Government-shutdown time is upon us. In our nation's capital, our elected officials soon will be making the proverbial sausage, mostly behind closed doors, wheeling and dealing to keep the lights on and trying to look good for voters. Can Republicans, with the help of some Democrats, come to a long-term deal to keep our country operating? The game could get tricky, but I hope Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is paying attention to his base. The senator's first utterance following a reporter's question about what he wants to leverage in a potential deal was "stronger border security." He then said something about protection for DACA kids. The order of items was odd. Perhaps he was engaging in a kind of beltway poli-speak, but surely he must know if one penny of taxpayer money finds its way toward a wall on the Mexican border, his base is as good as gone.
The fact is that building President Donald Trump's border wall is, at best, counterproductive to reducing the number of undocumented people in this country. More Mexican immigrants have returned to Mexico from the U.S. than have migrated here since the end of the Great Recession, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. The flow of Mexican immigrants between the two countries is at its smallest since the 1990s. Further, President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico repeatedly has told his American counterpart "no pagaremos."
And we're not paying for it, either.
Stephen Monson, Golden Valley
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
Another misconduct case — and more murky leadership
Once again, Mark Coyle has proved himself to be nothing more than a second-rate bureaucrat and nothing close to the leader we were promised when he was hired to be the athletic director at the University of Minnesota. Star Gophers center Reggie Lynch has been accused of sexual misconduct and has been suspended through 2020 by the university's Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action office (front page, Jan. 5). The details of the accusation remain private, as they should be. However, Lynch has elected to appeal to the Student Sexual Misconduct Subcommittee (SSMS), which is his right. Per university policy, the suspension is to be held in abeyance until the outcome of the SSMS investigation of Lynch's appeal and their subsequent ruling. We can debate the validity or absurdity of the university's sexual-misconduct process another day.
So, with his appeal to the SSMS, Lynch's suspension is on hold, per university policy. Right? Not so fast. Coyle, in all his mediocrity, has done what he seems to usually do under any duress: discard any semblance of leadership. He has decided to prevent Lynch from competing while his suspension is on hold. Still enrolled? Yes. Still on the team? Yes. Coyle has given us the illusion of a leader taking an appropriate action without actually doing so. He has passed the buck, hoping that he will not be vilified for his lack of spine.
Lynch's suspension is in abeyance, per policy and procedure. So Coyle, make a decision. Take a stand. All in with Lynch — classes, practices and games — until the SSMS rules. You thereby are enforcing university policy to the letter, protecting the student-athlete's rights (and probably angering many in doing so, especially in light of events these past few months around the country). Or all out. Dismiss Lynch from the team, take the moral high ground on your approach and gear up for the inevitable flood of lawsuits. But be a leader, Mark. Take a stand and deal with what comes your way and stop hiding behind your desk. That was why you were hired.
Richard Rivett, Chaska
'FIRE AND FURY'
What or whom to believe? Maybe nothing or nobody.
The furor over the recently released Trump "tell-all" by Michael Wolff brings to mind the words of the legendary editor Ben Bradlee. In his autobiography "A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures," Bradlee, executive editor of the Washington Post from 1968 to 1991, said he "found it easier to cope with Washington by assuming that no one ever told the complete truth in Washington." Even more cautionary is Bradlee's caveat regarding the words "according to sources," which Bradlee felt "should be banned," because when these words are used, as they are in Wolff's book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," readers think the author is not being completely truthful, and in doing so the readers "are more often right than wrong." Wise words to keep in mind when judging the accuracy and truthfulness of the Wolff book.
Ronald Haskvitz, St. Louis Park
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