Readers write: Thursday, March 31

To the letter writer who was "underwhelmed" by President Obama's speech on Libya (Readers Write, March 30) and who calls for more consistency:

The world is not as simple as you may think.

Attack Russia and China? How do you think they would respond?

Maybe use their nuclear weapons in defense of their countries? How many people need to die for you to be convinced the right thing is being done?

And do you think the president could muster a coalition, including the Arab League, as he did for the Libya action in just one month?

It took President Bill Clinton more than a year to build one in the Balkans and President George H.W. Bush about nine months for the Gulf War.

In this case, Moammar Gadhafi said he would annihilate his own people without mercy, then set out to fulfill that "mission."

President Obama and most other presidents have said there are myriad "weapons" besides military force, including economic, political and diplomatic isolation, to address myriad international circumstances.

This is the right time and the right place for the right reasons to be taking the action we have taken. Remember what the great writer Ralph Waldo Emerson said about consistency.

KEVIN DRISCOLL, ST. PAUL

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Hey, look, there's a war salesman on TV, and he has a Nobel Peace Prize to prove it. C'mon, everybody: "All we are sayyyyying/is give war a chance."

Repeate chorus.

MICHAEL JAMES STRATTON,

MINNEAPOLIS

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Minnesota's state parks are gems. They allow folks to take "minivacations," whether daylong or more. I suspect that most of the park users don't have cabins on a lake; the parks are their cabins on the lake.

The push by legislators to cut spending to the point that some parks will be closed and some buildings locked up (restrooms?!) is another attack on the weakest target.

NEILL MERCK, ST. PAUL

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I do not share a March 30 letter writer's outlook about government's responsibilities toward my disabled child. It is my family's responsibility first to provide and care for her.

Society's affluence has allowed government to play a role in supporting care for the disabled. And to that I say: Thank you.

These are words that legislators probably don't hear nearly enough. Thank you to the taxpayers who provide one of the best safety nets in any state in which to raise someone with a disability.

Instead of complaining about higher restrictions to qualify for benefits, I am grateful that the priority is shifting to the most-affected. Spreading dollars too thin for too many programs and making promises that can't be kept is not noble. Government is not a charity.

ANGELA BERGER, MINNEAPOLIS

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Legislators should identify teachers they want to get rid of. Name one, and the union will defend the teacher.

Any administrator who claims this is a hardship shouldn't have a job in the public sector. All public employees need due process to protect them from witch hunts such as the one the Legislature is carrying out now.

All teachers in public schools are evaluated regularly, or the school system is not doing its job. All schools have procedures to hire, fire, promote, demote, put on leave and discipline their employees. To see administrators who agree with this legislation is disturbing.

We have great schools in Minnesota. Why don't our legislators build on that? It must be because their ideology stands in the way.

People who do not like collective bargaining cause it.

DONALD HILL, NORTHFIELD

The writer is a former president of the Minnesota Education Association.

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After watching a news report on a story about judging teachers' performance via students' test scores, my 16-year-old daughter said: "That wouldn't be fair.

Some kids don't care about those tests. They just fill in any bubble." She went on to say: "School is going to get really boring. That test is all the teachers will care about."

KAY BRYANT, EAGAN

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A March 30 letter was critical of U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar for not authoring legislation to cut costs or spending.

It was not legislation the senator proposed a few days ago when she asked the appropriate agency to crack down on those who speculate and drive up the price of gas and oil, but it certainly was an effort to cut costs in behalf of all who drive cars and keep our economy in at least a semblance of balance.

TED FARRINGTON, RICHFIELD

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Called Klobuchar's office and was put on hold. The music she uses on hold was classical -- Mozart, I think. Not an American composer, nor American music.

There are thousands of great American composers and recordings she could play, but apparently it's not good enough for her pseudo-highbrow taste. I find this insulting and disgusting for a U.S. senator!

SCOTT RIVARD, MINNEAPOLIS