Readers Write: Trump at Arlington National Cemetery, Ukraine, Tim Walz, young offenders, State Fair

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

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Former President Donald Trump’s staging of photos at Arlington National Cemetery was a disingenuous grandstanding for political purposes, similar to his previous holding up of a bible in front of St. John’s Church Lafayette Square — which he did not regularly attend — as a prop for appealing to religious sensibilities (“Army says that Trump staffer pushed an Arlington official,” Aug. 30).

When I was a canon of Washington National Cathedral, I officiated at several burials at Arlington. It is a sacred space, not a backdrop for political posturing. His continued attempts to use our deepest human symbols for personal and political gain reflects a significant character flaw.

The Rev. Leonard Freeman, Long Lake

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Among all the bizarre details of the “altercation” between Trump’s campaign team and the staff at Arlington National Cemetery, the photograph at the center of the controversy might be the strangest. Who on earth poses in front of a fallen soldier’s gravestone with a wide, boisterous grin and thumbs-up sign like they’re at Disney World?

Nicholas Rea, Minneapolis

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Trump’s latest stunt at Arlington shows how desperate he has become to regain power. It happened on the third anniversary of the closing of the war in Afghanistan, where 13 service members gave their lives.

The end of a war is always messy, and this one was no exception, although far from the worst. Trump wanted to show that President Joe Biden was responsible for these unfortunate deaths. So he gathered some like-minded people and went to a part of the cemetery that was off-limits for photographs and video, causing an incident which backfired on him. Army officials have called him to account for this action.

Trump has to decide which it is: Either these dead service members are “suckers” and “losers,” as he has called them in the past, or they are brave heroes, as he now prefers to call them to boost his poll numbers. He can’t have it both ways.

Of course, his followers, by and large, do not read the newspapers, so how do we reach them? One by one, perhaps, and hopefully enough of them will be convinced that voting for Trump is a really bad idea. Veterans will surely call him out for this and other insults they have suffered at his hands.

Carol Larsen, Plymouth

Of all the concerns I’ve heard voiced regarding a possible Trump presidency, the most significant may be his likely actions regarding Ukraine. Trump has stated he could end this conflict almost immediately. There is little doubt that he would do so, quite simply by following the path of Britain’s Neville Chamberlain prior to World War II. Chamberlain averted (postponed, more accurately) a war with Germany by ceding a major portion of Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler, receiving Hitler’s promise to take nothing more. We learned very quickly that it was an empty promise. It’s clear that Trump would simply announce an end to assistance for Ukraine, no doubt receiving Russian President Vladimir Putin’s promise to go no further. Trump certainly is no friend of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and has stated that Putin is a genius. I’ve heard friends state that they doubted that Putin is interested in pushing further into Eastern Europe. We can only hope! We might want to discuss that with the citizens of Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as Belarus and Georgia, already under Putin’s thumb.

More to the point, pulling American support out of Ukraine would have a devastating effect on NATO, which was created to prevent the very Russian expansionism we are now witnessing, and in the process sink America’s standing in the world. It’s been clear that Putin’s goal has been the dismantling of NATO and that he believes his support of Trump has been a major tool in that process. Even the Senate Intelligence Committee recognized Russian disinformation campaigns during 2016, aimed at supporting Trump and spreading dissent within America. Election interference was literally bragged about by Putin’s guy, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was in charge of this campaign. Perhaps the most embarrassing presidential moment I’ve witnessed was during a news conference with Putin and Trump in which Trump was asked about Putin’s interference in the election, and Trump replied, “[Putin] just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be.” As Putin sat there with a smirk on his face. (Opinion editor’s note: Trump said the next day in a news conference he meant to say he didn’t see any reason why it “wouldn’t” be Russia.)

In short, if you want to sink NATO and Ukraine, lessen the trust and standing of America in the world and increase the power of Putin and Russia, vote Trump in November.

Jeff Dufresne, Minneapolis

Are you kidding me? “False GOP narrative on dog photo aims to paint Walz as liar” in the Aug. 29 edition of the Star Tribune appears to be another desperate attempt to deflect attention away from the flawed Republican tandem running for the White House in November.

The criticisms: Gov. Tim Walz was posting a picture of him petting a different dog while his dog, Scout, played in a dog park. Scandalous! And Walz was not a coach for the high school football team, he was a “defensive coordinator.” Tell any defensive coordinator from Pop Warner to the pros whether they are not a coach and see what sort of response you get.

Sad that personal attacks have sunk to this level of ridiculousness.

Paul Schultz, Ham Lake

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Kudos to Tim Walz for having lived such a life. If the best his critics can muster is the double dog photos, the taco tale and the “uncoach” defensive coordinator accusations, you’ve been a good man and pretty darn, well, normal — like most of the rest of us.

Luke Soiseth, Lake St. Croix Beach

Following the state trooper’s crash caused by laptop computer distraction, it is evident that law enforcement has a choice to make (”Trooper hits car on I-35W, starting 3-vehicle wreck,” Aug. 30). They could go with “do as I say, not as I do” and keep enforcing hands-free laws for devices — or improve themselves and keep working to reduce distractions for everyone. I prefer the latter.

The driving officer certainly needs certain information that might be on the laptop. Need to learn the written details for the call they are driving to? Utilize text-to-speech software. Want to find out what other units are responding to? Employ more dispatchers.

These efforts wouldn’t be free. They might need legislative funding support, another step for increasing safety. But starting by responsibly keeping eyes on the road would be a good step that most of us are being told to do already. If there are reasons this isn’t feasible, then the public deserves to be educated on those reasons.

Michael Bendzick, Falcon Heights

No official should complain about the lack of placement options for young offenders (”Placement options needed for youngest offenders,” Strib Voices, Aug. 28). For more than 100 years until 2019, there was a placement option. It was Boys Totem Town in St. Paul. That place should not have been closed. We needed it. The situation now is worse. Boys Totem Town was not perfect, but it was better than its “catch and release” replacement. I doubt the powers that be would consider re-establishing, or expanding, Totem Town. No one likes to be proven wrong. And some still consider the closing of Totem Town a great accomplishment. But don’t expect any gratitude from the victims of youth crime.

David Wiljamaa, Minneapolis

When I attended the State Fair last Friday and noticed, like the letter writer of “Think before you toss,” all the garbage cans that were filled with plastic beverage cups, I too thought, “Why aren’t these being recycled?”

I want to be the first one to sign up with the writer, who is suggesting that most of those plastic beverage cups could be spared. Please put me on your recycling team next August!

Elaine Zimmer, Brooklyn Park