Letters to the editor Oct. 25

Support Ukraine

I have just come back across the border from Ukraine. I went to check on old friends from years of medical aid there. 

I’m bowled over by the courage and resolve I’ve encountered in the face of war. People have organized themselves into a multitude of small groups, volunteers supporting the war effort in a thousand different ways. Everyone has family or knows someone fighting on the front. Many know a fallen soldier. The people have grit and resolve. 

An example: Katia is a teacher and mother of three. She has set aside all other priorities to organize making camouflage and winter gear, cooking and dehydrating foodstuffs, and more. She uses social media to recruit volunteers and donations. I ask about how this exposure compromises security for herself, her family and volunteers. 

“The Russians really don’t care about the details. If they come they will just kill us all. It is very simple.” 

This from a young mom and a grade-school teacher hit home. The Ukrainians are fighting for their lives, their independence and their future. 

In the years I have visited Ukraine I keep feeling I am witnessing first hand the reenactment of our own fight for independence long ago and it has reawakened my American idealism.

Many people I met asked about our election. None had any doubt that of our candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris would stand by them, and former President Donald Trump would sell them out. There is every reason to believe they are right. 

The United States can not stand by and let the bully Putin roll over his neighbors in his ballyhooed scheme to rebuild imperial Russia, thereby threatening the security of allies, and creating ever more refugees. I urge readers to vote for the candidate who stands for American values and aspirations.

— Pom Collins, Trego

Border disaster

Vote for Republican Patriot Tim Sheehy for the U.S. Senate and Donald Trump for president if you want to save the country from the Tester-Biden-Harris disastrous border agenda that has almost completely destroyed our country. 

Since President Joe Biden took office, over 6.2 million Tester-Biden-Harris illegal aliens have been encountered at the nation’s borders, and over 2 million of them have been released into the nation’s interior. A considerable number of them have engaged in criminal activities once they settled. 

In 2023 alone, Border Patrol agents have encountered thousands of illegal aliens with prior criminal convictions, including assault, rape and murder. The true extent of crimes committed by illegal aliens remains unknown because there are also over 1.5 million unaccounted for “gotaways” since Biden’s term began. 

A 2021 Department of Justice report revealed that 64% of federal arrests in 2018 involved noncitizens, despite them comprising only 7% of the population at that time. While the Biden administration fails to provide continuous updates on illegal alien crime data, Texas’ Department of Public Safety maintains a running database of such incidents. Other states should follow suit. 

Obviously the Tester-Biden-Harris border agenda has been the biggest disaster in the history of our country.   

If you want this to stop, you must remove Tester-Biden-Harris from any lever of power and vote for Republican patriot Tim Sheehy for U.S. Senate and Donald Trump for president.   

— Jeff Larsen, Lakeside

If Tester loses, we lose

Here we go again. About every ten years or so some egocentric, power hungry, filthy rich out of state millionaire wakes up and desires to be a man of the political scene.

He needs to find a state that is sparsely populated and not too sophisticated. This makes it cheaper to buy votes.

We have just this sort of situation going on with this election. Tim Sheehy has picked Montana as his most vulnerable choice. How much does this guy know about our state and its people?

Sen. Jon Tester is native born and knows the people. He has been the lead on many issues and has delivered on many grants, bills and infrastructure. He has helped our state in all areas: Farming, forestry, veteran affairs, roads, bridges, cable, internet to our isolated friends, and the list goes on.

Foolish people complain about the level of dollars in grant programs. Tester has financially helped out. As a top-10 senator, Tester has brought to Montana our share of federal dollars and much more.

If Tester loses the election we will be the losers by being at the tail end of seniority. We can’t afford to lose our biggest advocate in Congress.

— Stan Watkins, Kalispell

Evans for PSC

I am writing to express my support for Elena Evans for Montana’s Public Service Commission. As Missoula County’s current environmental health manager and a past director of the Association of Montana Conservation Districts, Elena has demonstrated experience working in government for the public good.

While her opponent, Jennifer Fielder, also has abundant experience in government, her political career has seen her using her power to support the creation of a legislative working group devoted to the transfer of public lands to private holders. She also supported Northwestern Energy’s recent 28% rate hike and would very likely support the additional rate hike Northwestern energy is hoping to have approved (26%). Jennifer also voted against repaying customers $9 million they were overcharged by Northwestern Energy. These actions suggest Fielder doesn’t care about working Montanans or protecting public lands.

Elena Evans, on the other hand, supports keeping public lands public and does not support Northwestern Energy’s rate hikes. We need her on the Public Service Commission to defend working Montanans and our public lands.

— Morgan Hyde, Missoula

Moral compass

Fellow Montanans, an odious nest of RATS (Republicans Against Truth) is asking for our vote. Are they worthy of it? The history of their character flaws strongly suggests they deserve our scorn but not our support.

The RAT candidate for governor is a slob hunter. “Hounds chased a Yellowstone National Park mountain lion into a tree,” The Washington Post reported. “Then Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte shot it.” This RAT also boasts a criminal record, as detailed in a The New York Times story headlined “Montana Republican Greg Gianforte is sentenced in assault on reporter.”

The RAT who wants to be our senator has disparaged Montana’s 70,000 indigenous citizens with racist comments. As The Associated Press put it, “Trump-backed U.S. Senate candidate faces scrutiny for derogatory comments about Native Americans.”

The scandal-plagued RAT running for Congress is eminently unqualified to represent us, as we are reminded in The New York Times report “Ryan Zinke broke ethics rules as Interior secretary, inquiry finds.”

Sheehy and Zinke are further tarnished by their slavish support of former President Donald Trump. As a veteran myself, I thank them for their service, but I cannot forgive them for backing a draft dodger who has a long history of disparaging the military. Ironically, although both served in the Navy, they remained silent when Trump attacked the late Sen. John McCain, also a Navy vet, for “not being a hero” because he was captured. “I like people who weren’t captured, OK?” Trump had the gall to state. 

While Trump was chasing fashion models around the Manhattan club circuit, McCain was being viciously tortured in a North Vietnam prison. Any military veteran who supports Trump should seriously consider recalibrating their moral compass.

Montanans, we deserve better.

— Mark Holston, Kalispell

Smear and fear

We two senior citizens cannot keep silent any longer as we see the barrage of Sen. Jon Tester ads railing against “the rich outsider” Tim Sheehy. Tester puts down Sheehy for being rich and an outsider yet he’s only too happy to accept millions from the “rich outsiders” i.e. the DNC and lobbyists who are panicking to keep him in office. 

Tester voted for open borders (our Canadian border is seeing a huge influx) and the southern border has turned into a threat to our freedom as unvetted millions not only overwhelm our resources but hidden among them are those who bring drugs and death to our door. 

Tester’s ads feature smear and fear, the same tactics he used to help get Senator Conrad Burns out. He blames Sheehy for causing housing costs to go up. Really? Housing costs are going up but too many government regulations, scarcity of workforce and unavailability of products are more the reason. 

Tester, as a fourth generation Montanan, stepped into the shoes of his father. On the other hand, former Seal Tim Sheehy was injured and had to find a way to make a living. He came up with a plan that would meet a need and that’s been the foundation for his wealth. It’s likely he won’t be needing money from Lobbyists. 

We don’t think a man who served his country with valor deserves to have half-truths and idiotic ads thrown at him. How could one man “bring down the entire health care system” because he thinks some private health care is a good idea. We think it is time government had some competition in several areas. 

Remember, if you vote for Tester, you vote for every far left radical idea out there. He’s got a lot of favors that will be called in. 

— Lois Lyford, Kalispell and Julie Fischer, Lakeside