Readers Write (Sept. 27): Bats, Community Action, the campaign, Southwest LRT, Eric Holder, Rosh Hashana

In his Aug. 21 commentary "Let's save bats — without killing the timber industry," Wayne E. Brandt describes the important role the Northern Long-Eared Bat plays in forest ecology very well, but argues against listing them as endangered. Brandt dismisses the idea of protecting the breeding trees used by bats to raise their young because he fears the forest industry would be destroyed.

This sky-is-falling mentality is not useful. Brandt calls instead for finding a cure for white-nose disease. If this disease is anything like other diseases, it could take a very long time to find that cure. When, as in the present case, population numbers can quickly drop by 99 percent (Northeast United States) in a region, there is no other course but to consider the species at risk of extinction. An endangered listing is warranted.

Of course, we need to seek a cure for the disease, but actions must be taken to support the remaining stocks of bats while the search for a cure continues. Classifying the bat as endangered would release funds to seek a cure, but also support efforts to find effective ways to slow the spread of the disease.

As members (in name, at best) of the board of directors of Community Action of Minneapolis, professional politicians U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, state Sen. Jeff Hayden and Minneapolis City Council President Barbara Johnson acted with professional shock and surprise at the allegations of financial chicanery leveled at the CEO of this nonprofit.

Does their lack of professional oversight and insincere reaction not reveal their hypocrisy, their indifference to their board responsibility and their betrayal of the public trust? Is it not ironic that this organization focuses on helping the very people these politicians pretend to champion? Some champions.

Had these politicians any semblance of respect or honor, they would resign their political offices and spend time contemplating their hubris and betrayal. But we already see signs they consider themselves too big, too important to fail. If these politicians cannot be bothered to oversee the operation of a local nonprofit designed to help the poor, why should we trust them with oversight of an entire city or district? To put it another way, if they were financial advisers, would you invest money with them?

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Most of their supporters have already forgotten about this ordeal. Those who truly needed this organization are the real losers. It's only a matter of time before Rep. Ellison is telling us we're not paying our fair share, and I'll be reminded that my fair share was spent on vacations and massages for politicians.

A conservative Republican voter asks where the cost of reform for the current $1.1 trillion student loan debt (higher then all credit card debt) in the United States would come from (Readers Write, Sept. 26). They could start with cutting the $41 billion in profit the government makes on student loan debt. The voter goes on to say that Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike McFadden's belief in climate change would have "severe consequences for business and the U.S. budget." However, a recent article in Forbes stated the cost of addressing climate change as 1 percent of world GDP, with the cost of doing nothing at 2.8 percent. The voter closes with his concern that McFadden being "perceived" as a moderate is frightening. I would suggest this fear is misplaced against the backdrop of inaction on these matters of shared national importance.

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After seeing Mike McFadden's commercial saying he's waiting for Sen. Al Franken to arrive to debate why Minnesota's educational outcomes are unsatisfactory, I have one question: Does McFadden think Franken is running for school board?

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How ironic. During a week when people around the world were protesting the slow pace of action against climate change, the Minneapolis Park Board voted to consider blocking construction of the Southwest LRT line, worried that parkland would be harmed by replacing an old railroad bridge (supported by creosote-treated logs pounded into a channel between two city lakes) with a wider, modern bridge ("Park Board looks at legal options for SWLRT," Sept. 24).

I would like our representatives to worry more about global environmental damage related to carbon use. It's time to allow people to get out of their cars and use transit.

Cronyism is alive and well at the White House ("Holder, first black attorney general, quits," Sept. 26). Praising Attorney General Eric Holder for a job not done is akin to giving a student an A when he earned a D at best. The rule of law is supposed to be upheld via the principles of the U.S. Constitution, which Holder did not do. But then, the country wouldn't be in its current predicament if not for the voters having rewarded incompetence.

I was surprised that the Sept. 24 Star Tribune had no mention of the observance of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. This omission was repeated with the Sept. 25 edition — the first full day of the holiday observance. Is this no longer newsworthy?