Readers Write: The upended 2024 campaign, Trump’s security, tech outages

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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To my fellow Democrats: As we salute President Joe Biden and unite behind Vice President Kamala Harris, let’s refrain from venting our pent-up fear or frustration on the left wing of our party when its members are critical or threaten to withhold their support. Our party, and this campaign, can surely accommodate impassioned challenges and diverse perspectives. Instead of panicking, lashing out and enforcing uniformity, let’s hold fast to our vision of a multiracial democracy that accepts, learns from and evolves through dissent. On the other hand, we will certainly disagree and argue fiercely with our political opponents — but unlike Trump, we don’t need to name them “enemies of the people,” and we don’t need to incite or encourage violence against them. The small number who have engaged in violence, in Washington, D.C., or at polling locations, or against fellow Americans must be prosecuted and held accountable. But those who simply believe that they will only be welcomed in Trump’s America have been gravely misled. We are not exclusively a Christian nation, nor are we solely a white nation, but contrary to the lies that Trump’s supporters have been fed, we can be a nation where reconciliation, justice and deep bonds can be forged between Americans of all races, faiths and backgrounds. Let’s make sure our campaign, our party and our conduct fully embraces that vision every step of the way.

David Snyder, Richfield

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For some time now we’ve been hearing and reading about how if the Republicans win the election, they will abolish democracy. We are to assume, therefore, that the Democratic Party is the bastion for democracy. President Joe Biden just dropped out of the presidential race. Why? He participated in all the primary elections and won them all, giving him far more than enough votes to secure the nomination in the upcoming convention. It’s my understanding that in a democracy, he would be the nominated candidate because he received the most votes. Instead, primary votes obviously mean nothing to Democrats. Biden was forced out by “power” personalities within the party, not as part of a democratic process. I want to never hear even another peep from any Democrat concerning Republicans and democracy. Republicans are the party for democracy compared to the actions of Democrats. By recent actions, Democrats have acted more like communists. They are no pillars for democracy!

Richard Burton, Ramsey

OK, Rep. Dean Phillips, that’s enough. Responding to the July 23 article in the Star Tribune, “Phillips wants four candidates to compete”: I agree with his premise ... for the 2028 election, but not now. The Dems need to circle the wagons and support the obvious selection. I have not been a supporter of Harris, but I am now. The last thing the Dems need is to prolong the process of uniting and of explaining to the rest of the American people who the real Donald Trump and JD Vance are. Get over it; it’s a new world. It’s too late in the process.

Lynn Bollman, Minneapolis

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The Star Tribune has undoubtedly received countless letters regarding Biden’s decision not to seek re-election, but let me add my perspective to the long list. I will be 92 in several weeks and am fully aware that this may be the last presidential election in which I will be able to cast my vote. In observing Biden and Trump these past months, I have seen behavior that is all too familiar to me. I lamented the fact that neither of these men was capable of carrying out the demands of our nation’s highest office, and Trump, in particular, was a threat to the democracy we all cherish. Having lived through the Depression and too many wars, I had hoped that the world I left behind for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren would be one of peace and prosperity for all, but now I am fearful of what my generation’s legacy will actually be. But thanks to Biden’s decision, there is a ray of hope on the horizon — a woman president, who’s a woman of color and married to a Jewish man. This is the nation I hope to leave behind, a nation where the president reflects what has made this nation great: its diversity — where regardless of your gender, race, religion or ethnicity, you, too, can be president.

Marilyn J. Chiat, Minnetonka

We arrived home early on that Wednesday evening to prepare for a midweek gathering of friends. Soon after pulling into our driveway, a Washington County Sheriff’s car swooped in behind us. Officers asked who we were and why we were there. They asked for our ID, which was upstairs in our home. They asked to follow us upstairs to look around and check our ID. After confirming we belonged there and that we didn’t pose a threat, they left. However, that is not the end of the story. Not really thinking it through, one of my friends suggested we jump in the boat and get a closer look. As soon as backed the boat onto the river, a St. Croix County Sheriff’s boat swooped in and let us know there was no boat traffic allowed on the river. That’s when I noticed an otherwise normally very busy section of the St. Croix had no boats on it, and there were sheriffs’ boat stationed under the entire Interstate 94 bridge over the river.

How could there be such huge holes in security in Pennsylvania, when the response in a similar situation had been so tight 20 years ago? An in-depth investigation is called for, and we can only hope politics did not play a role in this “lapse” that cost one man his life, and nearly cost a candidate his.

Fred Putzier, Burnsville

The CrowdStrike software upgrade fiasco and the ransomware hacking of a company owned by UnitedHealth Group show how very exposed our IT infrastructure is to catastrophe, whether by intent or by accident (”Delta scrubs hundreds of flights as the airline’s troubles spill into fifth day,” StarTribune.com, July 23). In both cases massive problems were created by the sheer size and interconnected nature of the “targets.” There are, of course, efficiencies gained by large-scale consolidation of IT resources. But such consolidation also introduces a vulnerability that affects whole industries and interconnected entities. The CrowdStrike fiasco affected transportation, health care and a wide variety of services. UnitedHealth’s breach pretty much put the distribution of pharmaceuticals out of business for several days, crippling pharmacies across the country and putting individuals dependent on drugs at risk for their lives. Bigger maybe more cost-effective, but it is certainly not safer. The larger the system, the more opportunities for penetration and the greater risk of catastrophic disruption.

At the very least these large organizations need backup systems not connected to the primary systems that are able to keep information flowing in the event of a breach. So far we have suffered outages due to greed and stupidity. Imagine if these systems were attacked for pure malevolence or to breach national security.