Readers Write: Mille Lacs fishing, Trump presidency, Minneapolis police shooting of Justine Damond, body image and 'ditching the diet'

The July 16 editorial "Walleye decline merits OLA review" awakened a pet peeve of mine about the importance that some fisher folk give to the importance of sport fish over game fish. Most Minnesotans like to eat what they catch — namely, walleyes. The muskie people return what they catch, possibly to continue eating those that we like to eat. I know of few recipes for muskie, although I've been told that it forms the basis of a Wisconsin bouillabaisse. What if the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources would open a "catch and keep" on the muskie population on Lake Mille Lacs for several weeks or a month and offer prizes for the largest and the most caught? This might accomplish two things: The resorts on the lake might prosper a bit, and the postmortems on the catch would tell us if the muskie is eating a fair share of walleyes.

It's truly amazing to read the claims of President Donald Trump's supporters on the opinion page ("Understanding supporters: He fights. He makes economy go," Readers Write, July 21). One is "subliminally" satisfied by Trump's fighting back against political correctness and bullying mean-spirited liberals. Another says Trump has catapulted the Dow Jones industrial average 3,000 points — no thanks to former President Barack Obama (who only rescued a cratered economy). There's also a claim of "job numbers up." According to CNN Money, 863,000 jobs have been created during the first five months of the Trump administration. An impressive stat, to be sure, but short of the 908,000 created during the last five months of the Obama administration.

Trump supporters continue to claim that Trump has accomplished great things, but a recent article in Fortune points out that he has basically accomplished nothing — noting that the repeal and replacement of Obamacare has failed in significant part because Trump himself knows nothing about health care, and apparently has no desire to learn anything about health care, but is ready to sign whatever odious piece of betrayal of our citizenry crosses his desk. Likewise, Trump's infrastructure and tax reform pledges have gone nowhere.

So back on Earth, Trump is a colossal failure, but that doesn't matter to his base because he continues to spew venom against his and their hot-button windmills: political correctness, immigration, the press and reality.

It doesn't seem to matter that he apparently has begun ruminating about the possibility of pardoning himself and close associates and family — a tell that indicates that a thorough examination of his and his surrogates' activities with various Russian operatives, officials and financial institutions will prove very problematic.

Unfortunately, the question remains how much further damage can Trump do before the Republican Party and his base says enough. It's a fundamentally critical query that will have immense impact on the future of our nation.

Regarding the July 21 report on StarTribune.com that some Minneapolis City Council members "would like more oversight of the Police Department, and a new chief": I'm not sure politicizing the position of chief of police any further would do the community any good, much less make for improved policing policy. While City Council Member Cam Gordon recognizes that the "appetite" is there, I think we've all been warned about mob mentality and letting our emotions get the best of us. To me, this move from the council comes across as an overtly political move to force Mayor Betsy Hodges' hand and put anyone supporting the chief in the cross hairs of the community and activists at a time when reactionary emotion is the impetus for change rather than critical thinking and good public policy.

I am a retired police officer (33 years) and a citizen of America. I suppose that my social/political philosophy of just slightly right of center might put me in the position of being tagged a "deplorable." If so, I am a step or two above Steve Sack and his July 21 editorial cartoon questioning Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor's refusal to be interviewed by investigators in the shooting of Justine Damond. The Miranda warning came into being not long after I started my police career, and I, as did the officers I had the privilege of working with, followed it religiously in honor of our Constitution and my own ethical and moral stance. Sack's cartoon, however, has given insult to the concept of the right to not self-incriminate.

Officer Noor has a right to not make any statement, and he has the right to an attorney. As terrible a tragedy as is the death of that woman, we must not now, in the heat of passion, abandon the law and form a lynch mob. Sack's "artistic" efforts only serve to inflame the situation and call forth the pitchforks and torches.

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As a retired sergeant with the Minneapolis Police Department, my question is why Noor hasn't been fired for refusing to give a statement regarding his shooting. It appears that politics have taken over control of the department. I believe that he should be required to give a statement, as it has been forever the rule.

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Thank you for the July 20 story about how overweight Minnesotans are among those who are ditching the diet. As a woman whose body, because of some incalculable mix of luck and lifestyle, fits soundly into the numbers prescribed by BMI tables, I found that the story of Jocelyn Steinke, who was featured in the article, is not my own. But I was so impressed by her new vision of health and her pride in her own happiness. It's a sad fact that our current notions about health, fitness and beauty have made a woman's love of herself courageous and revolutionary. I hope her story makes more of us a little more comfortable in our own skin.

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The Association for Size Diversity and Health and the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance are cited in the article as wanting doctors to focus on health indicators other than weight. Aesthetically speaking, artists have long felt ample people are considered beautiful, from the Venus of Willendorf, a Paleolithic sculpture, through Peter Paul Rubens in the 17th century to a "Standing Figure" of 2006.