No headline

Build that wall!

We do need that wall. Those Democrats back there in D.C. are so smoked up on drugs and behave so stupid-stupid. I would like to see a bill passed that would require that their mamas sit beside them with a bar of soap. I don’t know how to spell liars in Russian. —Paul Fossler, Coram

We need government to protect environment

On Jan. 27, the Daily Inter Lake demonstrated a fundamental inconsistency in Montanan’s beliefs about the government’s role in environmental protection. The Inter Lake included an article entitled, “Official: Trump wants to slash EPA workforce and budget.” Trump said during his campaign that he would like to abolish the EPA and cut regulations in general.

The EPA safeguards our nation’s clean air and water, among other duties. If the aftermath of mining results in a contaminated watershed in Butte or a sickened citizenry in Libby, Montanans complain. We demand to know, where was the government when the people needed a watchdog to protect us from these environmental degradations and health hazards.

On the same day the Inter Lake editorial board chastised the state equivalent of the EPA for its delay in compensating Libby asbestos victims. The editors claim, “There’s no explanation why this settlement took so long to come to fruition.”

Informed readers are all too familiar with the W.R. Grace & Co. story. We remember well how the company withheld screening results from its employees. The company continued with business as usual while its workers and ultimately the inhabitants of the town itself accumulated the tiny lung-destroying fibers. As the health of the miners and others deteriorated, W.R. Grace effectively slipped out of town, leaving the clean-up bill to taxpayers. So yes the state of Montana has agreed to pay roughly $24.2 million to victims of asbestos disease. The state of course is us, the taxpayer.

We blame government for not protecting and compensating us and for not warning us of dangers. All the while we cheer as Trump moves to diminish and gut these very agencies. Protecting the environment for the common good is the obligation of all Montanans. It is a gross inconsistency to believe that protection can be achieved without any government office empowered to do so. —Joe Biby, Kalispell

Longing for Obama’s calm leadership

I am respectfully submitting the following as a professional, non-political, Christian woman.

I take this moment to applaud Daniel Neely on his letter to the Daily Inter Lake regarding President Obama. It was courageous and factual. I long for the calm, intelligent, and measured leadership of the last eight years. It is this stark contrast and resulting unrest that prompts this letter to the editor.

I believe the Lord gifted us with spectacular lands and waterways to enjoy. The majestic beauty of it all fills us with hope and wellbeing. With these gifts comes the responsibility of good stewardship. “Big Business” which includes oil, natural gas, and coal has dumped their toxic waste in and on our God-given resource, without apparent regard for short- and long-term consequences. Their greed and poor integrity, as well as their intolerance of inconvenient regulations, allows them to rape and abuse these resources, which, I guess, they falsely view will remain ever-abundant and unscathed.

With this new government the coal companies again have the green light to begin dumping their waste in the rivers, we can now again start using our lead weights while fishing in the lakes and rivers, and regulations have been reversed on banks that caused pain for so many working-class families. Why are we so unable to learn from previous mistakes? The act of restoration of these adverse and far-reaching practices just demonstrates our need for these regulations. It appears our personal integrity is sorely deficient.

If love is God’s greatest gift, where is the love demonstrated when we allow mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters to be ripped away from their families and deported? Some of these families are productive, tax-paying families that have been residents for 25 years. Where is the compassion for those who pursue the dreams and blessings we all enjoy. None of us are “natural” residents of America. The Lord promises to meet our needs. Why then is there so much fear that our opportunities will be stolen? In these times I feel we are called to be vigilant, wise, more discerning, and more fearless to stand up for the greater good. We must take action when it is crucial to do so. —Jeanine Mettee, Kalispell

Universities fail their students

I just learned of a booklet written by the vice provost of Arizona State University, Jesus Trevino, entitled “Diversity and Inclusiveness in the Classroom.” I have never read such juvenile trash before in my life; to make matters worse, the university is paying this “educated elitist” over $200,000 a year to write and publish this drivel.

A university has the responsibility to educate young adults (I know that must seem like a strange concept) and prepare them for the real world. How will these young people become productive members of society when universities and colleges are cranking out hundreds of little crybabies each year?

I would like to be the fly on the wall the first time one of these graduates says “ouch” to an employer. I imagine it will be quite a shock to find things are much different in the real world as opposed to the fairy-tale world of unicorns and elves promoted on campus.

As a parent, I would be outraged to learn indoctrination instead of education is the watchword in our institutes of “higher learning. Inclusiveness and diversity work well as long as those who believe in them are with like-minded individuals. We have seen the working of liberal minds when they don’t get their way: riots, assaults, looting and property damage result. Where do these accepting and inclusive individuals get this mindset? From the hippies and malcontents of the 1960s who are now tenured professors in our universities.

So, $200,000 plus a year for garbage; I can write that nonsense for free thereby saving the university funds best spent on real education. Maybe they could include “Adventures of Toni the Tampon” as required reading; it is a coloring book, so these crybabies can find a creative outlet for their frustrations. —John Mello, Kila

Blackfoot project deserves support

It is refreshing to see such a home-grown Montana solution to what could have been — and is sometimes in other places — a messy and contentious forest management situation. I’m referring to the collaborative solution of the Seeley-Ovando area called the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project.

This initiative continues and ensures sustainable timber harvest and restoration work. It mandates forward motion on collaboratively developed trails-based recreation for hikers, bikers, and snowmobilers. Based largely on current forest planning, it adds close to 80,000 acres of wilderness in a landscape that boasts intact populations of original flora and fauna.

A huge BRAVO and a heartfelt THANK YOU go to Sen. Jon Tester for encouraging the project from the beginning, and for taking it the next step to Washington, D.C. To see the project become the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act, and then become law certainly would honor the hard-working Montana folks who created it, but it also would show the way forward to others facing similar issues. I sincerely encourage Sen. Steve Daines to get behind this legislation to make it as bipartisan in D.C. as it is here with his constituents. —Terry Meyers, Kalispell