Counter-productive protestors

I read with interest “Universities struggle to clear protesters (April 30).” Congratulations, protesters: through your self-absorbed and performative behavior, you have deflected national and world attention away from the shocking levels of suffering being experienced in Gaza. The radical behavior of the student protesters has become the story, rather than the plight of the people they are supposedly intending to support.

I was horrified by the atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7 of last year. These were evil actions which must be condemned in the strongest terms. Having said this, I have for many years been sympathetic to the plight of Palestinians based on historical considerations. One cannot condemn an entire people based on the extreme actions of a segment of that population – a segment despised by many of the larger population.

I believe the “look-at-me” extremism by protesters on campuses and elsewhere is actually hurting Palestinians because it is turning off many Americans to the overall cause. Another example of extremist actions having counter-productive results.

Peter Langworthy, St. Paul

The founders understood this

After listening to the Supreme Court oral arguments regarding presidential immunity it appears clear the conservative justices are deeply beholden to once-President Trump. The old adages, “No one is above the law” and “Justice delayed is justice denied” seem to no longer exist when it comes to Trump.

To be clear, the court’s conservative originalists know we fought the war for independence because King George III was viewed as a tyrant enforcing oppressive practices upon the colonists.

We do not need a president unbound by the rule of law.

The founders understood this as the Constitution provides for three branches of government, which created a system of checks and balances so that no one branch could act with impunity. It seems to me that judging presidential immunity should have been a no-brainer and decided quickly. The Trump D.C. trial is being delayed by purposefully manipulated judicial procedure. We don’t need a bad person as president with unfettered power. We don’t need a George III or worse as president.

Nobody is above the law and justice delayed is justice denied.

Pete Boelter, North Branch

Historic restoration

It’ nice to see Stillwater leadership and residents focusing on rebuilding their historic riverfront. That’s especially refreshing when compared to the attitudes of Saint Paul leadership which apparently wants to tear down our remaining history in favor of more bike paths.

Carl Brookins, Roseville

Ride your bikes, councilors

I just finished reading Joe Soucheray’s column in the Sunday paper re the St. Paul City Council’s long-range plans for an extensive bike lane network. What I want to see is, “No cars for them!” That is, they and their families must give up their automobiles and ride bicycles all the time everywhere, every season of the year, in all kinds of weather be it storms, north wind blowing, south wind blowing, lightening, hurricanes, earthquakes, smog. Practice what they preach, after all.

Lucy Schuelke, Lakeville

This gun laws won’t make people safer

The current legislation H.F. 4300/S.F 4312 on gun safety is misguided and will not make people safer. If passed this law forces legitimate gun owners to keep weapons and ammunition in separate safes.

The Second Amendment enables people to protect themselves from tyranny whether from the government or from criminals. Forcing law-abiding gun owners to keep ammunition separate from guns will not save lives and will potentially make felons out of normal gun owners.

Imagine a law that would require a woman to wait for one week before she uses Plan B. It would make no sense and force women to break the law to prevent a pregnancy.

Warren Poole, St. Paul

Ride a bike to buy a smoke

As the trolleys seem to be heading off of the tracks in the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis there must be hope out there somewhere. In St. Paul, the least diverse city council in the country has approved 163 lane miles of bicycle paths or trails or however these lanes are described.

What amount of smog and chunks of soot will be generated to produce these 163 miles? We don’t know. Just as we don’t know how they will calculate the reduction in trips taken by the evil automobile. I am no statistician and I won’t just grab a number out of thin air, as the backers of such plans do, but I am guessing it will be about a break-even.

The amount of pollution these bike lanes will save from spewing into the air is incalculable. Under the guise of The Climate Action Plan, bike lanes are being made available to reduce trips made by the use of an automobile. No one is taking the kids to the Mall for holiday shopping on a bicycle and, largely, bicycles are used for leisure and not for transportation. Admittedly, the East Side Council-member stated that she had had three responses, yes, three,  about the bike path plan during the months-long public comment period, yet she chose to support the new bike plan anyway. Perhaps bike paths are just not that important to the average everyday working stiff trying to put food on the table.

And across the river the Minneapolis city council wasn’t happy enough to run Uber and Lyft out of town, now they are going to save the citizens from themselves and raise the cost of a pack of cigarettes to $15. Why stop there? Nitrates used in curing meats are linked to cardiovascular disease and linked to increased cancer risk, or Big Macs’ and fast food’s contribution to the obesity problem. Minneapolis city council, if you want to tackle smoking, try this, prohibit smoking anywhere in the public way, any city sidewalk, city street, city park,  anywhere that is not private property, smoking would not be allowed.

The residents of Minneapolis won’t be able to catch an Uber to St. Paul for a pack of smokes, but they will have a Jim Dandy bike path to get them there.

Mark T. Schroeder, West St. Paul

Someday

I have a dream, that someday I will be able to experience a complete 24 hours without once hearing or seeing the name of a certain former president, in any media source or outlet.

LaVonne McCombie, Hudson

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