Readers Write: The DFL endorsement, Ukraine-Russia war, Vikings cheerleaders, speeding

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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Whomever you favor among the Minneapolis mayoral candidates, we can all agree that the July 19 Minneapolis DFL convention was yet another failure of local party leadership and staff (“Live: Sources say DFL to revoke Omar Fateh’s endorsement for Minneapolis mayor,” StarTribune.com, Aug. 21). The convention has taken place for decades, so it should run like clockwork. Yet, “The delegates were largely in charge, and acted in accordance with rules they adopted,” per Minneapolis DFL Chair John Maraist. Gosh, the chaos almost seems planned so that rules could be suspended (as they have in the past). Minneapolis DFL leadership knew how many delegates/alternates were expected to attend and still didn’t have a smooth registration process to ensure legitimate attendees and an accurate denominator for voting counts. As a result, we don’t know if those casting manual or voice votes were credentialed attendees. And if legitimate, they may have raised two hands or just yelled louder; why not? They knew ballots would be cast and still didn’t have a reliable means to capture and tally them. The DFL also knowingly hired an impugned “head teller” to supervise the voting process, which completely fell apart when that lone person had a medical issue. Sadly, this isn’t new for the Minneapolis DFL, and we deserve better.

It is demoralizing for those who make time to participate in what should be a stepwise process while others revel in the chaos that allows them to drown out the rest. I beg every voter in Minneapolis to fill this void and overcome this chaos by showing up in numbers rivaling a national election to make the will of the people clearly known.

Daniel Patton, Minneapolis

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It’s not a secret that the mayor and the City Council do not work well together. But these are whom the voters have elected, and I would expect that they would respect the voters and the offices (if not the people) and work together for the city. Unfortunately, that us not what we are experiencing.

On Aug. 18 there was a hearing before a committee of the state DFL to hear challenges to the convention that failed to endorse the mayor. At this hearing. Mike Erlandson, one of the challengers, took it farther. He asked the state DFL to eliminate the Minneapolis DFL. Not just invalidate the endorsement of what they said was a flawed convention, but strip the Minneapolis DFL from holding caucuses, conventions or endorsing at all.

The state DFL did not go that far but they did decide to disallow the endorsement of state Sen. Omar Fateh. This is a slap in the face to the delegates.

Now, I am not claiming the convention didn’t have problems; it most certainly did. We are an all-volunteer group of activists that organized over 180 precinct caucuses in every neighborhood of the city, then had 13 ward conventions to endorse for City Council, and then the huge city convention at the Target Center to endorse for mayor, Park and Recreation Board and Board of Estimate and Taxation.

What Erlandson doesn’t like is who is getting elected in Minneapolis. His real quarrel is with the voters, not the DFL volunteers, not the DSA, not Pravda, perhaps maybe young people.

Well, this coalition can’t get new voters, as much as they might like to, so let’s just take away the organizing force that has elected 12 out of 13 City Council members for years. This is the same group that eliminated the Library Board and gave away our libraries to the county, and keeps proposing the elimination of other independent boards, and who sponsored the charter amendment to give more power to the mayor and less to the City Council.

David Tilsen, Minneapolis

The writer is a former member of the Minneapolis Board of Education.

Thanks to John Rash and the Minnesota Star Tribune for highlighting the recent leadership-level talks on the war in Ukraine (“Welcome allied resolve, but brutal war endures,” Strib Voices, Aug. 20). Rash pointed out President Donald Trump’s flip-flop on pushing, then not pushing, for a ceasefire. This point needs to be stated as clearly and bluntly as possible: Trump was played by Russian President Vladimir Putin again. Before last Friday, Trump said the killing needed to stop and that severe consequences would follow if Putin did not agree to a ceasefire. Putin did not agree to a ceasefire, and all of a sudden, that was OK with Trump.

Putin realizes that Trump’s threats are empty. Trump is weak. Only by joining the resolute leaders of Western Europe with clear demands and following through on threats of consequences can Putin be convinced that he must stop the killing.

Bill Franke, Apple Valley

I’ve never viewed Putin as a musician, but he plays Trump like a fiddle!

Dennis Daniels, Bloomington

It seems that the inclusion of male cheerleaders to the Vikings’ cheer squad has finally broken a few fans of the Purple (“Vikings cheerleader weathers blowback,” Aug. 19). Interesting. It was not the overpriced beers at U.S. Bank Stadium or the failure to win a playoff game. Go figure.

Tom Intihar, Brooklyn Park

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Alice Ableman, Roseville

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At first I was amused by what seemed like a very few misguided individuals who for whatever reason opposed the two male cheerleaders on the Vikings cheer squad. But now it has turned into a “thing,” and I am compelled to provide a little history lesson that may be interesting to all: The birth date of modern cheerleading is considered to be Nov. 2, 1898. It was on that date that a student named Johnny Campbell rose and implored the student fans of his school’s football team to “Rah-rah-rah! Ski-u-mah!” Yes, cheerleading was born on the University of Minnesota campus, and by the end of that season the cheer team was composed of six males. It wasn’t until 1923 that the U became the first university to allow women on the cheer squads, but that never really took hold until World War II, when there was an obvious lack of males.

For those who have for some reason made this an issue, I implore you to, in the words of Mike Tice, “enjoy the season.” This could be the one, after all!

Brian Hols, Minneapolis

Citizens know enough to believe their own eyes. Everyone knows that speeding cars are everywhere. Everyone knows that swerving, speeding, lane-changing cars are on every freeway.

What dreaming to think that a law or a sign makes a difference!

Let’s hear it for a useless try by the Legislature. Ever think of improving enforcement?