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Readers Write for Saturday, Nov. 7

November 8, 2009 at 2:29AM

BACHMANN'S RALLY

Has she not heard of preexisting conditions?

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann initiated and led Thursday's rally against health care reform in Washington as her Sixth District constituents search for cost-effective health care insurance coverage and are being turned down because of preexisting medical conditions. The alternatives that Bachmann proposes don't include coverage for preexisting conditions or containment and reduction of the health care insurance premiums for families and individuals.

The AARP and American Medical Association evidently don't represent as many constituents as Bachmann thinks she represents in her Minnesota district.

DON KERR, BLAINE

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Rep. Michele Bachmann seems to have gotten quite a big turnout for her protest against health care for everyone. I think she will promote quite a significant savings to the government if she can convince all those people to refuse their Medicaid/Medicare and Social Security benefits because they reject "Big Government" plans!

JOHN MAHONEY, EXCELSIOR

HIGH RISK FOR H1N1

But not being contacted by their medical clinic

We have two children, ages 9 and 12. Our oldest suffers from asthma and allergies and, therefore, is in a high-risk category for H1N1. Because of our high-risk child, we have had some anxiety due to the seriousness of the H1N1 outbreak this fall. But the terrible rollout of the vaccines has turned this anxiety to rage and desperation.

Your Nov. 3 editorial stated that clinics with the vaccine are directly contacting their high-risk patients. Our experience is that not all clinics are using this policy. Our kids belong to the Centra Care Clinic in Becker. We have spoken to them multiple times and are always told they don't know when they will get the vaccine and that they will "not contact" high risk patients when they receive the vaccine. Yes, you read that correctly. They will not contact their high-risk patients.

So, with this policy, how can they ensure that the highest-risk patients get the first doses? They have no answer to this question. As you can imagine, we are extremely frustrated, especially as we see that most clinics are calling their patients directly (novel idea). I hope you include the clinic name in this letter so that the leaders of that clinic will be forced to see that they are not serving their patients.

The good news for our high-risk child is that my wife was able to schedule an appointment for the vaccine through our county. She located this opportunity on her own -- by calling everyone and their brother.

I hope others with high-risk children have an easier time than we did.

MARK KONIETZKO, ELK RIVER

TEAR DOWN THAT WALL

20 years of a freedom championed by Reagan

An interesting commentary by Josef Joffe, an eyewitness to both the construction and destruction of the Berlin Wall ("Thinking back on East and West Berlin," Nov. 5).

Names are mentioned -- Gorbachev, Brandt, Schmidt, Schroeder. But how can one write about this important piece of history without mentioning Ronald Reagan?

GARY NASH, CHANHASSEN

ATHLETES IN TROUBLE

At the U of M, it seems to be a male problem

I read your recent article about the arrests and suspensions of Gophers athletes. Of particular interest were the comments of Athletic director Joel Maturi when he said that dealing with those issues was part of the job. He went on to say, "Hopefully, the young men and women that made some mistakes will learn from them in the future...."

I thought to myself that I don't remember any of the women athletes on any of the teams at the university ever getting arrested. Anyone else remember any?

DALE L. CARLTON, MAPLE GROVE

A BAN ON HOMOSEXUALITY?

Good luck, especially down on the farm

A Nov. 6 letter writer complimented the voters in Maine on rejecting same-sex marriage. In his last paragraph he called for a "federal" amendment that bans same-sex marriage and homosexuality.

At last, a chauvinist who isn't hiding behind a transparent argument about the "sanctity" of marriage. I've been married 35 years, and "sanctity" is a strange word to couple with the work of being a couple. I don't have a dog in this fight -- unless our Springer isn't telling -- but I support same-sex marriage on the simple grounds of fairness.

I assume the reader meant a "constitutional" amendment, but have questions. Will this proposed federal ban on homosexuality extend to other species? On my childhood farm I saw same-sex sex running amok in our pastures and sties. What punishments will the reader mandate for (human) sexuality offenders? Will there be Queer Panels who determine homosexuality, or will it be done through reality TV and text voting? We're all prepared for this from picking who's gay on "Project Runway."

Last weekend I attended a play by Oscar Wilde at the Guthrie. He did two years of hard labor for being homosexual. Is that the reader's goal?

I wonder if that previous letter wasn't written by a proponent. Is it possible anyone living in the enlightened state of Minnesota can be so bigoted -- and not be in Congress?

JIM HOLM, MAPLE PLAIN