Letters to the editor Aug. 26

Dog whistles

Ryan Busse’s race for governor now looks like a race to the bottom with his new ad which intended to highlight Gov. Greg Gianforte’s hypocrisy on immigration. 

His new ad seeks to be a “gotcha” moment, showing Latino men working on the roof of one of the governor’s properties. Unfortunately, Busse’s ad panders to racist attitudes which are still too common in the Flathead Valley and Montana. Busse’s ad features voiceovers insinuating that the workers are “illegal aliens.” The ad also shows the faces of workers, depriving them of their privacy while also potentially putting their safety at risk.

As a Democrat Latino voter and local precinct leader, it is incredibly disappointing that the Democratic candidate for governor would stoop so low as to run an ad using people of color as political pawns. When pressed by Montana Free Press, Busse’s campaign manager doubled down, stating that the presumption is that the workers are “illegal aliens.” 

It is important to note for Busse and his communications team that you cannot tell somebody’s immigration status by the color of their skin or the language you hear them speaking. Racist dog whistles have no place in the Democratic party, either nationally or locally. If this is the best us Democrats can muster in the race for the governorship, we have no business running a candidate at all.

— Johnny Ratka Skinner, Marion

New wallpaper

I would like to thank the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and his conservative brethren on the bench for the new, daily wallpaper.

The Scalia led opinion back in 2010 allowed unlimited funds to pour into any American election campaign. No restrictions. From anywhere. 

It appears Senate candidate Tim Sheehy has just that from who knows where. Every day in our mailbox is a big, expensive, four color mailer tearing incumbent Sen. Jon Tester to shreds. Every. Single. Day. 

At first, I recycled the mailers. Then I thought, “wallpaper!” For the new outhouse.

— Mark Suppelsa, Bigfork

Socialist ideas

Kamala Harris’ idea to place price controls on businesses and to grant $25,000 to first-time homebuyers are socialist ideas that have never worked.  

The conservative media has centered on economic history and fact to point this out. However, their approach, while correct, isn’t the point. The socialists aren’t dumb. They know it won’t work, but they don’t care. It’s all about buying votes. They’re hoping enough young voters will be sufficiently uninformed and will buy the idea with their vote.

It would help if the conservatives would make this point clear rather than to talk economic history and theory above the heads of the targeted young voter.

— David Clough, Bigfork