Putin is the same

I would like to commend Kathleen Collins and Batu Kutelia for their column “Get Russia Right: End the ‘resets’ and win the peace” (Oct. 26). There are things that I think they missed: They did not compare Putin to Adolf Hitler.

All of the agreements that Hitler signed were meaningless.

Putin is the same way: You give him an inch and he will take 100 miles.

If Putin is not driven back into Russia from everywhere he has his fingers in, he will keep pushing until he restores the Soviet Union. Chase him out of Crimea too.

Lenny Leier, St. Paul

To force the hands of a childish Congress

The latest government shutdown has now lasted about one month, with no apparent end or resolution in sight. It’s obvious that both political parties have long ago lost the ability to work together for the good of the American people, and the meaning of the word “compromise” has been forgotten.

While thinking of what could possibly force the hand of Congress to take positive action, and granted this being a bit extreme, I wonder what would happen if our members of PATCO (air traffic controllers) decided to stay home from work, thereby effectively shutting down all air travel, business, commercial and personal, causing chaos with both our economy and personal life?

Members of PATCO do take an oath not to strike and to defend the Constitution of our country, and in 1981, President Reagan fired about 11,000 PATCO members for their walk-out. However, both the president himself, and all members of Congress take a similar oath pledging to defend the Constitution, and yet their refusal to work together to end this shutdown is proof that they don’t take that oath to heart.

I’m sure a PATCO walkout won’t happen, but I’ll bet it would sure get the attention of those whose inaction and childish behavior are causing hardship for so many Americans.

Mike Miller, Lakeland

Don’t sell that golf course

In 1991, a Halloween snowstorm deferred my dream to run in the state cross country meet at the Bolstad golf course. This year, Tim Kersey, one of my high school teammates, is coaching the Como Park team in what may be the last race at that site.

The University of Minnesota has proposed to sell what is, by many accounts, a very busy golf course in the summer and a great place for cross country skiing and sledding in the winter. For over a hundred years, this land has been held in public trust for recreation of all kinds. But for me it will always be the place we snuck into on warm summer nights, to do a late night run as we prepared for competition against the best teams in Minnesota. One time we were even caught in the act but faced with teenagers in running shorts the security quickly realized we were not vandals and simply asked us to leave.

It is my hope that more people will sign the petition to discourage the sale of the golf course. And that the university will reconsider the plan to sell it. Certainly we need to find more money to support public education, but I do not think the cash from this sale will be more than a fraction of what Bolstad is really worth.

Matt Flory, St. Louis Park

‘Don’t drive distracted’

Traveling along the freeway in Maplewood, I saw a billboard with a large cat on it with the saying, “Cats have nine lives, do you? Don’t drive distracted.” What was I doing when reading your sign?

Sylvia Benson, North St. Paul

The offender is the problem

As devastating as the Assumption shooting was, I refer to the statement of one of the persons there when it was brought up to ban “transgender people” from owning weapons. The person said, “why punish all for one person’s actions?” How true this statement becomes when the gun-control people want to ban the Armalite sporting rifle and the standard capacity magazine for even law-abiding persons. There are over 20 million such rifles in the U.S.. If these were truly the problem ,we would be looking at millions of murders every day.

Using the theory of the gun-control people of passing sensible, reasonable laws: How would they react if the “murderer” used a Toyota with a high performance engine to crash into and run over people? Would they now want to ban all Toyotas and any other cars that offer a “high performance” engine? Or how about a perpetrator using a hunting knife (ban all hunting knives)?

The problem is not with the instrument used by the offender, it is the offender that is the problem.With more mental health services and more prosecutions of offenders using guns, there would be more control of these circumstances.

Granted, criminals don’t care how many laws are passed; if they want to kill someone they will do it. There are thousands of gun laws in the U.S. right now — what makes people think that adding more will make a difference?

Here is an idea — look into how many gun charges are dropped against the offenders when being charged with crimes. How many times do we read about a killer and find out that their previous rap sheets showed gun charges being dropped or less jail time than the “mandatory” sentence for the crime?

Penalizing law-abiding gun owners for the actions of one person is not going to solve the problem.

Rick O’Keefe, Inver Grove Heights

What love looks like

Across race, gender, and class, Minnesotans know what it means to love our neighbors as ourselves. We go out of our way to get each other’s cars unstuck in wintertime. We make sure every school kid has lunch. Meanwhile the federal government is trying to divide us and make us hate each other.  They are stereotyping, harassing and denying due process to hard-working folks who show up as meat packers, farm laborers, servers at restaurants and small business owners; folks who care for our elderly and our children, put roofs over our heads and revitalize rundown neighborhoods. Let’s show ICE and our neighbors what love looks like. Let’s uphold the constitutional right to due process. Let’s resist the demolition of businesses, neighborhoods, and families. Let’s guard our most precious resource — a Minnesota where everyone can be safe, and everyone can contribute and flourish.

Melanie McCully, St. Paul

Four more years?

In the sterling career of Tim Walz, he has led the way in “not getting it done.” Pick a topic: riot control, spending surplus money, overseeing the management of every new program under his watch, and of course, his inspirational VP run. Yessir, I want four more years of this guy.

Lou Matis, Roseville

Make campaign funding sources clear

As a concerned Minnesota voter, I’m deeply troubled by how Education Minnesota has been directing local school board candidates to report campaign mailers. According to their own website, “Education Minnesota will be covering the cost of two mailers to the targeted voter universe that Education Minnesota will create. The cost will be paid by Education Minnesota and recorded as an ‘in-kind contribution’ to the local.”

In plain terms, a large statewide union — not our local community — is paying for political mail designed to influence local school board elections. Yet the reporting rules make it appear that these mailers are funded locally, misleading voters and undermining transparency.

No average citizen or grassroots candidate can compete with the funding and influence of a statewide union. This creates an uneven playing field and gives the illusion of broad local support where there may be none.

Our Minnesota Campaign Finance Board must ensure accuracy and honesty in political reporting. Voters deserve to know who is truly funding campaign materials — not just through technical disclosures, but in a way that clearly reflects where the money originates.

Minnesotans expect fairness, transparency, and integrity in our elections. Anything less damages public trust and weakens democracy at the local level.

Karla J. Nelson, Maplewood

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