Readers Write: Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Mueller's news conference, note of thanks to a newspaper carrier

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar has been a hard-working, effective senator for Minnesota. She has demonstrated an ability to work across the aisle to achieve good outcomes for Minnesotans — all with a polished, quick and self-deprecating wit. Her credentials as a moderate progressive are impeccable. It is my hope she will continue as one of our senators for a long time.

To that end, it seems we now should send her a clear message: Amy, please come home.

Like influenza in February, Amy has caught the presidential bug. There appears to be an epidemic among Democrats, with some 23 to 25 reported cases, depending on how you count. It seems to be spreading.

The problem isn't that she might win. That seems remarkably unlikely at this point. The problem is that running takes time away from the job we pay her to do, and every day shows her to be a little less capable and a little more flawed than we had believed her to be. That will, in turn, make her less effective as our senator.

The issue of her treatment of staff is concerning but easily fixable. However, it does shine a light on aspects of her personality that are not flattering, to say nothing of causing concern if she were the leader of the free world. Now, don't get me wrong, I would swap her into the Oval Office in a nanosecond to replace the current occupant. But she may not represent our best chance to send him back to New York or represent what business folks call "best practices."

Amy is polling badly. The articles written are not ones suggesting a successful campaign. And whether fair or intelligent or not, the horse race and momentum apparently matter when it comes to the primaries. Her carefully coiffed image oscillates between the casual, all-smiles Minnesota Nice neighbor from back home and the severe, professional Washington power player, depending on her audience. That, in and of itself, is confusing.

Her chances as a presidential candidate seem low to me, and the longer she runs, the less compelling a U.S. senator she becomes.

Amy, come home.

Special counsel Robert Mueller's terse news conference ("Mueller: Trump not exonerated," front page, May 30) to close out his two-year investigation and announce his retirement publicly was a grave wound for the Trump presidency, but it was not a courageous act by any means. The vile accusations of treason and other crimes leveled against Sally Yates, a former deputy attorney general and acting attorney general, former FBI directors James Comey and Andrew McCabe, and other long-serving public officials by Trump are beyond the pale of civic decency and show how unfit this reckless man is for the highest office in the land. It is beyond shameless.

Mueller's silence in the face of Trump's reprehensible behavior toward his colleagues shows he lacks real moral backbone.

The Star Tribune Editorial Board's recent editorial ("Mueller speaks, but does Congress hear?" May 30), which calls for the continuance of a two-year campaign by the Democrats and the press to delegitimize President Donald Trump, states that Trump "has dismissed Russia's role in his 2016 victory." This again implies that Trump would not have been elected without Russian help, a mantra of Democrats and Trump-haters everywhere.

I'm a Trump supporter but am open to learning. Please, please, please tell me specifically what the Russians did to influence the election? These accusations of "interference" have been repeated over and over without explanation. Everything I've read points to the fact that the Russians have been attempting to influence our elections for years.

For two years, Democrats have breathlessly feared that Mueller would not be allowed to finish his mind-numbingly lengthy investigation. Now that it's over, they essentially want a "re-do," a move to the "obstruction of justice" portion of the campaign, and then on to impeachment.

Luckily, a recent Harvard-Harris poll showed that 55% of respondents think "bias against President Trump in the FBI played a role in launching investigations," and 61% would welcome "appointing a special counsel to investigate potential abuses at the FBI."

In an unbiased campaign for Americans to know the truth, wouldn't that aspect deserve some attention?

Hold the kudos for a legislative session well done, because the Senate refused to even allow hearings on how Minnesota needs to address the climate and health crisis that is bearing down on us.

This session, Gov. Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and the Minnesota House crafted legislation to put the state on a path to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050. But the majority in the Senate refused to consider this critical commitment to a better climate future, and this language was not included in the omnibus energy bill. The Senate also resisted proposals by the House to improve the very successful solar garden program and add to rebates for electric vehicles.

The governor and the Legislature must require that Minnesota energy providers build an equitable and clean energy future that will improve the lives of every Minnesotan, whether they are black, brown or white, indigenous or an immigrant. If Xcel could commit to a goal of delivering 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050, how can our legislators not commit the state to the same or an even more stringent timeline for carbon reduction?

We must act now to ensure that Minnesota has, in Walz's words, "a cleaner, healthier environment and a strong clean-energy economy." Legislators who refuse to do that, however they justify their actions, must be swept out of office in 2020. Without their interference we can create policies that create a healthy climate legacy for all the people in our state.

To not even allow hearings from experts shows Minnesotans that the Senate has no interest in dealing with this climate crisis. The health and economy of Minnesotans is at stake. We deserve policymakers who can address these hard issues.

Among the most unheralded employees of a newspaper are its delivery people, so it was with great sadness that I found out that my delivery person, Norbert Kowalczyk, has decided to retire from this position after a decade of delivering my daily Star Tribune. Norbert is the consummate employee and an example of someone doing a difficult job with professionalism and grace.

Because he delivers my paper while I'm asleep, I've never met him. However, Norbert is more reliable than the U.S. mail. Never in the decade that he has done this job has he not dropped off my paper on time, whether in rain, sleet or snow.

I only hope his replacement will be as reliable as Norbert. The Star Tribune should be thankful that this man has represented it for this long. I know I am.