Letters to the editor March 15

Biden inaction

I’m sure that many of us, during this Ukraine crisis, have wondered whether Putin’s war on Ukraine and the West would have happened were Donald Trump in the White House.

I don’t profess to have the power to know the answer, but I can’t help but notice that the communist nations were quiet while he was at our helm. North Korea stopped firing missiles; Russia didn’t take over any countries; we had a sort of détente with China.

In fact, the world was starting to look peaceful for a change, as we began an organized withdrawal from war in the Mideast. Our economy was booming. The price of oil was coming down and we were energy independent; we were actually exporting oil.

Then Covid-19 hit, which Trump attacked energetically. That spurred vaccine development, and cutting off infected travel to the extent possible. He also took other measures designed to protect us from what proved to be unavoidable, as might be expected.

Nonetheless, we were making progress toward resurrecting our country from the doldrums.

The Biden regime has undone many of the steps Trump took with the result that we are no longer energy independent, and our enemies feel free to take any nation they want.

Will Ukraine be the final chapter in Putin’s plan to put the USSR back together, or just the beginning? Luckily, the Baltic nations have joined NATO, which means they have allies who are supposed to defend them against aggression. Ukraine asked to join, but was rebuffed, a tragic miscalculation.

Then, there’s China vs. Taiwan. When will the West decide to stand up to Putin? How many other nations must fall before we say it’s too many? When will we elect leaders willing to stand up to the communist bullies? We now risk World War III through inaction.

— Ward DeWitt, Bigfork

Trump and Putin

So now that Putin has shown that his long time in the KGB left him feeling that he wants to return to that “glory” time, our most recent ex president has called him “savvy” and our president “dumb.” Wow!

The norm for ex-presidents is to remain quiet about their successor. Does that mean if Mr. Trump were reelected he would try to emulate Putin?

If that doesn’t scare you, what does?

— David LeBleu, Kalispell

Tester’s record

Greetings dear Flathead folks. I wish to share with you a position I have with Sen. Tester, who has a record of backing left wing policies vs. representing Montana voters:

Greetings Senator Tester,

I wish to congratulate you on being a backer of record on the bipartisan bill to stop importing Russian oil which is financing Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine. This is a very safe political move for you.

In fact, we have been fortifying Russia’s war chest ever since blundering, left wing Biden ended our energy independence “on day one.” This misguided left-wing move has crippled our nation’s international strength and initiated the crippling Biden-flation of our economy at home and abroad. Now you must represent Montana voters and back Senator Hawley’s (and other Senators’) bill to reverse the left wing’s drive to cripple our country. Energy independence now. Then we can help Europe to shrug off dependence upon inferior oil and gas.

This is the time for you to turn back from your left-wing politics and represent Montana.

You have done good things for Montana in the past, until you left us for your left-wing ambitions.

— Charles Wardle, Kalispell

Daines’ lack of respect

On March 5, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine spoke to Congress. Ukraine’s ambassador explicitly requested that visual details of the meeting not be shared until the meeting was over, out of concern for Zelensky’s safety.

Our own Senator Steve Daines joined Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) in sharing screenshots of the Zoom call while it was in progress. My horror at the willful endangerment of a heroic leader fighting for the survival of his country and possibly for democracy, is profound.

If an embattled wartime leader, or a representative of that leader asks you to keep quiet about a meeting, you should be able, at the very least, show a modicum of respect for that simple and easy request.

Today I was deeply ashamed to be represented in Congress by Steve Daines.

— Lily Kirsanow, Kalispell