Opinion editor's note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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Monday's misleading front-page headline "Jensen criticizes Walz for timing of leaving Guard" should accurately read "Jensen misrepresents Walz's reason for leaving Guard."

The ensuing article explains how Gov. Tim Walz, entirely appropriately, left the National Guard after 24 years of service to run for Congress and not to avoid possible deployment to Iraq. Scott Jensen's claim is as false as his assertion that schools are allowing schoolchildren to use litter boxes to urinate. Or that COVID is "a mild four-day respiratory illness" when over 1 million Americans have died from this virus.

Jensen has never served. He notes that, if he had been drafted in 1973, he was bravely "planning to report for his physical." If he wanted to serve, he could have enlisted, as Walz did.

Perhaps Jensen can call another news conference and explain why he didn't enlist. The timing suggests it was because he didn't want to go to Vietnam.

I look forward to the front-page headline: "Jensen hoisted on his own Guard canard."

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The top story on the Star Tribune website on Oct. 17 featured the online headline "GOP opponent who never served criticizes Gov. Tim Walz's exit from National Guard." The inclusion of the phrase "who never served" in a news (not opinion) headline is both deliberate and disingenuous, as Jensen's military service (or lack thereof) is irrelevant — just as it is irrelevant that the vast majority of those criticizing Jensen's record as a physician are not physicians or medical experts themselves. This is a blatantly biased attempt by the headline writer to assist Walz in deflecting criticism of a perfectly legitimate issue.

It was certainly Walz's right after 24 years of service to retire from the National Guard, and we thank him for his service. However, the timing of his retirement was deliberate — in his growing political activism, he chose to launch a political career and not deploy. If Jensen's career as a doctor, and his statements about medical issues, are fair game, so is Walz's National Guard service and choice to terminate that service, and nobody needs to be an expert or have direct experience in either area to ask questions. The Star Tribune editorializing through headlines in this way damages its objectivity in covering this important political race.

John Grimes, Minneapolis

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If you had used the suggested revised headline, you would not have needed the remainder of the article. You could have used that space for more reporting on the grinding war in Russia.

Judith Koll Healey, Minneapolis

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I was stunned to read about Jensen's sad attempt to claim Walz abandoned his post after 24 years of military service. As a veteran of both the U.S. Army and Minnesota National Guard, moving forward the only words I want to hear coming out of non-veteran Jensen's mouth regarding Walz's military career are, "Thank you for your service."

Mark Razidlo, Edina

First, kudos to Secretary of State Steve Simon for ensuring that the 2020 election in Minnesota was — to borrow fitting terms from his secretary of state website — "fair, open, impartial, and secure." During the peak of COVID-19, so many of us appreciated the efforts made to safely allow voting by mail. If sanity prevails, Simon should defeat his election-denying opponent, who has been spouting a crock of ... shenanigans about her plans for the office.

Besides Simon's safeguarding of the 2020 election, we also owe thanks to Gov. Tim Walz for all he did during the "unprecedented year" of 2020. From the pandemic to George Floyd's murder and beyond, he has shown that he is informed, is a good communicator, takes responsibility for his office and possesses a calming and adult demeanor, along with a sense of humor. Thanks also to Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who has been a competent governing partner to Walz during these times.

So why, in many of the campaign ads running today, do we hear nothing but blatant criticism of all actions taken by those (usually Democrats) in office when our world, our state and our cities were filled with sickness and death, violence, crime, racism and everything else in the toxic stew of recent years? I am certain that the candidates who unilaterally fault the actions of incumbents would have been as much, if not more challenged — and likely would have fared worse than those actually in the thick of things. It's easy to be an armchair quarterback.

Please, voters: Do your homework. Just because a candidate was a Marine doesn't mean he is fit to govern. The country did not go instantly downhill the moment Biden was sworn in; the previous four years had already put it in a pretty sad place. Former football players or doctors who eschew science are not necessarily ideal candidates for public office. Don't believe everything you hear on TV.

Laurie Eckblad Anderson, Minneapolis

Sharon L. Casey, St. Paul

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In this current world with issues such as climate change, the war in Ukraine, the stripping of women's freedom over their bodies, the assaults on women in Iran, inflation and the cost of health care and prescriptions, whether someone other than my husband calls me "sweetie," "honey" or "dear" is the least of my concerns. Let's view these words as a person trying to relate to us. So often the people saying these words use them with everyone, regardless of age or sex.

When my husband was in the ER last week, his nurse called him "honey." Neither my husband nor I viewed this term as diminishing him but rather a term of concern, comfort and care. My husband and his health mattered to her. She was creating an environment that would lesson the stress of the situation.

I don't need to define myself to others as an elder. One look at me is all that is needed to make that determination.

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I refer to Schott's commentary, where she is offended when anyone calls her "sweetie" or "honey" or "dear" or even "cute." She calls it ageism. I disagree. I'm 92 years old, and I am not offended at all when someone refers to me in that way. I'm a geezer and proud of it.