Readers Write (July 22): Trump, Cruz and the Republican National Convention, Melania Trump's alleged plagiarism, Nienstedt inquiry, broken glass at Vikings stadium

I'm not sure the current state of the Republican Party could have been summed up better than by Ted Cruz's speech, the deafening boos and the glare worth a thousand words from nominee Donald Trump.

I have never heard Cruz stand up for any principle I agree with him upon. I, like others, saw his speech last night as a self-serving kickoff for his 2020 campaign.

But when you have one self-serving egomaniac standing in front of a crowd to essentially say, "Vote your conscience, vote what you believe, don't just blindly vote for someone because of the party listed next to his name on the ballot," only to receive a look of death from the egomaniacal nominee of the party loyalists booing the idea of voting for what you believe in? That's the Republican Party in 2016. Allegiance to an "R" next to people's names. Allegiance to a celebrity, certainly not allegiance to principles, not to ideals, certainly not to the greater good.

We are witnessing the party's last stand and the disaster it's in right now couldn't possibly happen to a more deserving group of people.

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Cruz may be the least-liked senator among his peers, but by not endorsing Trump he demonstrated an authenticity and honesty that is seriously lacking among most of our politicians on both sides of the aisles in Washington, D.C., and St. Paul. There are more important things in life than party politics and getting re-elected — it's called integrity.

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Now, Cruz claims he is withholding his support of Trump because of insults directed at his father and wife. The future of our country — that there is a good chance that a Democrat president will lead us down a path of repressive federal control over our lives (in his opinion), that our rights to defend ourselves via the Second Amendment will be threatened (in his opinion), that a Democrat president will substantially alter the makeup of the Supreme Court in a liberal way for decades (in his opinion) and that a corrupt federal bureaucracy will continue on, without being held responsible for its biased and unaccountable rulings — is being abandoned because of personal slights?

I'm not a big Donald Trump fan, but Ted Cruz's petulance, in light of the overarching importance of this election, is extremely disappointing to many Republicans.

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Republicans who are hand-wringing as a result of Cruz's nonendorsement of Trump suggest that Cruz's career is over. Wrong by a long shot, but it may indicate a more permanent GOP fissure that sees the emergence of a separate, conservative party during the 2020 election cycle.

Cruz is a Texan, and his independent nature is a major draw for him to Texas voters. He will win re-election in 2018, and will continue to be a national political force, but perhaps not in a Trump-led GOP.

The July 21 article "Coverup of Nienstedt inquiry alleged" states that Ramsey County Attorney John Choi says that "there is no basis to bring a criminal charge against any of those leaders." But, wait — the Star Tribune suggests that investigators found "sexual improprieties" by former Archbishop John Nienstedt. While the report does not tell us what these improprieties were, or how many, it does mention where a relative of a chancery employee heard the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer tell of "dining together and drinking alcohol" with Nienstedt. We are not told why or when this conversation between the relative and Wehmeyer took place, nor who the chancery employee was. So, with "all" this evidence, why does Choi refuse to prosecute? I think it would be wise to get the federal Justice Department involved; it has much more experience in dealing with "improprieties" just based on the recent Hillary Clinton e-mail caper.

I recently read a local obituary about a beautiful young woman who lost her life in a tragic accident. Amid unspeakable grief, her family chose to donate many of her organs and tissues to persons unknown who suffer debilitating disease or illness. What a beautiful, selfless tribute to their precious daughter. Then, just a few hours later, I read, on the front page of the Star Tribune, of a completely selfish act by a person as yet unknown ("Rocky, unwanted stadium christening," July 21). Why would anyone choose to damage the yet-to-be-dedicated Vikings stadium? Was it just another selfish act by someone who thinks he/she is the only person who is important and that his/her desires outweigh common sense and community pride?

Would that more people be like the selfless family and less people be like the selfish person. We might have hope, then, for society.

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I had to smile at the caption under the photo of the broken window at U.S. Bank Stadium: "A window on the north side of U.S. BANK STADIUM was found broken on Wednesday near the ECOLAB gate entrance to the HYUNDAI Club." (Emphases mine.)

Who's business anyway is it how much Joe Mauer paid for his lovely new home on Lake Minnetonka? ("Mauer pays $6.2M for Wayzata Bay house," July 21.) Why even inform us of what the former owner paid? I do believe he has worked hard for his success and deserves the better things in life.