Readers Write: CBS News, Venezuela, township roads, women’s bodies

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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Shame on you, CBS (“The clock is ticking on the credibility of ‘60 Minutes’ and CBS,” Strib Voices, Dec. 23). You were once the standard of investigative reporting with “60 Minutes,” but with new leadership you are circling the drain. You proved it by pulling the story on El Salvador’s CECOT prison because the White House refused to comment. New Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss has created a new low for the once-vaunted news show by enabling the White House to stonewall newsworthy events that they do not agree with. The press is the last line of defense we have against the despot who pretends to be president and all others like him, and CBS’ new editor is helping to breach that line. It is appalling to watch a once-respected entity crumble.

Michael Winer, Lakeville

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The credibility of America is in question, not just CBS. Sending Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, according to Human Rights Watch, was simply done as a message to other migrants to not come to America. This administration’s actions on this are deplorable.

Michael McDonald, St. Paul

Trump’s warlike policy harks back to the imperialistic mentality of the 1800s, when powerful European countries sought to control mineral-rich countries far from their borders. The result was exploitation, dysfunction the propping up of self-interested and corrupt dictators and often war.

His approach would also dismantle the international order that emerged after World War II, when members of the United Nations agreed to avoid future wars by respecting each other’s borders and working together to solve problems peacefully. This framework has worked. Until very recently the world has avoided major wars — and enjoyed more than 70 years of sorely needed peace.

Trump’s intimidation campaign and threat to send ground troops to Venezuela is a dangerous step backward. His push for U.S. hegemony in North and South America risks upsetting the post-WWII framework for peace and plunging the world back into an era where “might makes right,” big countries abuse small countries and the risk of war is a constant peril to peace and prosperity.

In the last 250 years, the big powers in Europe sought to grow by exploiting their colonies and gobbling up the weaker Polish Empire, Ottoman Empire and Austrian Empire. This culminated in two disastrous and incredibly destructive world wars. Now the U.S., China and Russia are trying to gobble up weaker countries in their neighborhoods. This is a recipe for exploitation and war. What we desperately need is cooperation, peace and prosperity so we can address our biggest common challenge — minimizing climate change.

Gregg Kelley, Minneapolis

It stretches reason to equate drug runners — if they even were drug runners — with terrorists. Yes, illegal drugs might kill Americans, but that is not drug runners’ intention. Drug runners are merely out to make money for themselves. If executing them without a trial is legitimate, then it would be equally legitimate to execute without trial anyone whose negligence, intentional or unintentional, leads to another’s death. This could include manufacturers and operators of all sorts of unsafe equipment, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, contaminated foods, you name it. It could include doctors who made mistakes and health insurance executives. Those who manufacture and sell guns, which killed over 46,000 Americans in 2023, would surely deserve this punishment.

Think of the chaos that would ensue with this kind of vigilante justice. Just because this is happening to people who aren’t us off the coast of Venezuela makes it no better. It must stop.

If we truly want to stop drug overdose deaths we need to address the root causes: poverty and hopelessness. Granted, these aren’t easy, but addressing them would reduce a lot of other problems as well.

Lois Braun, Falcon Heights

As a current township supervisor in Minnesota, I read closely when court cases involve township roads. Not because of any personal connection to the parties involved, but because these cases shape precedent and influence how boards across the state understand their authority.

Cast in one light, the case is about a narrow question of law: whether a stretch of gravel road qualifies as a public road under Minnesota statutes governing maintenance and abandonment. That is a legitimate legal question for a court to resolve.

Cast in another light, however, the case illustrates how local governance disputes can escalate when process, communication and restraint break down.

Township supervisors are elected to act in the best interests of all township residents. With that responsibility comes a duty to remember that it is not abstract policy at stake, but real people and real dollars. When litigation drags on for years, the cost is not borne only by the parties in court but by taxpayers.

In cases involving township roads, those taxpayers extend well beyond a single township. Through shared systems, insurance pools and statewide governance structures, residents across Minnesota ultimately help absorb the financial cost of prolonged legal battles.

Township road law exists to provide clarity — not to fuel years of litigation, neighbor-versus-neighbor conflict or six-figure legal bills. While townships must manage their road systems responsibly, they also carry a duty to exercise discretion carefully, proportionally and transparently.

Local government works best when boards resolve disputes early, document decisions clearly and avoid escalation whenever possible. Litigation should be a last resort — not a default response.

Regardless of how the court ultimately rules, this case serves as a reminder: Gravel roads should connect communities, not divide them. And township governance should always aim to solve problems, not prolong them.

Mike Miller, Oxford Township, Minn.

The writer is the township supervisor for Oxford Township. The views expressed are based on public reporting and are offered in a general governance context, not as commentary on any pending litigation.

Publishing contributing columnist Nicole Garrison’s dread of normal aging with pill-pushing is a travesty. What a stupid headline (“Why women gain weight — and the dreaded ‘meno belly’ — during menopause,“ Strib Voices, Dec. 22).

Give her something for her head: a subscription to Minnesota Women’s Press!