Readers Write (Aug. 11): Target's pill bottles, Donald Trump's words, Phyllis Kahn's loss and legacy

A few weeks ago, I finally received a pill bottle that works, only to find the Star Tribune Editorial Board's campaign to return to one that doesn't ("Bring back Target's red pill bottles," Aug. 10). Target's red pill bottle's design looks and functions like a first-year product design student's D-plus test submission. Since CVS has taken over the Target Pharmacy, I have a pill bottle that (1) stands up by itself with the top off, (2) does not tumble out of the cupboard when I reach for something else, (3) does not appear to be upside down when it's right-side up and (4) has the pills in the bottom and the top on top, so it's not top heavy and unstable. In fairness, I must admit the Target red color bottle does add to the artistic value of the inside of our cupboard.

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The editorial about the pill bottles stated that "customers in Minnesota … were well-served by the Target staff. That shouldn't change under CVS, a trusted brand name … ." The words "a trusted brand name" got my attention. Less than a year ago, a class-action suit was filed against CVS by customers from California, New York, Texas, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. The lawsuit claims that CVS overcharged customers for generic prescription drugs by submitting claims for payment to third-party payers at inflated prices. The lawsuit alleged that CVS customers "enrolled in third-party health plans paid much more in co-payments for generic drugs than customers enrolled in CVS's Health Savings Pass program." In one example, a 90-day supply of a generic drug, purchased through a third-party health plan, cost $130, while someone paying cash paid only $12. In the simplest of words, CVS was price-gouging its customers. That certainly doesn't seem to be something a "trusted brand name" would do.

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Target Stores are failing three tests of successful marketing:

First: Get customers in the store. By selling the pharmacy to CVS, the stores are less attractive to customers who can easily go to any CVS store and avoid the "big-box" trek. Even if the Target Pharmacy barely broke even, its attractive bottles and responsive pharmacy staff attracted people who might buy other merchandise during the visit.

Second: Have merchandise that customers want to buy. Too often there are empty shelves where merchandise I want to buy should be. Calling for an associate to check the backroom takes time and frequently comes up empty. Target's shelf-stocking system is broken.

For all the highfalutin' plans and high-priced executive hires, unless Target recognizes that basic store functions are deteriorating and fixes the problems, the future does not look encouraging.

If you doubt that the media is doing everything they can to get Hillary Clinton elected, all you have to do is look at the latest attempt to spin something Donald Trump said to something he never said at all. With his comment that Clinton wants to take away your guns, which I believe is true, the media are trying to say that he is telling people to use violence. There is nothing he said that even would suggest that he encouraged violence. But like everything the media reports on Trump, they turn what he says into something that he never said, just to promote Clinton.

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Talk about inciting violence. On the Aug. 10 front page, under "top news," the Star Tribune has the nerve to determine that Trump "seems to suggest an armed response if Clinton is elected." The paper "seems" to be part of the hatemongers who speak in innuendos. Come on, report the news properly — we know you are biased, but please don't try to incite violence.

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Ultimately, though, Trump's intentions — or lack thereof — don't matter. The effects of his words matter. In a population as large as ours, in our political climate, it is a statistical certainty that some unstable people will hear his words and take it upon themselves to gun down Clinton and/or her supporters.

Last November in Minneapolis, some hooligans shot into a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters. They reportedly called out "Trump 2016." This was back when Trump was battling more than a dozen candidates for the nomination, before the press even thought he would still be a candidate in January. Now, Trump and his antics have the tacit endorsement of half of our political landscape.

This is a campaign that was literally about penis size in its early days. The only thing surprising about Trump's "Second Amendment people" comment is that it took this long to happen. This time his rhetorical vomit will lead to bloodshed. Count on it.

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Perhaps Speaker Paul Ryan might reconsider his characterization of the Trump Second Amendment remark by reviewing the death of St. Thomas Becket. "Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?" asked Henry II. The answer was not long in coming.

While congratulating Ilhan Omar on her victory in the DFL primary for House District 60B, I also want to extend my personal appreciation to state Rep. Phyllis Kahn for her decades of hard work and significant achievement on behalf of women and children at the Legislature. As a frequent observer from the visitors gallery in the House of Representatives, I often saw Kahn calmly rise toward the end of difficult floor debates with her succinct, insightful, often humorous but highly effective comments. She and so many others of that generation's embattled women legislators and their supporters in the 1970s and even '80s — women such as Joan Growe, Linda Berglin and Emily Anne Staples — were remarkable trailblazers for significant legislation affecting the lives of women and their families in our state. Many of their early initiatives, such as child care assistance or women's athletics, are just now being "discovered" by more conservative states and presidential candidates.

Kahn's legislative class created the critical foundations for the advancement of women and girls on so many levels in our communities. While there is still much that needs to be addressed, Minnesota women of all ages owe Rep. Kahn and her legislative generation much gratitude. I will even go out on the limb and make the claim that these feisty, smart, unique women from three decades ago blazed the trail for a fairly easy win for Hillary Clinton in Minnesota in November.