Letters to the editor April 10

‘For the Socialists Act’

HR1, known as “For the People’s Act” is really a bill “For the Socialists Act.” Here are a few details in this bill.

Prohibits requiring a state voter ID.

Requires states to hold early voting for 15 days prior to Election Day.

Authorizes 16- and 17-year-olds to preregister to vote in advance of them becoming 18.

Allows felons to vote.

And the best one, to require taxpayers to pay six times of the amount of a donation on campaigns. For instance, if a politician campaigning receives a $200 donation, the taxpayers have to pay an additional $1,200 to his or her campaign.

Just like the Covid relief bill for $1.9 trillion just passed by Democrats has only 9% of that money going to Covid, these bills with their titles mean nothing to what they are spent on. We Montanans will get to see how Sen. Tester votes on HR1 and “Where does it end.”?

—Al Whitney, Kalispell

A better place?

During the past 14 years of bipartisan government in Montana, the Republicans and Democrats have had to cooperate to enact legislation that both parties could support. Politicians were willing to work across the aisle for the good of Montana.

This no longer appears to be the case. The untethered conservative ideology is showing it’s face and it’s not pretty. Voter suppression, extreme gun laws, optional use of masks, science skepticism, transgender attacks, anti-abortion, union busting, limiting local government control, and lower taxes for the wealthy. What happened with the focus on jobs, less government, and equitable tax laws?

When the dust settles on the 67th Legislature in early April, will Montana be a better place?

—Craig McClure, Polson

Opinion and fact

I welcome Cynthia Granmo’s rebuttal to my letter.

In rereading Ms Granmo’s original letter from Jan. 28, her main concern seems to derive from her belief that Democrats are intent upon turning our country into a Marxist state like Mao’s China. To support her position, she made numerous claims to which I took exception. For example: I have heard no call to “purge all of the conservative, traditional and moral values of millions of Americans,” nor am I aware of a “concerted effort to tar every Trump supporter with the brush of Capital mob protester.”

To support her agenda, Ms Granmo generously employs hyperbole, generalization and disinformation.

In her rebuttal, Ms. Granmo carefully selected (absent of context) comments of journalists, cable news hosts and pundits. Yes, opinion. To my knowledge, none of these opinions reflect factual policies or procedures now in place, or proposed for any time in the future.

Furthermore, she precedes the listing of these human rights violations with the word “Democrats” without use of a modifier: some, a few, many. . . one. The reader might well infer that she is quoting the intent of all Democrats. If not dishonest, this is certainly misleading.

In no way is this an attempt on my part to legitimatize any of these opinions. It is simply to demonstrate how Ms. Granmo has cherry-picked her references to support and perpetuate her own basic premise: “Democrats are Marxists.” Plain and simple, this is what she is implying. This is not only false, it is inflammatory and dangerous.

To be clear: Neither I, nor any Democrat I know, would condone the human rights violations Ms. Granmo has listed.

I dare say, were I to spend half a day watching FOX News or listening to the likes of pundits like the late Rush Limbaugh, I could come up with dozens of jaw-dropping “opinions” attributed to Republicans. But to what purpose?

—Darlene Frahm, Columbia Falls

Begin living again

My wife and I have been volunteering as vaccinator and monitor at the Health Department’s Covid vaccination clinic at the Fairgrounds for the past two months. Nearly 900 vaccinations a day are administered with no significant wait time and near-universal praise. This is a tremendous burden on an already stressed and understaffed Health Department and will require continued volunteerism to function smoothly.

Many of the seniors are anxious to return to a normal life, visiting friends and family. They frequently ask me, as a physician, if it will be safe to do so two weeks after completing vaccination, to which with rare exception I encourage.

I find the pessimistic Dr. Fauci (a risk averse camera-hungry politician whose advice has been wrong more often than correct) and this administration advising Americans to avoid travel and groups disturbing. Even more concerning is allowing infected illegal immigrants to flood across our southern border without screening or quarantine then shipping them across the country to spread new variants.

Nothing in medicine or life is 100% safe, but 90% freedom from infection and nearly 100% from severe infection and hospitalization is pretty darned close.

Is there a chance that one of the viral variants might pose more of a risk? Of course there is a risk, but the data about vaccine effectiveness against these variants is unclear as of March, and there is, in my opinion, not enough information or numbers of variant cases thus far to force continued separation from friends and family with the resultant emotional stress and life disruption.

Many vaccine recipients express sadness over not seeing children and grandchildren even locally for over a year. No, Fauci and Biden, it is time for Americans to take SOME risk and begin living again.

—David Myerowitz, Columbia Falls