Readers Write: Election results, what comes next, Jim Ramstad

President Donald Trump's statements about election fraud and corruption are unfounded and a disgusting attack on the integrity of our democratic election system. It was painful to listen to the lies. Top officials of the Republican Party should denounce his false statements immediately. The failure to do so is complicity by silence. The president insists that the election for the office of president is being stolen by totally false and unsubstantiated accusations of fraud. At the same time, he proclaims victory by the success of Republicans in elections in Congress and the Senate. He offers no explanation how the same ballots he claims are fraudulent in the presidential races across multiple states can be accurate in the Senate and congressional races. This is because his assertions of fraud are just that, ludicrous assertions with absolutely no evidence of actual fraud to change the outcome of the election. We deserve leadership that supports our proud democratic system. We deserve the truth.

The president of our nation attacking the integrity of our voting system without proof is treasonous. Attacking the integrity of the citizens counting the votes is uncalled for. If he has proof of voter fraud, give it to authorities to be investigated, and if there is proof, file a lawsuit. Republicans should be defending our Constitution and speaking out about his allegations. Our democracy is challenged and if it is not going to be defended, declare us proletariat nation. That is what he and his followers want our nation to be.

I fear this nation is so divided that it will take years to heal. We have to elect people who believe in our republic and our Constitution if we are going to survive. I am 81 years old and have had a lot more yesterdays than I have tomorrows, so it is the generations behind me that will have to start working together to rebuild our nation.

Mr. President: Inquiring minds want to know — if we Democrats/liberals/socialist elves are trying to steal this election by fraudulently filling out hundreds/thousands/millions of illegal ballots, why wouldn't we also be voting down-ballot for Democratic senators and representatives?

In regard to the letter writer who asks that "big-city people" lose the condescension toward "rural, small-town folks" ("One tip: Lose the condescension," Readers Write, Nov. 6): It is ironic that in making his point he exhibits the very traits he seeks to see curtailed. When he asks for journalists at the major papers in our country to lose their condescending attitude toward conservative people, he put the word "journalists" in scare quotes, thereby communicating that he does not see them as professionals who maintain professional standards. He undercuts their legitimacy even as he asks them to give him respect. If he were a regular reader of these papers and listened to their podcasts, he would see that they really are out in the whole country interviewing people in a friendly and open way and giving voice to so many. I have learned a lot from people's own mouths by listening to these reports.

Name-calling and disrespect don't get us further toward our shared goal of good governance, which was the letter writer's point. And ignorance — making claims without evidence, holding false beliefs — is equally, if not more, of a threat to our collective well-being. We are all individually responsible for what we say and do and for the truth-value of the beliefs we hold. Our very human challenge is: How do we work together to help all of us do better?

It's Wednesday, the day after the election, and the world awaits with anxiety unabated. I arrive at the Driver and Vehicle Services office to have the lienholder removed from my car's title. A simple task with all appropriate paperwork ready — and I find the line long. Coronavirus continues to slow society and insist on patience.

A big guy, obvious outdoorsman, stands next behind, "That's some bike."

"Thanks! I added the motor and battery last fall. It was great fun trying to get it to work."

"How far can you go?"

And so our conversation begins. He tells me he is in line to get the title transferred for a boat he just bought at bargain price. It turns out the frail, elderly man who owned it did not have a proper title, thus the rigmarole of establishing ownership and so on. His day is more complicated than mine.

We talk about outboard motors. He knows a guy who collects boat motors, has several hundred of them (where he stores them has to be a wondrous warren). He even has a 1957 Evinrude that was never used. It's still in its original packaging! I am momentarily lost in imagining such a thing. I hear about his career as inspector of commercial jets, his flying around the world ensuring airplane safety, riding in airline cockpits when the flight is full, the misery of bumping along in a stiff jump seat.

We are enduring upsetting times of political division, of coronavirus quarantine, of racial reckoning, of economic disparity, a time of drastic change and accompanying disquiet. The healing of this nation is far from certain. But all that was set aside when two strangers, names unknown, shared a few moments to chat and enjoy simple interests. In that is the hope for America.

Friday morning, on my regular walking of the canines, I notice the neighbor on the next street had lowered and removed his Trump 2020 flag. The other neighbors had removed their Biden signs.

America is moving on.

The passing of former Rep. Jim Ramstad, one of the most decent men Minnesota politics has ever known, is a sad occasion for our state and those of us who loved him ("9-term Rep. Jim Ramstad dies at 74," Nov. 6). His seat in Congress — that voters overwhelmingly re-elected him to time and time again — bestowed upon Jim the title of "honorable," but his fine character and exemplary life made him well deserving of it.

Jim was a tough and savvy politician who fought hard for his convictions and the people he served. But he remained throughout all his days a remarkably kind and gentle man who always made time — quietly and humbly — to help anyone that might need his.

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant." We will miss you, Jim.

I was sorry to hear of the death of my former congressman Jim Ramstad. He was one of the last of a now nearly extinct breed, moderate Republicans, and his commitment to finding mental health solutions for Americans is a legacy that arguably no other member of Congress has equaled.

He was also a class act, a personality trait that currently has few, if any, matches in government.