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I would like to add more reasons that the Justice Department should treat Trump the same as any other suspect than those given in Wednesday's editorial ("Trump must not be above the law").

One is that all conspirators, especially the leader of the ring, who would attempt to steal an election to overturn or subvert the will of voters must be made to think very, very seriously before they even begin to attempt to pull off such a crime.

All officeholders who are put in the position of being in the U.S. Senate and Congress must learn from this. Remember what Republican Sen. Susan Collins said after she voted to acquit Trump after his first impeachment trial? She said she thought he "learned his lesson." No, the deviously inclined don't learn when they get off the hook. Politics attracts way too many deviously inclined people. All politicians, especially presidents and their co-conspirators, need to hear the message that they will be found out and will be prosecuted if they do the wrong thing.

An extremely wrong-headed historical mistake has to be corrected. Back when Richard Nixon was disgraced for his crimes in the Watergate scandal, vice-president-turned-president Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon before he was even placed in a courthouse. Ford said it would heal the nation but it didn't. Ongoing resentments continue about the Nixon years, and justice wasn't served. It also led to the Trump fiasco with another narcissist believing he was entitled to lie and lead a conspiracy into continuing his reign in office. Healing for this nation will come when we know that our political leaders know they'd better be law-abiding or face the consequences of the law should they be found out.

Holding Trump accountable for his alleged crimes is a message that should be heard by all those around politics, including voters. It's a giant though perhaps painful step our nation should take in order to get the honest officeholders we deserve. And if those on high are never prosecuted, is there any mystery why we have a crime wave now?

Paul Rozycki, Minneapolis

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The Jan. 6 committee did an absolutely stellar job. I caught all the hearings — they were galvanizing, so skillfully orchestrated. It was an incredible opportunity to see members of Congress in action, doing their job. They were thorough, respectful, judicious — altogether honorable in their communication and demeanor, while direct and informative, providing evidence to support every statement made. It was inspiring. I hope the committee goes down in history for the exceptional job it did under challenging circumstances. It made me proud. And there was no added drama — the facts were drama enough. We were privileged to witness a unique moment in American history. Thank you, committee!

Jean Greenwood, Minneapolis

Recent revelations of Minneapolis Council Member Jamal Osman's history of homophobic and antisemitic social media posts will undoubtedly lead to calls for him to resign ("Osman sorry for antisemitic posts," Dec. 21). These may arise from within his own party, from within the communities that were subjects of his language or from those who are right-of-center who are looking to highlight what they perceive as liberal hypocrisy.

I am a South Side Minneapolis resident who is enormously critical of the current City Council and who is inundated with and exhausted by physical manifestations of widespread pro-DFL sentiment (the yard signs used to come down after the election but no longer). Schadenfreude is not unfamiliar to me when our erstwhile civic leaders repeatedly end up with egg on their face.

Yet I urge Osman to resist calls for his resignation, and I urge my liberal-leaning neighbors to resist making such calls. Osman has evidently matured in the past decade, and his views are manifestly different. This is a terrific opportunity for a mass expression of grace, forgiveness and a steadfast, communitywide belief in personal growth and development. Let us then afford similar critical public tolerance to those across the aisle.

Brian J. Krause, Minneapolis

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Osman's homophobic and antisemitic comments on social media were neither mild nor taken out of context. They are disgusting. Mayor Jacob Frey was generous in accepting his apology; in today's hot-button culture, to allow someone to apologize for a mistake and accept his promise to do better is the right thing to do.

However, this is not the first time Osman has revealed his lack of moral character. What is equally appalling is that his wife's nonprofit organization received almost $500,000 in federal funds for allegedly feeding 2,500 children daily during the Feeding Our Future debacle and Osman has never said one word in response to allegations of impropriety. While neither she or Osman have been charged in any crime, an honorable elected official would have proactively acknowledged that his household is directly involved in the controversy and resigned.

To state that our city deserves better than Council Member Osman is an understatement.

Scott Mayer, Minneapolis

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Osman used social media to praise Adolf Hitler, call Israeli Jews "dogs" and say gay marriage is a disgusting, "BIG sin." I wonder how forgiving Osman would be about equally ugly remarks directed at people of Somali descent. I wonder, too, if he'll get the same volume and vehemence of criticism University of Minnesota Regent Steve Sviggum did for his question about "too much diversity." Maybe he will — or maybe there's a double standard about hate speech depending on who makes the hateful remarks.

Steven Schild, Winona, Minn.

"We are doomed to repeat the history we do not learn from," I thought to myself as I read the headlines today about the Taliban closing universities to Afghan women. It was only a generation ago, when it first rose to power, that the Taliban removed the opportunity of education for girls and women. As it once again assumed power in Afghanistan, the world has witnessed its systemic clawback of those rights we all claim as humans.

It is a senseless, dangerous decision, stripping a person of basic human rights. Over the past year, women in Afghanistan have been ordered to not work in most sectors, cannot travel a long distance without a male guardian, cannot show their full faces in public. They are not allowed to enter public parks. One can only surmise that their decision to limit girls' education access was not enough, so the universities had to be closed.

It's unconscionable. Draconian.

Education is a human right.

Just last month at St. Catherine University, we celebrated the legacy of our namesake, St. Catherine of Alexandria. She is venerated in the Catholic church as a scholar who defied Roman authority. It was rare indeed for a woman in fourth-century Alexandria to receive an education. She was ultimately martyred for besting a Roman emperor in a debate.

Our mission, first as a college and now as a university, has always been to educate women to lead and influence. Today's news reaffirms that mission as necessary and vital to a future world that will be just and equitable. There is no place for such extremism in that world.

ReBecca Koenig Roloff, St. Paul

The writer is president of St. Catherine University.