Letters to the editor June 9
Remembering D-Day
Last week we remembered D-Day. My father landed D-Day plus three on Omaha Beach. Not quite 18 years old, he spent most of the next two years sleeping under his tank. He had the honor to serve under General Patton. There were no cellphones or internet to keep in touch with family.
My father proudly served and was brought to tears when he remembered the war that would encompass his life. He cried to see what America has become.
He returned to that beach and the small towns there over 17 times in his life. He was greeted and honored with small parades and by the townspeople who became life long friends.
His uniform hangs in a World War II museum in one of those towns. He was greatly honored to receive the French Medal of Honor. He was invited to attend the anniversary celebrations in Normand this year, but sadly passed away just short of the trip. He would have been 99.
I am humbled to be his daughter and miss him every day. As he said, (sarcastically) “Ah, it was a lovely war.”
— Mary Ann Lavelle, Kalispell
MAGA hypocrisy
In the wake of Trump’s convictions, the local MAGA right-wing faction is already parroting the “rigged” justice system lies of the fascist element of the Republican Party. However, the hypocrisy of the MAGA radical right is only laid bare by its responses to Trump’s criminal convictions.
Trump and his radicalized Republican legislators are attacking our constitutional system of justice by falsely claiming President Biden “weaponized’ the Department of Justice by “ordering” the New York State prosecution of Trump.
So, the person who, when president himself, ordered Attorney General Bill Barr to indict Joe Biden and his son, President Obama and Hillary Clinton on the eve of the 2020 election, is now provoking his MAGA base by falsely accusing President Biden of the very same misconduct in which he himself engaged.
If Biden were truly exerting control over the Department of Justice and our legal system, how is it that his son is currently under federal criminal indictment? Or, why isn’t Biden pardoning his son from all federal criminal charges, which he has the unquestionable authority to do?
The clear answer is that President Biden has the character and integrity not to “weaponize” the Department of Justice, as Trump tried to do against him.
Yet, we still see Trump and his toadies in congress mock the founding fathers and our Constitution with their inflammatory lies of a “rigged justice system.” Their extraordinary level of ignorance of the Constitution is amplified by their inane claims to be “patriots,” the “party of Lincoln” and the “law and order party.”
The hypocrisy is patently obvious, but the MAGA masses have been subjugated by the fascist propaganda spewed by Trump and his biggest supporter, Putin.
Those who have no respect for the guilty verdict against Trump have no respect for our Constitution, the rule of law, or democracy itself.
— Al Weed, Kalispell
Thank you note
On Saturday of Memorial Day weekend I was using walking sticks in the rain and wind at Glacier Memorial Gardens Cemetery. With some uneven ground I went down. Having a prosthetic leg, the walking sticks were not strong enough to get me up.
A very nice, petite lady came along and pulled her car to the side of the road and I was able to get up. Not only was my pride hurting but both knees and legs hurt also. But I would like to say thank you, Lilly.
— Terry O’Boyle, Kalispell