Letters to the editor March 10
Library controversy is about who’s in charge
At the start of 2014 when the Flathead County Library changed its name to Imagine If, many of us in this community thought that it was a joke. Turns out that it wasn’t a joke. Why on earth did this name change happen? Imagine If what?
Imagine that you wanted to impact and direct community standards so that your views could become prevalent and other views were sidelined. Language is a powerful tool that can be and is used to push an agenda.
Since 2014, a vocal minority of this community, supported by some in the media, have tried to influence this community. Fortunately, the silent majority is starting to wake up and show up. The reality in Flathead County is that the library has a strong liberal bent in a county that is strongly center-right.
The elected commissioners decided to appoint board members that more closely represented community standards. A citizen came to the board and presented a book challenge. The board decided to have a discussion and to consider the challenge.
No books have been banned. There are seven copies of “Gender Queer” in our library, and “Lawn Boy” is still in our Library. So, what’s the big deal?
The library staff and the library foundation don’t want to give up their power and allow the library board to exercise their authority. This controversy is not about banning books and the First Amendment; this controversy is about who is in charge.
The citizens of this community along with elected officials and the library board are allowed to ask how certain books end up in the library. Is it totally up to the library director and the staff to pick books without any input from the community and the board of directors?
Senior librarian Sean Anderson is quoted as saying “Moving towards the center is a conversation that can be had, but moving to an extreme position on one side or the other is not a conversation.”
I have two responses to Mr. Anderson. The community already thinks that the library has an extreme position on the left. My other response to this comment is that you can’t tell this community or the board the conversations that we can have. Why are you trying to control others speech. I thought that you were an advocate of the First Amendment?
Finally, state Rep. Dave Fern wrote in the Inter Lake that the library board has hired a “replacement director who lacks the training necessary to run a library of this size and quality.”
Really, Dave? Let’s give the new director a chance. The last fully accredited directors have not done a great job. The standards set by the American Library Association are responsible for the mess we are in.
— Bob Herron, Kalispell
Tranel is best choice for Montana
I was born and raised on a small farm in central Montana and have lived in Whitefish for 51 years. The changes I have seen in all of Montana have alarmed me and I want our elected officials to represent me and all hard working Montanans.
Monica Tranel is running for the new western Montana representative seat. She too, was born and raised on a Montana ranch and knows the value of hard work. She learned team work when she was part of a rowing team that went to the Olympics twice. After graduating from law school, she has represented in court rooms Montana farmers and ranchers and workers of every sort.
She is not afraid of protecting the things that Montanans value most, our clean rivers, strong public education system, public lands and democratic values of congressman working together.
Monica Tranel is our best choice for keeping Montana a great place to live!
— Dianne Grove, Whitefish
Rosendale at odds with Montanans
On Feb. 24 U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale released a statement regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine that read in part: “The United States has no legal or moral obligation to come to the aid of either side in this foreign conflict.”
Actually, both the U.S. and Russia are signatories to the United Nations charter. The invasion is illegal under the UN charter. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, our nation is obligated to abide by the charter. We should set a good example for other countries.
Rosendale’s statement is completely at odds with the thoughts of people like me who weep at the carnage unleashed by Vladimir Putin upon the peaceful nation of Ukraine. Morally we should care deeply about the suffering of the Ukrainians and Putin’s aim of replacing Ukraine’s representative form of government by military force.
Third, Rosendale’s words are all too similar to Trump’s terrible statement that “there were very fine people on both sides” when he compared the violent white nationalists rallying in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2018 to the peaceful counter-protestors.
Congressman Rosendale, I recommend you grovel to your constituents, begging our forgiveness for the crass insensitivity of your ill-informed, boorish words. Better yet, please resign your office as a U.S. congressman.
Montanans, this November, remember that those words of Rosendale accurately reflect his views on the legal and moral role of our government. Don’t vote him back into office!
— Frank Johnson, Bozeman
FVCC theater rocks
How great to be so wonderfully entertained by the FVCC music and theater groups after the long intermission due to Covid.
The Joe Legate Black Box Theater totally rocked with their production of “The Putnam County 25th Annual Spelling Bee.” Rollicking is an apt description yet it’s so much more. I urge you to see for yourself, there’s still time next weekend, don’t miss it.
— Jean Fischer, Kalispell