Thus far, we have established two facts regarding the 2016 election: (1) Donald Trump won the election with a majority of the electoral votes, and (2) the Russians were guilty of hacking into Democratic National Committee e-mails for the purpose of hurting Hillary Clinton (she can't be trusted) and helping Donald Trump (lock her up). Unfortunately, what we don't know is what effect the Russian hacking information had on individual choices on Election Day. If you take the hacked e-mails out of the equation, who knows what the outcome might have been. Sorry, President Trump, the question of legitimacy could still be an issue.
Dwaine Glasenapp, St. Paul
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The Democrats and the media would have us believe that Trump Tower could not have been bugged without a FISA judge finding probable cause. As a result, they argue that the absence of such a warrant proves wiretapping did not occur. But FISA judges do not actually flip the switch that allows the surveillance to occur. Instead, the various intelligence agencies can surveil any of us at any time. The only purpose of a FISA warrant is to make sure the evidence gathered can later be admitted into evidence. If the party doing the surveillance is seeking information and is not planning to prosecute, there is no reason to seek a warrant. To those who would say that it is not appropriate to suggest that U.S. intelligence personnel would ever violate the law, please explain the recent leaks — which undoubtedly do violate the law.
Bob Gust, Bloomington
URBAN VIOLENCE
Even if you live elsewhere (or maybe especially), you can act
Sunday's Star Tribune featured three letters in response to Mickey Cook's recent commentary on gun carnage on the north side of the city ("To whom it should concern," March 12). One letter writer asked, "How do you expect an old, fat, white-haired guy living in small-town Minnesota to stop gunfire in north Minneapolis?" Ironically, the writer listed his address as Delano, where less than a week ago a black family was driven to leave town because of racist graffiti and vandalism at their home. The writer was correct: There isn't much he can do about events in north Minneapolis. But there is plenty he can do in his own hometown, and perhaps — one can hope — he was part of the more than 1,000 people in Delano on Sunday who stood in protest of racist behavior in their town, and in support and solidarity with the victimized family ("Delano takes a stand: Hate is not who we are").
No, there is not a whole lot we can do about larger problems distant from us. But there is so much we all can, should and must do in our own environment, in hopes that whatever small thing we do will eventually spread beyond us — that our actions will have the butterfly effect on the larger world.
Jay Hornbacher, Hopkins
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"I am concerned about 750 murders in Chicago each year," says the letter writer from Delano. I am, too, but how can the rest of us help?
Here's an idea: President Trump's budget proposal calls for a $54 billion increase in our national defense budget. What if we took $1 billion of our tax dollars out of that and instead invested in, say, the Lawndale neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, where the unemployment rate is above 18 percent and the average annual income level is less than $13,000? We would use our tax money to: