honored privilege slowly becomes as regulated as voting for the next "American Idol," it is not the new voters who are becoming disenfranchised. It is voters like me who take time to learn about the candidates, take time to understand their platforms. We also know how to fill out a ballot. We see our votes being canceled by those who cannot fill in the oval, cannot refrain from filling in more than one oval, and have no idea what it is they are voting for. Is that the goal? Make it so easy that it means some ballots are counted twice? Or leave it up to a committee to decide the true intent of a person's mark on a ballot?

BRIAN GRONQUIST

ANDOVER

When were [Brooklyn Center city officials] going to share that our "city risks being added to a list of the nation's most troubled suburbs," or that we're sinking toward being worse off than Detroit? ("Truly diverse burb," Dec. 9.)

... I have heard it be said, "diversity is our greatest asset." Having come from multiple generations of taxpayers in Minnesota, I understand what I am bringing to the table. Great schools, great teachers, good roads and infrastructure, good social services, and what used to be a good business base. What do I get in return? Lower home values, higher taxes, and social problems both criminal and financial. It sounds like a great deal for me.

I pay a ton of taxes in this community and I have to wonder what I am getting for my money. Where is the leadership that we pay for? Why are businesses fleeing our community? Maybe it is time to think about fleeing myself before I lose any more of my property value. Why is this happening to this degree in Brooklyn Center, but not so much in other communities? What are we doing wrong, or what are they doing right? Or is this the plan that our elected officials envisioned?

BROOKLYN CENTER

I have come to a conclusion that is not necessarily profound, but clearly apparent. This country is about evenly divided, primarily along political lines and ideologies. I have come to a further conclusion regarding our "dividedness." This country, I believe, is now at a precipitous moment in history, and is at a "fork in the road." The question I ask is, "Which direction will this country choose to walk?"

Believe me, a choice will be made, and the leaders of this country will make that choice in the coming days, weeks and months. Are you going to be a part of the problem or a part of the solution? This country is distinctly divided by those who blame, and those who take responsibility for themselves, by those who expect government to take care of their every need, and those who want government to stay out of their lives. There are the Nick Colemans and Garrison Keillors of the world, these are Americans who play the blame game, want government more involved in our lives and affairs, but in reality offer no solutions. They are in fact a part of the problem. I know there are many out there who think and act otherwise, who act differently. My message to you is: "It's time to wake up, and fight for what is right, good and true."

So the question of the coming year I believe is, "Where and how are you going to align yourself?" The separation is now taking place, ignore it if you want to, but I wouldn't. Are you a sheep or a goat?

DON BERRE