Readers Write (Feb. 26): Guantanamo, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Jason Lewis, smartphone privacy

President Obama is doing the right thing in trying to close Guantanamo, but he's doing it the wrong way. It does no good to close the Guantanamo prison if the prisoners are still to be held without charges or trials. The possibility of a new, parallel system of lifelong incarceration inside the U.S. without charge or trial would set a dangerous precedent. It would be a devastating blow to basic principles upon which our criminal justice was founded.

We have a federal court systems that has proved capable of convicting and imprisoning terrorists and the worst of the worst criminals. We should use it. To diminish our justice system for their sake would be a tragedy.

The writer is Minnesota area coordinator of Amnesty International USA.

Two Feb. 25 letter writers stated that anger and Donald Trump are destroying the Republican Party. Of course, facts were not presented by the writers to back up their words. I would rather see a successful businessman at the helm of our government than a senator who was elected due to many hidden agendas in the Democratic Party. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid was quoted in the same day's newspaper as saying that Hillary Clinton was a superb candidate for the Democratic Party. His words: " I also think she's the woman to be the first president of the United States that's a female." That is quite a qualification from Mr. Reid!

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With the fate of our country in the balance, how is it possible that we appear to be offering Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as our presidential nominees? Hillary is a cipher, bereft of any accomplishments, despite her 24-year access to the levers of power. Her integrity has been questioned endlessly, given her many misdeeds. Trump is a narcissist interested in nothing other than his own advancement. He is bereft of convictions, a plague on our political landscape. Yet, this is what voters are choosing.

Bottom line: Our political parties have failed us greatly. They reap what they sow.

Trump is not our man.

Here world, this is us. This is who we are. Listen to the man we have selected to be our leader. Listen to what he says, and believe us to be thoughtful and well-intentioned.

Those thoughts are not likely to be the hallmark of a Trump presidency. Rather, the unfortunately common thought following outbursts of galactic verbal attacks would be, "Wow, what was he thinking!?!" The best evidence reflects that a Donald Trump presidency would generate those thoughts on a daily basis; likely multiple times a day. The prospect of delirium outbursts of tactless Trump verbiage directed at foreign leaders and groups could bring the United States to a new level of "most-hated."

There is a heightened level of responsible speech and conduct required of those who represent us to the world. I don't see Trump generating a positive image for Americans. Our greatest leaders have been people who have demonstrated the ability to use words to motivate people and to bring diverse interests together by the art of thoughtful persuasion. Trump hasn't demonstrated that capacity, nor even the inclination. It is more likely that every day would be a struggle for him to contain his natural tendencies while attempting to function in stressful and high-stakes environments. Trump is an unacceptable risk.

Second District congressional candidate Jason Lewis ("Why I won't stand for drive-by allegations," counterpoint, Feb. 25) tries to make a case that bringing up his past statements is unfair and orchestrated. He fails miserably. Rhetorically asking why the public is scrutinizing his comments now and not when he was a radio talk-show host is a stupid comment from an otherwise intelligent person. The reason is … drum roll please … he is running for office now, which means he is volunteering for public scrutiny and analysis. Rather than attacking the unlikely cohort of left-wing Democrats and Republican opponents, he should spend his time coming up with believable responses to his 20 years of conservative talk-show rants. He says he won't be bullied but that just sounds like whining — 15 column inches of whining.

As a resident of the Second District, I'd like to agree in part with Lewis. His past words, however heinous they may be, are nowhere near as important as his current ones. So when Mr. Lewis used his Star Tribune counterpoint to declare that "[m]ore than anything, voters in the Second District want a fighter who won't back down," his fate was sealed in my eyes. The Second District is very much a purple one, with nearly equal amounts of Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives. We want someone who will acknowledge all of us, not another fire-breathing conservative who only listens to his base.

Quite frankly, we've had a representative since 2003 who has refused to listen to anyone but the right wing. Enough's enough. I implore conservatives in the Second District and beyond to recognize, just this once, that other viewpoints are available and will continue to exist whether they like it or not, and that they accordingly elect someone far more pragmatic and willing to reason with the other side than Mr. Lewis.

I support Apple's reluctance to create software that would allow the FBI to open the San Bernardino killer's smartphone. A Feb. 25 letter writer asks what I am afraid of as he presents his "if you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear" argument. Here is what I fear: that the software will get out, and that someone nefarious will use it to either get my credit card info from my iTunes account, or else learn enough about me that they could masquerade as me for fraudulent reasons.

In a world where credit card and identity theft are major funding sources for terrorism, the consequences could lead to more dead than just leaving that particular iPhone alone.

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With all this sensitive information stored on the phone, do we really want a route for hackers to enter, decrypt and distribute this information to other criminals? A backdoor with good intentions intended for a government agency will be utilized by hackers overnight — there is no way to keep a lid on it. Apple has taken great steps to ensure storage and data transport security, and it shouldn't be thrown to the wind on a whim.