LETTER: 11 reasons not to support Zinke

I have 11 reasons why we shouldn’t vote for Ryan Zinke for U.S. House.

1. He is opposed to quality public schools.

2. He is almost entirely beholden to out-of-state interests.

3. He does not believe in Montana’s heritage of public lands.

4. He has run one of the most unethical campaign fundraising operations in recent state history.

5. He wants to threaten one of our state treasures in Glacier National Park by allowing drilling for oil and gas on the North Fork of the Flathead River.

6. He issued a proposal for combating the scourge of suicide in the military by telling veterans that their mental health problems are not real.

7. He is in favor of reducing college opportunities for middle-class Montana families through Pell Grants, calling for one of the most effective anti-poverty programs the nation has ever known.

8. He raised money to pay himself a huge consulting salary while promising to raise money for veterans returning home from the wars instead of helping these members of the military, he raised money for himself while raising his political profile for this House race.

9. He’s a reckless military adventurist. Recently, he has called for troops on the ground in Syria and Iraq to fight against ISIS.

10. His continual endorsement of Donald Trump in spite of all that Trump has said and has done means that not only is Zinke a craven political opportunist, but he owns the misogyny, racism, and vulgar machismo that his endorsed candidate portrays.

11. Last of all, he simply can’t be trusted. His campaign has indicated that he will say whatever he believes it will take to win an election — whether its public lands, reproductive rights, the Second Amendment, Medicare, energy policy, Indian country, or just about anything else.  He has demonstrated that he is a man without principle and one who cannot be trusted with the reins of power in Washington. —David R. James, Eureka