Readers Write (Dec. 16): Dick Cheney, air quality, atheism, Hollywood racism, Sandy Hook anniversary, Cromnibus legislation

Quite a juxtaposition on the Star Tribune's front page Monday. The centerpiece article was about efforts to ensure that the sacrifice of those who served and died in America's Vietnam War are never forgotten. Just above it, a photo of Dick Cheney led to an article about his defense of torture as a legitimate tool of American foreign policy. The Cheney article states how lonely Sen. John McCain's position against torture has become in the Republican Party. McCain served in the military with great distinction. He also knows quite a lot about torture. Cheney, of course, did not serve in the military when he had the opportunity. He stated that in the 1960s he had other priorities than military service. I imagine John McCain had better things to do when he was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam conflict. I imagine that all those named on the Wall at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington had better things to do when they made the ultimate sacrifice. Dick Cheney, of course, is all about sacrifice, as long as someone else does the sacrificing and he does the posturing, at no risk to himself.

Last Friday morning at around 5:45, I woke up in a panic, gasping for breath and too far to reach for my inhaler and without glasses to see where I was going. By the time I got to the kitchen I was terrified of what could have happened. I am all right today, but Friday marked the first in a series of three days of air quality alerts in the last week. Increased levels of PM 2.5 (particulate matter) put people like me at risk of serious consequences. Apart from my occasional bouts with constricted airways, I am a fairly healthy person and very lucky that I can usually manage my attacks fairly easily. The same cannot be said for the one in 10 children who suffer from asthma.

With the air quality alerts came another clear message: It is time to clean up our air and protect public health.

There are many sources of air pollution in a metro area like Minneapolis-St. Paul, but PM 2.5 is one of the main emissions from coal-fired power plants. Here in Minnesota, Xcel Energy's Sherco power plant, located in Becker, is the largest polluter in our state. This is one source of dangerous emissions that we have the opportunity to retire. Sherco's boilers 1 and 2 are old and outdated and are polluting our air and communities. This single coal plant is responsible for 1,600 asthma attacks annually. In January, Xcel has a plan due to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission that will tell us what its intentions are for Sherco. Join me in asking them to retire Sherco 1 and 2.

I was distressed to read the Dec. 12 article "Atheists do believe in right to do weddings." It quotes Washington County Attorney Pete Orput as saying: "I argue that a creed is a belief in something and their [atheists'] view is somewhat of a nihilist's."

When county attorneys attempt to be theologians, everybody is in trouble. Many Christian denominations do not require creeds, including Quakers, Baptists, Disciples of Christ, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Most religions don't have creeds, including Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Confusism, and Daoism. Some of those don't require gods, either.

According to Orput's logic, all these should be banned from performing weddings in Washington County.

I am a Unitarian Universalist minister and a humanist. The congregation I serve as senior minister, First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, has been proudly humanist since 1916. Thousands of weddings and other life passages have been celebrated here, and no gods are invoked.

I wonder about the requirements for county attorney. Clearly, theologian is not among them.

Sony Pictures bigwigs Amy Pascal and Scott Rudin recently exchanged overtly racist e-mail messages, asking each other which movies President Obama would enjoy. They went on to list several, all featuring black casts. Can we not have a serious moment of honesty? Here are two of Hollywood's most progressive, powerful liberal personalities assuming that our president chooses his entertainment on the basis of race. Their thinking is the essence of racism: a black president should only be drawn to black-centric entertainment. What a travesty. Pascal and Rudin deserve the same opprobrium that earlier, genuine racists encountered. They should have no place in our public discourse.

Losing a child has to be one of the worst experiences anyone can go through. My heart goes out to any parent who loses a child for any reason. That being said, I think Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is missing the mark ("Working together, we can make a difference," Readers Write, Dec. 14). We have more gun laws in this country than ever, yet according to the writer of Sunday's letter, there have been almost 100 shootings at schools in the two years since Sandy Hook. Apparently gun-free zones don't stop these shooters any more than a speed-limit posting keeps people from speeding.

Murders like these school shootings always start with a human thought and a human action. Find out what gives rise to these thoughts and you will stop more school shootings than a book full of gun laws will. Otherwise Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is just another political action group for gun confiscation.