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•Trump is off to promising start

One nation under ... God? Liberalism? Socialism? Communism? Islam...ism? Well perhaps Islam is premature, but it is yet another upcoming “ism” for those who refuse to subscribe to the founding core values of our once great nation. The animosity expressed by both Trump and Obama supporters in recent Sunday opinion sections depict the great division and healing needed to once again unite this nation. Character assassination will not accomplish this.

Although Trump was not my first choice as a Republican candidate, I am greatly encouraged by the choices he has made for Cabinet positions and I will support him (as we all should) in helping to restore this nation. I have renewed hope that this nation can once again be turned back from its self-destructive path (II Chronicles 7:14) and become a great nation and a beacon on a hill for those seeking liberty. That means we must change the way we have been doing business by humbling ourselves, praying for His guidance, and turning from our evil ways before we can expect to once again receive the blessings that once made this nation the greatest in the world.

Those wishing to immigrate to our country must be willing to abide by our laws and become contributing members of our society, rather than dependents on society. If they are unwilling to assimilate or seek to cause harm or lawlessness, then they should not be allowed to immigrate. —Warren Williamson, Lakeside

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•Honor heroes on Marin Luther King Jr. Day

We all need heroes — people with the courage to stand in their power without cowering before threatened violence, embarrassment or financial damage. People whose ideals are their motivating force in spite of the odds. People who are not afraid to express themselves even if their ideas are unpopular. Martin Luther King Jr. was such a man.

I think he would have agreed with the anonymous author who wrote these words:

“Peacemaking doesn’t mean passivity. It is the act of interrupting injustice without mirroring injustice; the act of disarming evil without destroying the evildoer; the act of finding a third way that is neither fight nor flight, but the careful, arduous pursuit of reconciliation and justice. It is about a revolution of love that is big enough to set both the oppressed and the oppressors free.”

A big thank-you to the people who sent these inspiring words to us in honor of Love Lives Here in the Flathead.

Join us for the MLK Jr. celebration on Monday, Jan. 16, at the Performing Arts Center in Whitefish and on Tuesday, January 17 at Flathead High School. Both performances begin at 7:30 p.m. and are free of charge. Bring your family and friends to enjoy the talent of Flathead Valley musicians, actors and students and listen to their vision. —Ina Albert, Whitefish

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•How about that ‘imperial presidency’?

Hey Republicans and constitutionalists, I can still hear the echoes of your scream, “imperial presidency,” a label you threw at President Obama. Have you taken the opportunity to read up on conflict-of-interest’ laws, laws against nepotism, the restriction on all elected and governmental employees of receiving gifts of any monetary value? Will our electoral president be held accountable to these? Will you hold him so? And what is with the new chief of staff saying that a new king has been born? —Dan King, Bigfork

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•Good riddance to Obama

My letter doesn’t contain the complex language of many others on here, not that I’m unintelligent. I just prefer to speak to the average person as I am.

Obama sought to destroy America ... period. Those of you who have read his books know he wants to destroy America. He believes in sharia law ... read it. He hates America and our way of life. Read it and his books or shut up.

Despite the crying babies on the left, we have a new chance to be better ... not racist or any of the other terms they choose to use over and over and over. Just a new chance to get America back.

Not sure the president-elect is perfect, but anyone could do better than Obama. Except, Clinton would have brought the country to its knees. —Mark Parker, Kalispell

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•Kissinger gives CBS a shock

John Dickerson must have been shocked when interviewing Henry Kissinger for “Face The Nation.” Fully expecting the famous senior statesman to excoriate President-elect Trump for his petulance and lack of experience, one could almost hear the oxygen being sucked out of the studio as Mr. Kissinger proclaimed that a Trump presidency represented an “extraordinary opportunity.” Accusing Obama of “basically (withdrawing) America from international politics,” he declared that Trump will be asking a “lot of unfamiliar questions” of foreign and domestic leaders.

The senior statesman, still sharp as a tack, indicated that Obama’s policy of withdrawing as leader of the free world had created a partial vacuum and that the new president might present something “remarkable and new.” He concluded that Trump has “raised a number of issues that I think are important, very important.”

I didn’t get to hear the panel discussion which followed, as the local programming truncated the show at 30 minutes, but I can imagine the anxiety the above interview caused Dickerson’s usual 100 percent far-left panel by Kissinger merely raising the possibility that a Trump presidency could produce some real change internationally and result in an important presidency.

This has been my feeling since he was nominated. An outsider like President-elect Trump has the possibility to do great things for this country by turning the ship of state both domestically and internationally from its current disastrous course toward the country we conservative baby boomers remember ... one of prosperity for all and family values of old. His appointments to his Cabinet give me hope— solid men and women of accomplishment rather that pedantic academicians with lots of theory and no positive results.

Washington is a town of process rather than outcome. We now have an administration focused on outcome rather than process. I pray that after the liberals exhaust all their whining (Comey, recounts, Russian hacking, etc.) they will abandon their failed ideology that has crippled education, our inner cities, our own natural-resource development, trade-school expansion and fostered crony capitalism for the possibility of American exceptionalism once again. I pray that they can accept the vital role American leadership and military might serves to foster peace through strength and international stability. Surely by Jan. 20 they will have had long enough to try and discredit President-elect Trump and maybe ... just maybe ... they can look beyond their own pettiness and do what is right for America and We the People. One can only hope. —P. David Myerowitz, Columbia Falls