Readers Write: Election results, Trump's behavior, alligator killed in Minnesota, Armistice Day

I was staying with the writer of "Neither brave nor persuasive" (Readers Write, Nov. 9) until the end. Then it came down to advice to "reach out to the reachable Trump voter, the soft-core racist" or that those who vote for Trump are "compelled to do so through racist, sexist or xenophobic beliefs" and the writer lost me.

How is it that a voter for President Donald Trump can't just disagree on policy? Maybe, just maybe, they saw it as a vote on policy and not a vote for Miss Congeniality. The Trump administration: brokered historic Mideast peace deals, did not start or expand a war, cut taxes, created the lowest unemployment rate ever for Black people and Latinos, forced NATO allies to pay more of what they promised, took border security seriously, made major inroads in criminal justice reform, used Operation Warp Speed to get multiple vaccine programs fast-tracked and brought hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs back.

So calling out the over 70 million people who voted for him (the second-highest of all time) as racist, sexist or xenophobic at worst and soft-core racist at their best seems to be offensive. Those Trump voters are the people we work with — they are our neighbors, they go to our churches and they are probably in our families. So let's do what we typically do after elections and get back to our regular lives and treat each other with some respect.

Worth noting: 70 million-plus disappointed Americans and not a single city is on fire. No broken glass. No riots. No spitting on cops. No frantic breakdowns. No safe spaces. Anyone want to tell me what the difference is?

It comes as no surprise that Trump is not gracious in defeat. He hasn't been gracious in victory. For years he has continued to foment anger about Hillary Clinton, with chants of "lock her up" ever on the tips of the tongues of his supporters. Trump could not abide that Clinton had won the 2016 popular vote.

What would be a surprise? If Trump would truly put his country first by aiding in a smooth transition for the Joe Biden administration. By doing so, Trump could demonstrate that his flag-hugging wasn't just an empty showman's stunt.

Dear Mr. Trump:

This is your chance to leave a legacy that would make all Americans proud. You are in a game of chess that is zugzwang. Lay the king down on the chess board and begin to work toward healing America — healing it figuratively but, more important and immediate, healing it literally. Even the good news of a viable vaccine can't stop the current exponential growth of COVID-19. Do the right thing — work with the Biden transition team to combat this disease. And if you can't join the team for the good of the many (instead of the perceived good of the one), then at least don't hinder it. You are at risk of being written in the history books as the president who loved himself more than country. Playing another round of golf does not improve your administration's performance against the virus.

The plywood is coming down, but store owners are likely celebrating in the same way as if they had just made an extortion payment to the protection rackets. The reason the feeling of relief is only temporary is that, despite Biden's call for reconciliation, elements in his party have not sated their thirst to inflict more pain.

Take, for instance, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In true cancel-culture fashion, she is demanding that anyone who supported or was associated with Trump be blackballed from ever working again. Michelle Obama fans these same flames by chiding the tens of millions of people voted for Trump as "supporting lies, hate, chaos, and division." Other Democrats are even calling for a "truth and reconciliation commission" to investigate people's involvement with Trump's administration.

It's good that the plywood has come down from the storefronts, but it looks like there will still be a need to keep it on hand.

I applaud the decision to place the Nov. 10 letter "Give Biden support denied Trump" immediately after two letters referring to the bubble in which MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell lives. Clearly that writer also lives in an information-deprived bubble. Please allow me to catch him up on what he's missed over the past few years.

Several investigations conducted by the Justice Department into the FBI's investigation of President Donald Trump's aides concluded that there certainly was probable cause to launch those investigations. Oh, and by the way, quite a number of those aides were convicted of crimes.

The Mueller report (available online if you'd like to read it) determined that several members of Trump's campaign were in contact with Russian operatives. There was no indictment of the president because the Justice Department has a policy of not indicting a sitting president. At least 10 instances of what would normally be called obstruction of justice were also outlined, but not pursued, because of the previously mentioned policy.

"I would like you to do us a favor, though ..." sure sounds like Trump was asking for something in return for the weapons desperately needed by the Ukrainians. This definitely warranted some sort of investigation. The U.S. House, as part of one of the coequal branches of government, did its job in investigating a whistleblower's complaint and presenting this case to the Senate in the form of articles of impeachment.

Finally, not only are there allegations of sexual misconduct by Trump but audio recordings of our current president admitting to assaulting women. Although there is much more, I'll leave it at that.

I was very disappointed to read the story of the deer hunter who found an abandoned young alligator and got direction from the Department of Natural Resources to kill it because it is not a protected species ("Where the deer and the alligator play," Nov. 10). I'd like to know at what level of the DNR the approval to kill it came from. Is this an official DNR policy? The DNR could have easily facilitated getting this reptile to a group that would have humanely resolved the issue. I'm also disappointed in the hunter; he could have found a better solution on his own.

There are plenty of nonlethal solutions to this problem, including making it illegal to sell wild animals, as well as finding a rescue group to take the animal/reptile (they exist, I checked). The DNR seems to have a "shoot first, ask questions later" orientation. Reminds me of the pair of hawks the DNR killed back in 2009, and of the wayward cougars that have been killed because they were passing through the wrong area trying to find a place to mate and survive. Maybe the DNR should be renamed the Department of Natural Resources and Select Animals Deemed Deserving of Protection Because Hunters Want To Be Able To Kill Them (DNR-SADDPBHWTBATKT).

I realize that we are facing much larger problems that need to be dealt with, but as far as I know the DNR is not as distracted by the pandemic as other state agencies, so it could work on this.

Nov. 11 is Armistice Day, marking the 1918 armistice that ended World War I, on the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month." Horrified by the industrial slaughter of millions of soldiers and civilians, the people of the U.S. and the world initiated campaigns to outlaw war once and for all. This day has morphed into what is now called Veterans Day and speaks more to increased militarism than peace.

Please join Veterans For Peace as we "Reclaim Armistice Day" to its history of being a day dedicated to peace and ending the scourge of war.

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