Readers Write (Aug. 12): Marriage crusader, election signs, Mike Parry, political mudslinging, invasive species

Frank Schubert says that God created marriage "to bring men and women together for the benefit of raising children" ("Streak on line for marriage crusader," Aug. 5). He says he's promoting the ideal that "children are entitled to a loving mother and father in a married relationship."

Really? Then why doesn't the marriage amendment contain language that disallows divorce for couples who haven't finished raising their children, prevents single people from bearing or adopting children, and forbids infertile or elderly people from marrying altogether?

This amendment targets only gay couples -- clearly a minuscule subset of the above, much larger group of people. This amendment is simply antigay bigotry and unabashed homophobia -- a fear that gay people are harmful to society, especially children. What a crock.

VINCE THERRIEN, BURNSVILLE

Lately, I've gone door-to-door in my town distributing campaign literature and planting lawn signs for a certain local candidate for political office. Despite the overheated rhetoric of certain political personalities, my observations point to a different reality.

At this time in 2008, people were engaged in the presidential election. One gauge of this interest and enthusiasm was lawn-sign coverage in yards and windows.

Fast-forward to now. After covering much of town, I have seen exactly three presidential lawn signs -- one for President Obama and two for Ron Paul.

Is it just me, or do people not really want to see this campaign and election happen?

MATTHEW ROTHCHILD, ROBBINSDALE

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If I have a headache, I take aspirin. If I have a cramp in my neck, I take Advil. If my mouth needs refreshing, I pop a couple of breath mints. I don't know if state Sen. Mike Parry (a candidate for Congress) ever saw our governor take "pills" ("Dayton slashes pill-popping accusation as a 'desperate' lie," Aug. 8).

What I do know is that these kinds of unfounded charges do nothing to advance the dialogue about the issues that are important to Minnesota and our nation. Rumor-mongering is what you do when you have nothing positive to put forth.

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Congressional candidate Gary Boisclair is running highly charged, fear-mongering commercials suggesting that there's something sinister about Rep. Keith Ellison taking his oath of office on a Qur'an ("TV ads attack abortion, Ellison," Aug. 8). Yes, Ellison did take his oath of office on a Qur'an. It was Thomas Jefferson's personal copy. Reflect on that for a bit and consider how Boisclair, Rep. Michele Bachmann and the other anti-Muslim conspiracy spinners are trying to inject hatred and fear into our national dialogue. I trust Minnesota's Fifth District voters will reject it.

JAMES WALLACE, EDEN PRAIRIE

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I'm not here to defend every single statement that Bachmann has made ("We must not go easy on radical Islam," Aug. 2). But it seems to me that anyone who questions whether radical Muslims are trying to destroy us from both the outside and inside after 9/11 has buried their head very deeply into the sand. That's not hate-based. That's just common sense.

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As one listens to the blizzard of down-and-dirty TV campaign ads that candidates use against one another, it becomes readily apparent that we the electorate have to make a decision as to which reprehensible character we most want to lead our glorious country into a despairing future.

This does not speak well for the electorate, because we can be certain that the candidates would not waste millions of dollars vilifying one another if that were not an effective way of appealing to U.S. voters.

Sadly, it works. So who are we to throw brickbats at the combatants in the ring as they vie for our support? Congress has a lower rating among the general population than the lowest scoundrels in our society.

Maybe we should rate ourselves as well and discover that we are several levels below them in our pathetic demands for ever more entitlements and our adamant refusal to raise taxes to pay for them. This is the defining difference between us and the socialist nations of Europe that are at the moment among the most fiscally stable.

LEE PAULSON, GLENWOOD

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I represent the Lake Minnetonka Association and the Coalition of Minnehaha Creek Waters. Columnist Dennis Anderson's comments about the coalition's proposal to control access to some lakes contained several misleading elements ("Invasives feeding off indifference," Aug. 8).

Overall, his point that many boaters do not care about invasive species, while troubling, provides a valid rationale for our proposal. Anderson's claim that we propose to close access to up to 129 lakes is inaccurate, as only about 25 lakes in the district are accessible via public access.

Further, Anderson's comment that invasive species will just be spread by birds and animals is without foundation. In the case of the 25 accessible lakes in the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, 24 now have milfoil (96 percent), while none of the lakes lacking an access have milfoil.