Letters to the editor March 6

Trucker convoys

Has anyone noticed how similar the truck convoy protesters are to the abortion rights protesters? Both are more concerned with their rights than their responsibilities. Both are more concerned with their right to choose than the harm their choices might have on others.

Both groups have caused major economic impacts, although certainly not on the same scale. The truckers are doing great harm to the economy of both countries. The SCOTUS decision in 1970 has allowed the killing of over 60 million potential taxpayers, which has greatly affected Social Security and many other programs. Talk about unintended consequences!

Obviously the truckers’ protest is miniscule compared to abortion, but the result is parallel.

I acknowledge that the truckers and border towns have been suffering great economic hardships for too long. But those who have lost loved ones from Covid are also suffering greatly and will suffer much longer.

How much more quickly would the suffering have ended if the mask mandates and offers of vaccinations had been accepted by all? No one can say, but one thing is certain: Responsibilities trump rights (pun intended).

— James Baker, Kalispell

Library board overreach

Flathead County once had a library called Imagine IF. It was an award-winning library widely recognized for its innovations and its excellence. The community was proud of it and the staff was as well. The retention of those library workers was bedrock solid. “I love my job,” was a typical refrain if you asked them.

Library patrons knew the names of those staff and relied on their advice and guidance to navigate the book shelves and other resources. Perhaps one of the great acts of philanthropy in this nation’s history is the legacy of libraries that Andrew Carnegie left. Imagine IF was a shining testimony to that legacy.

It takes years of effort by hundreds of people to build a great library like Imagine IF. It takes relatively no time at all to significantly harm one.

Imagine IF has systematically been dismantled. Email exchanges between county commissioners and the library trustees they appointed show a deliberate effort to undermine and weaken the library leadership. Measures were taken to rewrite the policies of the library. These efforts were initiated even before the contrived controversy arose over two books within the library collection.

The library has lost some of its best and brightest. Both its previous director and interim director have resigned in just six months. A number of additional staff have departed. The highly regarded and successful library foundation director has just resigned. $35,000 in annual funding from the state has been lost with the hiring of a new library director who does not meet Montana’s public library standards. Imagine IF joins just three other libraries out of 82 in Montana that are not certified. Citing a shortage of staff, the library has recently reduced its hours of operation.

Andrew Carnegie would be shocked at the library trustee overreach and power grab that has yielded this intentional wreckage.

Flathead County once had a library called Imagine IF. It was a beautiful historic building that included many books, some that celebrated freedom of speech. It held resources that represented a wide array of views and beliefs. Some of those books warned us that a healthy democracy requires an informed and enlightened citizenry, and further that democracy dies in darkness.

The county commissioners and the library trustees they appointed have seen to it that the lights of our lovely Imagine IF library are going dark.

— Joseph Biby, Kalispell

Get involved

Are you concerned at all about the way our government is shaping up? I’m sure you have seen the back and forth by some of the current candidates. Whether you see it as a democracy or a republic; whether you identify more with LGB or LGBTQ, or somewhere in between; Montana government is made up of ordinary citizens who want to make our state the best it can be.

There are several primary seats in Flathead County that currently have only one candidate running. In my opinion, having just one candidate to choose from feels more like Russia than the United States.

Have you ever thought about running for office? Now is your chance. You might not win, but anyone who enters a race does have a chance.

It only costs $15 to enter, and you do not have to gather signatures.

Next question: Are you a Republican? I ask this because the chance of a Democrat winning in the Flathead is close to 0%. Apologies to those friends who are Democrats.

You are a Republican if any of the following are your beliefs:

Local control is better than state control.

State control is better than federal control.

Businesses should be able to set their own policies.

You would like to have more Montanans who make a good wage.

You think local school boards should make their own decisions.

You want to keep taxes low.

You support the 2nd Amendment.

You would like the abortion rate to be lower.

You don’t have to believe in all these points. Most real people who think for themselves have a variety of views that don’t exactly match with one party or another.

You also don’t have to live in the district you want to run in or represent. You only have to live in Flathead County and have a desire to serve the people you represent.

Filing is open right now and stays open until March 14. Please consider this as your opportunity to give back to your community.

— Rep. Brian Putnam, R-Evergreen