The deep state impacting western states

I note with interest that your publication has chosen to mention the “New Code of the West” conference being held in Whitefish.

The conference features Ammon Bundy of recent notoriety for – together with his father and brothers – challenging the exercise of armed federal authority. The thought of a local group pushing back against what many consider to be an abusive exercise of federal power has drawn criticism from many who fear that such an attitude could be detrimental to their political interests and social agenda. The problem is that the conference is a dialogue of ideas. And apparently nothing scares these critics more than a dialogue in a public setting.

The character of their objections is to malign the speakers as bigots and worse. People apparently cannot disagree without slinging lots of destructive spikes, never considering the substance of another’s concerns and proposals. People can disagree without name calling, racial epitaphs or hate speech. If no one ever listens to their challengers all that happens is people talking past each other, without anyone getting smarter, just louder and generally uglier.

If you don’t like the people speaking Saturday, then don’t go. Likely that your attending neighbors will reach the same conclusion you already have. But if there is merit to their proposals, then perhaps your more level-headed neighbors will provide the reasoned consideration needed to properly cause our democratic republic to survive and thrive. The United States is not founded on the premise that he who shouts the loudest wins. Rather it is based upon freedom of speech with the accompanying option of citizens to reject what is said. Rather than slandering the speaker, challenge the speech, the ideas presented, or even skip the event and if things are as you suspect, then it is a conference that will likely die on the vine due to a lack of interest.

However, the louder you shout, the more people that are finding out about the conference and who might be curious what can be said that would produce such a fearsome and fearful reaction. Perhaps you will see me sitting quietly, just listening at the conference. Look me up and we can talk.

History always will matter.

— Christopher Kortlander of the Custer Battlefield Museum