Letters to the editor May 30

National security

Whether Donald Trump is a paid Russian agent or not, his policy statements consistently support Vladimir Putin’s interests and undermine America’s. 

On his first state visit to Russia after becoming president, he startled his countrymen by meekly agreeing with Putin that Russia played no role in America’s 2020 election, while American intelligence found that Russian agents sent thousands of email messages urging American voters to favor Trump. This action was reported in Robert Muller’s report to Congress. Trump’s statement probably was influenced by, among other things, his hope to build a Trump hotel in Moscow with Russian financing. Trump’s evidence: “Putin stated that Russia played no role.” 

That was only the beginning. Recently, Trump proposed to end Russia’s war on Ukraine by yielding the Crimean peninsula permanently to Russia and also ceding areas in eastern and southern Ukraine seized by Russia in the war. This would fulfill Vladimir Putin’s current objective and echoes the infamous 1937 Munich agreement between British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlin and Adolf Hitler that yielded Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland to Nazi Germany in exchange for a promise of “peace in our time.” Germany seized all of Czechoslovakia before the end of that year and moved on to Austria in 1938 and Poland in 1939. 

We face today the disturbing spectacle of a candidate for president consistently favoring the views of our major challenger in world affairs. 

Trump also has consistently sought to weaken America’s intelligence agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency. He bitterly criticizes their leadership as agents of the so-called “deep state” despite the fact that these powerful agencies are at the forefront of America’s defense. The latest episode of this battle is the current struggle in Congress to renew certain expiring provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act which authorize warrantless intercepts of communications among non-Americans, a critical tool in efforts to anticipate actions of foreign governments. 

I believe it is time to recognize that a vote for Trump is a vote for Vladimir Putin regarding aspects of U.S. security. We must not let that happen.

— Bill Cox, Kalispell 

Community impact

I saw with interest the recent addition to the newspaper of the Logan Health 2024 Report to the Community, impressive in size and graphics and with many statistics about what Logan Health does for the Flathead.

I wonder how big a budget there is for such a production. Instead, why not use the money spent on this elaborate piece of PR to send health workers to treat the homeless that many property owners are so up in arms about? The majority of people living on the streets suffer from mental health issues, and treatment by providers who develop ongoing relationships with them could well turn someone’s life around.

I lived in a small, affluent city in Northern Virginia for many years that mailed every January a large four-color calendar to every citizen, a document whose purpose was to note when garbage pickup would not happen on each side of town during holidays. I often thought the money could be better spent.

People complain about crime in the Flathead’s urban areas, the parts of towns where homelessness is common. I’m not surprised in the rise in crime; the homeless are vulnerable to predators of all kinds.

How hard to redirect certain monies to the needy, since the funds come from an entity with so much profit? Talk about an impact! I also commend Logan’s kindness in providing every employee with a turkey for the holidays. Whenever I see that, though, I think how much the gifts come on the backs of those who are sick.

— Lenny Granger, Columbia Falls

Stay in your lane

I am a female in my 30s. I get my health care advice from my primary care physician and my OBGYN. I don’t need or want any health care advice from politicians like Austin Knudsen, Cory Swanson or Dan Wilson. 

Those men should heed the advice of the driving instructors: “Stay in your lane.”

— Julia Alexander, Missoula