Readers Write: State of the Union, policing, immigration, Supreme Court

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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President Joe Biden “brought it” in his State of the Union address with loads of energy, humor and combative rhetoric. He called out his predecessor for promoting the “Big Lie.” He laid out his staunch defense of democracy as our most correct and most American form of government. The most telling moment of the evening, in my view, was when Biden asserted that there is absolutely no place for violence in American politics. Republicans sat on their hands in stony silence, unwilling to contradict Donald Trump’s approval of violence as a legitimate way to hold power. How has the once proud GOP fallen to such a craven, undemocratic, un-American position?

Jay Richardson, Minneapolis

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It was striking to note the space and placement of two prominent women at Thursday’s State of the Union address: One was on the dais in Congress and the other at a kitchen table. I speak of Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama. Prof. Heather Cox Richardson wrote this about the event: “The Republicans tapped Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) to give their rebuttal to the speech, evidently hoping to contrast her youth — she’s 42 — with Biden’s age. ... [T]he fact that the Republicans had a female senator give what could be the most important speech of her life in a kitchen seemed to tell its own, more powerful, story.” While her placement seemed authentic and “homey,” one could also wonder if the subtle message was that her proper place was at home, in the kitchen, as it used to be for most women. Isn’t that what is meant when we hear “Make America Great Again”? Take us back to the 1950s where women waited at home, taking care of their men, watching the children; people of color “knew their place”; and children all heard Christian prayer in schools whether they were Christians or not.

This International Women’s Day, women claimed their place and voice in every sphere of life. Our place is not just at the kitchen table but in every office, every pulpit, every boardroom, every podium, every dais, every operating room, every company, every construction site. You name it, we claim it! Don’t try to keep us home and in our “place” — we are strong; we are capable; we are leaders; we are women of substance.

Philip Sturm’s commentary (“Context on civilian police oversight in Minneapolis, from one involved,” Opinion Exchange, March 5) should be studied by all of us and applied to our political and personal lives. It is a treatise on how to respectfully compromise and contribute to the positive growth of ourselves and our fractious communities and country. Let’s all embrace his conclusion that we each need to overcome “justifying our own cynicism” and “embrace being wrong” to reach better solutions for our communities and country. And let’s support politicians who can work across our obstructive divisions.

Richard Weigel, Edina

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After reviewing the “Imagine Yourself” video for the new police recruitment campaign, I wondered why the city paid $950,000 for that (”Minneapolis posted a police recruitment ad. But the ad showed another city,” StarTribune.com, March 8). And I furthermore wondered why it paid Accenture, which is a $64 billion professional services company based in Dublin that specializes in IT and consulting.

There are some great ad agencies in Minneapolis with people who have lived through these four years of turmoil, which were horrible for our great city. If you would’ve chosen any one of us, I am sure you would’ve ended up with a much more memorable video that was way more inspiring and had some soul because we lived through it. I’m also sure it would also have cost a lot less than what you paid for that!

The writer is founder and CEO of KC Truth.

State Reps. Omar Fateh and Sandra Feist say that the North Star Act “would not prevent cooperation with federal law enforcement when investigating or arresting people suspected of crimes” (“We’re the authors of the North Star Act. We’d like to respond to concerns we’ve heard,” Opinion Exchange, March 6). That is false. Entering the U.S. without proper authorization is a crime (see Title 8, Section 1325 of the U.S. Code). The bill would prevent state and local governments from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in enforcing U.S. immigration law. The commentary claims that ICE is not a law enforcement agency. But the ICE website itself says that ICE is a law enforcement agency.

Refusing to cooperate with ICE to enforce immigration law encourages more illegal immigration, which hurts the state and the nation. The March 4 commentary by Jim Schultz (“Turning Minnesota into a sanctuary state is a mistake”) documents the scope and cost of illegal immigration. As Schultz says, we’ve had 9 million people enter the U.S. illegally in the past three years. It is creating a crisis in cities around the U.S. New York City expects to pay billions to accommodate illegal immigrants. Encouraging illegal immigration to Minnesota will be expensive now that illegal immigrants are eligible for free college tuition and free health care.

Minnesotans should welcome legal immigrants to our state, but our state and local law enforcement should work with ICE to reduce illegal immigration.

James Brandt, New Brighton

In this beloved democracy constituted by three separate but equal branches of government, the Supreme Court always seemed sacrosanct. Its distinguished appearance, its remote and considered collaborations and even the pristine architecture that housed it bear witness to its sacred trust and lends an air of the ineffable to its decisions — decisions that “come down” to the rest of us, no matter the party, the entreaty, the gravity or the partisan umbrage.

What happened?

The justices’ decision to take up Trump’s “immunity” issue should embarrass every court in the land. For these high priests of the American juridical system are gaming every conscionable U.S. citizen, no matter their stripe or party. But partisanship aside, to wait out the clock under the pretense of a licit case is reprehensible. It is petty. And it disrespects us all.

As David exclaimed on hearing of the deaths of Saul and Jonathan: “How the mighty have fallen.”

Pat Raftery, Faribault

Proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution: “Any legal issue of a former U.S. president ‘shall not pass Go, shall not collect $200,’ but shall go directly to the Supreme Court of the United States — even for a parking ticket.” Sorry, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison — doubtless you’d have thought and written better. But could either of you have foreseen our 21st-century judicial predicament?