Readers Write: Olympics coverage, UnitedHealthcare, Dean Phillips, Trump on voting, Netanyahu visit

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

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We stayed up late to watch the unique and highly entertaining opening ceremonies for the Paris Olympics. Looking forward to reading more in the Star Tribune about this creative event, I was surprised to see the front-page headline, “Rail sabotage blights France’s Olympic moment,” (July 27) with a follow-up headline, “Saboteurs cripple high-speed rail lines,” on the continuing story on A10. The rail fires were a sad reminder of those who choose to disrupt and destroy in the face of an event with opportunities to unite our world. While thousands of travelers were delayed, thankfully no one was killed or injured. Your story states this event blighted what the French hoped would be a moment of national glory.

While we need to recognize these dangerous forces against humanity and unity among nations, highlighting their acts above the great effort and accomplishment of the French in preparing for and presenting the 2024 Olympics gives these evildoers prominence they don’t deserve. Our take was the French overwhelmingly won in planning, effort, creativity and perseverance (even with the rain), as the Olympians from 206 nations were joyously introduced to the world. Let’s be sure to celebrate that.

Susan Sisola, Minneapolis

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The Star Tribune pulls the plug on providing staff coverage of the Paris Olympics in yet another Olympiad featuring multiple Minnesotans at the pinnacle of their careers.

This is appalling. While these athletes go for the gold, the sports department is left to scrape the wire services for relevant information. This staff has long been rightfully honored for publishing one of the nation’s best sports sections. And has covered the Olympics with staffers for decades.

The athletes, staff and readers of the newspaper deserve an apology for this shortsighted decision by management. It’s a betrayal of the trust we’ve had that you’d continue to excel.

Les Polk, Rochester

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Thank you for the extraordinary page design of the “Catching A Wave” (July 29) featuring the powerful photo of the large wave with Olympian Candelaria Resano, of Nicaragua, by photographer Gregory Bull, Associated Press. In my opinion, the graphic designer, art director, photo editor, writer, and editor involved with this excellent example of newspaper publication design should also receive name credit.

Patrick M. Redmond, St. Paul

I’m concerned about the decision by HealthPartners to drop out of UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare Advantage network and that the blame is going to be misplaced (”St. Paul school retirees caught up in HealthPartners, UnitedHealthcare dispute,” July 26).

Minnesotans should be clear that the problem is UnitedHealthcare, not Medicare.

Medicare Advantage is often mistaken for traditional Medicare, but it operates under very different principles. UnitedHealthcare and other private corporations make billions of dollars in profit each year through Medicare Advantage contracts. They bill the government then deny care and stiff the providers, to the point it required a federal investigation.

UnitedHealthcare’s high rate of coverage denials and delays in payments, as experienced by HealthPartners, shows what happens when we let corporations take over health care. Minnesotans have every right to be angry — and the blame should be placed squarely on the greed and practices of UnitedHealthcare.

Rose Roach, Woodbury

There was one prominent name left off the list of politicians who could succeed Tim Walz if the governor were to become the vice presidential nominee. I’m talking about one Dean Phillips, a man who was suddenly and rather viciously booted from the favored ranks of the Democratic Party. We now have good reason to believe that President Joe Biden’s cognitive episodes began at least a year ago and there were other signs of physical decline as 2023 came to an end and the campaign heated up in 2024. So yes, Phillips was right and it’s hard for anyone to admit they were wrong.

The Third District DFLer never went so far as to invoke Biden’s obvious physical issues as the reason why he wanted to convince another prominent Democrat to enter the race. He took the high road and simply suggested that Biden could not win against former President Donald Trump, a fact we finally acknowledged after the disastrous debate in late June. He tried hard to get prominent Democrats to acknowledge this and sacrificed his own position in the House to run against Biden. As it turns out, the sacrifice was in vain and it seems as if he’s ready to fade into political oblivion.

Phillips deserves a heartfelt and very public apology from Democrats throughout the nation, but I would be satisfied if the state party would find it within itself to offer him another chance. We need men and women with the moral convictions that Phillips exhibited when he tried to turn his party and an entire nation away from a disastrous path. That, to me, is the sign of a governor who would do anything for the people of Minnesota.

Dale Jernberg, Minneapolis

By now, many have heard or read about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s speech to the Turning Point Action Believers Summit in West Palm Beach, Fla.: “Get out and vote. Just this time,” he said. “In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not going to have to vote.”

Two conclusions follow. First, he has no interest or commitment to constitutional elected government. Second, he just said the quiet part out loud and you have to question his mental functioning.

Please vote accordingly.

M.C. Gilbert, Lanesboro, Minn.

A fellow Star Tribune reader made the myopic observation (”Harris missed a chance to lead,” July 26) that Vice President Kamala Harris did not meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he was scheduled to speak to Congress on Wednesday. Although Harris did not meet with Netanyahu on that specific day, I would like to point out, as evidenced by a large photograph in the newspaper of Harris meeting with and shaking the hand of the prime minister on Thursday, the next day. Hopefully most readers noticed the photo and attached story (”Harris presses for a cease-fire deal”) as a distinct contradiction. The reader also made the unfortunate comment that the vice president’s absence was “another antisemitic snub to our number one ally in the Middle East” and went on to say that the vice president was remiss in the “duties” to “stand in” for the President should he/she not be available. In fact, Netanyahu met privately earlier Thursday with President Joe Biden who has been calling and continues to call for an agreement between Hamas and Israel. Additionally, is the reader aware that the vice president’s husband is Jewish? It seems to me that the vice president’s “duties” were fully met and upheld. No snub was intended or acted upon. The views and goals of the current administration have been continually made clear to Netanyahu and were reiterated on both days. Check the facts Star Tribune and vet your opinion pieces. These times are too dangerous to allow the spewing of innuendo and comments with false information that not everyone has the ability or desire to suss out.

Carol Brennan Kunkel, Minneapolis