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Those deeply concerned about the future of our democracy might agree with Akshay R. Rao’s opinion that “loser” is possibly a more appropriate name-call than “weird” in branding former President Donald Trump (”Can Democrats come up with a better name-call than ‘weird’?” Aug. 4). A thorough Associated Press investigation in 2021 found fewer than 475 instances of confirmed voter fraud across the six battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — nowhere near the magnitude to change the 2020 presidential election outcome. Trump’s Justice Department discovered no widespread voter fraud, and numerous other legal challenges and voting machine conspiracies were all unfounded. Trump was determined a “loser.” And what of the string of Trump’s legal losses in New York?
I fear we will become a nation of “losers” if MAGA and Trump win the 2024 election. We stand to lose corporate taxes, clean air and water regulations, protection of our treasured Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from unsustainable copper nickel mining, voting and women’s reproductive rights, civil service protections and adequate funding for Medicare and Social Security. Probably “weird” is too tepid a Trump brand given the risk of becoming a “loser” nation and a “loser” democracy.
Julie F. Holmen, Minneapolis
MEDICAL AID IN DYING
Despair and disease are not the same
I would like to respectfully disagree with a recent letter writer and doctor’s unscientific representation of suicide and medical aid in dying (Readers Write, Aug. 4). I live with major depression/anxiety and have managed this disease for 75 years. My mother (95 years old) and younger brother (45 years old) committed suicide, and because we have no compassionate dying program in Minnesota, they both died long, painful deaths. The letter writer wants to lump my family in with a label of despair, and he has no right to do that.
Also, his cavalier attitude toward stopping eating and drinking means he has never watched someone go through this excruciating experience. I watched my mother die slowly of this method over six weeks because it was the only way to release her from her misery. Hospice is a wonderful option for those who wish to prolong their lives. The fact that we pat ourselves on the back for hospice but keep opposing medical aid in dying is hypocritical. Every day, hundreds of our beloved animal friends are released from misery with a quick, pain-free injection. I have held four of our cats on my lap in my home over the years as they were released from pain and misery. I wish I could have done the same for my mom and my brother.
Nancy Lanthier Carroll, Roseville