Letters to the editor Nov. 17

Graceful winners

Nov. 5 has come and gone. The American people have spoken in a free and fair election. It is refreshing to see that those who did not prevail have not questioned the validity of the vote. Instead, for example, Vice President Kamala Harris acted with grace, conceded her defeat when it was obvious, and personally contacted President-elect Donald Trump. President Joe Biden invited Trump to the White House for a lunch meeting and has confirmed that he will certainly attend Trump’s inauguration. This is how it should be.

We are all grateful that our mailboxes are no longer stuffed with flyers, that our TV commercials have returned selling dog food with happy dogs who make us smile, and that we are less reluctant to answer an unknown number calling our phones.

There are so many good things happening. Vets in Hurricane Helene-struck North Carolina working to help devastated victims. Our Bigfork Food Bank greeting clients with a warm welcome and needed food. Our magnificent new Bigfork Library, neighbors helping neighbors. All of this without regard to who voted how.

I grew up believing that one should be a graceful winner and a good loser. It is not good form for winners to gloat or downgrade their failed opponents; likewise those who lose should extend a handshake to those who prevailed. 

There were three separate letters to the editor in the Nov. 11 Daily Inter Lake which, in my opinion, failed to meet the high bar of being graceful winners. I would call the content of those letters “piling on.” Perhaps the writers have indeed encountered bitter losers, however, that might be an opportunity to simply say that you understand their feelings, and that we all hope for the best for all Americans in this next administration.

— Jeanne Southwood, Bigfork

Keep an eye out

The government of the United States is broken. It always has been. But the good thing about our system of democracy is that it contains within it a mechanism to change what’s broken and try something new. Every few years the people get to say, “Nope, ain’t workin’, try something else.” Other systems of government don’t have this mechanism.  

The people have spoken. They have overwhelmingly voted to try a strong leader, one who is unconstrained by Congress. Well, OK then. It looks like we are going to try that for a while.

However, we don’t want to lose the mechanism to effect change, if change is wanted by the people. But we need to make sure our leaders continue to be constrained by the will of the people, through an effective system of elections.

Everyone out there, keep an eye on this.

— Walter Rowntree, Kalispell

Deportation plan

Congressman Ryan Zinke was a guest on the Nov. 8 edition of the CNN program Laura Coates Live. During the extensive interview, the topic of President-elect Trump’s mass deportation initiative was addressed. Coates quoted a statement Zinke had made to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. 

“Montana has a long, long history of rounding things up,” he stated, further commenting that local sheriffs would be best equipped to carry out the apprehension of illegal migrants with criminal records. “It’s the local sheriffs that know who’s out there that’s doing, you know, bad things” Zinke added. “Sheriffs in Montana know who’s on the streets, they know who’s dealing drugs, and they know who’s doing child trafficking. They have the authority to do it, and I believe they’ll take care of it in the best interest of their country and Montana.”

If, as Zinke states, county sheriffs already know who is committing illegal acts, why aren’t these presumed criminals being arrested today? Why do they need a green light from the Trump administration to do so? If something as despicable as child trafficking is being carried out and local authorities are not acting immediately to prevent it, that is deplorable. Why does Zinke believe that local sheriffs need Trump’s blessing before they act?  

— Mark Holston, Kalispell