Letters to the editor Sept. 18

Lessons of citizenship

The act of standing during the playing of our National Anthem is a selfless individual expression of appreciation for the freedoms that we enjoy and acquired through the sacrifices of others including our military personnel, first responders and their families.

Yet, it appears that more and more often that a select corps of our professional athletes would take exception to this position as demonstrated by their act of kneeling during the playing of our Anthem and raising of our flag.

With the approaching seasons of professional sports, I am certain that this issue will escalate. Unfortunately, trying to change the dispositions and attitudes of these individuals is probably a loss cause. Self-promotion, ego and greed are qualities difficult to change. And, many of our professional team owners and coaches appear to not have the concern, fortitude or conviction to counter their players’ disrespectful actions.

However, I do remain hopeful that the minds of our future generations of athletes have not been tinted and that they can genuinely demonstrate the necessary virtues and expressions of leadership that reflect a sense of appreciation and honor for this country. However, they will need positive role models.

Obviously, parents should play the primary role. But, I would also hope that every coach, from the little league fields to the college arenas, would do their part to cultivate this new generation. Coaches are guiding and influential forces with our youth and they should assume some responsibility for their players’ behaviors even before the first pitch or whistle is blown.

The message should be made clear -- ”if you kneel on the field, then you sit on the bench”.

Yes, lessons of sportsmanship are important but, in today’s world, lessons of citizenship are imperative.

—Pendleton Armistead, Rollins

Critical thinking

I just finished reading Amy Regier’s letter “Nurses Association shows lack of critical thinking” in the Sept. 16 Daily Inter Lake. She fails to define critical thinking as it applies to her statements.

The National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission (NLNAC) defines critical thinking as “the deliberate nonlinear process of collecting, interperating, analyzing, drawing conclusions about, presenting and evaluating information that is both factually and belief based.”

Ms. Reiger’s suggestion we use “caution as well as introspection” about bold statements is good advice. I would suggest readers must do this as they read Ms. Reiger’s opinion piece. Critical thinking in nursing can fail when patient care is dictated by personal preferences, self-interests, political affiliations, prejudice, and administration interference.

Ms. Regier’s statement “When one ceases to critically think they become more susceptible to manipulation and thus control” speaks less to nursing and more to her personal beliefs. Throughout her op-ed she uses oversimplified logic speaking only to survival rates, omitting the long-term effects of Covid-19 on children as noted by the American Academy of Pediatrics. These include struggling to make it through the day in school, exhaustion, depression, trouble concentrating, increased difficulty with schoolwork, lower than usual grades, as well as decreased performance in athletics compared to their pre-Covid levels.

She also elicits emotions on sensitive topics as pediatric mental health. This issue, especially in Montana, is important and complex, and suggesting masks as the cause is dangerous. One could argue the long-term effects listed above that occur in the pediatric Covid population puts them at risk for mental health issues as well, in which case the interventions should include Covid prevention efforts.

Unfortunately, it appears her use of the Montana Nursing Associations position is being used to distract the reader from her agenda, which is her pursuit of re-election to the Montana Legislature. It is her personal preferences, affiliations, and self-interests that shine through, not her critical thinking skills.

—Frederick Zavodny, Kalispell

Biden’s actions

Ignorance can be cured with education. Stupidity is a lifelong commitment that has no known cure.

The Biden administration falls clearly in the latter category. It is past time for Americans to wake up and see the handwriting on the wall. We have let the Administration commit one bungle after another that is leading us into a never-ending conflict halfway around the world.

The colossal withdrawal failure could not have been handled in a more stupid manner. The following list of stupid actions is only just a beginning.

1) This administration’s broadcasting of a firm withdrawal date,

2) pull out of military forces before removal of American citizens,

3) closing down of our embassy before removal of American citizens,

4) closing down of our air base before removal of stockpiles of military equipment

4) walking away giving our enemy free rein to walk in and take possession of $70+ billion worth of advanced military equipment and technology that will be used to attack Americans and free world interests,

5) not even knowing how many American citizens were in Afghanistan that needed to be evacuated,

6) not having a clear workable planed procedure to accomplish the required evacuation,

7) Not having a clear understanding of how many Afghanistan citizens that have provided aid to U.S. forces over the last 10-plus years would want to be evacuated,

8) not having a workable plan to properly vet the Afghan citizens being evacuated to ensure enemy’s of the U.S. were not being brought into our country where they can continue their evil program of destroying the U.S.,

9) not understanding the extreme peril all women left in Afghanistan are going to be subjected to for the rest of their lives.

It is time for actions to be taken that will put a stop to this continued program of Joe Biden that is leading to the demise of our country as we have know it for the last 250 years. This list of stupid actions conducted by the Joe Biden and his administration could easily be doubled and tripled but publication space is limited.

—James Malone, Kalispell