Readers Write: American life, health and human services, Pope Donald

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

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The May 8 issue of the Minnesota Star Tribune quotes a woman who has been appointed by President Donald Trump to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council as stating that she goes to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club three or four times a week; she likes that it feels like “what America used to be.” Boy, does that evoke memories.

I grew up in Austin, Minn., where we spent all day riding around in tricked-out golf carts, wearing fine clothes, playing a game we loved and topping our days off with a gourmet meal ...

BZZZZ! “Wake up, Mike! There’s hog guts and head bones to be run through the grinder! If the blades jam, you gotta get down there quick and unscrew the retaining collar, reach in and clear the jam, and get it back together before the stream of incoming guts is all over the floor!”

Either she or I have a realistic view of life. Only one of us is fit for the Trump administration.

Michael Garbisch, Roseville

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If you looked up “average American” in the dictionary, you might find a picture of me. I’m a baby boomer. In fact, I was born before the term “baby boom” was first used. I taught high school for five years, went to law school and practiced corporate law for 40 years. No one has ever accused me of being a radical.

Now, I find that being an average American would get me in political trouble. I am no longer supposed to love my neighbor as myself. I should not think of America as a bright, shining city on the hill that welcomes the skills, talents and experiences of people who look different from me. I am supposed to believe that the only value is money, and having more of it than the next person is the only good.

Sorry, I’ve been an average American for too long to accept that ... well, since I’m a boomer, I’m going to call it “baloney.” Call it by whatever word or phrase means “complete, wrongheaded nonsense” to you. We’ve enjoyed living in a country founded on the principle that all people are created equal, and we all have certain rights that cannot be taken away at the whim of another old boomer and his ultrarich old boomers.

But I’m old. What can I do? As Alfred Tennyson had Ulysses say, “though we are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven, that which we are ... strong in will to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” In average American words: Do something. You’re an average American; you’ll think of something you, personally, can do. Do it now, and continue to do it until the fever of fascism has broken, and the country can begin to heal.

Gary Brisbin, Fridley

I was glad to see the article about the epidemic of “burnout” among Minnesota physicians (“Burnout is causing exodus of doctors,” May 7). The article did a good job of describing the seriousness of the problem and its toxic consequences, but said little about the cause of the problem. The article hinted at the cause with this statement in a sidebar: “The trend worsened during the pandemic, but emerged much earlier as doctors dealt with more paperwork and insurance battles.”

Why did doctors have to deal with more paperwork and insurance battles? Answer: the destruction of the old common law prohibition of the corporate practice of medicine. The destruction was triggered primarily by the enactment of legislation in 1973 encouraging the spread of a novel form of health insurance called the “health maintenance organization.” HMO “managed care” tactics, which included subjecting doctors to micromanagement, were soon adopted by traditional insurance companies, and by the late 1990s nearly all health insurance companies were telling doctors how to practice medicine. The damage to physician morale is now so severe experts refer to physician burnout as a form of “moral injury.”

Kip Sullivan, Minneapolis

The writer is a member of the Health Care for All Minnesota policy committee.

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I have been delivering Meals on Wheels for the past five years as a volunteer for Community Emergency Services. Those to whom I deliver meals live in poverty. They have expressed concern to me that they may lose those meals if there is a loss of federal funding.

The food I deliver (on a 7-by-8 ¾-inch tray) includes a small amount of protein, vegetable and starch. Along with this, I deliver a paper bag containing 4 ounces of juice, 4.5 ounces of fruit and a cookie for dessert. Some recipients must supplement this with visits to a food bank.

If federal funding for this worthy program is either ended or diminished for the sake of tax cuts for the wealthy, this would be further evidence that the immoral trajectory of the Trump administration knows no bottom.

Michael Braman, Minneapolis

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I’d like to thank Seth D. Ginsberg for alerting us to a bill in the Minnesota Legislature that would declare mRNA vaccines a biological weapon (“What you should know about a Minnesota bill that calls mRNA a ‘biological weapon,’ ” Strib Voices, May 7). Huh? The breakthrough technology that enabled a COVID-19 vaccine to be developed in record-breaking time? That Trump aggressively supported? That holds promise for vaccines for future epidemics, pancreatic and other cancers, plus genetic diseases like sickle cell anemia? A quick internet search shows it may trace back to a Florida hypnotist who claims that that “more Americans have died from mRNA injections than in WWI, WWII, and the Vietnam War combined.” Please, Star Tribune editors, fill us in more on the logic behind this bill.

Douglas Meisner, Minneapolis

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Minnesota is aging, and our systems are not keeping up. By 2030, more than 1 in 5 Minnesotans will be over the age of 65, yet too many older adults are already struggling with fragmented services, social isolation and workforce shortages, especially in rural areas.

Despite the growing need, aging policy remains scattered across agencies with little coordination or leadership. This disjointed approach makes it difficult for older Minnesotans and their caregivers to access essential care and support.

Creating a Cabinet-level Department of Aging is a necessary step. It would streamline services, prioritize underserved communities and ensure that aging is treated as a key state priority. Elevating aging policy to this level would bring direction, accountability and the focused investment our aging population deserves.

Every Minnesotan should be able to age with dignity, connection and support. It’s time our state policy reflects that.

Sabina Allakulova, Marissa Carpenter, Kacie Hunt and Elizabeth Meuleners

The writers are master of social work candidates at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

I find it interesting that Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself as the pope. I wonder if the outcry will be as intense as when John Lennon said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus?

Jim Smola, Apple Valley

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I find this image deeply troubling. The role of the pope is sacred to millions around the world — a symbol of humility, service and spiritual leadership. To see it used in this way, seemingly as a self-promotional or political statement, feels profoundly disrespectful. It trivializes not just the office of the papacy, but the faith and values it represents. Faith should never be reduced to a prop or meme. No matter our politics, we should honor the sacred, not mock it.

Jane White Schneeweis, Mahtomedi