Thursday, March 28, 2024
38.0°F

Letters to the editor Sept. 17

| September 17, 2020 12:00 AM

Montana manners

I’m writing in response to Lynne Fitzgerald’s letter on Sept. 13 “Montana Manners”.

As I read her letter, I was overwhelmingly impressed by her wisdom and compassion for all. All families, friends and the general public should take a step back, take a minute from your busy lives and give some thought as to how you can describe your actions and responses to others.

We have so much going on now in our daily lives that it’s too easy to lose contact with ourselves and others. Please re-read her letter from the heart. We’re all Montanans. As she states, “We know better. We are better.”

Let’s all practice Montana manners and make ourselves proud.

—Jean Henke, Kalispell

Community-given rights

I am writing this letter because I am a lover of words and the phrases they create. Lately a phrase I have been hearing has been confusing me. People seem to be comfortable using it to justify all kinds of hateful and scary behavior. They are using it to justify carrying a machine gun on their chest and walk around a public parks just to scare people. They are using it to justify not wearing a mask during a pandemic and screaming at those who do. They are basically using it to justify their selfishness.

The phrase that bothers me is, my God given rights. Last I looked God does not give rights. God is supposed to give love, compassion, guidance, and the intelligence to form communities. Rights come from a community of people who work together to insure the survival of their society. Individual rights and freedoms come through a consensus of opinions and ideas. Rights do not come without cost. Many have paid dearly for the rights we have now. Our rights where created by the people for the people. Heard that some where.

Next time you feel like walking around with a high powered weapon hoping to scare people, what you should be shouting out is “I have my community-given rights.” Not as catchy I guess, but the truth. The people you are trying to scare are the same people who gave you the freedom to do it. You should thank them first.

—Edd Kuropat, Yaak

Beyond freedom of speech

I am writing this rebuttal to the opinion letter on Sept. 12 “Clear and present danger.”

I have never read a letter in my 91 years more morally despicable or disgusting. This is beyond freedom of speech. Toward the end he writes, “This is a man who would eat his own young to save himself.”

He writes this letter about the president of the United States, who has clearly brought this nation back to life until the virus set in. I resent the way the Democrats have treated this president after all the good he has done.

—Robert A. Look, Kalispell

Not what we need

What feels like centuries ago, back in February, our president all but brushed off the coronavirus. Numerous times he dismissed it as another flu or said that it would go away by April with the heat. These comments are not difficult to look up.

But now, with the revelation from Bob Woodford’s interview, we now know that our president knew that the disease was deadly and airborne and instead of encouraging people to take measures to protect themselves, he brushed it off for months.

The justification for this was that he did not want to start a panic. If we take him at his word and assume his character is just, despite bountiful evidence to the contrary, then at best, our current situation is a result of such ludicrous incompetence that it almost defies belief. He knew, it was deadly but instead of calmly informing the populace of the danger, leading by example by practicing the safety measures every expert has recommended, he flouted them, it took months to even see him wear a mask of his own. He held rallies with no social distancing, actively worked to undermine the CDC, the people who’s job it is to monitor and protect a nation against infectious diseases because the numbers made him look bad.

In short, a logical conclusion is not that he wanted to prevent panic, instead he wanted to pretend that everything was fine while our nation burned and bodies piled up. Is this the kind of president we want? I won’t deny there’s some things he’s probably done well. Even the worst president does some good by accident if nothing else. But a leader this incompetent when it matters most or simply so outright callous, is no national savior and not what we need.

Vote. Him. Out.

—Zane Nelson, Missoula

Bullock’s tax-and-spend policy

In Sept. 8 letter titled “Daines’ Policies Jeopardize Seniors” Craig Coburn is misguided. His claim is that support of a tax cut to current workers puts Medicare and Social Security in peril.

We all need to be fearful when a program requires current workers’ contributions to stay solvent. The real person jeopardizing seniors is Steve Bullock. Last legislative session Mr. Bullock vetoed SB 217 which would have exempted most of Social Security income from Montana state income tax. This is income that was taxed when the seniors earned it and now is taxed again.

Everyone that receives Social Security and those expecting to receive it should be incensed that Mr. Bullock would approve of taking money from seniors. If he is elected to Congress he will take the same tax-and-spend philosophy with him. That is policy that will truly “jeopardize seniors.”

—Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell

Cowboy up, Montana

My Wish

Would that we give as much consideration and care for each other to prevent covid-19 as we do for our cattle to prevent brucellosis.

Let’s cowboy up for each other.

—Max Maxwell, Kalispell

Energy Keepers being dishonest

In 2016 a group of business leaders met to discuss keeping Flathead Lake at full pool from June 15 through September 15. Attendance included then-mayor Heather Knutson, Lake County Commissioner Gale Decker, several others including Brian Lipscomb, CEO Energy Keepers, and Travis Togo, COO Energy Keepers.

Togo said, “that Flathead is supposed to refill by June 15 and remain between 2,892.7 feet and 2,893 feet until Sept. 15.”

That was not the case this year. By mid-August the lake had been drawn down to 2,892.2. In my opinion, this was done to drive the turbines in order to produce more electricity. The Tribe’s only interest is in making money instead of helping the communities that they live in and the neighboring towns around the lake.

Togo and Lipscomb have been telling the numerous callers and the Daily Inter Lake (Sept. 6) that they aren’t doing anything different. All you have to do is go on the internet and look up Flathead.uslakes.info or uslakesonline.com and see for yourself.

Ninety days at full pool is not too much to ask. This is a natural lake and not just a dam for out-of-state energy users. I’m curious as to what kind of bonuses are being paid at our expense.

—Wayne Schile, Polson

Endorsement based on merits

Thank you Bob Brown for giving us an example of how campaigns should be conducted. Your nonpartisan endorsement of Bryce Bennett listed his qualifications and never mentioned his opponent. This break from the “attack mode” that most candidates use represented the best of Montana ethics.

I admire Bob’s courage to endorse a candidate based on merits instead of tearing down his opponent.

—Deborah Sapp, Kalispell

School funding

The Republican religious oligarchs would lead us to believe that God is on their side.

They would also lead us to believe it is in Montana’s best interest to divert federal dollars from public schools to private Christian schools. Many of these allegedly Christian schools teach children that the earth is only 5,000 years old.

The late comedian and free thinker George Carlin stated it best: “When evolution is outlawed, only outlaws will evolve.”

—Frank Maycumber, Kalispell